Thuggish

i wasnt being sarcastic

oh... well look at that. ive heard of san shou, but never san soo before....

losing fat like the spare tire is not related to sit ups or any abdominal exercise. you need cardio exercise. hop on that tredmill and run for 20-30 minutes, get your heart rate up, do this every day or the neartest to that you can. it takes time, but youll shed the tire. other than that, just follow the food pyramid- fad diets are crap. eat right and cardio exercise; those two things are a must for losing weight.

any kung fu that is actually kung fu is gonna take a looooong time to learn. practical self defense, yea- in like 10 or 20 years. if youre worried about the here and now, id train in something quicker to become effective, like just straight boxing or krav maga or something. or just get good at running so you can run away- thats the safest bet anyway.

san shou. similar to muay thai. look it up on google, youll see. in ring, no elbows, more throws, like with leg catches. san shou vs muay thai, big debate, blah blah blah. im better. no im better. no hes better. but hes really good too. and so on. its funny though, because i heard both are allegedly competing to become an olympic sport, and im thinkin- my a55. boxing is contraversial as it is in the olympics, brutal kickboxing doesnt have a chance at making it in. anyway, yea, san shou is what it is.

yea get inside, work the body, when the guard drops, work the head. dont let him clinch you, chase after him if he backs away, and be ready to take a hit or two getting to that inside postition.

of course you can. bulking up muscle involves weight lifting and protein consumption. losing fat weight involves cardio exercise and a good diet- not devoid of carbohydrates or super low in calories, but with enough exercise to burn off the fat you have and keep it off. hop on a tredmill then go lift, and eat right. its funny how simple it is but so called experts make it seem so complicated. the simple truth is- when eating right, long enough cardio workout burns off fat, and proper weight lifting builds muscle.

yea i agree with tibby on that point, if you want to get 40 lbs heavier, you definitely need to hit the weights, working your entire body. be warned though, it will likely take some time- it took me nearly 3 years to gain 40 lbs, and i was still growing when i started lifting. depends on your body. but definitely, weight lifting is the way to go. also, pressing against a door way wont gain you a whole lot of weight, muscle mass, or much strength, just like holding a weight still wont build you much, because muscles are made to move. of course you will become a little stronger, but the results of pushing or holding something are nothing compared to lifting.

I actually left a really long message in this forum in the thingy called "gaining mass" you oughta look at. if you get the arnold swarzenegger autobiography he talks about starting out in the last part of the book and lays out plenty of exercises for you- and when to do them; and he even has pictures. anyway, check out my thing in "gaining mass," you cant miss it.

im not sure about 'natura' weight class,' but i can say that gaining weight is hard for certain people, and gaining certain weights is impossible. de la hoya will never be 200lbs, for example. not only that, though- the weight gain sometimes makes one a worse boxer, if they have a really small frame it would likely slow them down quite a bit- making them slower than the others of that same weight. also, while gaining large amounts of muscle weight may be possible, keeping it is another trick all together. welter weights could probably build their bodies to be heavy weights, but it would likely disappear the second they stopped using all that extra muscle in the gym.

i hate repeating myself so this is my last try then i give up on you. the leg press machine can get you exactly the same results as a squat. the squat can be done without ever injuring yourself if you do it right. however, it will still produce long term wear and tear on your knees. this is a fact. most other exercises, including the benchpress, will not produce the wear and tear like the squat does. sure you can injur yourself if you do too much too soon, but if you dont, youre fine. the sqat- its just plain bad for your knees. any strain on the lower back, any at all, is a bad thing. ask doctors who know about bones, they will all tell you. one other thing as well, it puts a lot of pressure on your neck and/or spine, condensing it. this is also not good for you in the long term. bottom line, theyre risky, and with an exercise that produces IDENTICAL RESULTS- if you like that better- they really shouldnt be done. especially, especially if youre a skinny dude. knees are too valuable.

sigh... what? the squat and the leg press both build the quads, and to a lesser extent the glutes. the squat does NOT work your entire body. sure, it puts more strain on your lower back, if you consider that working it (its not, its just dangerous.) but in no way will a squat build your arms, or your upper body. maybe, MAYBE it will work your calves a bit more than the leg press. it doesnt even build your hamstrings. youre right, it is a must have for building mass, because the quads are important- but the leg press will get you the exact same results with less damage to other parts of your body. and yes, the shoulder is a smaller joint, but the benchpress does not put any partiluarly hard strain the joint at all- perhaps you are dropping the bar too low? the only joing to be worried about with that exercise is your wrists, which if alined properly (like you were punching) isnt a problem either. the knees, however, especially for some people, are very easy to do long term damage to becuase theyre used so much. running, walking, and now squatting with large amounts of weights? ask any body builder, theyll tell you. few people in their 40's complain about their shoulders because they used to lift weights, and when they do, its becuase they did something really stupid. what they often complain about is first, their lower back, and second, their knees. thats what the squat put a LOT of straing on. why do that to yourself when you have a PERFECTLY IDENTICAL and safer alternative exercise?

