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Personal Training Objectives in 2017

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  • Personal Training Objectives in 2017

    Dear family,

    I don't know about you, but I love talking about kung fu and what I'm training and why (almost as much as I love actually doing it!). I also love hearing about what other people are training and why, as it motivates me (even more) and gives me good ideas for my own training. We're a school with a lot of people training a lot of different things with a variety of methods we can pick from, so I'm sure this could be quite interesting (and useful).

    So what are some of your current personal training objectives? And how/what will you train to achieve them? Long-term goals, short-term goals, please share whichever you like!

    And even though I'm posting this in the Shaolin Kungfu forum, I hope that Taijiquan, Baguazhang, Wudang Kungfu, and other kung fu practitioners will join in the fun
    Chris Didyk
    Shaolin Wahnam USA


    Thank You.

  • #2
    Cosmos Palm, Shooting Zen, and Baguazhang

    Thank you for opening this thread, siheng! I'm a sucker for a good motivating huddle myself. Happens all the time between my classmates in medicine as well as my far-flung kung fu family. Since I live apart from Shaolin Wahnam members (I think the nearest family member is well over a thousand miles away), I have to train on my own and regularly reassess to make sure I'm going in the direction I want. I didn't even have sparring or application partners for several years, haha. Just me and my cat (who served as a furry little mobile Plum Flower Pole).

    The main material that I've been emphasizing lately are Cosmos Palm, One and Two Finger Shooting Zen, and Baguazhang.

    Regarding Cosmos Palm:
    - Short-term goals include being able to break the bottom of two bricks, or even just one brick. I was able to cut a length of sugar cane balanced atop two eggs at the course, but the "hard force" application of breaking bricks hasn't quite manifested yet. On the plus side, it doesn't hurt to at least strike at the bricks anymore; I can occasionally feel force going into the brick as opposed to bouncing back up into my chest like what happened several years ago. Good thing I learnt Lifting the Sky right away when I came to Shaolin Wahnam!
    Method: Gradually progressing with training Cosmos Palm force training methods. For a few months after the course, my main method was training the set itself as force training, and in the recent weeks I've been gradually increasing the number of repetitions used for the force training patterns and keeping an eye out for over-training.

    - Other short- and middle-term goals include being able to effectively use the combat applications of the Cosmos Palm set spontaneously and correctly at the individual technique as well as sequence sparring levels.
    Method: Training just as Sifu recommended at the course - train each individual technique to have picture-perfect form, good flow, and good force, then string them together in an unrelenting press while providing for your own safety. I've been alloting about a half hour in the evenings for this: ten minutes emphasizing correct form, ten minutes emphasizing unending flow and continuous movement, and finally ten minutes emphasizing manifesting internal force (be it Cosmos Palm force or other wise). I have occasionally been meeting up with some local martial artists over the past week and have seen some good results against them.

    For One and Two Finger Shooting Zen:
    - A middle-term goal for me is being able to manifest the characteristic force of these exercises, beyond the "general" internal force as well as mental clarity that I've derived from these exercises. It's not a "sure" thing that I'll feel, for example, my force clearly focused and emphasized at my Tiger Claw in One Finger Shooting Zen, or have crisp Inch Force when transitioning from Beauty Looks at Mirror to Horizontally Sweep Thousand Armies in Two Finger Shooting Zen.
    Method: Continuing to train One or Two Finger Shooting Zen daily with extra detail placed on relaxation, and using my sensing skills to more clearly differentiate between the different manifestations, feeling, location, and control over the force appearing during the exercise.

    For Baguazhang:
    - I've mostly been going "back to basics" with Baguazhang lately, double-checking myself to see if bad habits have crept into my practice and how to correct them (they most certainly have, especially in my most recent sparring with Shaolin Wahnam family members). The most glaring error/deficiency has been my weakness of range. Against taller opponents, I've had some difficulty safely closing the gap without sustaining several hits "on the way in," which means that my spacing, timing, and ability to "ask the way" is deficient. I have to admit, I got "lazy" over the past two years, where I mostly had opportunities to spar with kung fu practitioners who did not have as systematic of a sparring methodology as we do in Shaolin Wahnam.
    Method: I have been reviewing my most basic Baguazhang exercises, especially footwork and agility, to improve my ability to close the gap. I have also been paying extra attention to transitional movements used to "ask the way" prior to delivering a strike. The real test will, frankly, be to find someone better at me in Shaolin Wahnam (because who else has a systematic sparring methodology?) and use these skills proficiently.

    Other things of note:
    One of these years I'll get around to improving my flexibility again. It's been at a plateau for several years now, and I could always stand to improve it.

    Anyhow, I'm curious to see what all other folks are doing.
    I like making silly videos (including kung fu ones!) every so often on YouTube and taking pictures of weird things on Instagram.

