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

Yikes! And you're breathing through it okay?

Yup! That's exactly how it happened!

Not 100% sure I didn't break anything. That's just my own self-diagnosis. At No part of my nose is moving and there's no localized pain. Just some dull bruising right around the area of impact.

It's occasionally tough to breathe, though. But it's also one of the worst ragweed season's DFW has seen in years. So I'm not sure how much of it is allergies or the damaged honker.

Either way, I have an appointment with a "Trained Professional" ENT Specialist on Monday, so we'll know for sure.

 

Yeah, breathing okay though there is this odd crackling sound when I touch the bridge and I can't blow out of the right nostril properly. They'd said there was a hematoma - I think - in there, which was the reason to operate - but that apparently was reabsorbed by my system.

 

Skipped Kung Fu time last night because of work stuff.

Finally had time for some good Gym-Foolery today at lunch. Felt good to be back throwing my weight around!

Here's the deal:

-Bench Press - 155 lbs, 175 lbs, 185 lbs (10, 8, 4)
-Seated Cable Row - 90 lbs, 110 lbs, 130 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Tricep Cable Press - 120 lbs, 130 lbs, 140 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Dumb Bell Bicep Curls/arm - 25 lbs, 30 lbs, 35 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Squats - 135 lbs, 155 lbs, 175 lbs (10, 8, 8...see notes)

Came home and did a little Form-Foolery just so I wouldn't forget it

-Taijin Keun - Twice. Think I have it down except for one spot (which I can do but isn't pretty)
-Sabre - Ran through it for about twenty minutes. I'm about half way through. I know it fairly well. But again, need to focus on keeping it pretty.

Notes:
-Haven't done standing squats in awhile. So I took it easy this first time. Can probably go up in weight next time.
-Finally saw an ENT about my nose. He said it doesn't seem broken and if it's fractured, it's so slight, he can't tell.
-He did say it looks like I deviated my septum a bit. But...and here's the interesting part...he said he's not sure if it was due to THIS injury or the other one. Huh?
-Apparently, I had another nasal trauma earlier in my life and didn't even know it. Wonder if it was from my muay thai days?
-Anyway, the Doc said to observe it and if I noticed any severe trouble breathing to come back for a septoplasty surgery and get it knocked back into place.
-Problem is it's allergy season in North Texas...so EVERYONE has a little trouble breathing right now!

 

If you'd taken a knee or elbow you'd know about it. More likely your mum's midwife or OB became confused and slapped the wrong end!

 

Never said it was as knee or elbow. Just said it was a hard whack to the honker from before. In he muay thai days, we used to spar hard. I remember getting tagged in the nose a couple of times and having the raccoon eyes from blood pooling in the sinuses. Perhaps those did more damage than I thought.

Wouldn't be the first time.

 

Kung Fu Time

This class completely busted all previous paradigms! No warm up...we just went straight into it!

-Horse Stance - 2:30 min

Technique (all exercises done while moving down the studio and back, except of the push ups)
-Horse Stance Walk
-Knuckle Push Ups -10
-Horse Stance Punches
-Tricep Push Ups - 10
-Horse Stance/Punch/Kick/Punch
-Spider-Man Finger Tip Push Ups - 10
-Steal Step/Side Kick/Spinning Side Kick
-Steal Step/Roundhouse Kick/Spinning Heel Kick
-Steal Step/Side Kick/Steal Step/Hook Kick/Steal Step/Roundhouse Kick
-Low Stance Leap
-Tricep Dips - 10
-Back Bend Push Ups - 10

300 Punches
-Two Punches - 10
-Four Punches -10
-Six Punches - 10
-Eight Punches- 10
-Ten Punches - 10

Forms
-Sabre (until the end of class)

 

Yeah, there are a lot of fine bones, cartilage structures and so forth up there. Its easy to damage them and not bother about it.

If you begin having bad infections out of one nostril - as I now have - a good chance it could be from the injury.

 

Ended up skipping Sparring Class Friday night for a variety of reasons. So I made it up with the Saturday Kung Fu Time!

Here's how it went down:

Warm Up
-Jog - 200 m
-Jumping Jacks - 200 m
-Skipping - 200 m
-High Knees - 200 m (THAT was tough!)
-High Heel Kick - 10/side
-Inside Crescent Kick - 10/side
-Outside Crescent Kick - 10/side
-Knuckle Push Ups - 10
-Tricep Push Ups - 10
-Spider-Man Finger Tip Push Ups - 10
-Horse Stance Two Punches - 10
-Horse Stance Four Punches - 10
-Straddle Splits - 3 x side
-Standing Splits - 3
-Lie Down Push Ups - 10
-Tricep Dips - 10
-Back Bend Push Ups - 10
-Sit Up Punches - 25
-Back Extensions - 35

Forms
-Taijin Keun
-Sabre (for the rest of the class...about 30 minutes)

Notes
-We have a rank test coming up, so Sifu wants to get us all in good shape so we can pass.
-I suspect we'll drill forms mercilessly for the next few weeks. Which is fine. I feel I've been an Orange Belt for way too long!

