Hudson

For forms I know, Broadsword. My favorite weapon to watch would be the 9-section whip.

I'd like to train in China this summer, and am looking for an authentic place to train, one that isn't too costly, and very, very intensive. I'd like to train Shaolin because it gives me a place to train all day long, which I can't do now.

4 eggs, soft boiled, on top of 4 pieces of toast, salt pepper to taste. 10-13oz of 2% milk. Delicious.

A marine wants to train Shaolin? I thought you guys were the toughest guys on earth after basic, why go the extra mile? I'm saving my pennies and doing my research to train Shaolin. I hear its the most intense MA training. Currently I take a style of Kung Fu that has Northern and Southern qualities, and training in Shaolin at the least will let me practice Kung Fu without worrying about other things.

Wow... thats a mouthful. 4 animals huh? My style has 43.5! Anyway... yeah, just check out the place. Sounds pretty cool.

I don't know where I read it first so it's quite possible I "stole" it from him?

I myself have several different training items at home. The essentials, I believe, are a good heavy bag, a jump rope, some mats if you have people to spar with (I don't have them but the grass works), some dumbells, a speedbag, and a wood dummy. Since I have a lot of outdoor space to myself I have only a freestanding bag indoors and a makiwara outside, but all the other equipment my MA school has.

I agree, although I can't stand tofu or rice. I get most of my carbs from whole wheat and grain and noodles. (There are maybe 10 vietnamese noodle shops within 5 miles... try living here and not eating there once). I eat a lot of chicken and tuna, rarely hamburger. I think what I need to do is cut down on sugar and saturated fats.

I'll tell you right now I train all ways but my favorite way to exercise ever is doing the card routine, where you get a deck of cards, red is crunches, black is pushups, and you do as many reps as the number on the card, face cards 15 jokers 50 reps. Do as fast as you can. Very fun.

Heh, now I've confused myself and made some people angry. Oh well, sorry bout that.

Diet: What's yours like? I've seen some people get good loss from the Atkins diet, however, I think I would rather do something more logical like the CKD. Right now I just eat "clean" foods and try to take in more protein then fats and carbs, however, to get truly cut down I think I need something a bit more structured. Any thoughts?

I have found that stretching 3-4 times week is plenty, like bodybuilding there is a point of overtraining in stretching and you may become less flexible. Take it easy, stretch rather gently and be patient.

There is definately a point where large bulky muscles will get in the way of certain techniques but that is probably at a heigher weight then yours. When weight training for MA's, you want to focus of function before form. Think what each muscle would do for you. Train not only for size but for strength and speed. There is a direct correlation between muscle size and speed, but you do not want to be so bulked up you cannot move in a full range of motion.

No no no, what I mean is the Shaolin Wu Shu (Again, I'm looking for any help here so I can be better informed) training seems to stress a lot of dramatic and acrobatic stunts rather than fighting techniques, I don't know much about it though so any comments would be appreciated.

Correct me if I'm wrong but here's what I gathered about training Shaolin: Physical Training is intense, a lot of endurance and flexibility issues and will make you sore for days. Martial Arts training is less valuable and practical and very much gymnastics/sport. Not authentic. (No offense to anyone in Shaolin-Do, Shaolin Kempo, or any Shaolin Gung Fu) Still, being able to say I know Shaolin blah blah blah would be cool (I know, I know, bad reason to train) Anyone know anything about training at the temple?

Heh, don't worry, I'm not criticizing any reasons for starting martial arts. As for me the reason I do martial arts is because I want to be stronger, faster, and deadlier then anyone on the planet. Yeah, I want to be the tough guy as well. But also, I love feeling fit. I don't want to fit into the stereotype of being an overweight American, I want people to know I can run circles around them. I feel sorry for people who can't jog a mile without getting short of breath. I heard recently a claim that over 50% of america is obese and something like 62% of that group is obese - scary.

How many people prefer bodyweight exercises over weighted exercises or isometrics? I personally don't know anyone who has maxed out the potential for growth through bodyweight exercises, and I don't know if I ever will. By this I mean they've reached a point where doing sets of 100+ pushups, crunches, handstand pushups, one-legged squats, etc; are no problem. Maybe that seems a bit extreme but it's a personal goal of mine to be able to perform large sets of those types of exercises without failure, to be quicker and more agile than any opponent from any angle. (I hope that made sense). Thoughts?

There is no way Bruce Lee could be at 8%... I might believe that during certain time periods, but did you ever see Enter the Dragon? That's when he was most cut from the extra heat and intensity in Hong Kong. At 8% you'll have that 6-pack (Assuming you want to cut to look good).

Roman chair.

Not sure if it's true, but I heard Wushu will become an official event come 2008. Anyone else hear this?

Ok, let's set aside philosophy here. You can debunk this question all you want but: How many people on the forums train a martial art mainly to have a self-defense? And for people who have been training for a good while, what was the reason you started? Why have you continued? Is the reason you practice now any different from when you started?

I'd say go for the swimming. I run and swim regularly (Runs in the EARLY mornings, swim in the afternoon). I feel running definately gets me breathing harder (Especially after I sprint) but I love swimming and swimming plenty of laps still gives you a good cardio workout. Work on your butterfly! That's probably the best stroke for wearing you out.

Gatorade does hydrate you a bit better than water. But, it makes you thirsty for more gatorade! Water, I think, wins for being overall the best.

Has anyone trained at the temple or know anyone who has? Shaolin Kung Fu interests me because of the way Shaolin Monks train at the temple (Or from what I've heard.)

I can see that being relevant if you were drinking straight from the udder... But when you're talking about pasteurized, homogenized, super-dooper-ionized (I might have made that up.), skim milk... it sure isn't the same thing.