Kung Fu Diary

Discussion in 'Training Logs' started by Heraclius, Jan 6, 2014.

  1. Heraclius

    Heraclius BASILEVS Supporter

    Tuesday, 27 January

    Didn't do any training in my own time, but I finally made it back to class (yay). First impression: ugh. Absolutely knackering. I thought I was doing a reasonable job of keeping myself in shape but I was pretty much gassed after the warmup. Thank goodness it wasn't a very intense class; we spent most of the time doing kicks. Started off in the air, then moved on to having a partner for targeting, then padwork. My roundhouse is pretty good (surprise, surprise), although it gets a bit wonky when I get tired. My front kick looks OK, but I wasn't able to try it on the shield. More or less the same for crescent kicks. My hook kick continues to elude me. I can feel when I hit the pad properly, but I can't really feel if my form is right. It doesn't help that I can't practice them properly at home. I was knackered by the end: even with the air-conditioned hall my jacket felt like it weighed twice as much at the end of the evening. I am happy to be back, though.
     
  2. belltoller

    belltoller OffTopic MonstreOrdinaire Supporter



    Know that feeling all-too well :(
     
  3. Heraclius

    Heraclius BASILEVS Supporter

    Wednesday, 28 January

    Another rest day. My body felt heavy when I woke up and my legs are still sore, so I made the decision to let my body rest.

    Went to my first batto class of the year. Started off with basic cuts and kata. I'm basically where I was at the end of last year (helps that I've been practicing), but my noto has gone back to being bad. The last half of the class we looked at sword vs. spear kumitachi. I quite like spears, so I was very happy about this :).
     
  4. Heraclius

    Heraclius BASILEVS Supporter

    Thursday, 29 January

    Tried to do some skipoing first thing, but I was too tired. So instead I did:

    13 mins random stuff. Did my new kata once, then my kung fu form a couple of times. Went through some other kung fu drills.

    About 12:20 I got around to doing my 15 mins skipping. Overall, a pretty lacklustre performance. I started gettijg a terrible cramp in my shoulder at one point, and really had to tone it down after (I don't know why, but skipping gives me cramps in my left shoulder). I made up for it by spending the last 4 mins alternating between skippimg and burpees. Luckily for me the heat has finally broken, so I wasn't literally soaking in sweat at this point. I played around a bit with spear stuff, but because I was just making most of it up (my knowledge of spear lags behind my enthusiasm, alas) I decided not to count it. Must have done 20-30 mins, though.

    Had my secons goshin jutsu class, and surprisingly I still feel out of shape, even after two whole days! :p The whole class was padwork, starting with the hands. Punching is absolutely knackering, I'll have you know. On the other hand my hook is coming along nicely (despite my grand revelation about hooks being utterly shattered on literally my first day back) and I've made a breakthrough on my uppercut - or rather I've been told how to fix them.

    After a water break the teacher asked for suggestions. I suggested lying down and drinking water, but this was rejected, so we did some kicks. Roundhouse, spinning crescent and spinning hooks. I am reliably told that when I kick my form and balance are excellent, but I move too slowly to actually hit anyone. I recon I'm just too laz... er, technique-focused to really try and move quickly. I can do it if I really want to, I think :p. Actually, that's my main problem, but I did make some small improvements. There was a hair-raising moment when we moved on to spinning crescent kicks, when my brother, who as ever is my only training partner, decided that, rather than doing tue spinning crescent on its own, he would add it to the two-kick combo we had been working on earlier. I expected one technique, and suddenly he launches at me, like a small, slow, foot-tornado. Terrifying stuff.
     
  5. Heraclius

    Heraclius BASILEVS Supporter

    Friday, 30 January

    Midday skipping. Not so hot with the standard stuff, but didn't do badly with the fancy and one-legged stuff.

    20 mins kihon. Worked on my spinning hook kick and uppercut. Trying to consolidate some of the corrections I've gotten this week.
     
  6. belltoller

    belltoller OffTopic MonstreOrdinaire Supporter



    Oh, I know. All too well.

    But keep at it. They tell me it looks bleak right before you've a breakthrough either on your technique or one's endurance.

    Lets hope so, then?
     
  7. Heraclius

    Heraclius BASILEVS Supporter

    If that's the case, I'm long overdue a breakthrough in endurance :p. Nah, I know it'll get better as I get back into it. I've been pretty relaxed about keeping fit over the summer.

    Saturday, 31 January

    9 mins bagwork. 3x3 min rounds of light boxing in orthodox stance.

    15 mins bag boxing. My orthodox training has paid off, seemingly; my cross is audibly more powerful than before, and I can keep throwing if I switch my stance. I kept up a good pace for the most part, although I flagged a bit in the 4th round.

    Anyway, end of week 55. Total time: (17:11 + 0:00) + 75:29 + 2:16 = (17:11) + 77:44

    Wow. I didn't think I did very much this week. I'm impressed.
     
  8. InkyTommy

    InkyTommy Unique Like Everyone Else

    So true, so true. My Sifu (who is a PhD in microbiology) calls it the learning step (as opposed to the learning curve). He said repeated training causes the neural pathways to reroute and grown until finally they connect.

    This is why it seems like nothing's happening for awhile and then one day, BOOM! We get it.

    At least, that's the theory I'm going with :D
     
  9. InkyTommy

    InkyTommy Unique Like Everyone Else

    I admit, I haven't been following your Training Log as closely as I should (because you're doing some really cool stuff!), but given your comment about orthodox training, I take it you're a lefty/southpaw?

