Shu's Training Journal (or "Old Man Kung Fu")

Gymberly Time!

-Bench Press - 135 lbs, 155 lbs, 185 lbs (10, 8, 5)
-Curl Press (per arm) 30 lbs, 35 lbs, 40 lbs (10, 7, 3)
-Bent Over T-Bar Row - 90 lbs, 100 lbs, 110 lbs (10, 7, 5)
-Seated Leg Curl - 80 lbs, 90 lbs, 100 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated Leg Extension - 90 lbs, 100 lbs, 110 lbs (10, 8, 6)

Notes:
-Been plateauing so I'm going with heavier weights.
-Sure hope I don't regret it tomorrow during sparring!

 

Pre-Sparring Fu

-Staff Form - 20 min. Ran through it several times at several speeds.
-High Heel Kicks - 8/side
-Inside Crescent Kicks - 8/side
-Outside Crescent Kicks - 8/side
-Front Slap Kick - 8/side
-Roundhouse Kicks - 8/side
-Side Kicks - 8/side

Then...Kung Fu Sparring Time!

Small class tonight, which was okay with me since I'd missed a couple of weeks.

We focused mostly on simultaneous attacks - doing punches and kicks at the same time. This is a hallmark of our style.

I still have serious coordination issues with these moves since I'm so used to combos being sequential. But I can definitely see it being useful.

We worked on several variations of skipping forward with a front kick (roundhouse, side kick, push kick) while throwing a jab at the same time. Then Sifu would build up combinations on top of that.

During Free Sparring, we worked on Point Sparring. I fought Sihing Kirby (our best fighter) a few times. I'm reasonably sure he let me get a few points just to get my confidence up.

I did well, but he wasn't about to let me win the match. The final score was 4 - 5.

There was a new Orange Belt in the class, so I got a chance to work with him a bit. I only used hands while he did hands and feet. He was a little timid, but something tells me he's going to be a monster once he gets better.

Before we closed out, I did five minutes with Sihing Kirby again (free sparring). Scored some legitimate hits on him...mostly by using some of his moves on him.

Worked on using those simultaneous attacks. They definitely have a lot of potential. Right now, though, I noticed I'm not committing to my kicks. I'm using them more as a jab to get in and throw punches. Need to work on turning them into viable attacks.

All in all, a good night. Nice to be back!

 

Gymborama

-Seated Lat Pull Down - 120 lbs, 140 lbs, 170 lbs (10, 8, 5)
-Cable Cross Overs - 60 lbs, 70 lbs, 80 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Tricep Dips - 3 x 10
-Seated Preacher Curl - 60 lbs, 70 lbs, 80 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-"Free Style" Shoulder Pulley Press - 60 lbs, 70 lbs, 80 lbs (10, 8, 6...see notes)
-Seated Leg Press - 210 lbs, 225 lbs, 240 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated Calf Press - 210 lbs, 225 lbs, 240 lbs (10, 8, 6)

Notes:
-Going to try out the Kung Fu II class tomorrow, so I switched out my workout days.
-The "Freestyle" machine is a brand name. Uses a pulley system instead of a static bar so it utilized all the shoulder muscles for the press up. It's sort of like doing it with free dumb bells. The experience was...interesting.

 

Kung Fu II Time!

Surprisingly, this class wasn't as brutal as I thought it'd be. But it DID focus more on the advanced stuff (naturally). There wasn't anything I hadn't seen before...just more of it.

Here's how it went down:

-Jumping Jacks - 30
-Lunging Stretches - 2/side
-Squats/Touch the Floor - 5
-Horse Stance - 2 min
-Squats/Touch the Floor - 2 min
-Leg Swings (side to side) - 30/leg
-Side Kick Balances
-Leg Swings (front and back) - 30/leg
-Round House Kick Balances
-Leg Swings (scorpion kick) - 30/leg
-Side Kick Leg Pumps (up and down)
-Slow Side Kicks (while leaning on the wall) - 10/side
-Fast Side Kicks (while leaning on the wall) - 10/side
-Low/High Side Kicks (while leaning on the wall) - 10/side
-Slow Roundhouse Kicks (while leaning on the wall) - 10/side
-Fast Roundhouse Kicks (while leaning on the wall) - 10/side
-Low/High Roundhouse Kicks (while leaning on the wall) - 10/side
-Knuckle Push Ups - 10
-Crunches - 10
-Palm Push Ups - 10
-Crunches - 10
-Spider-Man Push Ups - 10
-Bicycle Crunches - 50
-Pistol Squats
-Forms: Chong Keun (slowly with pauses and 3 lbs weights in each hand)

Notes:
-You know...I really enjoyed this class! It hit all the things I needed work on and was just the thing to take my training up to the next level.
-Oh sure, I'll be a cripple tomorrow. But it was fun tonight!

 

Gymoshanterns

-Bench Press - 135 lbs, 155 lbs, 185 lbs (10, 8, 5)
-Seated Close Grip Low Row - 105 lbs, 120 lbs, 135 lbs, 150 lbs (10, 8, 6, 6)
-Overhead Cable Tricep Press - 80 lbs, 90 lbs, 105 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Supinated Cable Curls - 70 lbs, 80 lbs, 90 lbs, 100 lbs (10, 8, 6, 4)
-Seated Leg Curls - 90 lbs, 100 lbs, 110 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated Leg Extensions - 100 lbs, 110 lbs, 120 lbs, (10, 8, 6)

Notes:
-Went to a different gym facility today so some of the machines were different.
-I did four sets at the stations with the different equipment to test out which weights were right for me.

 

Kung Fu II Time!

Sihing Kirby led the warm up. So I prepared for pain. And pain was what we got! Here's how it went down.

Warm Up and Conditioning:
-One Foot Stance - 3/side
-Horse Stance Squat - 10
-One Foot Stance - 3/side
-One Foot Stance/Roll Out/Back/Extend/Back - 10/side
-Waistline Rotations - 10
-One Foot Stance - 3/side
-Horse Stance Squat - 10
-Low Stance - 10/side
-High Heel/Inside Crescent Kick - 10/side
-High Heel/Outside Crescent Kick - 10/side
-Knuckle Push Ups - 10
-Crunches - 10
-Plank - 30 sec
-Back Extensions - 10
-Pike Stretch
-Tricep Push Ups - 10
-Crunches - 10
-Plank - 30 sec
-Back Extensions
-Pike Stretch
-Wide Palm Push Ups - 10
-Crunches - 10
-Plank - 30 sec
-Back Extensions - 10
-Pike Stretch
-Standing Split
-Straddle Split
-Lie Down Push Ups - 10
-Standing Split
-Straddle Split
-Lie Down Push Ups - 10
-Standing Split
-Straddle Split
-Lie Down Push Ups - 10
-Pistol Squat to Low Stance - 10/side (ouch!!!:cry: )

Technique:
-High Heel Kick/Jumping Inside Crescent Kicks
-High Heel Kick/Jumping Outside Crescent Kicks

Forms:
-Son Lei Kuen (yay!)

 

Kung Fu Sparring Time!

Not my best class.

Unlike Stella, I could not find my groove tonight.

We started with our basic warm up (stretches and kicks) before moving to basic combinations (front roundhouse kick/punches, etc...)

Then we did a couple of quick two person drills where the attacker throws a kick/punch combo while the defender moves out of the way while punching. The purpose of this exercise was to train us to constantly be striking...even when retreating.

Then...we went straight into sparring! We did a few rounds of free sparring, but I could not find my rhythm.

We ended the class with a little King of the Mountain point sparring. And this one tall, skinny kid owned us ALL! He was young, quick and his reach was just insane!

It was like fighting Dhalsim from the old "Street Fighter" games. I swear the kid's arms stretched out of his sockets and across the room!

However, I discovered he always does the same opening move (side kick to the face followed by a low punch to the belly). I can usually dodge his side kick, but that hand always tags me before I can move in.

Sifu suggested stepping around the side kick to close the distance and throw hands. I practiced it a couple of times and it does work. I just can't pull it off fast enough yet.

On a positive note, my point sparring has improved. I used to get completely shut out and not score at all. Now if we're going to 3 points, I can usually take it to 2-2 before I make some dumb move and get taken out.

Eh. There's always next week.

 

Thanks, Simon.

I once had a teacher who said it's almost impossible to sit in a class and not learn something. Likewise, it's almost impossible to train regularly in martial arts and not improve somehow.

So it's always better to look at those improvements...minuscule as they may seem. Something I remind myself every time an Upper Belt cleans my clock (which is often!)

 

Gym Bai Ya

-Seated Lat Pull Downs - 140 lbs, 150 lbs, 170 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Bench Press - 155 lbs, 175 lbs, 185 lbs (10, 8, 5)
-Preacher Curl - 60 lbs, 70 lbs, 90 lbs (10, 8, 5)
-Shoulder Press - 110 lbs, 120 lbs, 130 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated Leg Extensions - 90 lbs, 100 lbs, 110 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated Leg Curls - 100 lbs, 110 lbs, 120 lbs (10, 8, 6)

Notes:
-Forgot to work Triceps! DoH!
-Slowly trying to go heavier (or start heavier)

 

Kung Fu II Time!

Man, I felt like a total newb tonight. It was kind of cool!

We did a whole bunch of stuff I'd never seen before. There were two other Blue Belts there besides me, we just hung back and watched for a bit.

