Stance Training

[XiaoJieFu]

In my school, after your stances are pretty solid, we incorporate something to make it even harder - holding a full size (or smaller, for smaller people) brick in each hand, arms fully extended at certain positions for each stance. It makes it much more difficult, and it's a real arm workout.

Also, we grip the bricks with only our fingertips - really works on hand strength.

Anyone heard of this? Is this common? Does it sound like a good way to add to your stances?

[XiaoJieFu]

Anybody? Don't tell me i'm the only one who does this.

[franco1688]

Yeah I've heard of this. We actually do it in my system and our eagle claw training involves bricks. Your grip them, just as you said previously, and perform various stationary movements along with a movement where you travel back and forth across the floor. The next part of the training involves releasing and catching the bricks for a total of 100 times each hand. You finish the training by holding the bricks out with your arms extended (in various positions) while assuming various stances.

[dougadam]

Many use jars filled with sand. :)

[Willow Palm]

That sounds pretty much word for word on an exercise my class does. A really good drill in my opinion for finger and forearm strength training not to mention stance work. Do you do finger tip push-ups, too?

[JDK]

Yes this is a modern take on an Old method where Shaolin Monks would add Rings on their extremities to work arms, necks, shoulders and Legs for additional benefit.

Shuio Chiuo aslo incorperates "brick twisting" and "belt snapping" as part of their Stance Routines. I can remember when I first started martial arts in 1971 or 1972. Weights were eschewed, as it was claimed to make you slow.

We would spend the first 30minutes of EVERY Class doing our 8 Basic Stances...mo matter how far you had progressed...new students to the Instructor himself.
This was just our warm-up, the 90 minutes were spent on Forms, Power Exercises and practical self-defense moves, ALL of which was done using the Stances we started out with!!!! Needless to say we had very powerful Legs and as a result solid, strong punches, kicks and throws.

But powerlifts and Olympic lifts definately cause fast twitch muscle fiber hypertrophy. Although the weight may move slowly, the lifter is contracting as fast and hard as he can, stressing the fast twitch glycolytic fibers. In body building, in which the repititions are higher and the lift is more controlled, a greater amount of slow twitch fiber hypertrophy is likely to occur.

Building the fast twitch fibers is, in my opinion (IMO), good for most martial arts. I also believe it makes the joints less likely to be injured, when the training is sustained over a period of months, as the ligaments (white avascular connective tissue) will also thicken and become stronger.

Many systems have a method of resistence training : Shuai Chiao has many methods ranging from belt cracking to brick twisting. Goju Ryu has a series of lifts that involve things like gripping jars.

JD

[jigahus]

This is a common training method. Or using metal weighted rings and putting them on your wrists and holding them out.

[JDK]

Just Curious....
Does anybody else out there spend alot of time in static Stances like I have mentioned anymore in your Schools?

Our routine was Horse Stance, Bow Stance, Twist Stance, Cat Stance, One legged Crane Stance, Mantis Stance, Dragon Sinks Low Stance..and ended with a return to the Horse Stance.

Sound familiar???

JD