Warm Up Exercise

[Enlightened]

I know i'm relatively new to the forums and would be grateful if a member would be generous enough to help me on a certain topic. Before I start asking for help I will tell a little about myself I am 24 years old, I currently have a year of experience training under Sifu Baugh who is a amazing teacher of legitimate hung-gar and chi kung under him I learned the patterns known as the Eighteen Lohan Hands and some basic stances ex. horse riding stance, bow and arrow stance. I'm currently self practicing due to the economic conditions however to get to the point I recently picked up the book Ultimate Iron Palm by Sifu Wing Lam a direct descandant from Sifu Gu Ru Zhang and decided to follow his method while the warm up exercises and patterns are relatively easy to perform it's time consuming nearly a minimum of a hour each practice session. During this I was wondering if I could incorporate chi kung exercises such as lifting the sky or pushing mountains instead of the time consuming arm rotations & Energy Flicking exercises. I understand the saying "Perserverance Through Practice" however I have a busy schedule especially with my job, In my opinion it's much faster and more effecient as said in the book " Without this qi flow to your hands, your Iron Palm training will not be done with this right kind of energy" I'm not doubting Sifu Wing Lams practice methods and i'm in no position to change his instruction however I believe I can generate more energy to my palms within 15 minutes of chi kung practice then the original method. However rather then jumping into this myself i'd be thankful for some advice to see if this would be a good option for me.

[Frederick_Chu]

Something that has cropped up in my own experience again and again is that practicing the material that you've received from a good instructor/master produces better results than material that's only learnt from a book.

For example, practicing "just" Horse-Riding stance the way that my sifu (Master Antonius Korahais) and sigung (Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit) and having a chi flow afterwards, just like how they taught me, not only makes me stronger and healthier, the relaxation from that exercise loosens and makes more flexible and "ready" my entire body, not just my hips. Ten minutes of the Horse-Riding stance (again, which I learnt from two extremely good masters) feels more productive than thirty minutes of Pilates, Yoga, or the dance class warm-ups I've done in the past.

Exercises I've tried out for fun that I only learnt from a book, while they're certainly enhanced by some of my background knowledge and skills, tend not to be as great. Not saying it is impossible to only learn from a book, but why throw away what competent person has taken the time and energy to give you, and what you spent the time and energy to learn?

I'm sure one of my seniors will be able to give you better and more targeted advice for you, so I'll just note my two cents again that "stuff you learn from a good instructor tends to be better than stuff only learnt from a book."

[Enlightened]

Sorry for the late reply Frederick and from my own experience I completely agree learning from a master reaps more benefits then learning from a book or video and leaves room for less mistakes.

[Matt F.]

I currently have a year of experience training under Sifu Baugh...

I'm currently self practicing due to the economic conditions...

I recently picked up the book Ultimate Iron Palm by Sifu Wing Lam a direct descandant from Sifu Gu Ru Zhang and decided to follow his method...

I was wondering if I could incorporate chi kung exercises such as lifting the sky or pushing mountains instead of the time consuming arm rotations & Energy Flicking exercises...

In my opinion it's much faster and more effecient...

I'm not doubting Sifu Wing Lams practice methods and i'm in no position to change his instruction...

I believe I can generate more energy to my palms within 15 minutes of chi kung practice then the original method....

rather then jumping into this myself...

Hi Enlightened,

Perhaps if you read your post, edited by me, you will see the problem. But just to make sure I'm understanding you - you learned personally from an instructor for 1 year, and practiced for a bit. You then purchased a book, and decided to practice that, instead. Then, you decided to alter what you learned from the book, because you believe you have a better method. You then looked for advice on an internet forum. But you don't want to jump into this by yourself?

If you look at your path, you will see that you are going in the wrong direction. You started with an amazing teacher, moved to a book written by a master, added the ideas of a beginner with one year of training, and now are asking total strangers with unknown experience levels.

I would suggest that you practice what you learned from Sifu Baugh. If you cannot afford regular classes, perhaps you could contact Sifu Baugh and ask about private lessons. Then, practice on your own until you save enough for a private lesson. Take that lesson. Repeat. I think you'd gain a lot more from that plan, than your current plan.

-Matt

[Enlightened]

Thanks for the advice Sifu Matt, I will contact my Sifu and see any arrangements could be worked out if not I will stick to my daily schedule. My goal in this is to learn something new while it's beneficial to stick with the basics it does get boring practicing the same techniques for a long period of time.

[Adam B]

Hey Enlightened,

I just had a quick comment. You said,

while it's beneficial to stick with the basics it does get boring practicing the same techniques for a long period of time.

Practicing the same techniques and not becoming bored with them is part of "Perseverance Through Practice." One thing I've found really useful is mixing things up a bit. For example, when I used to practice moving in stances, I would have a set series of movements that I would go through to make sure I used all of the stances. I went through the same movements again and again and again. I got a lot of benefits from this since I was practicing some of the most commonly used movements, but I was less consistent than I could have been. Now when I practice moving in stances, I'll do a sequence like that if there's a specific movement that needs polishing, but I spend more time moving freely through the different stances. This adds variety and spontaneity which keeps the same material fresh and interesting. If you know basic stances and 5-10 basic techniques (I'm assuming you have this with a year of experience, but the idea would still work with less) come up with ways of combining movements and patterns in a unique way. Try moving at different angles, different directions, moving as if multiple opponents are attacking you, and playing with different handforms in different stances. You may find this helps you stay engaged and interested and develop the basic skills to a deeper level with less boredom.

Let me know how it goes.

All the best,

[Guest]

My goal in this is to learn something new while it's beneficial to stick with the basics it does get boring practicing the same techniques for a long period of time.

Stick with the basics and you will learn something new. Practise the same over and over and you will learn something new.