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

I hope to never find out. But if I do, I shall be sure to post it here!

 

Solo Training

I guess this is officially my "Recovery Day", because I feel pretty dang recovered!


Yoga and Stretches

-Yoga (First half of P90X Yoga DVD...about 30 minutes give or take)
-Elastic Band Hamstring Stretches
-Standing Splits
-Straddle Splits
-Low Stance Stretch


Kung Fu

-Slow Side Kicks - 10 per leg
-Slow Roundhouse Kicks - 10 per leg
-Side Kicks - 20+
-Roundhouse Kicks - 20+
-Forms: Sei Fon Sei Bei (focused on speed and precision)
-Forms: Kuen Lei Kuen (focused on good stances)
-Forms: Nunchucks (focused on not smacking myself in the head with the nunchucks)

Notes:
-As expected, the yoga definitely loosened up the hips and legs for those kicks.
-Now that I have the form down, I'm focusing on getting more proficient with the nunchucks. Just working on doing the passes and forward and backwards figure eights.

 

Kung Fu time!

Good class this morning (as usual).


Warm Up

-One Foot Stance
-One Foot Stance Hop
-High Heel Kick/Inside Crescent Kick
-High Heel Kick/Outside Crescent Kick
-The Famed and Controversial Knuckle Push Ups - 10
-Tricep Push Ups - 10
-Pike Stretch
-Tricep Dips - 10
-Back Bend Push Ups -10


Technique Drills
(Eight reps each side on all drills unless otherwise noted)

-Horse Stance/Bow Stance Punches
-Horse Stance/Bow Stance Punches (four punches)
-Bow Stance Punch/Front Kick/Punch
-Horse Stance/Bow Stance Punch/Front Kick/Bow Stance Punch/Horse Stance Punch (whew!)
-Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand
-Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand/Steal Step/Spinning Back Fist
-Back Fist/Rear Leg Snap Kick/Rear Leg Round House Kick
-Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand/Steal Step/Side Kick
-Jump into Low Stance/Hook/Bow Stance Punch


Cool Down

-Sit Up Punches - 25
-Back Extension - 35
-Form: Sei Fon Sei Bei


Notes:
-The slow kicks and yoga is paying off. Got a literal pat on the back and "Good job." from Sifu while doing the kicks. Sometimes praise is the best fuel. Cornflakes runs a close second.
-Doing yoga/stretches on Friday between weight training and class is definitely a good way to relieve muscles and work out the kinks. Think I found my work out routine for a while...

 

Kung Fu time!


Warm Up:

-Jumping Jacks - 50 (because it's freaking cold!!)
-Lunging Stretch
-One Foot Stance
-High Heel Kick - 10
-Inside Crescent Kick - 10
-Outside Crescent Kick - 10
-Knuckle Push Ups - 10
-Front Slap Kick - 10
-Tricep Push Ups - 10
-Spider-Man Push Ups - 10
-Horse Stance Punches
-Front Leg Push Kick
-Front Leg Push Kick/Front Leg Round House
-Standing Splits
-Straddle Splits
-Sit Ups - 25
-Back Extensions - 35
-Back Bend Push Ups - 10


Technique
(All moves done both sides moving down the length of the studio)

-Horse Stance/Bow Stance Punch
-Horse Stance Punch/Kick/Punch
-Bow Stance Punch/Scorpion Kick/Run
-Back Fist/Steal Step/Side Kick
-Back Fist/Steal Step/Side Kick/Spinning Hook Kick
-Front Leg Round House/Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Rear Leg Round House

Forms: Nunchucks

Notes:
-Pretty straightforward class.
-Flexibility and form improving

 

But...you're in Texas...Dallas, Texas

 

Exactly! And I'm not talking relatively cold, as in "Gosh durn it, Bessie why it's a might frigid here at fiddy fi' degrees outside..."

No...it was in the 20's.

Degrees.

Fahrenheit.

 

Tuesday seems to be the go-to day for a packed schedule. But I was able to squeeze in a jiffy jaunt to the gym for some Solo Weight Training.

Here's how it went down:

-Seated Chest Press - 140 lbs, 160 lbs, 150 lbs (8,6,8...I forgot what weight I'd been using. DoH!)
-T-Bar Bent Over Row - 80 lbs (3 x 8)
-Tricep Cable Press - 120 lbs (3 x 8)
-Hammer Curls - 35 lbs/arm (3 x 6...right arm is feeling a little buggery. So I decided not to push the higher weight too much).
-Seated Leg Press - 195 lbs (3 x 8)
-Seated Calf Press - 195 lbs (3 x 8)

That's it. Hopefully I'll get some forms in later on tonight. But if not, there's still the rest of the week.

 

Woah - that's artic-blast for that place. The wife and I were there many years ago for some sort of work-related seminar.

Almighty, hot, humid, flat...or was it Huston? LOL, Is Dallas similar to Houston?

 

Kung Fu time!

Sifu switched things up today! Freaked out all the little ones in the class. I found it refreshing!

Here's how it went down:

-Horse Stance - 2:30 min

He sort of combined techniques with warm ups. So everything listed below was done moving down the length of the studio and back


Technique(ish)

-High Heel Kick
-Inside Crescent Kick
-Outside Crescent Kick
-Front Slap Kick
-Jump Kick
-Horse Stance Punches
-Horse Stance/Bow Stance Punch
-Running Punches
-Back Fist/Steal Step/Side Kick
-Back Fist/Steal Step/Side Kick/Spinning Back Fist/Side Kick (whew!)
-Low Stance/HOLD/Jump/Bow Stance Punch (Holy @#$%@!!!!)