Eventually, we gave it the ol' college try, but it wasn't pretty. Still...it's exciting to have something new to work on.

Here's how it went down:

Warm Up:
-Horse Stance - 6 min (where's the smilie of someone grimacing in agony?!)

Technique:
-High Heel Kick/Jumping High Heel Kick
-Inside Crescent Kick/Jumping Inside Crescent Kick
-Outside Crescent Kick/Jumping Outside Crescent Kick
-"Four Kicks" (Inside Crescent Kick/Jumping Inside Crescent Kick/Outside Crescent Kick/Jumping Outside Crescent Kick...part of Son Lei Keun)
-Cyclonic Kick
-Dive Downs (Dive to the floor, kick through, kip up)
-Stance Walks
-Front Round House Kick/Spinning Front Round House kick
-Skipping Forward Side Kick/Round House Kick/Hook Kick/Ax Kick

Forms:
-Chong Keun (slowly, as a class)
-Son Lei Keun (the next three moves)

 

Gym Fu

-Cable Cross Overs - 60 lbs, 65 lbs, 75 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated Cable Rows - 110 lbs, 120 lbs, 130 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Dumb Bell Curls (per arm) - 30 lbs, 35 lbs, 40 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Tricep Dips - 3 x 10
-Seated Leg Press - 210 lbs, 225 lbs, 240 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated Calf Press - 210 lbs, 225 lbs, 240 lbs (10, 8, 6)

Form Fu
-Staff - 20 mins

 

Kung Fu II

Warm Up and Technique
-One Foot Stance - 10/side
-Horse Stance Squats - 8
-Slow Side Kicks - 8/side
-Low Stance Stretch - 12/side
-High Heel Kick/Jumping High Heel Kick
-Inside Crescent Kick/Jumping Inside Crescent Kick
-Outside Crescent Kick/Jumping Outside Crescent Kick
-Cyclonic Kick
-Butterfly Kick
-Round House Kick/Spinning Round House Kick
-Side Kick/Jumping Side Kick/Spinning Side Kick
-Horse Stance Punches
-Bow Stance Punches
-Punch/Kick/Punch
-Bow Stance to Horse Stance Punches
-Sit Up Punches - 25
-Back Extensions - 35
-Knuckle Push Ups -10
-Tricep Push Ups - 10
-Spider-Man Push ups - 10 (can finally do some on my finger tips again...YAY!)
-Back Bend Push Ups

Forms
-Son Lei Keun - Learned the next three moves and ran through it until the end of class.

 

Kung Fu Sparring Time!

I love it when the class focuses on exactly the thing I wanted to work on!

Been wanting to spend some time on blocking. And we did!

In our style, blocks should be little movements that redirect strikes and/or create openings. And sometimes the blocks themselves become counters.

So we spent a good twenty minutes going through the basics before moving to two person drills to put it all together for practical use.

By the time it was time for free sparring, the blocks were almost reflexive.

Tonight, the whole class sparred together (usually we break it up by skill and/or age). So tonight for a change, I got a chance to be a "Sihing" ("older brother") and help out some of the younger students or Lower Belts.

It was refreshing to take a break from getting schooled by the Upper Belts while doing a little schooling of my own :evil:

Although I totally got served by the tall skinny flexible kid again (who I shall refer to as "Dhalsim" for all you Street Fighter fans).

He has me totally flummoxed.

I mean, I can avoid getting hit, but can't seem to effectively counter. His reach is too long and he's really really quick. Did manage to draw him in and get him with a back fist, though.

But that only worked once. .

Still, I enjoy the challenge. Working with the Upper Belts (and the more skilled fighters) has definitely helped me improve my game.

 

Gym-a-gotta-da-vida

After a week of sitting on the couch and stuffing my face, it was nice to get moving again. Here's how it went down:

-Cable Cross Overs - 60 lbs, 65 lbs, 70, lbs 75 lbs (10, 8, 6, 6)
-Seated Cable Rows - 120 lbs, 130 lbs, 140 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Tricep Dips - 3 x 10
-Roman Chair Leg Raise Twists (in between Tricep Dip sets) 2 x 10
-Preacher Curl Machine - 60 lbs, 70 lbs, 80 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated Shoulder Press - 110 lbs, 125 lb, 140 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated Leg Curls - 90 lbs, 100 lbs, 110 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated Leg Extensions - 100 lbs, 110 lbs, 120 lbs (10, 8, 6)

 

The Kung Fu school is closed for the holidays, so I got in a little Solo Kung Fu-lery.