 

Kung Fu Time!

Whew! Rough class. Sifu's trying to get us all whipped into shape before the rank test next month. Actually, it was probably a good thing that the intensity was cranked up.

Sijay Brenda led the class. And my legs have never been so fatigued...and yet...flexible. Oh and just for reference sake, imagine someone who looks like Janet Jackson, sounds like Sofia Vergerra and was probably a Navy SEAL and that's an approximate idea of Sijay Brenda!

Here's what she did to us:

Warm Up
-One Foot Stance - 5/side
-One Foot Stance to Searching the Sea to One Foot Stance to Pistol Squat! - 5/side
-Knuckle Push Ups - 10
-One Foot Stance to Searching the Sea to One Foot Stance to Pistol Squat to Low Stance! - 5/side
-Wide Palm Push Ups - 10
-One Foot Stance to Searching the Sea to One Foot Stance to Pistol Squat to One Foot Stance to Side Kick - 5/side
-Tricep Push Ups - 10
-Low Stance Stretches - 10
-Spider-Man Push Ups - 10
-High Heel Kick - 10/side
-Outside Crescent Kick - 10/side
-Inside Crescent Kick - 10/side
-Front Slap Kick - 10/side
-Straddle Splits - 5/side
-Standing Splits -5
-Horse Stance then Squat Down Slap the Floor every 30 seconds - 2:30
-Straddle Splits - 3/side
-Horse Stance - 1:00
-Standing Splits and Touch Toes (if you can...I can't) - 3/side
-Straddle Split - 3
-Horse Stance - 1:00
-Standing Split - 3/side
-Straddle Split - 3
-Sitting Split - Touch Toe on Left Side, Switch to Right - 3
-Horse Stance - 1:00
-Standing Split - 3/side
-Straddle Split - 3
-Lie Down Push Ups - 10
-Tricep Dips - 10
-Horse Stance - 1:00
-Standing Split - 3/side
-Straddle Split - 3
-Sitting Split - Touch Toe on Left Side, Switch to Right - 3
-Pike Stretch

Techniques (moving down the length of the studio and back)
-Horse Stance Walk
-Horse Stance Punches
-Horse Stance/Punch/Kick/Punch
-Jump Slap Kick
-Low Stance Jump
-Running Punches

Forms
-Sabre - (Orange belts worked on it until the end of class. Think I'm about 2/3 of the way through.)

 

Got in a little Kung Fu-lery today in preparation for the upcoming rank test.

-Horse Stance - 4:00 min (only need to do 3:00 for the test)
-Taijin Keun - 15 mins. I have it down pretty well. Just trying to make it pretty and shore up one specific part.
-Sabre - 15 mins. Running through what I know. Also trying to make it look clean and precise.

Then, off for some Gym-Foolery

Used the machines today because it was quicker and I could overload the weights.

-Seated Chest Press - 140 lbs, 160 lbs, 180 lbs (10, 9, 7)
-Nautilus Seated Pull Down - 140 lbs, 160 lbs, 180 lbs (10, 9, 7)
-Overhead Cable Rope Tricep Chop - 110 lbs, 130 lbs, 150 lbs (10, 9, 7)
-Bicep Rope Cable Curl - 50 lbs, 60 lbs, 80 lbs (10, 8, 7)
-Horizontal Leg Press - 180 lbs, 200 lbs, 220 lbs (10, 8, 6)

Short workout. But it got the job done!

 

Why is horse stance used so much in kung fu? Zen kutsu dachi (not sure the Chinese equivalent) is a far more solid stance and more practical IMHO.

 

Horse stance builds internal power and leg strength. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that it's not really used in real fighting or sparring.

But if you're mobile and agile in horse, you'll be even more so in regular fighting stance. It's been working for me.

What does "zen kutsu dachi" look like?

 

Kung Fu Time!

Warm Up
-Lunging Stretch - 3/side
-Standing Splits - 3
-Hurdler Stretches - 3/side
(moving down the length of the studio)
-High Heel Kick
-Inside Crescent Kick
-Outside Crescent Kick
-Skip/Hop
-Skip/Front Round House Kick
-Skip/Front Side Kick
-Steal Step/Side Kick
(stationary)
-Tricep Dips -10
-Sit Ups - 15
-Plank - 1:00
-Sit Ups - 15
-Push Ups - 10
-Sit Ups - 15
-Tricep Push Ups - 10

Technique
-Step Out/Jab/Cross - 10/side
-Skip Forward/Jab/Cross - 10/side
-Skip Forward/Jab/Cross - 10/side
-Skip Forward/Jab/Cross/Pivot Ridge Hand - 10/side

Pad Drills
-Straight Punches - 10/side
-Straight Punches - 30 sec/side
-Front Round House Kick - 10/side
-Front Round House Kick - 20 sec/side
-Front Hook Kick - 10/side
-Front Hook Kick - 20 sec/side

Forms
-Sabre (until the end of class)

 

Zen kutsu is a forward stance. The exact details vary from style to style (like tsuki and everything else), but the concept is the same.
http://karate-cosmos.wikidot.com/local--files/zenkutsu-dachi/Zenkutsu Dachi Photo.jpg
This^ is not typical of Hiyashi-Ha or its variants (I think it's more Japanese than Okinawan), but you get the idea.