Conditioning

-Standing Splits
-Straddle Splits
-Knuckle Push Ups - 10
-Tricep Push Ups - 10
-Spider-Man Push Ups - 10
-Reverse Push Ups -10
-Crunches - 20
-Side Crunches - 20/side
-Pike Ups - 15
-Tricep Dips - 10
-Back Bend Push Ups - 10
-Back Extensions - 35

-Forms: Nunchucks (about 20 mins)

Notes:
-That was a blast! There's nothing like mixing things up to breathe some new life into a routine.

 

Compared to Atlanta? Yeah...most of Texas is pretty flat. Dallas actually a little more topology and is a little drier. Houston is more spread out.

It's also more humid because it's on the Gulf Coast. You can break a sweat just by standing there and breathing!

 

It's one of those days. Not much time to hit the gym, but I was able to work in a little Solo Kung Fu training.

Here's how it went down:

-Leg Swings and Hip Rotations (see notes)
-Slow Kick: Side Kick (10/side)
-Slow Kick: Round House Kick (10/side)
-Side Kicks - 20+/side
-Round House Kicks - 20+/side
-Stretches:

• Hip Stretch (both sides)
• Lay Down Leg Band Stretches (each leg)
• Standing Splits (3x with left leg lead, right leg lead and middle split)
• Low Stance Stretches

-Combinations (both sides):

• Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand
• Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand/Side Kick
• Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand/Round House Kick

-Forms:

• Sei Fon Sei Bei - Focused on deep stances
• Kuen Lei Kuen - Focused on power and form
• Nunchucks - Focused on precision and form

Notes:
-There were some warm-up exercises we used to do in parkour that I'm going to bring back for martial arts.
-Particularly in the area of joint rotations/joint mobility drills.
-Here's an example: http://www.parkourtrain.net/1091/how-to-warm-up-for-parkour.html

 

More Solo Stuff!

-Kicked off with 30 minutes of Yoga

Then, just for sheer juxtaposition's sake, I moved on to:

-Side Kicks - 10/side
-Round House Kicks - 10/side
-Combinations: (This was kind of fun as I started just experimenting with my own)

• Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand/Round House Kick - 10+ times/side
• Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand/Push Kick - 10+ times/side (muay thai heritage is showing)
• Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand/Push Kick/Steal Step/Side Kick - 10+ times/side
• Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Round House Kick/Ridge Hand - 10+ times/side (this one needs work)

-Forms: Still in the yoga state of mind, I decided to do the first two forms reeaaallly slllloooooowllllly and really concentrate on the movement.

• Sei Fon Sei Bei
• Keun Lei Keun
• Nunchucks (can't do this one slow or I'll poke an eye out)

Notes:
-The yoga is absolutely helping my flexibility. Things that gave me trouble a month or so ago were relatively painless this time.
-Doing the forms super slow was awesome! It forced me to pay attention to little things like foot placement when shifting stances, waist and hip rotation to get more power into the strikes.

 

Kung Fu time!

Warm Up and Technique sort of blurred together...
(8 reps for all exercises unless otherwise noted)

-Jumping Jacks - 25
-High Heel Kicks
-Inside Crescent Kicks
-Outside Crescent Kicks
-Front Snap Kick
-Side Kick
-Round House Kick
-Lunging Stretch
-Back Fist
-Double Back Fist
-Back Fist/Steal Step/Side Kick
-Back Fist/Round House Kick
-Front Snap/Back Fist
-Shuffle Feet
-Shuffle Feet/Back Fist
-Shuffle Feet/Back Fist/Ax Kick
-Standing Split
-Straddle Split

The next set of exercises were performed moving down the length of the studio and back.

-Horse Stance Punches
-Horse Stance/Bow Stance Punches
-Bow Stance/Punch/Front Snap Kick
-Low Stance/Jump/Bow Stance/Punch (my nemesis!!) :lowblow:
-Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand
-Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand/Steal Step/Spinning Back Fist
-Front Round House/Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Rear Leg Round House
-Running Backwards Punches
-Cartwheels

Notes:
-All in all, a good workout!
-Kicks and low stances are getting better
-So are my cartwheels

 

Looks like the number of routines is increasing a good bit, as well.

 

Kung Fu Time!


Warm Up:

-Horse Stance Stretch
-Low Stance Stretch
-Lunge to Horse to Low Stance Stretch
-Knuckle Push Ups - 10
-Lunging Stretch
-Side Hip Stretch
-Tricep Push Ups - 10
-V-Ups - 20
-Pike Ups
-High Heel Kicks - 10/side
-Inside Crescent Kick - 10/side
-Outside Crescent Kick - 10/side
-Waist Rotations - 10
-Arm Circles - 10/side
-Horse Stance to Bow Stance Punch (stationary) - 10/side
-Bow Stance to Horse Stance Punch (didn't see THAT coming, did you?!) - 10/side
-Bow Stance/Front Kick/Punch (stationary) - 10/side

Technique:
(Down the length of the studio and back)

-Stance Walk (Horse/Low/Bow/Twist/Cat) - 2x
-Rear Leg Round House Kick - 2x/side
-Front Leg Round House Kick - 2x/side
-Cartwheels

Forms:
Nunchucks (Now I know the form...just need to get better at it!)


Notes:
-Those stretched we did at the top of the class REALLY loosened up my legs and hips. I was able to get my high heel kick higher than it's ever been.
-Another couple of sessions like this and I can try out for the Rockettes!

 

Is low stance a low horse stance, or something else?

 

Something else:



I've also heard it called "drop stance".

 

FWIW, I got my kicks higher by learning how to do ballet barre stretches and practicing grande battement. I think you'll find it useful.

 

Ah, I see. That is low.

 

Oh yeah. Right now, I can get about half way between that and a horse stance.

And I'm going to lie to ya...it's painful!