A faster/better way to do this simple exercise?

Dansolo

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Hi guys. I'm a new Wing Chun student. I am not overweight but I sit at a desk all day (I work in IT) and am out of shape. I signed up this week at a dojo but I'm busy until next week so I have several days without it, and have been looking for additional material as I like to research/learn. I came across this simple exercise:
. I can only do this exercise for maybe five minutes before I need to sit down. My knees are not that good (they aren't trashed, but I need to strengthen them up... a lot) and this also seems to use leg muscles that I don't normally use, because I can walk for 5+ miles or ride a bicycle for nearly 20 miles without stopping other than a few short breaks to drink some water.

Is there a faster and/or easier way to work on these muscles? I am frustrated in myself for having such little ability to do such a simple exercise and would like to improve myself faster than I feel that exercise will (since I can only do it for such a short period).


Thanks!
 
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clfsean

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Hi guys. I'm a new Wing Chun student. I am not overweight but I sit at a desk all day (I work in IT) and am out of shape. I signed up this week at a dojo but I'm busy until next week so I have several days without it, and have been looking for additional material as I like to research/learn. I came across this simple exercise:
. I can only do this exercise for maybe five minutes before I need to sit down. My knees are not that good (they aren't trashed, but I need to strengthen them up... a lot) and this also seems to use leg muscles that I don't normally use, because I can walk for 5+ miles or ride a bicycle for nearly 20 miles without stopping other than a few short breaks to drink some water.

Is there a faster and/or easier way to work on these muscles? I am frustrated in myself for having such little ability to do such a simple exercise and would like to improve myself faster than I feel that exercise will (since I can only do it for such a short period).


Thanks!

No... that's why it's called "kung fu" ... hard work. Have fun.
 
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mook jong man

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Hi guys. I'm a new Wing Chun student. I am not overweight but I sit at a desk all day (I work in IT) and am out of shape. I signed up this week at a dojo but I'm busy until next week so I have several days without it, and have been looking for additional material as I like to research/learn. I came across this simple exercise:
. I can only do this exercise for maybe five minutes before I need to sit down. My knees are not that good (they aren't trashed, but I need to strengthen them up... a lot) and this also seems to use leg muscles that I don't normally use, because I can walk for 5+ miles or ride a bicycle for nearly 20 miles without stopping other than a few short breaks to drink some water.

Is there a faster and/or easier way to work on these muscles? I am frustrated in myself for having such little ability to do such a simple exercise and would like to improve myself faster than I feel that exercise will (since I can only do it for such a short period).


Thanks!

First thing you have to do is stop looking at this blokes videos , he's extremely dodgy.

The place where you will practice Wing Chun is called a Kwoon , not a Dojo , that is Japanese.
Wait until you are taught by an instructor before you start practicing anything , in the mean time you could probably start doing some bodyweight squats as a general conditioner in preparation for your upcoming class training.
 
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Dansolo

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While I admit that there is much for me to learn about this art and martial arts in general, dojo is valid term in Chinese as well as Japanese. There are alternate Chinese spellings of it (and many alternate words, of course, given how many different dialects of Chinese that exist) e.g. daochang, but dojo is valid (maybe less common), at least according to several websites I have come across that explain the meaning of the word. The place I go teaches some Japanese stuff as well (no, they're not one of those places that claims to teach every martial art ever; I am leery of those places), and they call it a dojo, so I am just doing the same. (I don't mean to sound like I think I know everything here, just explaining my reasoning for using that term.)

If this is the only way for me to exercise these, then I will go ahead and just do this as often as I can. And don't worry; I wasn't planning to try and learn Wing Chun from this guy. Just seemed like a valid basic exercise. I've had two classes so far and find it hard to keep the stance for long, so that's why I thought this would help. I don't think it's valid to tell someone that they can only learn from an instructor. There are things that I won't be able to learn on my own and that is why I'm taking the class, but come on - we're talking about a simple leg exercise here.
 
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mook jong man

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While I admit that there is much for me to learn about this art and martial arts in general, dojo is valid term in Chinese as well as Japanese. There are alternate Chinese spellings of it that I do not know, but dojo is definitely valid.If this is the only way for me to exercise these, then I will go ahead and just do this as often as I can. And don't worry; I wasn't planning to try and learn Wing Chun from this guy. Just seemed like a valid basic exercise. I've had two classes so far and find it hard to keep the stance for long, so that's why I thought this would help.

Yes Dojo is a valid term , if you are learning Japanese martial arts.
But if you are training in Wing Chun which is a Chinese martial art then you are training at the Kwoon.

Anyway , if you have already had two classes then you probably would have been taught how to measure out your stance.
So just practice measuring out your stance , staying in your stance for a few minutes at a time.
If your legs start cramping up , then start moving forwards and backwards in your stance and side to side.
Be sure to measure out your stance again after every couple of steps.

It will take time for you to get used to the stance and gradually the thighs will learn to relax.
 
