My Shaolin Kung-fu Training Journal -- Alex Baranosky

[AlexBaranosky]

Hello everyone,

I am currently practicing Shaolin Kungfu on my own in Rhode Island. I thought this would be a great way of bringing myself into the kungfu circle of the greater Wahnam community. For example, simple things I'd like to discuss, which people who regularly take part in classes with an instructor might not have... I do have

I think that this would be a lot of fun, as well as a great learning experience for myself, and clearly for anyone curious who reads along.

My next post will be my first post with content.

[AlexBaranosky]

I have been practicing chi-kung for years now, but my first Wahnam Shaolin Kungfu lesson was in September 2007 on my visit to see Sifu in Gainesville, Florida. I had practiced on my own some, but wasn't too confident with the stances and such as I had not learned them from an instructor. This however was only one 2 hour class, and some personal help from some helpful instructors. I didn't practice consistently, mostly from confusion over if I was doing it quite right.

This past summer (2008) I was in Gainseville for 2 months and took lessons at Sihing Anthony's school there. I got a much better foundation, though more would have been nice Since then I have been practicing on my own here in Rhode Island.

[AlexBaranosky]

Currently I am practicing daily these things:

Lifting the Sky (sometimes I do Embracing Buddha and/or Dancing Faerie, which my chi has at times urged me to do. I sit still a long time on the computer and I find the gentle twisting of these exercises feels very nice on my spine)-> chi flow
Stance training -

• mainly Golden Bridge as Sihing Anthony Spinicchia told me it was acceptable to incorporate it into my practice and I enjoy it more than the other exercises
• often I start with horse stance, then move into Golden Bridge after a few minutes

chi flow
standing zen
combat sequence with imaginary partner (currently 1-14)
100 kicks (sometimes I miss this)
chi flow
standing zen

So far so good

[AlexBaranosky]

Question for other Wahnam kungfu practitioners:

Of the main four kicks, I find the Oriole Drinks Water to be the most simple direct and effective. It seems to have the most quickness coupled with potential for harming the opponent. And of the four kicks, Happy Bird Hops Up Branch seems like it will be taking me the longest time to get proficient at.

White Horse Kicks Hoof and the whirlwind kick seem somewhere in the middle.

Your thoughts?

Now I must go practice.

All the Best,
Alex

P.S. EDIT: is it ideal to be practicing Single-Legged stance daily to enhance my kicking effectiveness? Or will I be alright practicing only Horse Stance -> Golden Bridge?

[Omar]

Hi sihing Alex,

I think single leg stance would be better for good balance (be it for 100 kicks or lifting your shoe to tie the laces) then just horse stance and golden bridge?
In my experience good balance is very important to execute effective but also safe kicks, for both the kicker and the kicked.

How do you find your stance progession? Personally I find the experience to change with every "barrier". Sometimes standing past 5-6 minutes is a breeze, other times passing 4 is a chore. The other day my right leg was creaking and snapping like an old shipmast during stance training, even tho my whole body was perfectly still. Sometimes I've also been vibrating like jelly.

I hope to see you at the kungfu course in Sabah, I just have some minor work details to sort out before I can place my application.

[AlexBaranosky]

Thank you Omar

I find my stances very very enjoyable. I don't measure how long I go, but I can go for sometimes what seems like forever. I don't measure so I don't know how long it is. I prefer to just focus on relax, relax, relax, and letting the time grow naturally.

As far as how do the stances feel, I find it makes my bones feel harder. And I feel chi consolidating in my core: dantian and bones. Sometimes my forearms have felt like they have padding on them. It all feels great, and I love it!

It seemed obvious to me after I asked the question, that practicing Single Leg stance would of course improve my balance for kicking Even if I only do it for 1 minute on each side, if I focus on quality of the stance it will help. (That's my working theory )

EDIT:
I am not sure how I will be able to go to the Intensive Kungfu Course in June, though I am still holding out hope that it will be possible. Though of course I am open to the intensive course as well

[Andrew]

To improve balance, agility and flexibility, do not neglect "moving in stances" and "leg stretching" (the Art of Flexible Legs).

[AlexBaranosky]

I had forgotten to add ""Art of Flexible Legs" to my above post about my training program, which I have been doing...

I have in the past done some with moving in stances, but now only do what appears in the combat sequences. Are there any good videos that are a good examples of what I could practice regarding moving in stances?

[Andrew]

Check out Sifu's website. There are some relevant video clips on there (from the Wedding Review Courses, from previous Intensive Kung Fu and Taijiquan Courses, etc.)

[Hendrik]

Hello Alex,

I know how it is to practice all by yourself because when I started practising Wahnam Shaolin Kung Fu I mostly practiced by myself for about two and a half years until I taught Shaolin Kung Fu to my present student.

I find your training programm sounds very good and I hope you keep practicing dilligently. About your kicking question; yes golden oriole is a very effective and rather simple kick and that´s why many beginners use it almost exclusively.
However, the other 3 kicks, and there are also others like the tiger tail kick, are all wonderful kicks. You could say that some kicks like yellow oriole or maybe naughty monkey might be more easy kicks when you start Kung Fu, but the truth is that every kick is effective when used properly in the right situation. So keep on practicing your kicks, especially those that you feel less comfortable with.
Another good training method for kicks is to kick out of different stances. You can do a happy bird kick out of a horse riding stance, bow and arrow, false leg etc. this goes for every kick. Some stances ofcourse are more suitable for certain kicks. You should try this out and see what feels comfortable for you.
Also, try practicing the kicks while your moving in your stances. You can swap stances and use different kicks. This is a good exercise to get used to moving in stances and to use kicks while moving freely as apposed to the art of a hundred kicks where you stay in a fixed position.

Otherwise, I would advise you to find training partners or sparring partners as soon as you can because this will improve your Kung Fu, it will make you more confident in sparring and you will stay motivated.

All the best to you and your training

Hendrik

[AlexBaranosky]

Thank you Hendrik for your suggestions.

I find that Happy Bird Hops Up Branch is the trickiest one for me to feel really stable, solid, and powerful in. I'll just keep practicing it

I'll see what I can do for sparring partners I've got some ideas.

All the Best,
Alex

[mping]

As for moving between stances, I find that One-Finger Shooting Zen is a great exercise for developing flowing motion!

[AlexBaranosky]

I met Sifu Mark Hartnett at the Small Universe course and he suggested I practice my sequences a new way, which I am now doing daily.

Each day I now practice one sequence, starting from sequence one and moving in order up to sequence 16, then repeat. Each day practicing the sequence 4-5 times for form, 4-5 times for flow, and 4-5 times for force.

I also learned to explode my force, but learned from Sifu Ronny Singer that I should only explode force maybe every 4 patterns.

...

On another note, I would like to develop more internal force. I have been lately doing mostly Golden Bridge. Sometimes I feel like my muscles run out before my chi fills up as much as I would like. I guess I should do more stances?

Does this mean I should do the full series of stances [horse, bow and arrow, false leg, unicorn, single leg, goat, golden bridge] from now on, if my Aims and Objectives for the time being center around building more force?

[Ray]

Hey Alex,

Thanks for posting that, I'll have to remember that for reference.

Good luck!

Ray

[AlexBaranosky]

On another note, I would like to develop more internal force. I have been lately doing mostly Golden Bridge. Sometimes I feel like my muscles run out before my chi fills up as much as I would like. I guess I should do more stances?

I've changed my practice to doing the full cycle of stances, concluded with Golden Bridge.

...

Also, of course, I 've been concluding my practice with the Small Universe and the 8 Shaolin Eye Exercises.


More to come. Stay tuned