石鎖 (stone lock) [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5pmwOAXNHE"]YouTube- 石鎖[/ame] The random street side stone lock workout as you do.
视频: 河南开封郑氏花样石锁部分技法 (Kaifeng Stone Lock Zheng pattern techniques) http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTE5MDgxODMy.html
Ask, and you shall receive... Slips has put in a lot of hard work into this thread and it's a subject I've never heard of (kettlebells - yes, stone lock - no) and I reckon it will be of interest to a lot of people. Awesome.
Ok... I hit the motherload... rather than post each and everyone up here on MAP... here's a screenshot off the videos posted by this user on YouKu... gold mine of stone lock videos!!! Enjoy! http://u.youku.com/user_video/id_UMTE5ODQ1NDE2_order_3_type_1_page_1.html
Ok... this one is worthy of posting up! Massive core workout here with the stone lock. Very interesting!! 视频: 何仙姑醉卧象牙床 (get this... the translation is Immortal Woman He Zuiwo ivory bed!!!) http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XOTA3MTI3NDQ=.html http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XOTA3MTIzMjQ=.html
Ok of interest for those of you into your Chinese culture and history and to perhaps place some of this in context I've discovered the collection of 18 videos of the stone lock on YouKu are filmed in Jiangyan, which is a city in the Jiangsu province of coastal China. Just above Shanghai and just west of Nanjing. The city that sits slightly to it's north, Suzhou... is the same as in the famous Chinese noir film [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBvKAfv_k_s"]Suzhou River (苏州河)[/ame] by director Lou Ye (the film is brilliant and is a very accurate representation of the city and modern China by the way). Not to derail this thread away from stone lock work... but it could be a starting point for those you doing research into similarities in style or training methods as no doubt there will be many regional styles of Kung Fu in and around these areas - so putting into a geographic and cultural context will help. note to self: thread got 139 views in 2 hours!!!
Slip, These stone lock work outs are the best.. Now if I could only find a couple of stone locks here on island with the amount of chinese citizens we have here, it might not be as hard as finding kettlebells.
Awesome thread Slip. The Okinawans actually stole the stone locks off of the Chinese for their hojo undo training. We call them ishi sashi. I can see a good pair of kettlebells being a great replica of stone locks.
I reckon that you could easily have a pair made. Any stone mason worth his salt could bang out a pair in short order I suspect. One place to source might be a stone cutter at a graveyard. They usually have odd bits of stone laying about and the tools to cut them to shape with. I'd like to track down the origin of stone locks. I suspect... and I could way off base here... that they were not actually locks. Though the Chinese are known for their square locks (now days pretty much only see in tourist curio shops and 'antique' stores) what's always looked like more of a match to me are the weights used for shipping scales. I'm off tomorrow to look for some in the ship yards... no doubt to look so much amusement of the locals. I have reams and reams of information and photos of stone locks being used. I could literally post for another 5 days and not run out of stuff... looks like my work is cut out for me. One thing I love about this is up until now it's largely been off the radar of most westerners. Even those who practice kung fu don't seem really to have much first hand exposure to it. So it's good to take a bunch of this stuff and nudge it across the divide from east to west. Obviously it's only pictures and videos... but hopefully it can inspire those who do Kung Fu... and those who simply want a new way to train strength and agility. Thanks! yeah this thread should be a good read not only for the Kung Fu practitioner but really anyone who's keen to train. Obviously the Okinawan's weren't about to let a good thing pass them up and snatched this one right up! And yes... I've just went through the IKF booklet that Steve Kotter handed out at his last seminar... I'm looking for similarities and there are many many. It's got me wondering about migration of conditioning methods and if there is a chance that the methods could have gone back and forth across not only the Silk Road trade routes but also the Tea Road trade routes. Fascinating to ponder.
When I lived in Taiwan, I actually saw metal locks that were shaped like the stone locks.. not as big but the same configuration.. The bar would slide and the doors would be secured that way
Yes those are the exact locks! The actual antique ones are dear in price and actually quite clever... though now days there are thousands of junk tourist pieces for sale in stalls everywhere. Below are a few snaps of them and illustrate exactly what you're talking about - the locking of the standard type clasp on a Chinese trunk or cabinet.
Just a bit one the traditional Chinese locks... the Chinese craftsman of old was no slouch and they made everything from the standard run of the mill lock to exquisitely crafted locks that show an amazing level of craftsmanship and incorporate inlay and mythical Chinese creatures. Below some examples - the Chinese characters on the lock are for a husband and wife and mean roughly 'getting on well with each other for many many years' - an auspicious item for a married couple to have... most likely adorning a wooden cabinet or trunk in their bedroom.
here are a few more... they often remind me of the Japanese netsuke to an extent.Three creatures ubiquitous in Chinese culture of course were perfect subject matter for the Chinese lock maker... the horse... a dragon... and the rat.
Well, what can you say.. A qwailo who actually knows a little something about the chinese culture.. How is that for not being a geographical disadvantaged martial arts practitioner. :hat:
Ok and since I'm running the risk of derailing my own thread... back to the stone lock of conditioning we go!!! Here is an article that I've found that would be pretty hard to come across unless one was searching in Chinese. Since I only have limited time to translate this stuff and since my ability to read Chinese is not the best I've just done an online translation - so bear with it... it is rough... but you can get the drift of this article and its' amazing photos!! Whew... no small task that... Sheesh. A very interesting article that brings us a little closer to putting Stone Lock training into context! Very nice insight into how it almost died out during the time the Communists were wresting control of China from the Nationalist! Great historical insight there! Just a quick note... my translation is by no means definitive however I've tried to keep it as close to the feel of what I think the original article is getting at. Transliteration yields up some interesting stuff but it's perhaps an easier read if it's given the flavor of the way a feature like this be written - so I've taken a few liberties.
This was an interesting pic I came across with little more than a title that said: (the word 'burden' transliterated being synonymous with the word 'weight'). China has no shortage of stone - so the people make use of what they have. Love the fact that it's in a sandpit... so if you get something up overhead and need to walk away from it... you just walk away from it. In the west rarely do we have anything like this... even most gyms don't have bumper plates - even if they did allow you to do overhead movements (many gyms heavily frown on them... some outright ban them). Notice the massive stone lock in the second sandpit back. And that massive stone roller of some sort! You could be forgiven for thinking you were looking at something from the Flintstones!
And here's a Chinese stonecutter's yard in Xi'an province. Awesome. More heavy awkward stuff to try and lift than you could shake a stick at... no doubt more than a few Highlanders would feel right out home in this yard! Of course no respectable Chinese stonecutter would be without a few pairs of stone locks on hand. The massive big round disks I'm guessing are mill stones for grinding wheat, grains and soybeans. The totems would be to ward of bad luck and spirits and the troth's for water storage and farm animals.
Check out the good craftsmanship on the stone chairs and other items with the traditional Chinese stone lions on them. Awesome.