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Dansolo

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Okay. I was just amazed by how difficult such a simple thing was to me, and sort of automatically assumed that other people (in general, not including the experienced martial artists that are already used to it) could do this much better than I can. I am not against putting in the effort, I was just hoping someone would suggest a way to exercise these muscles better than just taking the stance (or repeatedly taking a stance then standing up again and repeating) would. But if that's what I have to do, I will do it.

Thanks.
 

mook jong man

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Okay. I was just amazed by how difficult such a simple thing was to me, and sort of automatically assumed that other people (in general, not including the experienced martial artists that are already used to it) could do this much better than I can. I am not against putting in the effort, I was just hoping someone would suggest a way to exercise these muscles better than just taking the stance (or repeatedly taking a stance then standing up again and repeating) would. But if that's what I have to do, I will do it.Thanks.
If it was easy everybody would be doing it wouldn't they?It is not so much a matter of exercising the muscles , it is more a matter of learning to relax the thighs .There is no shortcut it will only come from time spent being in your stance and your brain willing the muscles to relax.
 
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Dansolo

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Even the most basic stuff ain't that easy, huh? It's not like I expected WC to be easy overall... Oh well. I'll get through it.
 
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Domino

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You mentioned it in your 1st post I think, using muscles we don't usually use..... don't be put off after such a short space of time, stick with the basics always.
 

almost a ghost

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Hi guys. I'm a new Wing Chun student. I am not overweight but I sit at a desk all day (I work in IT) and am out of shape.

I'm in IT as well since 1999. I wake up at 4:30am to go the gym twice a week and 7am on Sundays, run 5K on Saturdays, and practice Wing Chun six days a week (class and at home). Your excuse is invalid!!! :ultracool

I am a beginner to martial arts currently training in Wing Chun at MJA Martial Arts in Spencer, MA.


I just checked your school's website. What lineage is your instructor? There are some things on there that seem a bit off.
 
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Dansolo

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Unfortunately he doesn't give lineage. That bothered me at first, and I'm sure I will be told that I made the wrong decision by some people because of it. But it's the only WC I found within a reasonable range. From what I can tell, he does know his stuff. Guy can take his stance, have a couple of more senior students (that have been there for years) try to 'uproot' him and they are unable to do anything. He keeps control like it were no big deal. And he talks about the internal qualities of it and stuff as I hoped he would - I've read about how some people do/did not consider it quite so internal[1] and had been hoping that he would see it the internal way, and he does. A couple of the senior students are also extremely helpful to me and that played a large part of my decision to train there. I am on a three month contract, and I know some of you will say that contracts are the devil, but I don't think three months is a big deal as I would try it out for at least that long. (If it were a minimum of a year or something then I wouldn't have done it.)

What is it that seems off to you? I had been looking for some opinions before but this is the first time anyone's commented on this. (Not that I blame anyone for not seeing my intro thread or anything.) Maybe you see something that I did not in which case I would like to know. Or maybe it's something that I can straighten out having actually been there, or otherwise find the answer to.

Ultimately I'm not good enough to tell you guys whether he is mediocre, good, or great. But that would be the case anywhere I went. All I know is that he impressed me, he's nice, and the other students are nice. If I had to complain about anything, it would be the time of the classes, ~7:30-9:30 PM (schedule says 8:30 but we always run longer) and that has made it difficult for me to sleep afterwards so far. Hopefully I'll get used to it.

By the way, I'm not exactly using being in IT as an excuse. It was just more of a stating of fact of what I am used to - nothing. I've been too damn lazy for a long time. But I wouldn't have signed up for this otherwise, as I am still in IT, so if it were an excuse, it'd still be one. No, it's more that when I learned about WC, I realized that it was THE MA that I wanted to do, and I finally got my *** out to a Kwoon* (happy? :p) to start. I'm not complaining about it, either. I was just hoping that someone could point me to a better way to do this exercise. But I guess there is not.
 
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Vajramusti

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Hi guys. I'm a new Wing Chun student. I am not overweight but I sit at a desk all day (I work in IT) and am out of shape. I signed up this week at a dojo but I'm busy until next week so I have several days without it, and have been looking for additional material as I like to research/learn. I came across this simple exercise:
. I can only do this exercise for maybe five minutes before I need to sit down. My knees are not that good (they aren't trashed, but I need to strengthen them up... a lot) and this also seems to use leg muscles that I don't normally use, because I can walk for 5+ miles or ride a bicycle for nearly 20 miles without stopping other than a few short breaks to drink some water.

Is there a faster and/or easier way to work on these muscles? I am frustrated in myself for having such little ability to do such a simple exercise and would like to improve myself faster than I feel that exercise will (since I can only do it for such a short period).


Thanks!
-------------------------------------
My suggestion? I would NOT do the exercise that way. Knees going down the wrong way.. on the long run you can damage your knees.

joy chaudhuri
 
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Dansolo

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My suggestion? I would NOT do the exercise that way. Knees going down the wrong way.. on the long run you can damage your knees.

joy chaudhuri

Oof. Thanks for the warning. I'll make sure not do it with that sort of knee positioning. I was kind of wondering about that.
 

almost a ghost

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Unfortunately he doesn't give lineage. That bothered me at first, and I'm sure I will be told that I made the wrong decision by some people because of it.

