HiyaaMartialArts

Now that's a pretty cool idea! I have a flat-footed buddy of mine who also mentioned this exercise.

Master, you're taking this to a whole new level. lol

Heh Heh Sounds like you really found your spot then! Congrats.

Heavy-bag work is definitely necessary. It helps ensure proper structure of body and limbs, while providing resistance, some conditioning and can help with spacing as well. Power will be a slight by-product of working with a bag but indirectly. Your power will come from proper technique, structure, relaxation, visualization, etc. Power as a by-product comes from not hitting just air - but having resistance; if you hit and you hurt or your hand stops at the surface of the bag with an ungiving thud, then you know it needs work.

Thanks for sharing! I've never heard of this, as I'm not really a karate guy, but this is super cool. It's extremely reminiscent of various types of training you'll find in TCMA (Traditional Chinese Martial Arts).

Accidental Double-Post - so this one I erased (how do I just delete it?)

Here's two methods that are simple (not easy-but simple), but old, that I teach my beginning students in Northern Shaolin. 1) Walking Meditation Walk around with body, breath & mind united. You achieve this by slowing everything down. Walking extremely slowly, heel-to-toe (set heel down with zero weight and very slowly add weight and "roll" the bottom of the foot as you add weight). As the back foot comes from behind, to the middle or area where your front foot is, you Inhale, and as the foot continues to move forward - all the way til weight is finally & fully transferred, you Exhale. You don't bob up and down as you walk. Don't lean. Keep spine erect as though a cord pulling you up by the crown of the head and perhaps one pulling lightly down by the tailbone. Place the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, contacting the gums just behind where the top row of teeth connect to the gum. Breath through the nose. There is no speed. The movement must match exactly your breath - so if you're not hyper-ventilating, you should not be moving quickly at all. The mind must be on the connection of the breath and body the whole time, paying attention to all of the details, including sinking the weight, fluidity, full deep breaths and...if you can...paying attention to the sensation you feel of the air going in and out of the nose; the way it feels on the tips of the nostril edges... 2) Sitting Meditation Sit, Sink, Breathe and implement Single-Focused-Attention. To do this, sit - either relaxed cross-legged or single lotus/double lotus etc. Follow the same above points for posture - erect spine, tongue to roof of mouth, breath through nose, sink and relax. Hands may be in various postures. For a few moments just relax and breathe deeply. Next go inward and simply take note of the thoughts that arise. Don't force them to go away or to change into something else. Just note them. Then after a few moments try to focus your attention simply on the sensation of the air going in and out of your nostrils - the way it feels. Take note of the slight pause between inhale & exhale and vice versa. The thoughts will continue to come. Do not try to force them. Just gently remind yourself what you should be doing and get back to it. And that's it! _______________________________________________________ These are simple but not easy at all. The "monkey mind" as someone mentioned here earlier, doesn't give up easily and it will take quite a while of practice to get pretty good at. However, the cool thing is that you will be seeing the positive benefits of it along the way - both in your martial arts training as well as outside of it in other parts of your life.

Good luck! Let us know how your search goes, where the final decision is and perhaps what made you select them.

Just some of the top of my head... Breathing Walking Knowing Mastering Countering Sinking Floating Sticking Rooting Power Relaxation

Aside from the traditional argument of...well, tradition vs. modern...There's also safety to keep in mind. If you've not done much barefoot activity - it's not a good idea to go straight to crazy kickin on concrete. If you really want to get to that point - I think you should phase it in - in order to condition yourself along the way.

I'd have to agree with the click-unclick pheonomenon. I've gone through phases of being motivated and inspired and hard-core training to the forget-it-I-no-longer-care and back round again. Luckily it does keep coming back round - I guess it's the "good" kind of addiction.

Hiyaa HowaYa??

Many thanks! Me too. Thus far I've only ventured into the Chinese forums, but making my way around (there's a lot here to read ).

Will do. Hit me up on the PM, as we may very well be interested!

Many thanks! Looking forward to the experience here

Glad to hear it. But actually that is the main host, Dave. I'm the co-host Craig.

Learning and Sharing from each other - sounds good to me! Very cool welcome. Thank you!

With you on that! I've heard of Hei hu (Black tiger) for awhile now. I knew of this Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hei_hu_quan and recently found this Youtube clip: (but there are others).I'm interested because my style (Northern Shaolin) has quite a few exponents in Shandong/Shantung province but I know little of the various styles there.

Many thanks!

There's not really anything called just "Tiger style". There are several options in and around Atlanta for various styles that incorporate Tiger into it, like Tiger/Crane, Hung Gar, etc. There are styles out there like Shantung Black Tiger, White Tiger, etc. but not just "tiger". Good luck with your search. I am in Atlanta and have been teaching Northern Shaolin many years, so I am familiar with many of the teachers & schools here. Hit me up on PM if you still need some pointing in the right direction (this post is very old so you may have found something by now).

Yup. Mandarin = Liù Hé Bā Fǎ (Quán) Cantonese = Lok Hop Ba/Pa Fa (Kuen) Liu or Lok = 6 He or Hop = Harmony Ba/Pa = 8 Fa = Method Quan or Kuen both mean fist, but in TCMA/Kung Fu it means boxing/fighting/martial system So technically it means 6 Harmonies & 8 Methods Boxing, but sometimes you can hear it called Water Boxing. Although most people consider there to be only 3 neijia or internal arts (bagua, xingyi, taiji), this one is oftentimes included as well. Here's some Wiki for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liuhebafa

You ought to share with us what the class descriptions say - and if it mentions a specific style, what that is; then we could probably help a bit more specifically. In general, many TCMA (Traditional Chinese Martial Arts) or Kung Fu styles will emphasize what is called the "horse stance" in the beginning. Although this is boring as hell - it helps to stretch and strengthen the legs - so this might help. Also the style plays a major role in your specific situation. Some styles are extremely kick-less and some may have kicks, but they remain below the hip or waist height. For example, you won't find Wing Chun or Xingyiquan folks kicking very high, and there are others.

Although I am not an exponent of Wing Chun, I did live in Singapore for awhile. Here's 3 schools in Singapore you can check out. Not sure what others are there (it's been about five years since I lived there) or in Malaysia. Good luck though! http://www.wingchunsg.com/ http://www.singaporewingchunkuen.com/ http://www.wingchunkuen.asia/

Firstly, "kung fu" has nothing to do with martial arts. The term simply means skill mastered through hard work and time; so you can have kung fu in painting, cooking, driving, martial arts, or anything else. Within the TCMA, or Traditional Chinese Martial Arts, or "Kung Fu" (even though it's not technically correct - it's what the world knows), you have many different styles and even sub-styles. Just like there is "Karate" but that doesn't say much. Maybe it's "Isshin-Ryu Karate". And within each style or sub-style, you have all of your content (forms, training methodologies, conditioning, etc. etc.) There are some very generic classifications, such as Northern vs. Southern (geographic place of origin within China), Internal vs. External, Buddhist vs. Taoist, Longfist vs. Short-range etc. However these should not be relied on, because many styles break and mix these classifications. Hope this helps a bit.

"Shaolin Temple" is merely a tourist trap today. Even "shaolin kung fu", today, has to be looked at with a discerning eye, as much of what comes to the various countries around the world in form of demonstrations etc., are NOT traditional shaolin at all, but modern compulsory wushu versions, or very basic form that can be learned in many different places and most of the "monks" are not monks at all. It is unfortunate, but it is the way it is today.