    Just curious, because I am too. For years I trained southpaw until I sparred with another left buddy of mine who switched stances in the middle of the round! Greatest psych out I've ever come across! After that, I started training both sides.

    Now I usually start the round in a righty stance and then step into lefty following a right cross. Really messes up your opponent!
     
  10. belltoller

    belltoller OffTopic MonstreOrdinaire Supporter

    Ah, see now. You're doing better'n you thought!
     
  11. Heraclius

    Heraclius BASILEVS Supporter

    Yeah, I'm a southpaw. Probably should have mentioned that :p. I'm never quite sure if I'm writing this log so that other people can understand it, or just for me.
     
  12. belltoller

    belltoller OffTopic MonstreOrdinaire Supporter

    Don't worry. Anyone who's spent time in a boxing ring, or equivalent, understands.
     
  13. Heraclius

    Heraclius BASILEVS Supporter

    Well, I also know none of you are polite enough to not ask if there's anything you don't understand :p.

    Sunday, 1 February

    After reading InkyTommy's training log I decided that I, too, could stand to do some stance training. This is actually something I wish I did more of, but none of the MAs I've done have really put much emphasis on it (and motivating yourself to do it is hard :p). So anyway, I did a couple minutes of neko ashi dachi (cat stance) on each leg, then as much shiko dachi (horse stance) as I could, which is not very much (45 seconds). On the other hand I am able to get low enough that my upper leg is horizontal, which is something I couldn't do a year ago.

    Went for a bike ride. Not normally something worth writing about, but I decided to push myself a bit. I managed to do 14.4 km with an average speed of 24.2 km/h. I'm pretty sure this is good for me, but I'll have to keep doing it to compare. Came back at a much more relaxed pace.

    Shortly after I went out to do some training:

    20 mins batto practice. Mostly walking up and back (that is, moving backwards) doing kesa-giri In a low stance. This allowed me to simultaneously work on my legs, my stamina (walking backwards in a low stance is hard) and my kesa under adverse circumstances. Of course when one attempts to multitask like this one usually ends up doing each task badly; so it was here. I tended to focus on the form of my cut, so my stance got higher as I went. After this I went through a flow drill I've done in class, again in a low stance.

    10 mins uppercuts. Continuing to build on the gains I made last week. I believe that I'm at the point where my mind knows what to do, and I just have to keep drilling until it sinks in properly. I was getting exhausted at this stage; in fact I wanted to bail at 4 mins. I don't know if it's the rising motion of uppercuts, or just the fact that I tens to do them at the end of fairly intense workouts.



    I want to take a moment to reflect on the fact that I've now started my second year of training in goshin jutsu - the first time since seriously taking up martial arts that I've stuck it out this long. Here's to many more years of fruitful training!
     
  14. InkyTommy

    InkyTommy Unique Like Everyone Else

    Naaaah...we understand your log just fine. I wasn't sure if you had mentioned your southpawness in earlier posts.
     
  15. InkyTommy

    InkyTommy Unique Like Everyone Else

    Cool! Glad I could help in some small indirect way that didn't require me to actually do anything! :D



    Good for you! From what I know of Goshin jiujitsu (which isn't much), it seems like a pretty useful and comprehensive style.
     
  16. belltoller

    belltoller OffTopic MonstreOrdinaire Supporter

    Here's to many more, then!



    [​IMG]
     
  17. Heraclius

    Heraclius BASILEVS Supporter

    Unless what you know of goshin jutsu came from my log, it's probably something different. The style I do is basically a modified form of goju-ryu karate. The term "goshin jutsu" means "self-defence techniques/art", and reflects the focus of the art, rather than the style.


    Sorry about the little rant. I get a bit paranoid about the identity of my art.
     
  18. Heraclius

    Heraclius BASILEVS Supporter

    Monday, 2 February

    I did say (not in this thread) that I was taking a rest day today, but I like to live dangerously :)p).

    27 mins pool-work. I do this kind of thing fairly often, but I don't usually bother logging it. I don't plan on starting now, either, so this entry is probably a one-off. Reading Aaradia's "eat bitter" thread I decided to do a bit of work one one basic thing I need to work on: punching from the hips. I started on dry land, but the pool seemed a much more attractive option, especially as I was already soaked with a less savoury liquid than salt water by that point (I'll leave the rest to your depraved minds :p). Anyway, I quickly realised what the problem probably was: core strength. So I turned to a tried and true favorite of mine, which I will have to describe in detail descri, hecause it doesn't have a snazzy name which will make people think, "I understand perfectly". This one's actually taken straight from one of my kung fu drills. Start with a pok sou: a palm strike that angles in towards your centreline. Next do a marn(?) sou: hooking the hand around, then pulling down and to the side; while simultaneously doing a pok sou with the other hand. Repeat until you can no longer breathe (or thereabouts). It's actually a very good core/upper body workout. Your hands are open, fingers closed, providing quite a lot of resistance in the water, and your arms stay a couple of feet out from your body, which develops quite a bit of torque. After that, it's just a question of intensity.

    After this I went on to tread some water. To make it a bit more challenging I alternated 15 secs arms only, 30 secs legs only.
     
  19. belltoller

    belltoller OffTopic MonstreOrdinaire Supporter

    Don't know what pok sou, marn and all is but if it works your core, I know it hurtses.
     
  20. Heraclius

    Heraclius BASILEVS Supporter

    Tuesday, 3 February

    30 mins bagwork. Took it pretty easy, working my straight punches in righty stance, a bit on my roundhouse kick and a little bit on my hooks.
     

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