Starting a new training log, It will be a little while before I actually start posting here. Dealing with health issues and waiting for clearance form Doctor so I can start training again; Been dealing with Acid reflux, Arthritis, bone marrow edema and most recently, another torn retina. Actually jsut got laser reattachment this morning It will be Taiji centric with what aerobic I am allowed to do, already told running is not an option any longer. Most strength training I plan on being body weight and taiji weapons forms. I use a real (can be sharpened) Jian and Dao and when those get light the plan at this point is using ankle and wrist weights. To quote an old Clint Eastwood movie, "a mans got to know his limitations" and I have been told what those are by a couple of MDs and a physical therapist. Hope that I am clear to return to training by mid September Will say the diet changed drastically after the Acid reflux issues, actually thought I was having a heart attack for a week. Lost 30 pounds and have no more acid reflux issues. When I start training I will post more here
You might want to get oversize/overweight weapons like some PK folks use as the real ones don't have much heft,so no strength gains from using 'em.
Glad to see you back on here! I too battle acid reflux. And I have been hospitalized two times with them thinking the symptoms meant I was having a heart issue! NOT fun! I guess once you hit a certain age, they think heart attack when you have any pains. But I ad my heart tested thoroughly both times and it is fine. I have had to cut down drastically on my coffee, which has helped. I also need to lose weight, which I have not been successful at so far - but am still working on. I don't run or jump rope due to knee issues too. When I get frustrated by my limitations, my instructor always tells me "focus on what you CAN do, not what you can't do." That helps me a great deal. Some of her best advice to me ever. Anyways, just telling you all this so you know you are not alone. Can't wait to hear when you are back at training and how things go!
Well the MD gave me clearence to start some exercise, however I am not suppose to be lifting anything greater than 25 to 30 pounds for the next month, so.... Not much, but its a start Tuesday morning, August 16, 2012 Yoga (Standing poses only, held for 3 breaths each pose, 2 rounds to cover right and left) Mountain Warrior 1 Warrior 2 Extended Triangle Pose Waterfall Warrior Chair pose Mountain Last pose done seperatly for both right and left Supported Half-moon pose Tuesday Afternoon, August 16, 2012 Walk, 1 mile Tuesday Evening, August 16, 2012 Stationary bike, 25 minutes Yang Long form A simple standing Qigong form
Wednesday, August 17, 2012 Yoga (Standing poses only, held for 3 breaths each pose, 2 rounds to cover right and left) Mountain Warrior 1 Warrior 2 Extended Triangle Pose Waterfall Warrior Chair pose Mountain Last pose done seperatly for both right and left Supported Half-moon pose simple standing Qigong form Started working on siu nim tao (sil lim tao). It is the only Wing Chun form I have officially been taught, However these days it is more of Qigong form to me than anything else. Actually I feel it i one of the best stationary Qigong training forms there is Also got a haircut, does that count
Thursday, August 18, 2012 Yoga (Standing poses only, held for 3 breaths each pose, 2 rounds to cover right and left) Mountain Crescent moon Standing back bend Tree pose Warrior 1 Warrior 2 Extended Triangle Pose Extended Side Angle Pose Waterfall Warrior Chair pose Mountain Last poses done seperatly for both right and left Supported Warrior 3 Supported Half-moon pose Other Wuji standing meditation; 5 minute Siu Nim Tao 1 mile walk
Friday, August 19, 2016 The Yoga; 2 rounds for right and left warrior poses, each pose held for 3 to 4 breaths Mountain Crescent moon (3 per side) Standing back bend Tree Warrior 1 Warrior 2 Extended Triangle Extended Side Angle Waterfall warrior (actually I not remember the name of this pose, but waterfall warrior is close) Chair pose Yoga not part of the routine because they are supported Warrior 3 (supported) Half-moon (supported) Something I am doing here is aggravating the pelvic bone marrow edema that I was experiencing so that is all I did on Friday.
Saturday, August 20, 2016 The Yoga; 2 rounds for right and left warrior poses, each pose held for 3 to 4 breaths Mountain Warrior 1 Warrior 2 Triangle Pose Mountain Half-moon (supported) 20 minutes stationary bike Yang long form No pain today
Sunday, August 21, 2016 Mowed the lawn Yang Long form Siu nim tao Santi shi I have not stood in Santi Shi for a few months so all I did was 3 minutes per side.
