Taking 3 months off from WC.

[Seeker]

Hello,

I am looking for advice on how to keep progressing in WC, even while in hiatus. Aside from the forms, individual techniques (my Sifu's advice) I am looking for advice on how to make my downtime more... productive.

Any ideas what one could do solo to improve on their sensitivity, rooting, etc?

Thanks.

 

[futsaowingchun]

Hello,

I am looking for advice on how to keep progressing in WC, even while in hiatus. Aside from the forms, individual techniques (my Sifu's advice) I am looking for advice on how to make my downtime more... productive.

Any ideas what one could do solo to improve on their sensitivity, rooting, etc?

Thanks.

I hear visualization is very good. Visualize rooting or any training aspect using your mind instead of the body.

 

[Nabakatsu]

Several years before I ever trained any martial art I was obsessed with training my reflexes, I used to put various weapons into my punching bag to assist me in attacking and blocking at the same time, I don't what tools you have available or how much time you have, but you could always craft some kind of training enviornment! I know I want to!! I've been thinking about getting ceiling hooks and hanging staffs, staffs cut in half, and other junk and than just going at it, fixing it up from there.. who knows how much this will assist my WT if at all, but ya never know, I'm sure if you get creative you can figure out something! best of luck good sir.

 

[Seeker]

Thanks a lot guys,

I've tried visualizing the forms before, but my ADD doesn't allow me to get all the way through one. Maybe I should try harder, this may actually help my ADD. And I do like the idea of a more alive dummy.

I've been playing with an 8lbs squishy-ball. Laying on my back, rolling it between my forearms in double fooks, then to bong, tan. Also doing pak sau, tossing it up and pak-ing it.

It's a challenge not dropping it on my chest/face. At the very least it has made me conscious of my elbows flaring out and how to deflect it off to the sides when I lose control of it.

I'll report back if I feel I've gained any benefit from doing this.

Edit: On that squishy ball exercise. When doing the tan and bong I do use both hands, one being in a wu sau shape. It would be cool being able to balance a ball single handedly though.

 

[Carol]

Trying to get through it probably will help your ADD. An idea for visualizing your forms is try visualizing it the way you probably learned it...one or two moves at a time. Once you have those moves down, then go to the next move or two, and so on.

Another way to challenge yourself is to do something strenuous for a bit. Running, playing sports, schlepping around heavy stuff, mowing the lawn...something to get your heart rate up. Then after doing the strenuous activity, go through one of your forms. They are much harder to do when your body is in that state.

Good luck and hang in there :asian:

 

[Seeker]

Trying to get through it probably will help your ADD. An idea for visualizing your forms is try visualizing it the way you probably learned it...one or two moves at a time. Once you have those moves down, then go to the next move or two, and so on.

Another way to challenge yourself is to do something strenuous for a bit. Running, playing sports, schlepping around heavy stuff, mowing the lawn...something to get your heart rate up. Then after doing the strenuous activity, go through one of your forms. They are much harder to do when your body is in that state.

Good luck and hang in there :asian:

Thanks for the advice on the visualization. Baby steps, baby steps :ultracool
I bet it would really help in focusing on one particular section too, in that manner.

What I usually do during my kettlebell sets, is after doing a set of swings I will go through part of the form, or the dummy just to keep my heart rate going so I don't drop dead. And you are right, it is a whole 'nother feel doing it exhausted.

 

[mook jong man]

Hello,

I am looking for advice on how to keep progressing in WC, even while in hiatus. Aside from the forms, individual techniques (my Sifu's advice) I am looking for advice on how to make my downtime more... productive.

Any ideas what one could do solo to improve on their sensitivity, rooting, etc?

Thanks.

Don't worry about it too much man , 3 months is nothing , you won't lose much , maybe a little reflex and a bit of timing thats about it. Continue to practice the forms and spend a bit of time pivoting , pivoting is good because it helps you to find your center .

If your worried that you might lose fitness and speed because your not training you might want to make yourself up a little aerobic routine composed of kicks , chain punches and push ups .

Make it go for about 20 minutes of continuous movement heres a sample of what we used to get the students to do at the end of our classes.

I don't know what kicks you do at your school but you can just substitute them for the ones that you do

LOW HEEL KICK - KICK WITH HEEL AT OWN KNEE HEIGHT , TOES PULLED BACK AND FOOT AT A SLIGHT OUTWARD ANGLE TO MAKE GOOD HEEL CONTACT WITH KNEE OR SHIN

MEDIUM HEEL KICK- KICK WITH HEEL TO YOUR OWN WAIST HEIGHT , TOES PULLED BACK , FOOT IS VERTICAL

SNAP KICK - KICK TO GROIN , FLATTEN FOOT AND MAKE CONTACT WITH INSTEP .


