chinese strength training

Wai Jia: The Kung Fu Forum Kung Fu Training and Health
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Matt Furey has a [B]workshop[/B] coming up which will cover these methods but I don't have the 1400 USD to attend. Also I would rather just get a book or tape/DVD.
  • I'm also wondering if anyone has tried the [B]stone warrior [/B] DVD. Did you like it? Is it worthwhile?
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Keen is not what he appears to be

Keen markets the set that Green Dragon made infamous. He is a scawny looking man who seems to not have much connection.

I would recommend Sifu Steve Hamp who has been trained in all variety of Chinese strength development exercises by GM Gene L. Chicoine.

Sifu Hamp’s website is http://www.noweightsworkout.com

He has reasonable tapes and ebooks as well as an online free forum to post questions that he answers himself.

No offence to MF, but he charges out the wazoo for everything he sells.

Take a look and stay clear of Keen he is associated with Jim Lacy of 18 Daoist Palms and that man is a total nutter.

In Boston,

Dale Dugas

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Crazy training methods are cool and all, but are they the most effective?

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well oush ups is the tradiional way to gert punching power

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OK thanks. I wasn’t aware of the Lacy connection - I don’t want to associate myself in any way with his “organization.” :mad:

I’ll check out the link you provided.

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Keen is a “lohan” in Lacys made up fu. Total nutter and anyone who listens to him is also insane as well as maladjusted.

Sifu Hamp is top notch and a great teacher.

Check him out.

In Boston,

Dale Dugas

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Thanks again Dale, Sifu Hamp’s site looks excellent.

I suppose I could use them as kettlebells but I've done KBs and although I love them I'm looking for a change. I'm wondering how the chinese used them but can't seem to find much info.
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Greetings,

A man with a penchant for nostalgia. I must help thee…

I can describe some exercises that I have seen with the blocks.

-Swinging upward from a horse stance.

-Punching with stances

-Tossing in the air and catching (CAREFUL!!!) Can be done with a partner (CAREFUL!!!).

-One Arm Pushups with other arm vertical, holding the lock above(saw HaiDeng’s student do this in a documentary).

Kettle bell exercises can also be used. The block appears to offer more stability. Looks like it could be good for developing good wrist strength.

mickey

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gosh,

Did I kill this thread too?

mickey

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Iron Lock

I didn’t realize that these iron locks were such a big ticket item.
I was taught by my shifu, Shi Zhengzhong, only throwing methods.
Behind the back and shoulders are some of the scarrier, but first you learn the bag throws which are safer.

I’ll be moving back to Tampa end of November same place as Furey. I usually taught the rock lock for free I can’t imagine how can make it so exiting to get 1500us$ for that.

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mickey thanks a lot :slight_smile: I used to throw and catch a single kettlebell, and Jeff Martone has two DVDs on this: Hand-to-Hand Kettlebell Drills: Xplosive Strength & Stamina for the Combat Athlete & H2H II: Harder. Faster. Stronger
I remember the first DVD had many challenging exercises in it.

I hear ya. Matt Furey includes a lot of things in the seminar that I personally couldn’t care less about, if it was just rock locks & stone balls for 400 USD I would go.

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I used to be into studying all the secret Chinese training methods, but the reality is that if you want to develop strength for fighting or anything else you’re better off training squat, deadlift, bench press, pullups, kettlebells and running than you are with any of this secret iron rocks, secret Chinese strength sets like Stone Warrior (which I did for about a year so I’m not just talking out of my ass), or any other “secret” kung fu training methods that you see in movies or in obscure books. Yes, there is a coolness factor to it, in that you’re training in an ancient way that few other people are, but there’s also the reality factor to it that your training isn’t as effective as it could be.

Now I’ll get nailed by the trolls and the TMA purists so I’ll sit back and if Toby or Ford or anyone wants to jump that’s fine.

Or I could just anticipate the questions and remarks, but I’m not in the mood to do that. I just want to add that I’m talking about power development and NOT about skill development, so no “such and such exercise won’t teach you how to punch better,” because neither will punching with stone locks in your hands or anything that you’re thinking of, either.

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‘tis a funkin’ good point there, but i spose the ‘‘coolness’’ is what just keeps draggin’ 'em in.
hza

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Stone Warrior

Rumor has it that John Allen made Stone Warrior up from other programs that he had learned. No one before has every heard of such a program, though most of us had heard of iron wire, iron vest, iron palm, etc…

Muscle Restructure along with iron vest make up some serious strength training as well as bodyweight exercises.

But you have to see what works for you and what you want out of it.

You need to work your material with the strength you are building. Hopefully along the lines of what you want to pull off against someone else.

I dont care how big I am, how cool something is or isnt(thats totally inane to training), or esoteric names or whatnot. The bottom line is, does this material help me gain better health, more strength and further my training in a positive manner.

If it doesnt then its a total waste of time and effort and none of us can afford that these days.

In Boston,

Dale Dugas

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OK thanks everyone for your advice. After careful thought I’ve decided to use the blockweights / stone locks as kettlebells and go back to my kettlebell routines.

I’ve ordered some DVDs so I can get exposed to some different KB exercises; in the past I just used Pavel’s DVD.

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Steve Cotters DVDs are also good

Steve Cotter is a hsing yi/bagua man who also does KB. Look up his stuff as he goes through alot of training for the kung fu man.

In Boston,

Dale Dugas

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The funniest thing about this thread is that Chinese Strength Training will probably be the next biggest thing in the professional strength training community such as athletic trainers for professional, high-level collegiate, and olympic athletes. When the Iron Curtain was coming down and major scientists were defecting from Russia, Soviet training revolutionized the way most of our upper-tier athletes are trained.

I can see the same thing happening in China. Once the flow of information starts, we’ll start seeing how they train to remain dominant in events like olympic weight lifting, gymnastics, diving, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they emerge as forces in wrestling and track events. In 20 years instead of Pavel Tsatsouline, you’ll have Hu Flung Pu dumbing down all the super secret Chinese training methods from complex strength-training texts for public consumption.

The funny thing is that is will be firmly based on science and modern training methods like powermetrics, accumulated kinetic energy, and good old weight lifting.

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I noticed those DVDs but didn’t know what to think. Are they really good? What does he do differently?

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What is “Muscle Restructure?”

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Yeah, but it won’t be long periods of stance training. :smiley: