Update on 8lbs workout

[JowGaWolf]

Just sharing an update on my 8lb workout.

Biceps are getting bigger and they are toning up
My grip is stronger.
Now I'm able to do more curls while walking.
My boxing shoeshine has totally degraded lol. It morphed from uppercuts to under hooks
My lower back is stronger as well.
My heavy staff is lighter. Not by much but noticeable
My fighting staffs are light by a lot.
My heavy staff swings are becoming more powerful and faster. On some of the staff techniques, the heavy staff sings as it cuts through the air.
My biceps are overpowering my triceps for some of my staff strikes. I'll probably have to add another lap so I can get my triceps into the workout.
My shoulders and upper back are getting stronger.

I'm going to stay on the 8lbs until I can balance out my muscle development a little more. I'm buying some resistance bands tonight

I'm no longer losing weight anymore I'm hovering at 211 lbs. which is expected as I have gotten use to the weight and the distance.

 

[Alan0354]

Glad you are doing better.

What staff are you talking about? I am more interested in sticks and cane than punches and kicks!!! What do you practice? show me some clips.

 

[Bobbycat]

If you do not use it, I would recommend to try self resistance exercises.They are good to gain muscles and strength without speed loss.

Dynamic Tension - Black Belt Wiki

Dynamic Tension – Martial Arts Strength Training Dynamic tension is a strength training exercise used in martial arts such as Karate. It involves using the muscles of the body against themselves to produce resistance that is equivalent to weight lifting exercises. This exercise is similar to...

blackbeltwiki.com

 

[Bobbycat]

Glad you are doing better.

What staff are you talking about? I am more interested in sticks and cane than punches and kicks!!! What do you practice? show me some clips.

Alan, a stick in self resistance exercises is a great tool. I frequently use my cane for warming before Xing Yi Quan.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Glad you are doing better.

What staff are you talking about? I am more interested in sticks and cane than punches and kicks!!! What do you practice? show me some clips.

I started out about a year ago to learn how to fight with a staff, so much of my martial arts training revolves around my desire to be able to fight with a staff.

 

[JowGaWolf]

If you do not use it, I would recommend to try self resistance exercises.They are good to gain muscles and strength without speed loss.

Dynamic Tension - Black Belt Wiki

Dynamic Tension – Martial Arts Strength Training Dynamic tension is a strength training exercise used in martial arts such as Karate. It involves using the muscles of the body against themselves to produce resistance that is equivalent to weight lifting exercises. This exercise is similar to...

blackbeltwiki.com

That's my next workout. The new dumbbell exercises take my arms 2 days to recover so I'm looking to mix it up a bit.

 

[JowGaWolf]

So last night I picked up my sword and was amazed at how light it is. It used to feel heavy and generating swing power was difficult. Now, the sword is much lighter I'm thinking 15 lbs is the magic number for 2 lbs battle weight swords. When I master my workout with 15 lbs, the reL swords should feel as light as those floppy swords. I have a theory for increasing grip strength by using certain heavy weapons. I'm hoping I can make my substitute by using a heavy but short bar.

 

[Alan0354]

So last night I picked up my sword and was amazed at how light it is. It used to feel heavy and generating swing power was difficult. Now, the sword is much lighter I'm thinking 15 lbs is the magic number for 2 lbs battle weight swords. When I master my workout with 15 lbs, the reL swords should feel as light as those floppy swords. I have a theory for increasing grip strength by using certain heavy weapons. I'm hoping I can make my substitute by using a heavy but short bar.

Somehow, this thread does not alert me on new replies!!!

2lbs sword? With one hand or two? That's heavy to swing with one hand. You must be very strong swinging with one hand. I swing my 20oz cane with two hands, it's too heavy to do it with one, it gets slow with one hand. I am not particularly strong, but I don't think I am weak from looking at other people in the gym, my gym was former Gold's Gym, not any yuppies or sissy gym at all.

Show me some of your practice, I am very interested........much more so than bare knuckles stuffs.

Can you show me how you use your dumbbell to practice? My forearm exercise are mainly using grippers and wrist benders.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

heavy weapons.

This is why I use the coper pipe to train my stick drills. I put sand in it to increase the weight.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Just sharing an update on my 8lb workout.

Are you talking about dumbbell?

IMO, if you want to develop speed, you should use less weight (such as 5 lb). If you want to develop strength, you should use more weight (such as 25 lb).

I don't like to train my 12 lb dumbbell because if I train it for speed, I will hurt my joint. If I train it for strength, it takes too long.

I like to move fast with my 5 lb and move slow with my 25 lb.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

increasing grip strength

I throw my 18 lb square bag and 15 lb round bag 60 times daily to maintain my grip strength.

 

[JowGaWolf]

2lbs sword? With one hand or two? That's heavy to swing with one hand. You must be very strong swinging with one hand.

2lbs sword with one hand. is heavy, but it doesn't feel heavy like it did for so many years. Now it's surprisingly lighter to me and I now I wonder why did I think it was so heavy in the first place. The test will be when I see my brother again. If he makes a comment about being surprised at my strength then I'll know that I worked out all the right muscles the right way.

I will get the repetition counts and the length of time. For each exercise.

This is why I use the coper pipe to train my stick drills. I put sand in it to increase the weight.

View attachment 27189

I'm not quite there yet but I hope to be there one day.

Are you talking about dumbbell?

IMO, if you want to develop speed, you should use less weight (such as 5 lb).