To me, that is a big red flag. I'm not trying to turn this into an lineage debate. I just believe that an instructor should have one so you know that your instructor has received formal training.

But it's the only WC I found within a reasonable range.

I understand. I'm originally from the South Shore area of MA and when I moved back a few years ago for a little bit I ended up traveling to Albany to train once a month. It drove me crazy that getting anywhere was a trek LOL.

What is it that seems off to you? I had been looking for some opinions before but this is the first time anyone's commented on this. (Not that I blame anyone for not seeing my intro thread or anything.) Maybe you see something that I did not in which case I would like to know. Or maybe it's something that I can straighten out having actually been there, or otherwise find the answer to.

I got a good laugh at this:
sifuwingchun.jpg

Even though this is not a legit dummy, he still shouldn't be training himself to have his tan sao (performed with his left hand) collapsed like that.

I hope his chi sao really doesn't look like this and the picture is taken out of context:
1_foto1.jpg


Then there is this demo (2:47 mark and 3:22): http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wBQjaABvfQc#t=166s I'm not sure what he's demonstrating. Is it his take on Chi Sao or something else?
 
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Dansolo

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Ah, damn. That's not what I was hoping to hear. Those are things that are beyond me and I have no idea how to answer them. As for the association, I don't know much about that. He hasn't asked me to join it. I am hoping that if there is a problem with his form in the pictures that it's just because he was posing for a picture, but I don't know and it seems like a difficult topic to bring up.
 

almost a ghost

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I am hoping that if there is a problem with his form in the pictures that it's just because he was posing for a picture, but I don't know and it seems like a difficult topic to bring up.

That's just the thing. I don't want to comment too much on pictures taken out of context. As far as I know he could of been purposely demonstrating an incorrect posture in that small chi sao picture, but on the other hand between the demonstration in the video, the dummy pic, and not stating the lineage it's not hard to to prejudge.

I understand that it's a difficult thing to bring up in general, never mind saying "Some random dude on the internet says you are doing it wrong" LOL.
 
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Dansolo

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That's just the thing. I don't want to comment too much on pictures taken out of context. As far as I know he could of been purposely demonstrating an incorrect posture in that small chi sao picture, but on the other hand between the demonstration in the video, the dummy pic, and not stating the lineage it's not hard to to prejudge.

I understand that it's a difficult thing to bring up in general, never mind saying "Some random dude on the internet says you are doing it wrong" LOL.

Indeed. Well, thanks for pointing it out. I will try not to be too discouraged over a couple of pictures, but if I can find out the story behind them in a way that doesn't sound potentially insulting/disrespectful, I will try to do so.
 

WingChunIan

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I came across this simple exercise:
. I can only do this exercise for maybe five minutes before I need to sit down.
Is there a faster and/or easier way to work on these muscles? I am frustrated in myself for having such little ability to do such a simple exercise and would like to improve myself faster than I feel that exercise will (since I can only do it for such a short period).


DON'T DO THIS!!!! The basic stance of yee gee kim yeung ma is intended to be sat in not bounced up and down in. The legs are not designed to straighten when the knees are aducted and trying to do so will damage the knees.
 
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Dansolo

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DON'T DO THIS!!!! The basic stance of yee gee kim yeung ma is intended to be sat in not bounced up and down in. The legs are not designed to straighten when the knees are aducted and trying to do so will damage the knees.

Don't worry, I've already been talked out of it. Thanks though.
 

simplewc101

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for a beginner getting back into shape, with a focus on wing chun, I would recommend doing squats, pushups, lunges, skipping rope, and running.
Start off maybe doing some squats, some pushups and a little rope. then add in some running on top. do it however you want to do, but those basic exercises will get you in shape to be able to defend yourself in an intense fight for 10 -60 seconds.
I think why MJM told you to wait to learn from your instructor is because he probably won't even recommend you do what is portrayed in the video.
Your instructor may or may not have excellent knowledge and practical use of WC (I don't know him, haven't even checked his site out, and frankly just don't want to say anything about him as I haven't been in his class before), but lots of the stuff you see on youtube is incorrect, performed by people who haven't completed their training to any level where they can be deemed competent to use it in a fight, or give you incorrect use of various hands. Youtuber beware. I watched some of that guys videos before starting my WC training, and now after learning a bit, I laugh at some of the stuff he does. That exercise does not seem useful to me at all. It sounds like you've been taught the stance and maybe a few other things, so just practice standing in your stance until your knees or whatever starts to hurt, take a break, and then stand in your stance again for a while longer. For me it took an aggregate total of many hours of standing in my stance to be able to stand comfortably for long periods of time.
As for your instructor, you should be able to tell if he's feeding you BS if you have ever been in fights before. If what he is teaching you doesn't seems to make any sense to you for a fight situation (granted you have been in altercations before) then you can ask for him to explain why it would work against an attacker. Based on his response, you will probably be able to call BS or give it the go ahead most of the time.
 

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