if you wanted to gain more mass, you could up the weight and do as few as 6, even 4 reps. id visit the gym more frequently though, exercising any one body part only once a week isnt really enough. theres another subject called "gaining mass" i think in this area, look through that too.

the point is: every martial art out there has its own philosophy, and of course, everyone who practices a martial art is convinced theirs is the best, and all the rules of it are universal. kung fu people would say that snap kicks, roundhouse, straight, or whatever, are the most powerful. thai boxers would strongly disagree and say their roundhouses are more powerful. blah blah blah, it matters who the fighter is, blah blah blah, but you know what i mean. in wing chun maybe straight punches are the most powerful, but in boxing theyre not. in a fight on the street, no one gets to use all that fancy stuff anyway. if you wnat to talk about two identical people with identical knowledge of fighting, i.e. how to hit and align the fists and all that, then a hook is still more powerful- simply based on the physics of the human body.

the benchpress puts strain on the shoulders, but not the joints; at least not enough to be concerned. the squat however CAN put enough pressure on the joints to cause a problem at some point. since both exercises give the same result (when donr correclty of course) and the leg press is safer both with the knees and the lower back, why not choose the safe one? as for protein intake, if you want to gain a lot of muslce weight, people recommend you eat as much as 1 gram of protein per pound that you weigh, mayb e even more. if youre 145, you shouldnt settle for less than 90, bare minimum. also, up the calories, healithily, but dont be afraid to do cardio, that wont interfere with actual mass building muscle wise. one more thing, make sure your routine makes sense. dont work the same muscle two days in a row (such as workout your chest one day then triceps the very next- since tris are used in the bench press.) at a beginning level you can get away with working the entire body in one day, but oyu might want to split it into two days. if your body can take it, youll want to work each muscle every other day. most really skinny guys can.

ah, the skinny guy wanting to get big... that used to be me. it still kinda is. okay then, here we go. gaining muscle weight (the only kind youd wanna gain i think) means working out with weights. lemme dispense with this now- eat a lot of protein. in order to get big, which for us skinny guys takes time, you need to constantly push yourself with big weights. however, during the beginning stages of your weight training (the stage im going to talk about) you dont want to do weight that gives you less than 8-10 reps or so. in fact id keep it around ten or more because your body needs to be ready to lift and build heavily. (eventually you might get down to 6 or 4, but not at first- youll pick that up as you go anyway.) you need to work your entire body, so ill break it down into sections. at this early a stage multiple exercises for one body part arent all that necessary, but here are the basics anyone desiring to build or keep mass should do. legs: leg presses. i dont recommend squats, hard on knees. just do some good weight for 10 reps, 4 or 5 sets, thats the standard there, pushing with your heels with your legs about even with your shoulders. leg curls. for you hamstrings, be careful with these especially. you might consider starting with more than 10 reps to be on the safe side. calf raises. standing, sitting, whatever. do 15 reps for five sets- the calves are stubborn to grow because they are a denser muscle fiber. you can do these every day if youre not sore. arms: two handed curl. the basic mass builder for the biceps, be sure to let your arm become completely straight between reps, letting blood flow through the muscle. flex it at the top of the rep. triceps. french press or pull down or whatever, depends on you- just make it a two handed exercise for the mass. dont stop half way like so many people do, do a complete extension then bring your hands back up as far as they go to work the entire thing. shoulder flyes. hard to describe even in person, so find some internet pics and follow. one thing though, you should not extend your arm fully out, be nice to your tendons. also, at the highest point your arms are, your pinkies should be pointing up. military press. important front shoulder (anterior deltoids), get a barbell, start at your collar bone and lift it straight up. make sure your back is perfectly straight and do not drop it behind your neck, is dangerous. dumbells can be substituted, youll see. wrist curl. like the calves, stubborn to grow, 15 reps for 5 sets here. two handed, of course. you can do these every day if youre not sore. chest: bench press. get a good spotter, make sure your hands, or fists, are angled straight, just like you were punching, dont let them bend back for risk of damaging your wrist. elbows back, drop the weight to above your nipple line, but only drop it so that your arms are parallel with the ground, any further takes tension away from the chest and puts it all on the front shoulders, a tinier muscle youre not even trying to work. chest flyes. machinesare what id recommend, just go through the motions. if using dumbells, do the same motions but do not touch them, keep them a few inches apart to keep tension in the chest. thats about it, incline benches maybe later but you dont need that in the very beginning. back: rows. avoid hurt, do dumbell rows. right hand and knee on a flat bench, pull a dumbell straight into your left armpit from a STRETCHEd position. make sure make sure make sure your lower back isnt doing any work. lats. go to a lat machine with that trapezoid like bar, holding it at the very ends, and just pull straight down, concentrating on your lats doing the work. do not bend backwards at all, sit straight up. let the bar pull up enough to stretch you out before the next rep. i would not recommend lower back exercises at this stage. oh, and never do deadlifts. ever. other than that, hundreds of sit ups and leg raises a day- some twists if you like, ought to work your abdomen find. well thats about it, if i forgot anyhting ill post later, i dont think i did. just remember a few things: form is most important, weight coming second. aways do a warm-up set. dont cheat on any exercises, it helps nothing and increases risk of injury. never work muscles two days in a row, or if theyre sore (except the calves, abs, and forarms.) form is still most important. it will take a long while to get really big, but some results will come pretty soon. form still most important. if anything suddenly hurts, stop exercise immediately. push yourself always, but dont over do it at all in the beginning stages. less is safer than too much. dont ever do deadlifts. dont neglect any one part of your body either. legs arent always fun, but theyre important. many people hate working theyre back and dont care since they cant see it- but its important too. a lot of weight comes from those dramatically huge muscles, as does a good look, it should not be neglected. the only reason not to work a certain area of the body when trying to get bigger is because its hurt. oh, and good form is really important by the way. lemme know what you think.

catch the punch half way and stop it, its not hard... they do it on something as cheesy as the original star trek. captian kirks favorite self defense manuever, man. or! you can put your hands in front of your face ala boxer style, move inside it, then explode an elbow into his nose, and a knee into his side or groin whatever, ala thai boxer style. thats my favorite. but, since i i feel like getting carried away with it, you could then go further and smash his knee, rake down his shin and stomp his foot for good measure while poppin him one in the throat with your left since your elbow bent his head back, you could punch his solar plex then spinning heel kick him to the ground and jump on him both feet ala kiss of the dragon, then make a strange facial expresson and an even stranger sound like "WOOOOoooo..." or something. ....or, you could just tackle the dude.

walking doesnt burn as many calories as running if you go the same distance, not at all. i can walk a mile and burn virtually none. if i run it in six or seven minutes, believe me ive burnt plenty more. you exert yourself more, the harder you run. you do of course have to work your body for a certain amount of time before any fat is burned, and im not discrediting walking- it is good for you. (and god knows america wouldnt be so damn fat if everyone would just walk a mile or two a day.) but still, jogging a mile or two a day will do more for you.

good advice, id add one tid bit though. while i always say push yourself, weights arent something you want to jump into trying maxes on all different exercises and pushing your body super hard. it needs time to build a foundation. in his book, arnold recommended 6 months of training before you even touch a weight. of course, no one does this, but its good to start off slower, 8-10 reps, get an idea of what you can do, and go from there. youll pick it up pretty fast. just remember, form is most important, as tibby also metioned, weight is second.

forget the immitators, bowflex is good. but not for gettin big. toning, sure. but hey, if you want to lose weight and get your body into shape, just go running. cardio exercise is the only way to go- be it biking, running, tae bo, aerobics off of some old cindy crawford video, whatever. get that heart beating for half an our or more, then youll see some good results. pushing yourself is the key.

ok, with deadlifts, you need not worry about hurting yourself and the slightest mistake. you need worry about hurting yourself period. because each time you do them, you do. later in life, youll see, and youll regret. do something else if you must work lower back hard, extensions on those 45 degree things with weights held to your chest while NEVER going past a straight back would be better, but deadlifts are never a good thing. i strongly advise not doing them. ever. anyhoo, you mentioned squats, (ignoring the strain on the knees the cause) they work your quads mostly, so id recommend leg curls in addition to. also lunges for quads, those work great. anyway, you lsoe flexiblity with any such exercise, but if you stretch daily and correctly, you will gain flexibility no matter what. so do that and youll be fine.

not to be argumentative, or even show respect for the "man" but i bet it tyson hit you with a hook itd do enough damage to make wing chun practicioners look like little school girls. but hooks and developing huge bodies is not the philosophy of wing chun fighting either.

i have never seen dragon, so i assure you nothing i said was based on it or any movie. it was based on a biography, rather.

bruce lee was i think the very first person to teach chinese martial arts to non chinese people and the other people really didnt like that. (thats when they challenged him to fight one of their masters, and he did up on some place overlooking hte ocean or something like that, and bruce won. however, it took an astonishingly long 3 minutes for the fight to be over- which devestated bruce. that is why he became as obsessed as he was and studied all sorts of various arts, birthing the CONCEPT, not style, known as jeet kun do- which he only named because people wouldnt stop buggin him about it.... if youre wondering.)

yea, that is the one exception: squats. very bad on the knees. id recommend leg presses, and make sure even then you never feel anything in your knees. also, doing lunges can add more power to your legs than you would think. but still, do every exercise correctly, and pace yourself, back injuries shouldnt happen. (dont do deadlifts!)