I do it mostly for strength for my staff but I do train speed a little because I need the movement to be fast but that fast movement comes from be being stronger and not actually trying to move faster. I just have to be careful to match my speed with my stepping so I don't injure myself. I don't do jabs with it, because the stress on the shoulder and elbow can be bad for a person. Jabs are linear motions so they start then they stop. So If I had weight then I would have to start the motion and then stop the motion of the weight. Circular motions allow me to flow so I'm never stopping the weight. Instead I'm trying to keep the weight going and when it stops, it's because my arms are tired and not because I'm trying to pull the weight back.

I have a snatch penny drill that I use for speed and a ball drill that I use for speed. If I train specifically for speed then I 'm going to get rid of the weights. If I want to move a heavy weight fast then I have to train moving heavy weight fast.

I don't like to train my 12 lb dumbbell because if I train it for speed, I will hurt my joint. If I train it for strength, it takes too long.

I like to move fast with my 5 lb and move slow with my 25 lb.

You must be doing linear motions. The stop and go from linear is no good in my opinion for this same reason.. 25 lbs is so far away at this moment. Resistance bands are probably better for linear punches

I don't agree with this type of training

I definitely don't agree with this lol. I saw this one and I could feel myself holding my breath. lol.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I throw my 18 lb square bag and 15 lb round bag 60 times daily to maintain my grip strength.

Where do you get that equipment from and what do you fill it with?

 

[Alan0354]

2lbs sword with one hand. is heavy, but it doesn't feel heavy like it did for so many years. Now it's surprisingly lighter to me and I now I wonder why did I think it was so heavy in the first place. The test will be when I see my brother again. If he makes a comment about being surprised at my strength then I'll know that I worked out all the right muscles the right way.

I will get the repetition counts and the length of time. For each exercise.



I definitely don't agree with this lol. I saw this one and I could feel myself holding my breath. lol.

Wow, you are strong, tell me how you practice. I do practice one hand figure 8 swing with the 20oz cane non stop for 5mins, I can barely make a little "whooping" sound........but you have to be quiet to hear it!!! For 2lbs, forget it!!!

BTW, you have anyone that can sew? For the throw bags, I buy ball bearings from Amazon. Don't ask me whether it's good price, I just bought them to few my weighted jacket for pushups.

Amazon.com : ball bearing balls

Ask seller question how heavy are each of the package sold. You just put into a canvas bag and sew it close. I had two of the ball bearing bags from the stupid iron palm days, it became the weighted jacket filler already.

If you can't sew, check out some school that teach iron palm, they must sell the ball bearing bags. My bags must be over 10lbs. You definitely can throw that around.

I don't know whether sand is heavy enough, you might not want the bag to be too big.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Where do you get that equipment from and what do you fill it with?

The round bag filled with 100% small rock. the square bag filled with 60% BB and 20% plastic bean.

Many years ago, one can order the round bag from the ACSCA website. I'm not sure it's still available or not today. The square bag I ordered from Taiwan. I don't know anybody sell it in US.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

My bags must be over 10lbs. You definitely can throw that around.

I'll suggest to start from 15 lb and go to 23 lb. Above 23 lb will be too heavy.

When you sew the bag, try to sew it in 3 dimension shape instead of 2 dimension shape.

This is the right 3 dimensional shape for the square bag.

 

[Flying Crane]

Two pounds for a single-hand sword is very reasonable, even up to three pounds. A two-handed long sword starts at around three and goes up a bit, if you hit four and a half that is pretty heavy.

What makes it functional is proper balance. A good sword blade has a distal taper which means it get thinner as you get closer to the point. It also has a pommel, which helps balance the weight back toward the hand. All of this is designed to give it a proper balance that is not point-heavy, and makes it very functional and quick and lively, even with one hand, although consistent training and building that strength is important.

In contrast, if you take a two-pound tomahawk head and put it on the end of a 20 inch handle, all that weight is at the end. This is much more difficult to use, isn’t as quick and lively, even though the total weight is the same.

 

[Alan0354]

That is true, like the weight at the handle really doesn't affect the swing nearly as much. Like the rubber foot of my cane is 2/3oz, it makes a difference with and without the foot on a 20oz cane. I took off the rubber foot and the cane feels lighter.

I never have a chance to swing a real 2lbs sword, I really cannot comment. For cane, the stick is uniform from one end to the other, so by default, it's top heavy compare to a sword that tapers down.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Two pounds for a single-hand sword is very reasonable, even up to three pounds. A two-handed long sword starts at around three and goes up a bit, if you hit four and a half that is pretty heavy.

What makes it functional is proper balance. A good sword blade has a distal taper which means it get thinner as you get closer to the point. It also has a pommel, which helps balance the weight back toward the hand. All of this is designed to give it a proper balance that is not point-heavy, and makes it very functional and quick and lively, even with one hand, although consistent training and building that strength is important.

In contrast, if you take a two-pound tomahawk head and put it on the end of a 20 inch handle, all that weight is at the end. This is much more difficult to use, isn’t as quick and lively, even though the total weight is the same.

My swords balance about 6 inches from the guard, so it naturally wants to tilt down when held. Before doing my work out, this sword was anything but lively, but now I can move it with some speed.. Now the problem is one of controlling the little speed that I can generate. Once it gets going the stopping part becomes tough on the wrist and I find myself naturally using my other hand to stop the swing of the sword.

I've had the sword for maybe 20 years so I'm comfortable with the tip being heavy especially now that I'm stronger. By the time I'm able to use 20l lbs with ease, these swords are going to feel like tooth picks.

 

[Alan0354]

Maybe that's the reason my cane feel so heavy to swing, look at the picture I balance the cane on the edge of the chair:

The balance is almost at the mid point of the stick.