Hey folks, Figured I'd get a training log going to keep me motivated...and honest! And it's a great way to stea...I mean..."borrow" some wisdom from all you industrious martial artists out there. Brief background: I'm about to hit 47 (as in years old) next week and I just started studying kung fu (mizhon louhan style) in July. Did some judo in college for a bit and started muay thai training when I turned 35. Did that for about five years before dabbling in parkour. Anyway, my main goal is to get my kicks up to snuff. Never was very flexible (which is what attracted me to muay thai) and kung fu kicks are pretty different than what I'm used to. Kung fu classes are Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and I do strength and technique training in between. Except on Sundays. Which is why I'm getting the thread going today!
Had kung fu class tonight. Although most nights there's a fairly regular routine, every so often our Sifu likes to mix things up a bit. This was one of those nights. I probably won't get this detailed every time. But I want to keep track of tonight's workout since it was a little different. Warm Up: Balance One foot stance "Searching the sea" (stand on one foot while leaning forward with rear leg extended for balance) Static Stretch (3 times) Lunging stretch, both sides and middle Lunging hamstring stretch, both sides Standing splits, both sides and middle Low stance stretch, both sides Standing toe touch stretch Ballistic Stretch (10 reps, each side) High heel kick Inside crescent kick Outside crescent kick Front slap kick Conditioning (10 reps unless otherwise noted) Knuckle push ups Tricep push ups Isometric push ups V-ups Bicylces Pike ups Back extensions Techniques Horse stance punches Horse stance to bow stance punches Outside block/upper cut Outside block/scraping punch Punch/block/front kick Low stance/sweep/bow stance punch Finished with Sei Fu Sein Beh form (probably butchered the spelling...) Notes: -Class is about an hour long and there's typically more emphasis on technique. But some times, it's just good to work on the basics. -The stretching and conditioning exercises are interspersed (so for instance, High Heel kick, then knuckle push ups, etc...). -Techniques are done in three lines, moving down the length of the studio and back (so maybe 100 feet or so). -I should point out that I'm a yellow belt in this style. Per school rules, no sparring until orange belt (the next one for me). -I definitely forgot some stuff...
Looks good, Tommy. I don't know anything about Kung Fu but how do you feel the class is compared with the Muay Thai class you had as far as conditioning goes?
Thanks Belltoller. My wife actually asked me that question when I first started doing kung fu. I'd say it's the difference between training for a sprint versus a long distance run. Muay thai would be the sprint. We started each class with three rounds of jumping rope for three minutes, with a minute break in between (during which time, we'd do sit ups). Then we'd work on techniques, drills and sparring. But the goal was to get us in shape for an actual muay thai fight...which is three three-minute rounds. So the heart rate needed to be extremely high for a short period of time. In kung fu, the goal seems to be to keep the heart rate at a moderately high rate for a prolonged period of time. So the conditioning seems less intense, but it's almost constant throughout the whole hour. And there's more emphasis on holistic training...flexibility, balance, stretching.
Non-class days are broken up into kung fu training and weight training. Kung Fu Training Conditioning High heel kicks (10 per side) Inside crescent kicks (10 per side) Side to side leg swing (20 per side) Slow kicks - side kick (10 per side) Slow kicks - roundhouse (10 per side) Technique Form - Sei fu sei beh - focus on speed and power. Sink in stances Form - kuen lei kuen - Done slow focusing on power, good form and deep stances Form - Nunchucks - first six moves (still learning this one) Stretch Standing splits, each side, middle - three times Low stance, each side - three times Shoulder stretch Cobra (lower back yoga stretch) Weight training Bench press 165 lbs (2 x 8 reps) Pull downs 150 lbs (2 x 8 reps) Cable tricep push down 120 lbs (2 x 8 reps) Bar bell curls 30 lbs (per arm...2 x 8 reps) Cable leg raises 15 lbs (per leg 2 x 8) Bonus! Bag work on kicks (see notes) Notes: -"Slow kicks" involve leaning low against a surface for support, slowly raising the leg and going through the kicking motion. Helps develop the hip flexors -The weight training is there to build up the muscle strength but not necessarily the size. So I'm not trying to bulk up...just keep strong. Any suggestions are appreciated. -Bag kicks were interesting. Trying to do a proper kung fu kick (open the hip, point the knee, snap the kick out) but kept reverting back to muay thai (on the toes and swinging the whole leg through...hitting with the shin).
Careful or you'll end up developing your own, proprietary hybrid kick and send us all back to the drawing board, lol.
Oh would that I could! Most likely I'll develop a jacked up kick that's not good for muay thai or kung fu!
