chh Posted January 25, 2002 Posted January 25, 2002 Yes, but I'm very much the beginner, 10th kyu, traditional Okinawan. I think the next piece of equipment I want at home is a makiwara; my understanding is that daily use does much to increase power and focus? My sensei knows where I can get the tall standing board type, same as what we have at the dojo, which is what I've been leaning towards after looking around a bit. I guess they come with two striking pads (one lower for kicks) and a metal bracket, then I just have to build a platform to mount the bracket on. I think the pads are straw or something similar covered with leather. You guys sure have a lot of smilies on this forum!
Joecooke007 Posted January 25, 2002 Author Posted January 25, 2002 Oh chh if you intend on intense work outs on the makiwara you should use soothing ointment so that you do not hurt yourself. Boards don't hit back. -Bruce Lee
Gorgoth Posted January 27, 2002 Posted January 27, 2002 Ok... as for the iron forearms... I got the training ideas from the book 'The Tao of Gung Fu' and then I talked to my Sensei about it (I am too, a Goju-Ryu student)... Basically it entails you hitting your forearms on various objects... you start on a smooth pole indoors or something... you do that for a while (month or two) then you will notice your forearms much stronger than they were before... then you go outside and do the same kind of training on a tree with rough bark (I use the live oak trees around my house)... While training like this you have to make sure you hit EVERY part of your forearm on the tree... Once you have hit the tree for a LONG time (I've been doing it for 3 months now and am just now progressing to a tree with a larger diameter) then you start to hit your forearms on stones... you need to concentrate on hitting your forearms on the stones the same way you did on the tree... once you get to the point that you can shatter a stone on your forearm, your forearm is said to be as strong as iron... Where I am in the training, the simple momentum of my partner's punch hitting my block (which i execute as softly as I can and still have it be a block and not a parry) pops blood vessels in his arm and he says it hurts like hell... Only thing is... my sensei told me if i hurt my partner again I will start having punishment for it... So now I am barely hitting my partner with the blocks... which feels REALLY weird considering how i've always been trained to block with strength... anywho... Phantasmic said: For blocks me and my friend worked a drill where you hit each others forearms for about 3 min with each others forearms and then we blocked each others punches. We do that drill... only we have always done it for a lot longer than 3 minutes... we go until one of us bows out of the drill... which can last a LONG time... That drill, i believe, is to make the nerve in your arm numb to pressure... that way anybody tries to use that as a pressure point you will feel nothing from it... At least thats what my sensei told us the purpose of that training was... I also train on a makiwara pad... We made them ourselves (with some instruction from our Sensei)... Only ours doesn't have any fancy pads.... we have rice rope on japanese cedar... the rice rope was glued together and glued to the board, of course ... our Makiwaras are all outside... hehe... they're in my sensei's backyard... I'm planning on making one in my yard too, but have not yet had the chance... and i have to find out where my sensei got the rice rope and japanese cedar... can't find it for the life of me... Oh ya... and our sensei has us put some kind of sap on our knuckles when we work on the makiwara... I'm not sure what it is... but it helps a lot when we have an hour long session on the makiwara... have any of y'all ever heard of Paper Tent Gung Fu?? I've been trying to figure out how to make the "paper tent" for quite a while now... I have a theory about using newspaper... but I dont get the newspaper... and I dont have any neighbors (i live out in the middle of nowhere with hella-bunch of land ) I'm trying to collect them... hopefully I'll have enough fairly soon so i can start the paper tent gung fu training... Hopefully I didnt bore y'all too much -Gor Student- Okinawan Goju-Ryu: Miyagi Style
Joecooke007 Posted January 27, 2002 Author Posted January 27, 2002 Gorgoth, welcome to the forums. I myself have never heard of paper tent gung fu can you explain a little? From this post I can tell that you are a very knowledgeable man. I look forward to sharing viewpoints with you. Boards don't hit back. -Bruce Lee
Gorgoth Posted January 27, 2002 Posted January 27, 2002 Thanks for the welcome Joe... I'm not too knowledgeable.... I just read a lot... mostly on martial arts and such... I got the training of Paper Teng Gung Fu from the book 'The Tao of Gung Fu' by Bruce Lee... Its in my "library" in the study somewhere... so I'm just gonna type on memory hehe... Well... the construction of the 'paper tent' is somewhat of an unknown to me... All I know is that its basically a solid box that you have made from paper... the paper shoud be atleast more than 20 Chinese ounces (however much that is... i dont know) ... It should have the dimension of 20 inches by 20 inches by 24 inches... Then you fasten a string to the center of the paper tent... Now you need to make a table that is 9 feet by 2 feet... and make the height just a comfortable height for you while you're in a bowl-horse stance... Once you have your paper tent and the table made... you put the paper tent on the table and hold the string with your left hand... you then strike the paper tent with a straight punch with your right hand... then pull the paper tent back to its original position with the string in your left hand... at first you should barely be able to move the paper tent... but once you can move it all the way across the table for a long time without any fatigue, you then get to make a new paper tent... only this time you put some lead weights in it as you're making it... you continue to do this... and you make more and more paper tents with lead weights, then you should have a paper tent that weighs over 100 chinese ounces... Once you can hit the paper tent far back and not even feel the resistance, even with the lead weights inside it... you then need to take one leaf out of your table so there is a gaping hole in the table... then you need to hit the paper tent over the hole and pull it back... at first you won't be able to do this very fast because the paper tent will be falling into the hole... once you get to where you can hit the paper tent into the air and over the hole, you need to remove another leaf from the table, so now the hole is much larger... you continue to do this until the table is a mere 3 feet long... 1/3 of its original length... at this point you should be able to hit the paper tent and have it travel aerodynamically back and forth without falling in the gaping hole... once you can do this... your punch will be so incredibly strong you will be able to hit a man 10 chinese yards back... thats everything i remember of Paper Tent Gung Fu... now... what i'm gonna do is make a paper tent out of newspaper first... then i'll make one with some lead weights... I dont know how much a chinese ounce is... so i have no clue as to how much the paper tent should weigh... do any of you know how much a chinese ounce is compared to the american customary system of measurement? becanse it can't be the same... if it is... the paper tent would weigh a little over a pound... and thats not nearly enough... in my opinion... anywho... if any of you know more about Paper Tent Gung Fu... please... let me know... -Gor Student- Okinawan Goju-Ryu: Miyagi Style
Joecooke007 Posted January 27, 2002 Author Posted January 27, 2002 Whoa!!! That sounds intense. Very hard indeed!! Boards don't hit back. -Bruce Lee
Joecooke007 Posted February 1, 2002 Author Posted February 1, 2002 O.k. thank you all for your input! Boards don't hit back. -Bruce Lee
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