Kung-Fu workout?

[FireAnt]

Hi, my first post here. I've started Kung-Fu (mantis) a few weeks ago and I've been loving it. I've read mixed things about working out. Wondering if I should workout and if so how and if there's anything else I should be doing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated
-Thanks.

[Mo Lung]

Everybody should workout, whatever else they do. If you want to be good at kung fu, you absolutely have to work out.

There are numerous ways, but you should work resistance training and cardio training.

This could become a long thread. Might I suggest you search the forums first and then come back with your questions?

[FireAnt]

OK, good idea.

Mainly wondering about about what kind of resistance exercises I should do and if I should do max weight and few reps or less weight and many.

For cario would jogging or riding a stationary bike work?

thanks.

[Reggie1]

Originally posted by FireAnt
OK, good idea.

Mainly wondering about about what kind of resistance exercises I should do and if I should do max weight and few reps or less weight and many.

It depends on what you are looking for. Are you more interested in strength, size, or endurance?


For cario would jogging or riding a stationary bike work?

Both would work--it just depends on how high you get your heart rate.

You can look at this link HERE (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=35105)--it has what I do every week, and I'm a mantis guy also.

[Chief Fox]

There are so many different things you could do. But like Mo Lung said, the important thing is to do something.

There are tons of web sites out there dedicated to different types of workouts.

Do you like lifting weights? If you do then http://www.bodybuilding.com is a great resource. They have a huge workout databse. It's pretty cool.

If you are into body weight exercises, here's a site that can help. http://fit4martialarts.com/martialartcondition.htm

Here's a great upper body workout. Add some squats or deadlifts to this and you have a decent full body workout: http://www.stewsmith.com/linkpages/ptpyramid.htm

Actually there's a bunch of good stuff at that site: http://www.stewsmith.com/

Here's another good one: http://www.trainforstrength.com

Another way to think about kung fu training is to just do what you do in your class. Or do exercises that will supplement what you already do in class.

For cardio, there are also tons of resources. You can run, jump rope, hit the heavy bag. Sprints, box jumps. Tons and tons of stuff.

The most important thing is to have a plan. When ever you workout always have a plan. Have a notebook where you track your progress. If a workout was too easy write it down in your notebook and modify it next time. If a workout was too hard do write it down and modify it. Always have a plan. This will make your workouts more productive.

[FireAnt]

OK, thanks that helps a lot.

I guess I'm looking for strength and endurance. When you say forms in your workout, is that going through the stances, didn't really understand that part.

[Chief Fox]

Forms are a series of movements, stances and techniques that are put together in order to record and define a style. Praying Mantis has many many forms and if you haven't started working on them yet I'm sure you will soon. The praying mantis section of this site has a video section where you can see some forms demonstrated.

[Toby]

Originally posted by FireAnt
I'm looking for strength and endurance.These are two different things. You can't optimise both simultaneously, so you'll have to balance them out and decide where you'd like to optimise for you and your goals. E.g. I couldn't do 100 pushups (I couldn't do 50 probably) but I could benchpress 1.5 times my bodyweight for 1 rep. If I wanted to do 100 pushups, I would sacrifice maximum strength performance in reaching that goal.

Anyway, for endurance stuff check out this (http://www.trainforstrength.com/Endurance1.shtml). For strength, my preference is PTP (search this forum).

[bung bo]

FireAnt--Check out PTP(Power to the People) like Toby said. You can go to dragondoor.com and check it out too. If it interests you, ask someone on here to describe it to you because all the stuff on that site is expensive. Pavel's too money hungry. Some MA people are against lifting weights and tell you you'll lose flexibilty. That's BS. Just stretch after you lift.

You train mantis? Me too. Which style and where? Practice your basics over and over and over...and over. Remember to train the internal too.

[Mo Lung]

Originally posted by Toby
These are two different things. You can't optimise both simultaneously, so you'll have to balance them out and decide where you'd like to optimise for you and your goals. This is correct, for sure, but with MA performance in mind a concurrent training program, working strength one day and endurance the next, is probably the happy medium.

[FireAnt]

Thanks for all the help, I think I'd rather go more mainly endurance. I'm pretty sure I do seven star mantis, what do you mean by train the internal?

I'm at Cranbrook B.C. (Canada), I've only leanred a few things, some stances, and the begining of Bung Bo, I can't remember it all. I'm looking forward to doing more though, it's great.

[Toby]

Originally posted by Mo Lung
... with MA performance in mind a concurrent training program, working strength one day and endurance the next, is probably the happy medium. Sure. I hate to come off as a PTP and HIIT evangelist (even though I am) and I'm always repeating myself, but for the sake of the noob, I do PTP 5 mornings a week and HIIT twice a week - i.e. strength 5 times a week and endurance twice. That's a good balance for me. Not to mention MA and some other strength stuff and some bike stuff and ...

[Toby]

Originally posted by FireAnt
I think I'd rather go more mainly endurance.HIIT is your friend. 3-4 times a week would be more than enough.

Originally posted by FireAnt
I'm at Cranbrook B.C. (Canada).:cool: I spent a season in Fernie in '96/'97. Visited the next winter for a couple of weeks again. My bro lives in Nelson this winter. Sorry about the weather recently :(.

[bung bo]

Fireant--What i mean is to keep your qi and internal organs healthy. Like with taiji or qigong or something else. There's a chinese saying--"If one neglects the internal, the gong fu will be hollow." Also it will keep the negative aspects of aging at bay.

I know some 7* too. It rocks. You learn how to relentlessly attack with 7*. Bung bo is a great form with a lot of stuff in it.