Bamboo post exercises

[Helicopter]

I've just bought a bamboo post 6ft by 6in diameter, and I'm currently doing forearm roll and catch conditioning exercises. However, I'm looking to get a bit more mileage out of my purchase.
I've asked my instructor if he knows any other exercises, but no luck.
Does anyone practice anything different on a similar piece of equipment, traditional or otherwise?
Any sugguestion would be gratefully received.

jpcm

[ZhouJiaQuan]

i have tons of bamboo laying around, im sure some of it is at elast 6in diameter (and if i not i can always go cut some down).

What do you do with it? ive been trying to think of stuff to do with it?
how do you keep it standing? did it come with a stand?

i guess you can do forearm conditioning(pretty much jsut banging your forearms on it). i do this sometimes with this huge wooden post nearby. (hmm maybe this would be better with bamboo?)

peace,
Wally

[Kungfu boy]

You could stick one in the ground and start kick'n at it. On second thought, I'm just a crazy thaiboxer so it may not be for you. I know guys who do this, but they do it softly/slowly. You could also use it as a strtching aide. Do a side kick and press with your foot onto the pole to work a stretch. I do this one on a 6ft wavemaster at Bally's to work my flexibility.

Instead of conditioning with it, you could use your foot work on it. Stick it in the ground and do circling footwork. Use it as a focal point to work around etc.

Just throwing ideas out there.

[Serpent]

Use it to beat the crap out of your enemies. You won't need any other training then.

[IronFist]

Thai boxers kick banana trees, not hard bamboo poles or palm trees like in the movies :)

IronFist

[Kungfu boy]

I do have friends who kick bamboo, I think its weird(extreme) myself. Yes, in Thailand they kick bannana trees, how many do you see in the states though? I just prefer a heavy bag, a really heavy one.

I do know the tv/movie b.s. And you left out the rigged up stretching device like in Bloodsport and Kickboxer. 3 of Van Damme's movies have now focused on him learning thai, you would think he could do it right by now, but he and his movies have never been accurate represenations of anything, especially thai.

[Helicopter]

The conditioning I do at the moment is where;

you start in horse stance, tiger hands up and near the chest with the bamboo post resting in the crook of your arms. You push out slowly under tension when you nearly reach full extension you snap forward with double finger strikes. This jumps the post up and forward, you then switch back to tiger hands and catch the post on your wrists. You then draw your hands back and the post rolls back into the crook of your elbows, and repeat. Simple.

As for using it as a substitute punchbag, it's an idea, and reminds me of a magazine article I read a while back, about a Praying mantis wooden dummy made of bamboo and hung from a tree. I guess I could probably rig up something similar.

jpcm

[IronFist]

If you are punching it I would wrap it in something soft, at least at first.

IronFist

[sticky fingers]

Buy yourself a katana and hack away

[Zenwalker]

That's a great exercise Helicopter! We do it with a metal pipe full of ball bearings and then taped up. It's supposed to develop internal striking power in the palms while simultaneously conditioning the radial side of the forearm.

The "roller bar" as we call it wieghs quite a bit more than a bamboo pole though, I imagine. Mine wieghs about twenty pounds. You're supposed to put more BB's in it as you get stronger. If your bamboo has sealed ends, you could try the BBs. Start out with a few and work your way up.

As far as other exercises with the pole, do a thousand of those a day and you won't want to do any others! Ha Ha :D

[IronFist]

Zenwalker, I've seen that before :) . Where did you learn it? What is your style?

I've never priced them, but aren't ballbearings expensive?

IronFist

[Zenwalker]

I learned the exercise back in the initial phase of my Pa Kua training. I wanted to know if there were any Chi Kung exercises to help train Iron Palm and Sifu showed it to me. It's not part of our regular curriculum though and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one still practicing it in my class.

Indeed the BB's are quite expensive, but you can't do without them and get the same effect. See, they roll around inside the bar and tend to keep it rolling in whatever direction it's moving. You've gotta fight the momentum which takes a fluid, relaxed movement. It is soooo hard, but more in the level of skill required rather than strength.

Anyway, I found a box of Pa-chi-nkoh (you know, Japanese pinball?) balls at a yard sale for five bucks, but have had to purchase sling shot BB's since then. It's like eight bucks for a pound or something! Luckily, my bar is made of galvanized lead that I've wrapped liberally with electical tape so it wieghs alot already. I've probably only got about five or six pounds of BB's in there, plus you only add a pound or so at a time. Like I said, It's the momentum, not the poundage that makes it difficult.

What style do you practice Iron?

[Helicopter]

Thanks ZenW,
Some good info there, I do find the Bamboo a little light which makes it difficult to control, I'm not sure that's a bad thing at the moment as I have to be accurate with my technique.

I'll try and look for a metal pole (though I think I'll avoid a lead one.) I think it may be difficult to source a lot of BB's (BB guns aren't as common in the UK.) I suppose if I could get a tight seal I could use water?

What breathing do you use? (Any sounds?)

At the moment the breathing I'm doing is slow-out (reverse adominal) on the extension, sharp-out on the strike and slow-in on the return. However, I am only just beginning to learn the proper internal breathing for my style.

Thanks,

jpcm

[IronFist]

Hmm, as for water, would sand weigh more?

You could always use a piece of PVC pipe and cap off the ends, but that wouldn't weigh as much as metal.

IronFist

[Zenwalker]

You tape up the bar in order to avoid lead poisoning, plus the things galvanized which reduces greatly the amount of lead you'd be exposed to.

Water might work becuase it'll keep moving, but it won't wiegh much. Sand will not work at all because it dosen't roll away from you on the out thrust.

Also BB refers to a ball bearing. The type you use in a gun are probably way too small. You might be able to get big ones in a hardware store, or try marbles. I'm sure that glass marbles would be cheapest, plus it's not so much the wieght as the momentum that's important in this exercise.