Here's how it went down:

Warm Up and Technique
-High Heel Kicks - 10/side
-Inside Crescent Kicks - 10/side
-Outside Crescent Kicks - 10/side
-Front Slap Kicks - 10/side
-Slow Side Kicks - 10/side
-High/Low Side Kicks - 10/side
-Slow Roundhouse Kicks - 10/side
-High/Low Roundhouse Kicks - 10/side

Shadow Boxing
-Punch Drills (working on the "rotational movement" of the body)
-Door Jugglers (see notes...couldn't think of what else to call them)
-Free Shadow Box - 2min

Forms
-Staff - Ran through it twice...once slow, once normal speed. Looking pretty good. Still a little fuzzy about the last few moves
-San Lei Keun - Forgot the new segments I'd learned before the holidays (DoH!), so I just ran through the first few moves.

Stretches
-Standing Splits
-Straddle Splits
-Low Stance Stretch
-Cobra

Notes:
-The idea of the punch/blocks of our style is to extend the arms in front of the body. Incoming punches are blocked by twisting the torso slightly so the defender blocks the same hand as the attacker (left blocks left, etc...)
-I discovered a good way to practice this was to keep a door between my arms and bat it back and forth with my hands. Hence..."Door Jugglers"!
-If done correctly, the won't travel anymore than six inches (the gap between the hands).
-This gives me some actual resistance and also keeps me conscious of moving the door primarily with the rotational body movement instead to wildly swatting it.
-After awhile, I got into a rhythm...like a boxer with a very heavy and slow Speed Bag.

 

Gymbucktu: Electric Boogaloo

-Bench Press - 155 lbs, 175 lbs, 185 lbs (10, 8, 5)
-Bent Over T-Bar Row - 90 lbs, 100 lbs, 115 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated Curl/Press (per arm) - 30 lbs (10), 35 lbs (8, 6)
-Seated Leg Press - 210 lbs, 225 lbs, 240 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated Calf Press - 210 lbs, 225 lbs, 240 lbs (10, 10, 10)

And that's all I have to say about that.

 

Kung Fu-lery

Warm Up and Technique
-High Heel Kicks - 10/side
-One Foot Stance - 5/side
-Inside Crescent Kicks - 10/side
-Outside Crescent Kicks - 10/side
-Front Slap Kicks - 10/side
-Slow Side Kicks - 10/side
-Slow Roundhouse Kicks - 10/side

Shadow Boxing
-Punch Drills - 20/side ("side" being "Left leading stance" and "Right leading stance")
-Door Punch Drills 20/side
-Shadow Box

• Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand
• Back Fist/Front Kick/Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand
• Back Fist/Front Kick/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand/One-Two Advance
• Free Combos

Forms
-Son Lei Keun (what little I could remember)

Stretches
-Standing Splits
-Straddle Splits
-Low Stance Stretch
-Cobra

 

Gymenem

-Seated Lat Pull Downs - 150 lbs, 160 lbs, 175 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Cable Crossovers - 65 lbs, 70 lbs, 75 lbs (10, 8, 8...need to raise weight)
-Seated Leg Extensions - 110 lbs, 120 lbs, 130 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated leg Curls - 100 lbs, 110 lbs, 120 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Preacher Curls (Nautilus machine) 60 lbs, 70 lbs, 80 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Tricep Dips - 3 x 10

Notes:
-As you can imagine for the second day of the New Year...the Gym was packed!
-Hence the reason for the odd sequence of the exercises. Just had to jump on what was available when it was available.
-On the plus side...got to try out the new Fitbit The Missus got me for Christmas! According to that li'l gadget, I burned 1,148 calories during my workout (which honestly...seems a tad high)

 

Kung Fu II Time

Nice class for the first of the year...only four people and Sihing Alex led it. Here's how it went down.

Warm Up and Technique
-Jumping Jacks - 30
-Side to Side Leg Swings - 20/side
-Forward Leg Swings - 20/side
-Rearward Leg Swings - 20/side
-Jab/Cross - 10/side
-Jab/Cross/Hook - 10/side
-Jab/Jab/Cross/Hook - 10/side
-Jab/Jab/Cross/Hook/Duck Under/Upper Cut/Hook - 10/side (this one took a little time to get right, so we broke it down slowly.)
-Jab/Jab/Cross/Hook/Duck Under/Upper Cut/Hook/Switch Feet/Duck Under/Upper Cut/Hook - 10/side
-Push Ups - 10
-Skipping Forward Side Kick - 10/side
-Skipping Forward Side Kick/Side Kick - 10/side
-Skipping Forward Side Kick/Side Kick/Spinning Side Kick - 10/side
-Standing Split
-Straddle Split
-Iron Shirt - 3 min (I could only do this in 45 second increments.)
-Horse Stance - 3 min (this...was no problem!)

Forms
-Staff - We didn't really go over the form so much as learn some advanced techniques.

Notes:
-Fitbit said I burned 1,814 calories which again, seems a little high.:dunno: