January 28, 2008 by jleeger.

Have fun - do as many pullup burpees as you can in 5 minutes.  Try to beat your previous best.

After that, PRACTICE!  Go to class tonight!  Have fun!

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January 25, 2008 by jleeger.

Hi all,

As usual, I’ve been thinking a lot about conditioning, the purpose, the method, the madness… I just want to put up some food for thought in this post.

Training with Weight or External Resistance - this is primarily good for increasing maximum strength.  If you’re adding weight beyond what your body weighs, you’re going for max strength.

Bodyweight Training - Ever try a 1-legged squat?  Have you seen the Steve Cotter vids George posted?  You can achieve incredible levels of strength through bodyweight training.

Specificity of Training Stimulus - the more specific the training stimulus, the less additional weight you’ll use.  Using additional weight in a specific movement usually results in a confusion of the nervous system for that movement.  Essentially, you’re taking a movement you’d usually perform without any resistance (or with significantly less resistance), and adding resistance to it.  Adaptation of the body is EXTREMELY specific to the imposed demands.  E.G. - giving a baseball player a weighted bat - their swing speed slows down, and their CNS records this stimulus, resulting in confusion during actual play.  OR - Shot-putting with heavier-than-competition weight shot.  Same thing.  The movement cannot be achieved explosively, and the only thing gained is a muddling of the movement pattern firing sequence.

General Strength - that being said, general strength gains, when used in conjunction with skill-specific training, can have a very high carryover to performance.  E.G. - Heavy Squats.  As leg strength increases, the ability to generate force from the legs will increase, usually regardless of the “skill.”  You must integrate the strength with the skill, however.  Another example - Reverse Lunges with High Knee Raise - this is a more specific strength movement, but, being weighted, is still focused on gaining strength in the legs.

Isolation Exercises - Don’t waste your time - Grip strength is important to combat athletes.  Some would recommend wrist curls.  But why?  For wrist strength, wrist curls might be ok (though there are better options…see below).  But wrist curls develop the wrist flexors (flexor carpi), NOT the finger flexors (flexor digiti).  Should you use a “gripper?”  Maybe, if your grip is very weak starting out.  However, a better option is to challenge your grip during your conditioning, by doing exercises like pullups, chinups, dumbbell or kettlebell work, etc.  As far as the wrists go, work with a heavy staff.  Be sure to hit every angle.

Superset Opposing Muscle Groups - your body naturally relaxes a muscle opposing a working muscle.  That means you can get a greater contraction in that group if you work it in direct succession.  In your conditioning, do pullups then handstand work, pushups then rows, squats then pulls (from the ground, deadlift, rdl, etc), to take advantage of this mechanism.

Sets and Reps - this is really easy.  As an exercise gets easier, do more reps or add more weight.  If you want explosive power, build strength (max and isometric) first, then do movements in which you can move explosively (clap pushups and the like).  If you want to build max strength, use weights that are very heavy.  If you want to build endurance, do as many as you can for as long as you can…not complicated.

Putting it all together - a physical conditioning program doesn’t have to be complicated.  Take the six most basic exercises - pullup/chinup, squat, pushup, row/pulling, overhead pressing, “core” work (ab/lowback) - and do them.  You don’t even have to alter the variations.  If you just focused on doing the basic version of those six movements every day, you’d become extremely strong in short order.

So, for Bagua - practice first, condition second.  After practice, go through the six basic movement circuit back-to-back, as many times as you can, or break them out across five days and focus on more reps/effort (mon-pullup, tues-squat, weds-pushup, thurs-row, fri-press, every day-core), or break them into opposing movement patterns for a 3-day split (day 1 - pullup/press, day 2 - pushup/row, day 3 - legs, core every day)…

HAVE FUN!

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January 23, 2008 by jleeger.

Hi all,

Since today is a GPP day, you know what to do.  Pullup burpees, five sets of 1 minute, or five minutes continuous - try to beat your previous best.

That being said, I wanted to add a few words about training, and Bagua.   Conditioning your muscles to be stronger will lend to your effectiveness at Bagua, but only if you’re practicing.  The opposite is also true.

If you are only practicing, and not working out, you might come to some difficulties.  If your body isn’t prepared for motion in a certain direction, or the forces that you (and your partner) generate during practice, you’re not far away from some kind of tear, pull, strain, etc.

Similarly, if you’re working out, and not practicing, you’re going to get your butt whipped on spar-nights.  I said before that the stronger of two equally-trained competitors will always win.  I still believe that.  However, if you aren’t equally trained, it’s anyone’s game.  Anyone who has ever watched UFC has seen the fights where the big strong guy stomps the less-conditioned well-trained martial artist (remember Tank Abbot anyone?).  We’ve also seen the well-trained artist crush the big strong dude who looks like a tank.

As UFC goes on, it’s becoming more and more serious.  You don’t see too many guys getting into the ring who are flabby anymore.  Not unless they’re dumb.  The more seriously the majority takes it, the more seriously the minority has to take it, in order to survive.

That being said - Practice!  Condition!  I’ll introduce some workouts next week (conditioning workouts) that only take fifteen minutes (a la the 5-minute pullup-burpee challenges).  If you’ don’t have fifteen minutes in your day to workout, something is seriously wrong.

Leeger, out!

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January 16, 2008 by george.

Josh Coutts forwarded this to me. He was reading an article on cardio machines and exercise.

“She also notes that exercising in a hunched-over position can keep you from breathing deeply, and that the improper alignment of your spine can make the workout more jarring to your shoulders and elbows.

Use a natural gait, says Danberg. And “Don’t hold the handrails because it breaks the natural biomechanics of the body. We don’t go through life holding on to something.”

If you need more stability, he says, hold with one hand and move the other arm, alternating periodically.

Saremi also discourages reading while using the cardio machines: “You’re not concentrating and getting a good workout. You’re not monitoring your progress. Exercise has to engage your head. Form is so important.”"

And then Josh C. asked: “Bagua anyone?”

Do you ever think that at some point all the Jane Fonda types, and Billy Blanks types, and Krav Maga types, and yoga types will get together and take up Baguazhang?

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January 16, 2008 by jleeger.

GPP day again.  Of course, go to class tonight.  But in addition, get a good 5 minute GPP workout.

After a good warmup:

Do as many pullup burpees as you can in 5 minutes.

I consider the pullup burpee to be the king of GPP conditioning exercises.  No other exercise challenges as many muscles in as dynamic a pattern.  The only thing that comes close is the rowing  machine, but that gets kind of boring, and a good one costs at least $600.

Alternating the stimulus on GPP conditioning is good.  For instance, one day you would do five sets of 1 minute (as we did on Monday).  The next GPP day, one set of 5 minutes.  The next GPP day, 3 max sets.  That way, your body gets a chance to experience different levels of stress from the same movement pattern.

Similar to how one might train Tiangan perhaps.

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January 15, 2008 by jleeger.

Plyo/jump training…

Warmup with 50 1/2 steps each leg.  Add Pi Chuan arm movement and do ten more each side.

Find a set of stairs.  Get going by hopping up the stairs and back to the floor in a rhythmic fashion.  Try hopping up one at a time, then two at a time.  Then three at a time.

After that, go for height.  Leap to the highest stair you can (be safe!).  Walk back down and do it again.  Do 8 sets of three jumps.  Rest 2 minutes between sets.

During your rest, do some pushups.  After your first set of pushups, do 3 clapping pushups.  Superset the pushups and the jumps till all 8 sets are done for both exercises.

Next, if you have a sturdy pullup bar nearby, get your clap-pushup jumping-burpees on.  Do 8 sets of three of these.  Again, rest two minutes between sets.  This time, do bicycle situps or sprinter situps between sets.

And finally, finish off by doing 3 sets of timed holds on the superman.  Go for 1 minute each time.

Stretch out and relax!

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January 14, 2008 by jleeger.

Ok, we did the four-day split for a couple of months…now we’ll change it up

In order to more effectively use your time, we’ll structure workouts like this for the next two weeks:

Mondays and Wednesdays - Mondays - GPP at class.  If you don’t go to class, do one of the following -

pullup burpees - 5 sets of 1 minute, with 2 minutes rest between

pullup burpees - as many as you can do in five minutes, resting as little as possible

pullup burpees - 1 max set

On Mondays, you should also be doing some abdominal or lower-back work.

Tuesdays - Explosive Work - jump training, plyometric training, etc.

Thursdays - Strength Work - high-intensity strength work

Fridays - Repetition Work - low intensity, high volume work

Today, do the Monday workout.  ENJOY!

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January 11, 2008 by jleeger.

Max Strength Upper Body Day

Again, we want to expose the muscles of the upper body to a max-strength stimulus.  So your exercise choice should be something that you can do only 1-5 times per set.  For many people, pullups are a good choice, since most folks haven’t developed pullup ability over the course of their lives.  For pushing it’s a little trickier.  People have difficulty with 1-arm pushups for reps…but if you give yourself a leverage advantage, by doing them on a step, low table, or chair, you can get right within the 1-5 rep range.

Warmup

Superset 5 sets of 5 reps - 1-arm pushup with

5 sets of 5 or max reps - pullups

Rest two minutes between sets, practicing Tiangan during rest periods

Then superset arm exercises - a biceps curl, and a triceps extension.  You can use anything you want for weight.  If you have a chair that’s very heavy, for instance, curl that.  Find something useful at home.  Odd-implement lifts are excellent for building raw strength.  Do three sets of 10 for each lift.  Rest one minute between supersets, doing Jiben Shoufa between.

Have fun!

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January 10, 2008 by jleeger.

Explosive Lower Body Day

Today, I’d like to focus on jump training for explosive lower body day.  Since most people have stairs, I’ll use those as the implement of choice.  Be careful!

Warmup, then,

8 sets of three stair jumps.  Jump to the highest stair you can.  Walk back down.

Superset those stair jumps with:

1 Houtian line

After the eight, do 3 sets of 50 front-back half-steps.  Rest 1  minute between sets here.  Do your core work during the rest period.

Then, 3 sets of wall-sits for as long as you can.

Track your numbers in your training journals!!!

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January 9, 2008 by jleeger.

Wednesday is a “day off.”  Go to class tonight!  And practice as well, of course.

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January 8, 2008 by jleeger.

Ok, one more post today, because it’s on my mind.

Most folks, regardless of what they say their strength training goals are, are really interested in improving or gaining POWER.

I don’t mean supernatural abilities, or the means to rule over others…I mean the ability to generate force in a certain amount of time.  For us Xing Yi/Bagua practitioners, we want to generate maximal force in an instant - for example, when punching, kicking, breaking, or throwing.

While the setup to, and timing before, these actions leads to ultimate expression of power (which is what we seek through practice - to get the setup and timing perfect), the stronger practitioner will always be able to generate more force (express more power) than the weaker practitioner with the same timing and skill-level.

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January 8, 2008 by jleeger.

Here it is ladies and gentlemen, the “secret” you’ve always wondered about, but no one has ever revealed, about success in strength training - to increase strength, you must increase volume or intensity (or both) over time.

Seems anti-climactic, I know, but this is the single key to success in strength training. All the other “rules” hinge on this principle.

Volume = total reps x total weight, for a workout or set of workouts

Intensity = (volume/reps) / 1RM i.e., the average weight moved in an exercise as a function of your maximum capacity in that exercise

If you don’t increase one or the other of these variables on a consistent basis, you aren’t improving, you’re just moving.

The SAID Principle hinges on this. SAID stands for Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands. The bodymind adapts in direct proportion to the precise stress placed upon it. That means, you don’t get strong legs by doing bench press, or vice versa. It also means that you don’t get any stronger by lifting the same amount of weight in the same time week after week, year after year.

In essence, this IS the rule of “progressive resistance,” and of the “overload principle.” All a bunch of names for the same thing. If you aren’t “progressively” “overloading” your capacity, you are in stasis.

What this means is, if you’re seeking strength (or endurance - just another type of strength) you should be tracking what you’re doing, and calculating volume and intensity for the major movements you’re involved in, every day.

This simple process can save you years of frustrated (and wasted) effort.

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January 8, 2008 by jleeger.

Max Strength Lower Body Day

The primary goal of Max Strength days is to expose the target muscle groups to a maximal stress.  By “maximal” here, we mean the 1-5 repetition range.  So, 100 hindu squats will not have the desired effect.  Move as quickly/explosively as you can while still maintaining proper form.  Fast movement recruits a greater number of muscle cells than  slow movement.

