am I pushing too hard?

[Lau]

Hey all,

As some of you may know I took up Tai Chi and Wushu classes about 10 weeks ago, not having engaged in any kind of regular activity since long before (read: overweight).

Things have been going quite well, I've lost weight, my stamina and endurance have already increased significantly.

This week I've attended Tai Chi class 3 times and Wushu (1 quite intensive hour) 1 time already. Tomorrow is this week's last class of Wushu, 1.5hrs of it and to be honest I'm feeling a bit knackered.

What do you reckon? Bite the bullet and go or respect the fact I've been to class 4 times already and let tomorrow's class be?

Of course I don't want to go giving myself excuses to not attend class, but on the other hand I don't want to wear myself out either, possibly risking giving up.

Respect the mind or the body?

Thanks up front!

cheers,

Lawrence.

[Fish Of Doom]

are you just tired, or sore? if you're just feeling tired, and most importantly want to go, go, and if you can't keep up, take a break and rest a bit before trying again. nothing wrong with that, and if anyone suggests the opposite grab them by the balls and tell them to <beep> off.

if you're sore, rest up and let your muscles heal :)

[Lau]

g'morning my friend, thank you for you reply!

I'm a bit of both. Sifu came down on us hard last Wednesday, and I'm obviously still nowhere near in top shape.

But yes, I want to go, that's what matters :-)

Thanks again!

[Fish Of Doom]

then go, my friend

go like the wind!

[gemtkd]

I'd say, keep up your routine if you can! They say that you lose fitness twice as fast as you gain it!! Though, don't go hurting or truly exhausting yourself!!

[inthespirit]

Hey Lau,

I can’t really comment on the WuShu, but with Taiji (especially the first 2-3 years) you should be practicing every day, whether in class or not. Of course 7 days a week, 365 days a year is bit tough with our modern lifestyles (work, family etc), but I would aim for at least 6 days a week, preferably for at least an hour, but even 15 minutes is better than nothing.

The main reasons for such methodology are that Taiji is not like weight lifting and your body can handle the stresses of such repeated practice, particularly since one of the main points is to achieve full body awareness and subsequent bio-mechanical efficiency.

As you become more proficient (from daily practice) and understand the practice better, you can then work in different modes, with exertion (which is quite strenuous) i.e. working with opposite and dynamic forces in your own body, or with relaxation (which is not strenuous) aids recovery and increases awareness.

On days when your WuShu practice is particularly strenuous, you should probably only concentrate on doing Taiji in a relaxed manner.

So yeah, stick with it I guess… but do take some days off occasionally, sometimes if you train continuously, a day’s break can bring interesting revelations as it allows your body to use what it’s learned on its own.. hard to explain, but I guess you may see for yourself.

[Seventh]

By knackered do you mean just tired and sore, or you have injuries that you notice? If your tired/sore, try your best and go at it. If you do have injuries or are feeling more then soreness in your body, ask your teacher to make you do a modified exercise. One of my fellow TKDers in my class has a bit of a knee injury so my master just gave a different, though equally challenging exercise. Another option that works is to rest up on that day and come back the next class full force.

[Lau]

I usually take the path of getting some extra rest and come back to training hard, seems to work out for me.

The pitfall in that is taking too much rest (read: letting a slight depression of any sort get the better of yourself), it can easily turn to too much of a break from the routine, something which has proven to undermine my motivation in general. Guess I still need to get a grip on that.

As for the Tai Chi training (thank you for your comments Inthespirit) I'm only just about getting to the point I can practice forms (it's a lot to remember from class for a newbie such as myself). I'll usually practice a few forms and balancing in general (still a big issue with the slow movements). The good news is that the extra training has already proven quite useful in both class and real life, as in hardly any stifness in the joints like I had before starting.

[Kuma]

Have you had any kind of training before, or is this all new to you? If it's all new, you may still be finding out how hard you can go, so just be aware that you are tired and if things get a bit too tough your sifu will understand if you have to step back a bit.

[Lau]

Have you had any kind of training before, or is this all new to you? If it's all new, you may still be finding out how hard you can go, so just be aware that you are tired and if things get a bit too tough your sifu will understand if you have to step back a bit.

I picked up Wushu and Tai Chi after a long period of intermittent attempts at long distance biking, so in other words no training really.

Having my mind set at going for it it's of course a bit of a disappointment to find your body objecting against the sudden change of pace. Bear in mind I'm not just fighting a battle against a poor shape in general, but considerable overweight as well (though I'm almost at 50% of my weight goal after only 12 weeks of training).

[Oldman46]

Lau,

Congratulations on your training.

After many years of working in an office, smoking and drinking too much I decided I needed to change my lifestyle.. I moved to China almost 2 years ago where I currently train Kung Fu, Sanda and Chen Tai Ji. When I first started, everything hurt. I was sore all the time. If it was real bad I rested but otherwise pushed through and did as much as I could. Somedays my training was only stretching and walking. The only thing I can say is dont stop. It was very frustrating at times but I kept going.

I can honestly say that I am in the best shape of my life right now and Im 46.
I train Mon through Sat. I practice Forms and Sanda every afternoon and I practice the old frame 1st form Chen Tai Ji 1 or 2 times everynight.

Keep up the hard work.

[Lau]

Lau,

Congratulations on your training.

After many years of working in an office, smoking and drinking too much I decided I needed to change my lifestyle.. I moved to China almost 2 years ago where I currently train Kung Fu, Sanda and Chen Tai Ji. When I first started, everything hurt. I was sore all the time. If it was real bad I rested but otherwise pushed through and did as much as I could. Somedays my training was only stretching and walking. The only thing I can say is dont stop. It was very frustrating at times but I kept going.

I can honestly say that I am in the best shape of my life right now and Im 46.
I train Mon through Sat. I practice Forms and Sanda every afternoon and I practice the old frame 1st form Chen Tai Ji 1 or 2 times everynight.

Keep up the hard work.

Hey there,

I read your post with great interest and first of all, hats off! That is literally going from zero to full force training and sticking with it too.

You mentioned frustration, however how do/did you deal with motivation lacking because of feeling sore or down (or God forbid, longing back for the old bad habbits)? I really find myself having to fight all of those at the same time when tired/sore.

Great that you get to train in China, are you there for work?

Thanks again for your post, picked me up a bit there :)

[Oldman46]

Hey Lau,

I still get frustrated now and again. I guess what keeps me going is that you start to see gradual improvement which is a great motivator. When I started I couldnt even touch my toes now I can put my hands flat on the ground. My sidekick went from a weak waist high to strong neck high kick. The heavy bag where I train is made from an old tractor tire turned inside out and stuffed with newspaper (Its very hard)and it weighs about 75 kilos. When I first got here I could barely hit it even with gloves. Now I work out on it hard for 15 minutes everyday.

You just have to be patient and willing to work hard. After seeing small results it just motivates you to work harder. I also take days off now and then just for a break to clear my mind.

No I dont work here. I was lucky enough to have a job where I could save quite a bit of money. Life in the smaller cities of China is very cheap. I rent a very nice 2 bedroom apartment for about $130 a month. A haicut here cost less than a dollar. I live very comforatably for around $600 a month.

I train everyday in the afternoons and at night except Sunday. My plans are to stay for 2 or 3 more years.

Keep working hard!!

[Lau]

Hey Lau,

I still get frustrated now and again. I guess what keeps me going is that you start to see gradual improvement which is a great motivator. When I started I couldnt even touch my toes now I can put my hands flat on the ground. My sidekick went from a weak waist high to strong neck high kick. The heavy bag where I train is made from an old tractor tire turned inside out and stuffed with newspaper (Its very hard)and it weighs about 75 kilos. When I first got here I could barely hit it even with gloves. Now I work out on it hard for 15 minutes everyday.

You just have to be patient and willing to work hard. After seeing small results it just motivates you to work harder. I also take days off now and then just for a break to clear my mind.

No I dont work here. I was lucky enough to have a job where I could save quite a bit of money. Life in the smaller cities of China is very cheap. I rent a very nice 2 bedroom apartment for about $130 a month. A haicut here cost less than a dollar. I live very comforatably for around $600 a month.

I train everyday in the afternoons and at night except Sunday. My plans are to stay for 2 or 3 more years.

Keep working hard!!

Hi!

Funny that you should mention it, but I noticed some improvement in my kicks during Wushu class yesterday. I take the early class with my 5yr old son and train along to motivate him, so it's all kids (flexible as hell mind you), but also 2 apprentice teachers ; seeing as I was last in row with them I tried extra hard to do high front kicks and did considerably better :)

Patience isn't exactly my strong suit, I know that and I work on it. I've attempted martial arts before, but never quite stuck with it. I do now, knowing it's my last way out of an unhealthy lifestyle, that thought alone pushes me.

Whereabouts in China are you? Sounds like a comfortable and relaxed life, to be able to do so many trainings :-)

[Oldman46]

Hey Lau,


It must be nice being able to train with your son. On Saturdays I train with about 15 local chinese children. Like you said its amazing the flexibility they have.

I am in a small city called Laixi. Its in Shandong province not too far from Qingdao where they make the world famous Tsing Tsao Beer. I am at a small family run school. Their website is rengongfuschool.com There are very few foreigners here (maybe 10 in the whole city). My sifu speaks a little English and I have 1 other friend here who speaks English. Other than that all communication is in Chinese. All the people here are very nice and I have never had a single problem.

I was a Hotel Director on cruiseships before so it is very nice to be able to relax and train here without all the pressure that I lived with before.

If there is any way I can help you just ask.

[Lau]

Hi,

Yes it is nice to train with my son, although I sometimes find it hard to accept he's a child and tends to play around in class a bit rather than be all serious like we adults do. Either way, he's doing quite fine and let's not forget Wushu is a very technical MA.

Sounds awfully nice to be in a small remote area of China, working on MA and not have the daily stress on your shoulders that we gwai lo usually have. I'll check out the site!

P.S. PM.

Thanks again,

Lawrence.