    Comment


    • #3
      Dear Chris Sisook,

      Short term:
      getting healthy
      at ease with the horse riding stance
      more flexibility
      opening the pelvis
      better flow in everything
      master Wudang Cotton Palm set

      Long term:
      much improved footwork
      complete the Shaolin Summer Camp 2017 with great success
      prepare for the Shaolin Winter Camp 2018 (whatever it will require)

      With sincere respect,
      Olli

      Comment


      • #4
        My objective could be summed up as:

        I want to achieve 30%, or even 20%, of the blissful state I've felt during my last two courses with Sifu, as well as some other times, but I want to feel 20% of that state ALL the time or at least a lot more of the time.

        After last year's Zen course this feeling stayed with me for about 2 months. So far since training with Sifu last week in Killarney it has stayed with me for 1 week so far!

        I tried to explain it before in this thread: http://www.wongkiewkit.com/forum/sho...d+all+the+time

        But I didn't do a very good job. It is not merely charged, or flowing, or relaxed, or peaceful, or powerful, or full of joy, it is all of these things and more but words kind of fail me, it is a fantastic feeling!

        This thread is not to ask how to achieve it, Sifu has already told me this, basically follow our usual 3 golden rules of training. And nor is it a complaint - having seen glimpses of some of what is possible, invigorates and cheers me every day!

        I guess my other main objectives for the rest of this year would be financial and professional, if I can consolidate that side of my life it will free me up to go after the things I really want to pursue.

        I want to wish Sifu and all the Shaolin Wahnam students tremendous success towards all their objectives for this year!

        Comment


        • #5
          Here goes my overdue reply! GREAT schedules/goals/aims so far!!

          At the moment, my training "core" consists of varied stance practice daily as well as 18 jewels daily, with a focus on flexibility when short on time, to continuously develop my foundation to a higher level and also get the solidness and flexibility that I miss back and then some; Cosmos Palm set for my main force training and specialized skill development daily (and dear goodness me is it a whole multiverse of endlessly mutating results, effects, feelings, etc.!), sometimes spending a good chunk of extra time on continuously training single patterns for force, flow, or other features; Five animal partner set to increase my fluent use of its specialized and unique patterns to a much more spontaneous degree (usually covering the set through both partners' roles twice, then 'free-play' through patterns in response to imaginary opponent/s), doing just the standard set on days when my time is severely handicapped by other commitments; trying to have a daily one finger shooting zen session somehow if unable to fit much else in; and finally, a little bit of dedicated daily time to sequence training, going through either some Cosmos Palm sequences, Five Animal Set devised sequences, the standard syllabus, or sequences from the upcoming Summer Camp (on the now-off-chance I can scrape together a means to attend ).

          I have been spending a week (roughly) on a sequence, but due to an extreme encroachment on my time by other commitments and pursuits, I am only just this week going back to regular progression through single sequences for a longer amount of time spent exploring them on various levels. If I am likewise tight on time, I sometimes replace sequence practice with various approaches in Lohan Asks the Way to keep carving out deeper results in my fundamental skills, understanding and ability.

          Outside of this semi-set structure, I have only TOO many chi kung techniques and even more skills to review to last me 1,000 years and am trying my hardest to re-incorporate them into a rotating every-few-days schedule. Most-missed at the moment are Legacy of Ho Fatt Name arts, sinew metamorphosis, bone marrow cleansing, and abdominal breathing.

          For now it's all a whole lot of general review or refinement of the broader base of fundamentals. In a few months my hope is to spend a much longer time on syllabus sets and sequences and unpack more of the Cosmos Palm training program for developing higher-level responses to any attack while adding greater force to all application.

          I look forward to reading even more responses and see what the broader community is up to or has planned!!!

          Infinite blessings to alllll!!

          Kristian

          Comment


          • #6
            I suppose I didn't cover the "What I will do to achieve them" part.

            Based on Sifu's advice I will try to aim at 30%, and try to not worry, not intellectualise, and to enjoy my practise.

            My practise will continue to include chi kung, stance training, and going over favourite sets and sequences I have learned from Sifu in Praying Mantis, Wing Choon and Xingyiquan, along with continuing the practises of sitting zen meditation and One Finger Shooting Zen learned over the past 2 years in Ireland.

            I will continue practising the two sequences I put together to use on sparring opponents.

            I also have a sort of collection of various moves I have learned from various arts over the years for use in dealing with boxer punches. A couple of my favourites I have put into my sparring sequences. But I would like to create a set, and video it, of all these moves, so that I don't forget them, and so that by practising them as a set regularly, I can perhaps start to get them to flow, rather than practise them in the disjointed, stilted, sort of afterthought way which I kind of do at the moment.

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