MEASURE OUT YOUR STANCE GUARD UP

50 CHAIN PUNCHES ( at a decent clip)

LEFT LOW HEEL KICK ( 10 REPS ) THEN RIGHT LOW HEEL KICK ( 10 REPS)
MEASURE OUT YOUR STANCE GUARD UP

The kicks are done at speed but don't lock your knees right out , the kick goes out then straight back to the stance

50 CHAIN PUNCHES
LEFT SNAP KICK (10 REPS) THEN RIGHT SNAP KICK ( 10 REPS )
MEASURE OUT YOUR STANCE GUARD UP

50 CHAIN PUNCHES
LEFT MEDIUM HEEL KICK ( 10 REPS ) THEN RIGHT MEDIUM HEEL KICK (10 REPS) kick at your own waist height

LOW HORSE STANCE WITH 100 CHAIN PUNCHES ( get down low )
PUSH UPS ( 10 REPS )

MEASURE OUT STANCE GUARD UP

LEFT LOW HEEL KICK , RIGHT MEDIUM HEEL KICK ( 2 kicks to the count ) (10 reps )
RIGHT LOW HEEL KICK , LEFT MEDIUM HEEL KICK ( 2 kicks to the count) (10 REPS)

LOW HORSE STANCE WITH 100 CHAIN PUNCHES
PUSH UPS ( 10 REPS)

MEASURE OUT STANCE GUARD UP

LEFT LOW HEEL KICK , RIGHT SNAP KICK ( 2 kicks to the count) ( 10 REPS )
RIGHT LOW HEEL KICK , LEFT SNAP KICK (2 kicks to the count) ( 10 REPS )

LOW HORSE STANCE WITH 100 CHAIN PUNCHES
PUSH UPS ( 10 REPS)

NOW YOU DO BRIDGEING THE GAP WITH KICKS ( kick and then step right down so that you have covered distance , punch when foot hits the ground .

MEASURE OUT STANCE ( LEFT GUARD UP )
LEFT LOW HEEL KICK FOLLOWED BY THREE PUNCHES ( 10 REPS)

MEASURE OUT STANCE ( RIGHT GUARD UP )
RIGHT LOW HEEL KICK FOLLOWED BY THREE PUNCHES (10 REPS)

MEASURE OUT STANCE (LEFT GUARD UP )
LEFT MEDIUM HEEL KICK FOLLOWED BY THREE PUNCHES (10 REPS)

MEASURE OUT STANCE (RIGHT GUARD UP)
RIGHT MEDIUM HEEL KICK FOLLOWED BY THREE PUNCHES (10 REPS)

MEASURE OUT STANCE (LEFT GUARD UP )
LEFT SNAP KICK FOLLOWED BY THREE PUNCHES

MEASURE OUT STANCE ( RIGHT GUARD UP )
RIGHT SNAP KICK FOLLOWED BY THREE PUNCHES

MEASURE OUT STANCE

CHAIN PUNCH FOR 60 SECONDS , LAST 30 SECONDS PUNCH AS FAST AS YOU CAN.

LIGHT JOGGING ON THE SPOT AND CIRCLING THE ARMS FOR ABOUT 2 OR 3 MINS GENTLY BRINGING THE HEART RATE DOWN.

You can put some stomach crunches in as well if you want , if the workout is too long or short just adjust by doing more reps or leaving out some stuff.

I guarantee if you do this several times a week you will go back to your school faster and fitter than when you left . Just make sure you ease into it because it can be a real **** kicker , aim for 20 minutes of continuous movement.





L

 

[Nabakatsu]

Huh, we do something kind of similar in class, a bit more varied and intense by the sounds of it, he has us all sorts of crazy crap i've never seen outside of class, and it too is for 20 mns, but the start of class, definitly got all of us in better shape FAST!

 

[mook jong man]

Huh, we do something kind of similar in class, a bit more varied and intense by the sounds of it, he has us all sorts of crazy crap i've never seen outside of class, and it too is for 20 mns, but the start of class, definitly got all of us in better shape FAST!

Shouldn't really be at the start of class , hard exercise or power training can effect the quality of the Chi Sau if it is done beforehand.

It is best to be done at the end of the class after all the techniques that require fine motor control have been completed in my opinion.

 

[Nabakatsu]

We don't do chi sau, we're all pretty low level, we did a couple rounds of chain punching pads after our work out which preceeds doing siu nim tao together, than we split up into dan chi, and than we talked a bit about various things

 

[Seeker]

Don't worry about it too much man , 3 months is nothing , you won't lose much , maybe a little reflex and a bit of timing thats about it. Continue to practice the forms and spend a bit of time pivoting , pivoting is good because it helps you to find your center .

If your worried that you might lose fitness and speed because your not training you might want to make yourself up a little aerobic routine composed of kicks , chain punches and push ups .

Make it go for about 20 minutes of continuous movement heres a sample of what we used to get the students to do at the end of our classes.

I don't know what kicks you do at your school but you can just substitute them for the ones that you do

LOW HEEL KICK - KICK WITH HEEL AT OWN KNEE HEIGHT , TOES PULLED BACK AND FOOT AT A SLIGHT OUTWARD ANGLE TO MAKE GOOD HEEL CONTACT WITH KNEE OR SHIN

MEDIUM HEEL KICK- KICK WITH HEEL TO YOUR OWN WAIST HEIGHT , TOES PULLED BACK , FOOT IS VERTICAL

SNAP KICK - KICK TO GROIN , FLATTEN FOOT AND MAKE CONTACT WITH INSTEP .