Kung fu class today. Let's see if I can remember everything we did... Warm Up and Basic Techniques One foot stance (hugging the knee) (3x) One foot stance (no hands) (3x) "Searching the sea" (3x) Horse stance 4 punches (10x) Horse stance 6 punches (10x) Horse stance 8 punches (10x) Horse stance 10 punches (10x) Side knee raises (each leg) (10x) Side kicks (each leg) (10x) Roundhouse kicks (each leg) (10x) High heel and inside crescent kick (10x each leg) High heel and outside crescent kick (10x each leg) Heel thrust kick (10x each leg) Knuckle push ups (10x) Tricep push ups (10x) "Spider-man" push ups (10x) Back bend push ups (10x) Low stance stretch Pike stretch Sit up punches (25x) Back extensions (35x) Combinations (All combos done moving down the length of the studio and back) Moving horse stance punches Moving horse stance punch/kick Back fist/back fist/reverse punch (jab/jab/cross) Back fist/back fist/reverse punch/ridge hand Back fist/back fist/reverse punch/roundhouse kick/ridge hand Back fist/reverse punch/roundhouse kick/Super-man punch/ridge hand/side kick (this one pretty much threw everyone off!) Front roundhouse/back fist/spinning back fist (back to keeping it simple after that last one) Man! When I put it all down, it doesn't seem like much. But I was tired and sweating after an hour of it!
There's nothing equivalent to an hour of MA training and conditioning. One hangs on by mere minutes, sometimes seconds. "When is that confounded 30 second rest buzzer going to go off?" lol.
Pressed for time today. But still managed to get in a little Kung Fu Training. Here's the drill: Slow kicks - side kick (10 per side) Slow kicks - roundhouse (10 per side) Form - Sei fu sei beh - focus on speed and power. Sink in stances Form - kuen lei kuen - focus on power, good form and deep stances Then I hit the gym for some Weight training Seated chest press - 140 lbs (2 x 8 reps) Two hand Bent over rows - 70 lbs (2 x 8 reps) Curl/Press - 30 lbs/arm (2 x 8 reps) Squats - 70 lbs (2 x 8 resp) Bonus! Heavy bag work! Notes -Third time doing squats on the Smith Machine. Getting better and able to sink deeper. -Interesting bag session. Tried doing a simple combination (jab/cross/hook) muay thai style. Then tried the kung fu version (back fist/reverse punch/ridge hand) to see the difference - Not surprisingly, the muay punches were solid. They had more weight and moved the bag more. -The kung fu punches, though, were faster. I was able to get them out faster than the muay thai punches (and I'm pretty fast). But they seemed to do less damage. -Did the same for the kicks. Again, unsurprisingly, the muay thai kicks more solid and moved the back more. -Kung fu kicks were not as effective but that's probably because I'm not used to them yet. I can see how over time they can be much quicker and more deceptive.
Kung Fu class today! Warm Up and Techniques One foot stance "Searching the sea" Knuckle push ups (10x) Six horse stance punches (10x) Tricep push ups (10x) High heel kicks (10x each side) Reverse push ups (10x) Inside/outside crescent kick (10x each side) Side kick (10x each side) Spider-Man push ups (10x) Double side kicks (10x each side) Tricep dips (10x) Heel thrust/roundhouse kick (10x each side) Sit ups (25x) Back extension (35x) Combinations Horse stance punch walk Horse stance/punch/kick Stance walk (horse stance/low stance/bow stance/twist stance/cat stance) Back fist/back fist/reverse punch Skipping roundhouse Back fist/reverse punch/roundhouse Back fist/reverse punch/steal step-hook/spinning back fist/side kick Back fist/reverse punch/roundhouse kick/Superman punch/hook Finish with Sei fu sein beh form
Kung fu class tonight! Not going to notate all the warm up stuff since it was some combination of the previous entries. Suffice it to say, it lasted thirty minutes and made me sweat like a hostage... Worked on Combination techniques: (All combos done moving down the length of the studio and back) Moving horse stance punches Moving horse stance palm/punch/scraping punch Moving horse stance punch/punch/kick Back fist/steal step/side kick Back fist/shuffle/axe kick/side kick Back fist/side kick/spinning side kick Hop/Front slap kick (hop kick to us muay thai people...) Low stance/jump/sweep/bow stance/punch Finished the night with Forms: Keun lai keun Good to be back after a week off!
Too much going on to get to the gym today. But at least I got some kung fu training in. Basically focused on my kicks. Slow side kick, each side (10x) Slow roundhouse kick, each side (10x) Side kick, each side (15x) Roundhouse kick, each side (15x) Forms Sei fu sei beh - concentrated on power, flow and sinking low in the stances Keun lai keun - concentrated on power, flow and good form
Kung fu class tonight Warm up/Conditioning (in no particular order): Static stretching (toe touch, splits, standing splits) Dynamic stretching (high heel kick, inside crescent kick, outside crescent kick) Push ups (knuckle push ups, wide palm push ups, tricep push ups, dive bomber push ups Basic horse stance punches Basic kicks (roundhouse, side, front slap) Technique and Combos Horse stance punch Horse stance punch/kick/punch Bow stance punch???? Bow stance/hop kick/low stance/sweep Skipping side kick Side kick/back fist/spinning side kick Shuffle/back fist/axe kick Back fist/front leg roundhouse kick Front leg roundhouse kick/back fist/reverse punch/rear leg roundhouse (VERY good combination) Forms Nunchuck Form Notes: -All that slow kick training is paying off. Sifu noticed an improvement in my kicks! -Nunchuck form, however, was all over the place. No one seems to remember how to do it. Guess we'll get it eventually
Yeah...that's pretty much how it looked. Now imagine six people doing that at once in six different directions.