Tuesday, August 23, 2016 Yang Long Form Exercise Bike: 20 minutes Decided to stop Siu Nim Tao in favor of a return to Baduanjin Also started reading "Living Longer and Stronger by Ellington Darden, Ph.D." When I am cleared to exercise more I think I will try a d follow what he has in his book as close as I can based on my copious collection of injuries and joint issues
Wednesday, August 24, 2016 Did a bit of a food experiment Decided to not eat as healthy as I have been and had a rather carb heavy lunch Chinese noodles Chicken dumplings oatmeal cookie I ended up so incredibly tired I fell asleep at my desk by 4:00.
Spent the last couple months training Wudang Xingyiquan, working on some Yiquan and seeing if my arthritic Knees and Hips can handle Chen Silk Reeling again. So far so good Wudang Xingyi is surprisingly external, but it does do multiple ways of stepping, with each of the 5 elements, as is suggested should be done in books on Xingyiquan by Di Guoyong. I am still doing Yang Style, but it is no longer the main focus after over 20 years of it. I am looking to see if I can bring some Chen back in, I use to do the 18 form and Laojia Yilu. And I am going to pursue some Sun style. But currently the focus as turned to Yiquan and how it used the 5 elements that come from Xingyiquan. Oh... and.... 新年快乐 Xīnnián kuàilè
From My Blog - Wednesday, January 25, 2017 - Titled "I'm Old" This thought came to me yesterday just before I started shoveling and snow blowing my driveway (which can fit about 8 cars). It only had about an inch of a snow/sleet/rain/ mix on top of ice from freezing rain. I looked at it, stuck a shovel in it to see what it was like and I was instantly defeated, thought I am too old for this, and I went back in the house and had breakfast. I then realized it had to be done so Mrs. Xue could get to her office so back out I went and spent an hour and a half clearing the driveway. Afterwards I was in pain, knees, hips and back and I felt more like mid-eighties than mid-fifties. So I sat there, defeated by age and remembering that a week ago I was walking on an icy walkway and I was actually afraid of falling. I have never been afraid of falling, never looked forward to it, but I never feared it. I have fallen and my old (very old) jujutsu training seems to kick in, so I fall and then get up and keep on moving. But now it scares me, so between that and all the body aches and pains I pretty much sat there wallowing in self-pity, bemoaning my decrepitude and accepting my fate because “I’m old”. Now the rest may come across as a bit of a cliché coming from an old, beat up marital artist (who, by the way, at that point had given up on martial arts too, remember, I’m old ). I was sitting in my recliner (old persons chair), with the feet up, still bemoaning my fate, when I came across an old episode of “Walker Texas Ranger” so I watched it. I do realize Chuck Norris has stunt doubles, but there were things he was doing, that I was convinced I would never do again, but I was sure he was much younger than me when he made that episode. So I looked up the episode and ironically he was the exact same age then, as I am now. But I convinced myself that he must not have had any arthritis like I do and continued to wallow in self-pity. But I began to think about it, while the show was still going on, and started looking up things (on the internet) to do with arthritis trouble and I came across a few articles that talked about exercise and strengthening, sorry I do not have the links, that was on my Mac and it is not with me at the moment. Also I am not a doctor and I am not recommending any of this for anyone else, this is only based on my thoughts and experience. Basically what these articles were telling me was; Arthritis hurts and because of this I do not exercise like I use to. This in turn causes weakening of the muscles and puts undue stress on ligaments and joints thereby agitating the arthritis and causing more pain so I am then less motivated to exercise. But, here is the kicker, if I do exercise (strength training and stretching) there is less stress on the joints and the pain will be reduced. But my thought process went to; but I have 3 exercise routines that I figured out to do and they do not seem to be helping at all. But that is when I realized that I am not doing them as much as I should, due to pain, excuses because of pain, age, and just plain unadulterated laziness, and I am most certainly not doing anything that would stress my muscles in order to increase strength because of a fear of pain and injury. So as I sat there and watched Chuck (or his stunt double) kick the living daylights out of the bad guys (spinning back kick anyone) I began to look at my 3 routines and rethink and redesign them. I also remembered a form I recently learned from Jesse Tsao, the