 

We call that one "bow stance" as that's the stance the ancient archers used.

 

Didn't get a chance to log it, but I got some Gym-Foolery in yesterday.

-Pull Ups - 3 x 10
-Decline Bench Press - 155 lbs, 175 lbs, 185 lbs (10, 8, 7)
-Dumb Bell Bicep Curls (per arm) 25 lbs, 30 lbs, 35 lbs (10, 8, 7)
-Tricep Dips - 3 x 10
-Goblet Squats - 50 lbs, 55 lbs, 60 lbs (10, 10, 8)

Then came home for some Kung Fu Form-Foolery

-Sabre - About 20 mins
-Taijin Kuen - 15 mins

 

Kung Fu Time!

Warm Up
-One Foot Stance -5/side
-One Foot Stance Hop - 5 jumps x 5/side
-Hop into Horse Stance/Six Punches - 10
-Low Stance Stretch - 10
-Waistline Rotations - 10
-Shoulder Rotations - 10
-Arm Swings - 10/side
-Angled Arm Swings (essentially Back Fist/Scraping Punch)
-Knuckle Push Ups - 10
-Tricep Push Ups - 10
-Spider-Man Finger Tip Push Ups - 10
-High Heel Kick/Inside Crescent Kick - 10/side
-High Heel Kick/Outside Crescent Kick - 10/side
-Straddle Splits - 4/side
-Standing Splits - 4
-Lie Down Push Ups - 10
-Tricep Dips - 15
-Back Bend Push Ups - 10
-Sit Up Punches - 25
-Back Extensions - 35

Basic Technique (moving)
-Rear Side Kick/Spinning Side Kick
-Rear Round House Kick/Spinning Heel Kick
-Steel Step Side Kick/Steel Step Hook Kick/Steel Step Round House Kick
-Skipping Side Kick
-Low Stance Jumps
-Stance Walk (Horse, Low, Bow, Twist, Cat)
-Jab/Cross/Rear Round House Kick
-Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand/Spinning Back Fist

Forms
-Sei Fon Sei Bei
-Kuen Lei Kuen
-Nunchucks
-Taijin Keun

-Sabre for the rest of the class

Notes:
-My side kicks were just awful today! Need to get back into those stretches again.
-Finally finished Sabre form. One of my classmates videoed one of the upper belts doing the whole thing during HIS belt test. So now we finally have a visual reminder!

 

Gym Foolery at lunch...

-Seated Chest Press - 160 lbs, 170 lbs, 180 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated Lat Pulldown - 160 lbs, 170 lbs, 185 lbs (10, 8, 7)
-Seated Leg Press - 210 lbs, 225 lbs, 240 lbs (10, 8, 6)
-Seated Calf Press - 210 lbs, 225 lbs, 240 lbs (10, 8, 8)
-Tricep Cable Press - 110 lbs, 130 lbs, 140 lbs (10, 8, 8)
-Seated Bicep Curl - 50 lbs, 60 lbs 70 lbs (10, 8, 6. Man! All the other exercises are in triple digit weights. Biceps are really slacking!)

Then came home and did some Form Foolery

-Sabre - About 20 minutes
-Taijin Kuen -About 10 minutes

Notes:
-Haven't really had the time for the holistic Kung Fu-lery like before.
-But right now, I should probably focus on the forms.
-Will get back to the stretching and technique-ing after the rank test next month.

 

Kung Fu Time!

Warm Up
-Lunging Stretch - 3/side
-Standing Hamstrings Stretch
-Low Stance Stretches - 10
-High Heel Kick - 10
-Inside Crescent Kick - 10
-Outside Crescent Kick - 10
-Knuckle Push Ups - 10
-Sit Ups - 10
-Plank - 1 min
-Wide Palm Push Ups - 10
-Tricep Push Ups - 10
-Straddle Splits - 3/side
-Standing Splits - 3
-Lie Down Push Ups
-Back Fist - 10
-Reverse Punch - 10
-Ridge Hand - 10
-Steal Step Front Side Kick
-Steal Step Front Round House Kick
-Steal Step Front Hook/Ax Kick
-Step/Back Fist/Follow Up/Reverse Punch
-Step/Back Fist/Rear Round House Kick

Technique (moving)
-Horse Stance Walk
-Horse Stance/Punch/Kick/Punch
-Bow Stance/Punch/Low Stance/Jump/Punch
-Running Punches
-Backwards Running Punches
-Back Fist/Reverse Punch
-Back Fist/Ridge Hand/Steal Step/Spinning Back Fist
-Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Back Fist/Ridge Hand/Steal Step/Spinning Back Fist
-Squat Jumps
-One Foot Squat Jumps

Forms
-Sei Fon Sei Bei
-Keun Lei Keun
-Taijin Keun

-Sabre for the rest of the class

 

what do you do in Taijin Keun??