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

Solo Training

Another crazy work day. Seems like I'll have to reswizzle my workizzles to accommodate my crazy schedizzle. Fo' shizzle.

Anyway, here's all I was able to do today:

-Bench Press - 165 lbs (3 x 8)
-Nautilus Lat Pulldown - 135 lbs, 145 lbs, 155 lbs (3 x 10) (Testing to find the right the weight since this is a new machine)
-Tricep Dips (3x)
-Hammer Curls - 35 lbs (6,7,7)
-Seated Leg Press - 195 lbs (3 x 8)
-Seated Calf Press- 195 lbs (3 x 8)

Notes:
-On the plus side, I've gone up in weight for the curls
-And I can probably go up a little in bench press.
-So...not a total loss.

 

Kung Fu time!


Warm Up

-One Foot Stance
-Low Stance Stretch
-Lunges Stretch
-Hurdler Stretch
-High Heel/Inside Crescent Kick - 8x/side
-Knuckle Push Ups - 10
-Inside/Outside Crescent Kick - 8x/side
-Tricep Push Ups - 10
-Pike Stretch
-Tricep Dips - 10
-Back Bend Push Ups - 10
-Sit Up Punches - 25
-Back Extensions - 35


Technique: Basics
(Up and down the length of the studio)

-Horse Stance Punches
-Horse Stance/Bow Stance/Kick/Punch
-Bow Stance/Jump/Low Stance/Sweep/Bow Stance Punch (whew!)
-Stance Walk (Horse Stance/Low Stance/Bow Stance/Cat Stance)


Technique: Combinations
(Stationary; 8 times per side)

-Back Fist
-Step/Back Fist
-Ridge Hand
-Ridge Hand/Pivot Out
-Step/Back Fist/Ridge Hand Pivot Out
-Side Kick
-Step/Back Fist/Ridge Hand Pivot Out/Side Kick
-Reverse Punch
-Step/Reverse Punch
-Step/Back Fist/Ridge Hand Pivot Out/Reverse Punch
-Round House Kick
-Step/Back Fist/Ridge Hand Pivot Out/Reverse Punch/Round House Kick


Forms: Nunchucks


Notes:
-It was a relatively small class tonight and there were a lot of new people, so Sifu focused on basic stuff.
-Really like the way he broke down the combination...continuously building on moves.
-Very cool way to really understand the logic and flow of the combos.

 

Solo Training day.

Kicked it off with some Kung Fu kicks

-Slow Side Kick - 10/side
-Slow Round House Kick - 10/side
-Side Kick - 15+/side
-Round House Kick - 15+/side

Then on to Forms:

-Keun Lei Keun - Focusing on good stances.
-Nunchucks - Focusing on good, well defined stances. Also clean back passes and backwards figure eights (ran through the form about three or four times)

Then, off to the gym for some Weight Training:

-Seated Chest Press - 150 lbs (8,8,7)
-Bent Over T-Bar Row - 90 lbs (3 x 8)
-Seated Shoulder Press - 130 lbs (3 x 8)
-Tricep Cable Press - 120 lbs (3 x 8)
-Bicep Cable Curl - 70 lbs (3 x 8)
-Goblet Squats - 55 lbs (3 x 8)

Bonus: Heavy Bag Kicks!

Notes:
-Good improvement. Side kicks (particularly on the right leg) are getting higher
-Went up in weight for Chest Press, T-Bar Row and Shoulder Press
-Really need to stretch and do mobility drills DAILY...

 

Ah! You forgot the knuckle push-ups!

 

Those are replaced by the bench press and seated chest press.

Geez! Give a fella a break from knuckle push ups occasionally wouldjaplease?

 

Solo Training

Decided to replace P90X Yoga with some more kung fu focused stretching and as well some restorative yoga type moves.


Stretching/Yoga

-Started off with joint mobility drills (wrists, elbows, shoulders, waist and knees)
-Hip Flexor Stretches
-Diamond Leg Hip Flexor Stretches
-Side Hip Stretches
-Glute and Hip Stretches (sensing a theme here?)
-Lunging Stretches
-Horse Stance Stretches
-Laying Down Elastic Band Stretches
-Low Stance Stretches
-High Heel Kick - 10/leg
-Inside Crescent Kick - 10/leg
-Outside Crescent Kick - 10/leg (these last three fall under the category of "Dynamic Stretching")


Technique

-VERY Slow Side Kick - 10/leg
-VERY Slow Roundhouse Kick - 10/leg
-Combinations:

• Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Roundhouse Kick - 10/side
• Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Steal Step/Side Kick - 10/side
• Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand/Elbow Strike - 10/side (I'd NEVER be able to use this in sparring class...but it's important to remember one's roots!)
• Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand/Elbow Strike/Knee - 10/side (same as above)

-Forms: Keun Lei Keun - focused on keeping low in the stances
-Forms: Nunchucks - focused on keeping low in the stances and strengthening weak areas (back pass, reverse figure eight, etc...)


Notes:
-Improvements abound!
-High heel kick is getting higher and low stance is getting lower!
-Right leg side kick is now actually around mid thigh level. Probably due to the copious stretching beforehand. (It typically rarely gets above knee level...left leg, on the other hand, is fine at waist height)
-Left leg roundhouse is getting better. For some reason, I've been pulling the kick. This time it was more fluid and natural. Again...could be the stretching.
-Reverse figure eight on nunchuck form is coming together nicely...as long as I don't confuse myself by thinking too much about it!

 

Makes one feel on top of the world when you see results from your efforts, it does.

Very good self-directed session there, Tommy. Not easy to push the pace farther than one's instructor but you managed above and beyond it seems.

 

Congrats! Good to hear that you're stretching is paying off.

At first I misread this as roundhouse kick, which I thought was a bit strange; but side kicks, they're a bit tricky. I don't know why, but they just don't like going up.

I would guess you're getting used to the form now. I know for me there was just one day when my body was suddenly able to relax with roundhouse kicks - the difference it made was remarkable. I would think that if you're used to doing roundhouse kicks differently it would be even harder. It's always a nice feeling when you can see you're making progress .

 

Indeed! Even a minor victory is still a victory.

(You may quote me if it's inspiring. If it isn't, pretend I never said anything )

Thanks, 'Toller. Like all of y'all, I'm just trying to work on what needs work.

 

Thanks, Heraclius. It's a good feeling (as you know).

My theory is that the side kick is not a commonly used motion. You have to pull your leg up and in...and then shoot it out. Not a lot of daily movements call for that kind of thing, so the muscles involved don't really get much chance to develop.

My problem with the kicks is two-fold; 1) I messed up my left hip while doing parkour (tip: make sure BOTH feet clear the obstacle when doing a kong vault) and 2) I'm old and out of practice. Used to be able to launch a solid muay thai at shoulder level. But that was five years ago.

Anyway, I appreciate the kind words and advice!

 

Kung Fu time!

Good Saturday class. It's a nice day and everyone was feeling appropriately punchy. So we warmed up outside.

Here's how it went down:

Warm Up

-Jumping Jacks - 50
-Standing Hamstring Stretch
-Lunging Stretch
-Low Stance Stretch
-High Heel Kick - 10
-Inside Crescent Kick - 10
-Outside Crescent Kick - 10
-Front Snap Kick - 10
-Knuckle Push Ups - 10
-Tricep Push Ups - 10
-Spider-Man Push Ups -10
-Clapping Push Ups - 10
-Standing Splits
-Straddle Splits

Then Sijai Allison unleashed some yoga on us (yes!!!)

-Boat (holding a V-up) - 1 min
-V-Ups - 10
-Plank - 1 min
-Side Arm Balance - 30 sec/side
-Table (holding an extended tricep dip) - 1 min
-Cobra Stretch
-Super-Man (this has a fancy yoga name like "Shiva's Bow" or some such, but it's basically holding a back extension) - 1 min


Technique
(Down the length of the studio and back)

-Horse Stance Punches
-Horse Stance/Bow stance/Punch/Kick
-Low Stance/Jump/Sweep/Bow Stance/Punch (my nemesis! :woo: )
-Skipping Side Kick
-Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Side Kick
-Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand/Roundhouse Kick
-Back Fist/Side Kick/Back Fist/Reverse Punch/Ridge Hand/Roundhouse Kick
-Back Fist/Side Kick/Spinning Back Fist/Spinning Back Fist
-Crab Walk Forwards
-Crab Walk Backwards
-Mijon Lohan Running Punches
-Backwards Running Punches

Escapes and Joint Locks (I don't know what to call them. But we did three...and they were very cool!)

 

Soumds painful. I always worried about kong vaults a bit; didn't feel as though there was enough room for my legs. Although I can't imagine how you would hurt your hip - I would have thought your face would take the most damage.

Anyway, "out of practice" is easy enough to fix .

 

The left leg got snagged and extended, putting the left hip in tension and viola! A minor hip problem. That in and of itself didn't do it. But continuing without treating the problem just compounded the injury.

If it did, no one would notice. . Actually, if anything takes damage it would be the hands and elbows since pretty much the first thing we learn is how to land in a cross shoulder roll should a move go sour.

Very true!

 

OK, I can see that. It can be hard to assess how much you've hurt yourself, and too easy to just keep going. A mate of mine, with whom I used to do parkour, once broke his wrist right at the beginning of a run; neither of us realised anything was wrong for half-an hour or so.

That's a really good idea. I never really learned to do parkour, so much as just started doing it. My strategy to avoid faceplanting was to not trip; I'm sure you will agree that there are some flaws in that plan .

 

Naaah. What could possibly go wrong

 

That's utterly painful just to watch. Came down right on the edge of the table - wonder if he suffered any sort of perm back damage.

 

I hope for his sake that that's just a movie.

 

Kung Fu time!

Warm Up and Technique sort of got mixed in together...

-One Foot Stance
-Standing Splits
-Straddle Splits
-High Heel Kick - 10
-Inside Crescent Kick - 10
-Outside Crescent Kick - 10
-Inside Crescent Kick/Spinning Outside Crescent Kick - 10
-Knuckle Push Ups - 10
-Tricep Push Ups - 10
-Spider-Man Push Ups - 10
-Back Fist - 10
-Back Fist/Ridge Hand (same hand) - 10
-Back Fist Reverse Punch - 10
-Block/Back Fist/Reverse Punch - 10
-Tricep Dips - 10
-Back Bend Push Ups - 10
-Crunches - 25
-V-Ups - 25
-Squats - 10

Nunchuck Form for the rest of the class (about 20 minutes)


Notes:
-It's cold outside (thank you, Gary Numan), we got off to a late start and there were way too many people in class. So I think that threw the format off.
-But it was still good. Flexibility is improving. Nunchucks are improving. And I never had a problem with punches and strikes.

 

Naaah...he's young. Those vertebrae will grow back!

 

Lol, optimistic bugger, you are.