mini-compact Taiji which is a short, Chen style based form that uses elements form Laojia Yilu and Silk reeling, and how my knees felt after a couple hours of learning that and how much better they felt the next day, I had also stopped doing that form because of knee pain and the thought “What am I doing? I’m too old for Chen”. Actually I stopped all Chen style sometime ago (not that I ever knew that much; 18 form, Laojia Yilu, silk reeling) because of hips and knee pain (arthritis). So after Chuck had finished thoroughly trouncing the well-armed bad guys with his spinning back kicks I went to the basement with my reworked workout and a slightly better attitude and upped all the levels and weight. Did some work on the Total Gym (more Chuck influence), some weight work with Dumbbells too and some stretching. Took a break and then went and did the Mini-Compact Taiji form, Sun competition form and Yang traditional form later. And then before I went to bed I did some Silk reeling, the mini-compact, 8-form (from duan ranking), some Sun style, part of my traditional Yang form and more stretching. Did I still hurt after all that, yup, but not as much and I was very relaxed when I went to bed. And this morning, I was again meant with a driveway with a 1/2 think layer of ice with a half inch of snow on top. But I just dug in and started getting the driveway cleared. Admittedly it was not as heavy and wet as yesterday, but I did not use the snow blower at all today and I shoveled the entire thing and even cleared the ice pile out at the end of my driveway. Afterwards, my back hurt, but knees did not hurt as much, and yesterday I wore braces, today I didn’t. So I’m old, but it is a number, not a condition. Arthritis is a condition, but I think I have the drive now to see what I can do to live with it, instead of fighting, what I felt was a losing battle, with it. I seriously doubt I could pull out my old workout from 25 years ago and survive it, but I doubt Chuck could have done that either. I still think (to quote another actor and be even more cliché) “a man’s got to know his limitations”. But you don’t have to let those limitations stop you in your tracks and rule you. You have to look at them, accept them, and figure out how to work with them in order to keep on moving forward. Oh and another thing I let arthritis change my mind on; Aikido so I could better help my youngest train it, since she appears to love it so much. I am now thinking of looking into to again in the summer, but not at her school. I discovered a little Kokikai Aikido school in my area and I will admit I like the focus on Ki. But this is likely my Chinese Internal Martial arts talking since it likes to focus on Qi (same as Ki, just the Chinese pronunciation). And my youngest is ok with this; she just wants to train with daddy, frankly I think she is just looking forward to iriminage-ing me to the floor . But hey, I am not too old, just yet, to give it a try. However the decision has not yet been made on the Aikido, but I am at least once again considering it, seriously considering it (also have to get Mrs Xue on board for that, she is still overly protective due to my past retina issues). But if nothing else, maybe it will illuminate this damn annoying fear of falling. So I’m old, just not as old as I felt, or was convinced I was, yesterday I’m done…. So that is where I am at, and I promise not to put a Blog post here in my training log again.
01/29/2017 Yiquan Standing practice 1) Xingyi Wuji 2) Standing Post 3) Yiquan Wuji (that is what I know it as. I am looking for the actual name) 4) Bear Standing 5) Ape Standing 6) Taijiquan Wuji Nothing long, only 5 minutes per stance 01/30/2017 This morning (way to early ) before work Worked on a form called Mini Compact from Jesse Tsao. I is a Chen based form that combines postures from Laojia Yilu with Silk Reeling Worked on 8 form, which is from the Duan ranking system Worked on Chen 18 Form Worked on Chen Silk Reeling Did Yang Long Form Will post my workout tomorrow, since that is when I next do it. Today is all Taijiquan and Yiquan
Old beat up guy’s workout routine from 1/31/2017 Basically I look at myself at this point in rehab mode. I have lost a lot of strength over the last few years dealing with various off and on injuries. I also know that I cannot do the workout I use to do as little as 5 years ago. I was at one time using 35 pounds for dumbbell curls, now, as of last night, I am back up to 20 as of the next workout, but I started this with 10. There are a lot of light weights moving here, but I am getting stronger. I added Body weight Exercises last night, nothing spectacular, just started and I am not as strong as I use to be Bear Crawling - 10 steps Crab Walk - 5 steps Inch Worm - 5 steps Downward Dog Crawl - 5 steps Hindu Pushups - 5 Downward Dog - held for 1 minute Supine Bridge - held for 30 seconds (X2) Total Gym and Dumbbells: Total gym is set by levels 1 through 6 and I have been doing this for about a month. All exercises started at level 3, some were hard at 3, others were very easy. I tend to stay at a level until 15 reps become easy, and then I move up a level. This is where I was at last night (L = Level) Squats - TotalGym - L5/10reps (this is not difficult at this level, but I am going esay on the knees Jumping - TotalGym - L5/30 jumps Pull Ups - TotalGym - L5/10Rreps Chin ups - TotalGym - L5 Face Down Jumps - TotalGym - L5/20jumps . Cross Cable Row - TotalGym - l5/12reps Biceps curl - Dumbbells - 17.5lbs/12reps Lateral Raises - Dumbbell - 12.5/12reps Rotator Cuff Exercise – Dumbbell - 12.5/12reps Standing Chest Fly - Dumbbell - 12.5/12reps Triceps Extensions - Resistance Bands - 20reps (these need to be replaced with stronger bands) Oblique Twists - TotalGym - L5/12reps Seated Chest Press - TotalGym - L4/12reps Punches -TotalGym - L4/10reps Pull Over Crunch - TotalGym - L4/10reps Iron Cross - TotalGym - L4/30 second hold Lying Triceps Extensions -TotalGym - L4/15reps Shoulder Press - TotalGym - L4/10reps Single Leg Stretch - TotalGym - L5/1 minute hold Both Leg Stretch - TotalGym - L5/1 minute hold/1 row Slouches – Dumbbell - 15lbs/10reps (done sitting against wall) Punches; straight and across – Dumbbell - 10lbs/10reps (done sitting against wall) Stretching Machine - ProForce – 10 turns of the wheel (originally started with 8) I have also been working with the exercises I was given in Physical therapy for the bone marrow edema. I did stop them for a few weeks when I messed up my knee, but I am back at them. Nothing heavy or impressive, just trying to get back where I was without re-injuring myself, however with that said, this morning I realized I forgot these. So I will be doing these tonight Ankle Weight Leg extensions - 2.5 LBS/10 reps/slow Leg Lifts on Back - 2.5 LBS/10 reps/slow Sideways Leg Lift (Left & Right) - 2.5 LBS/10 reps/slow Leg Curls - 2.5 LBS/10 reps/slow Left lifts face down - 2.5 LBS/10 reps/slo
02/01/2017 Did not do the Ankle weight part I missed yesterday Chen Silk Reeling Mini Compact Taiji Yang Long Form 02/02/2017 - so far Stance training (not that long) Xingyiquan Wuji Standing Pole standing Yiquan Wuji Standing Bear Standing Ape Standing Taiji Wuji Standing 30 minutes total Santi Shi Standing - only 10 minutes total
02/02/2017 - evening Squats - TotalGym - L5/10reps (this is not difficult at this level, but I am going esay on the knees Jumping - TotalGym - L5/30 jumps Pull Ups - TotalGym - L5/10Rreps Chin ups - TotalGym - L5 Face Down Jumps - TotalGym - L5/20jumps . Cross Cable Row - TotalGym - l5/12reps Biceps curl - Dumbbells - 20lbs/12reps Lateral Raises - Dumbbell – 15lbs/12reps Rotator Cuff Exercise – Dumbbell - 15lbs /12reps Standing Chest Fly - Dumbbell - 15lbs /12reps Triceps Extensions - Resistance Bands - 20reps (these need to be replaced with stronger bands) Oblique Twists - TotalGym - L5/12reps Seated Chest Press - TotalGym - L4/12reps Punches -TotalGym - L4/10reps Pull Over Crunch - TotalGym - L4/10reps Iron Cross - TotalGym - L4/30 second hold Lying Triceps Extensions -TotalGym - L4/15reps Shoulder Press - TotalGym – L4/10reps Single Leg Stretch Right - TotalGym - L5/1 minute hold Single Leg Stretch Left - TotalGym - L5/1 minute hold Both Leg Stretch - TotalGym - L5/1 minute hold/1 row Slouches – Removed, bothered low back Punches – Removed, bothered left shoulder Stretching Machine - ProForce – 10 turns of the wheel (originally started with 8)
02/04/2017 Did a ten minute back routine in the morning from Gilad's Express Workouts In the evening Squats - TotalGym - L5/15reps Jumping - TotalGym - L5/20 jumps Pull Ups - TotalGym - L5/10Rreps Chin ups - TotalGym - L5 Face Down Jumps - TotalGym - L5/20jumps . Cross Cable Row - TotalGym - L6/15reps Cable Rows - TotalGym - L6/12reps Biceps curl - Dumbbells - 20lbs/12reps Lateral Raises - Dumbbell – 15lbs/12reps Rotator Cuff Exercise – Dumbbell - 15lbs /12reps Standing Chest Fly - Dumbbell - 15lbs /12reps Triceps Extensions - Resistance Bands - 20reps (these need to be replaced with stronger bands) Oblique Twists - TotalGym - L5/12reps Seated Chest Press - TotalGym - L4/12reps Pull Over Crunch - TotalGym - L4/10reps Iron Cross - TotalGym - L4/30 second hold Lying Triceps Extensions -TotalGym - L4/15reps Single Leg Stretch Right - TotalGym - L5/1 minute hold Single Leg Stretch Left - TotalGym - L5/1 minute hold Both Leg Stretch - TotalGym - L5/1 minute hold/1 row Stretching Machine - ProForce – 9.75 turns of the wheel Chen Silk Reeling Yang Long Form Mini-Compact taiji 02/05/2017 Did a ten minute chest routine in the morning from Gilad's Express Workouts 8 form Taijiquan Mini-compact Taijiquan Work on Chen 18 to single whip