MEASURE OUT YOUR STANCE GUARD UP

50 CHAIN PUNCHES ( at a decent clip)

LEFT LOW HEEL KICK ( 10 REPS ) THEN RIGHT LOW HEEL KICK ( 10 REPS)
MEASURE OUT YOUR STANCE GUARD UP

The kicks are done at speed but don't lock your knees right out , the kick goes out then straight back to the stance

50 CHAIN PUNCHES
LEFT SNAP KICK (10 REPS) THEN RIGHT SNAP KICK ( 10 REPS )
MEASURE OUT YOUR STANCE GUARD UP

50 CHAIN PUNCHES
LEFT MEDIUM HEEL KICK ( 10 REPS ) THEN RIGHT MEDIUM HEEL KICK (10 REPS) kick at your own waist height

LOW HORSE STANCE WITH 100 CHAIN PUNCHES ( get down low )
PUSH UPS ( 10 REPS )

MEASURE OUT STANCE GUARD UP

LEFT LOW HEEL KICK , RIGHT MEDIUM HEEL KICK ( 2 kicks to the count ) (10 reps )
RIGHT LOW HEEL KICK , LEFT MEDIUM HEEL KICK ( 2 kicks to the count) (10 REPS)

LOW HORSE STANCE WITH 100 CHAIN PUNCHES
PUSH UPS ( 10 REPS)

MEASURE OUT STANCE GUARD UP

LEFT LOW HEEL KICK , RIGHT SNAP KICK ( 2 kicks to the count) ( 10 REPS )
RIGHT LOW HEEL KICK , LEFT SNAP KICK (2 kicks to the count) ( 10 REPS )

LOW HORSE STANCE WITH 100 CHAIN PUNCHES
PUSH UPS ( 10 REPS)

NOW YOU DO BRIDGEING THE GAP WITH KICKS ( kick and then step right down so that you have covered distance , punch when foot hits the ground .

MEASURE OUT STANCE ( LEFT GUARD UP )
LEFT LOW HEEL KICK FOLLOWED BY THREE PUNCHES ( 10 REPS)

MEASURE OUT STANCE ( RIGHT GUARD UP )
RIGHT LOW HEEL KICK FOLLOWED BY THREE PUNCHES (10 REPS)

MEASURE OUT STANCE (LEFT GUARD UP )
LEFT MEDIUM HEEL KICK FOLLOWED BY THREE PUNCHES (10 REPS)

MEASURE OUT STANCE (RIGHT GUARD UP)
RIGHT MEDIUM HEEL KICK FOLLOWED BY THREE PUNCHES (10 REPS)

MEASURE OUT STANCE (LEFT GUARD UP )
LEFT SNAP KICK FOLLOWED BY THREE PUNCHES

MEASURE OUT STANCE ( RIGHT GUARD UP )
RIGHT SNAP KICK FOLLOWED BY THREE PUNCHES

MEASURE OUT STANCE

CHAIN PUNCH FOR 60 SECONDS , LAST 30 SECONDS PUNCH AS FAST AS YOU CAN.

LIGHT JOGGING ON THE SPOT AND CIRCLING THE ARMS FOR ABOUT 2 OR 3 MINS GENTLY BRINGING THE HEART RATE DOWN.

You can put some stomach crunches in as well if you want , if the workout is too long or short just adjust by doing more reps or leaving out some stuff.

I guarantee if you do this several times a week you will go back to your school faster and fitter than when you left . Just make sure you ease into it because it can be a real **** kicker , aim for 20 minutes of continuous movement.





L

Sounds like a great workout.
Thank you.

 

[koenig]

Visualize the techniques.

Thinking about doing something fires the same neural pathways as actually doing it. There are studies supporting this but I am too lazy to go find them. lol. Anyway, visualizing them for a few minutes each day will keep your CNS efficient for those movements when you actually go back to training again.

 

[KamonGuy2]

A great way of training without a partner is to find things that move. I constantly train my footwork on a bus/train for balance and movement

Walk through crowds and avoid bumping into anyone. If you can avoid touching anyone you're doing great

Use a wooden dummy for help remembering structure. If you flail your arms slowly round the wooden dummy you will remember moves

Watch youtube. Whilst I don't condone the use of video training - if you have already learnt the moves then there is nothing wrong with reminding yourself of the moves

In all honesty it is only three months so don't panic!

 

[geezer]

Hello,

I am looking for advice on how to keep progressing in WC, even while in hiatus. Aside from the forms, individual techniques (my Sifu's advice) I am looking for advice on how to make my downtime more... productive.

Any ideas what one could do solo to improve on their sensitivity, rooting, etc?

Thanks.

Like Kamon said, it's only three months, so don't sweat it. Just keep your interest and motivation alive and you might find that some things even improve after a short break. Keep posting and let us know how you are getting on.