Warmup

5 sets of 1-5 1-leg squats

5 sets of 5-10 2- or 1-leg hip raises (called a 1-leg bridge on this page - http://www.ptonthenet.com/capview.aspx?P=Mjk1Mzg0IFRZZGoyWnRiWTI4aFB4S253RjJuUVE9PQ==)  if it’s too easy, elevate the pressing leg on a bench or stability ball

3 sets of 10 Hindu Jumper Squats - do Hindu Squats but jump forward with one, backward with two.  Try to get as much distance as you can, like a forward/backward broad jump

3 sets of 1 minute front and side plank

100 Bicycle situps.

Do everything with as little rest as necessary, to still get quality repetitions.

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January 8, 2008 by george.

Being Present.

One must be able to fully concentrate, fully focus, be fully aware and have the ability to be fully in the moment. This is both a both a trained skill, and a prerequisite to long term success in the arts.

All of us have had the experience growing up through grade school while sitting in one’s English class, and just zoning out. Or you might spend that class time doodling, writing notes, or staring out the window. Many people continue to go through life like that.

Examples:

Coming to class and not really paying attention to what you are doing or what you should be doing. I have often seen students come to class and then proceed to “play around.” The teacher might demonstrate one technique and explain how everyone should practice it, then a student might do that once or twice, maybe not even try, then proceed to just dawdle around or do whatever it is he/she might want to practice at the time instead of what the teacher is trying to get across. Not only is this disrespectful to the teacher, it is disrespectful and causes other students to not be able to pay attention. It is also hurting the student themselves. One thing that I have noticed that often separates the experts from the masses is attention to detail, repetition, and willing mastery of the basics. Its not the ability to do “advanced” or flowery, cool techniques that defines one as having become expert, it is their mastery of the basics. There can never be too much attention and focus paid to what one is doing at that moment.

When practicing, one’s mind should be fully present on what one is doing. One should not be daydreaming of the past or future. One should not be distracted by what happened at work or on the way to class. One should concentrate. Awareness. Focus.

One should not bring baggage to class or to practice…

I refer to this in two ways, one is personal, emotional, and psychological baggage. This is one of the most difficult things to accurately access and deal with in practice. It is often a long term project. It is also often never even considered by most teachers and practitioners. It is my belief that the Internal Martial Arts should be beneficial to one’s entire being and life. The mind does not get free escape from this attention. It is often that one’s own “issues” have a deep effect on the way they train, the way they deal with their classmates, the way they carry themselves in life, the way they approach fighting and naturally the way they approach their life.

The second is one’s past experience. Although previous training and athletic ability can be a great boon to one’s success in martial arts, it can also be an impediment. Although many people treat the old maxim as cliche’, there is great wisdom in the need to recognize how one should “empty one’s cup so that it may be filled” in approach to every class and every lesson. It is often seen that a student will bring their ego to the school and approach every lesson with something akin to “Oh yeah, that’s just like this from xyz martial art” or “I like to do it this way instead.” While some people make use of a learning mechanism wherein they need to connect everything they do new, with something they have done. This can only get you so far. There will inevitably be differences, its best to take off those blinders and see the whole picture, clearly, as its presented to you.

I’m sure everyone has also had the experience of sitting in that lecture in college and then walking out of the lecture hall having taken in nothing. Your mind was somewhere else or you just couldn’t concentrate long enough to absorb what was being presented. In a college lecture you might be able to ask your friend for the class notes. In the traditional internal martial arts, as my teacher would often remind me, there are many times where you might see something or hear something just once. If you are not present, if you are not aware and focused enough to pick it up, then that is just something you might never get.

Why limit yourself by not being there, in class or in life?

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January 7, 2008 by jleeger.

Good morning Zong Wu Men!

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope the holidays were full of cheer.  Now its time to get back to business.  Since it is a new year, let’s take this time to set some solid goals for ourselves.  Make some serious goals for yourself regarding your practice and fitness level, then stick to them!  Be realistic.  If you can only spare 1/2 hr per day for training, that’s what you have.  If that’s the case, then here’s a good program for you -

Warmup with Jiben Shoufa

Tiangan practice - practice 10 Tiangan each side, for every Tiangan you know.  In between sets, do as many pushups as you can.  Stop shy of failure.

Houtian practice - practice 10 “steps” of every houtian you know.  Between forms, do as many consecutive bodyweight squats as you can.  Again, stopping shy of failure.

Xiantian - practice your circling at the end, as your “cooldown.”  If you have time left after all that,  do as many situps as you can and stretch out.

Get to work!

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