PDA

View Full Version : how many of you actually train seriously?



SevenStar
03-18-2001, 05:07 AM
And I don't mean being in class an hour a day three days a week. I'm in class three hours a day, three days a week, plus I stay an hour after class just for extra practice. In addition,I weight train 3 days a week, stretch daily and do stance training on the days I weight train. Due to previous training in muay thai, I do bag work and shadowboxing after class. I'm curious to know how everyone else trains and what you consider serious training.

"Civilize the mind, make savage the body."

joedoe
03-18-2001, 05:16 AM
Compared to that, I don't train seriously.

Guns don't kill people, I kill people

dunbarj01
03-18-2001, 06:07 AM
No, neither do I...

Brian_CA
03-18-2001, 10:06 AM
Hi SevenStar,

I would have to say that I practice fairly seriously. Personally, I train in my Kung fu exerises consistanly 5 days a week for at least 1 hour to hour and a half outside of class. In addition, I practice Hatha yoga 3-5 times a week. When I do attend classes at my school, it is for roughly 3 hours 3-4 times a week.

Lately, I have been trying to work out smarter though. Less extreameness in physical routine and more focused practise. This after all is a Life long venture for me and I don't want to burn my body out by the time I am 40.

My I ask you what your relaxation routine is like? The routine you described could be very hard on you body in the long term if not given proper rest to heal. I was wondering, what you did for your body to heal it.

Looking forward to your reply!

Brian
San Francisco, CA

Kiasyd
03-18-2001, 04:01 PM
I wish I had time to train more than 1 hour, 3 days a week...

Kung Lek
03-18-2001, 07:54 PM
Good For You!!!

you know, with a lot of practice at anything you will get good at it :)

peace

Kung Lek

SevenStar
03-18-2001, 08:28 PM
you know what Brian? That's a good point, and something I never really gave a lot of thought to....I do cool down stretching after I work out, and occasionally attend the chi kung/nei gung classes, but other than that,I don't really concentrate much on relaxation exercises. I may have to focus on that more. Do you do anything specific, or is yoga your relaxation method?

"Civilize the mind, make savage the body."

meltdawn
03-19-2001, 12:19 AM
I always like threads like this because I can compare my training with others, and find weak areas I need to focus on more as well as ways to do so. I work a full-time job, plus 3 nights a week at my master's restaurant, plus care for 4 horses... yadda yadda yadda. I have to be both flexible and determined with my training. It's really hard to come home and train when I know I have other obligations.

So what works for me when I don't have a lot of time in a given day to train is fitting things in when they are convenient.

I go over my forms twice in my head before I get out of bed. That's really hard when you keep dozing off; I've found it greatly improves my concentration. Sound silly? Try it.

I do horse stance, squats, push ups, sit ups and stretch intermittantly at my day office job to break up the monotony and keep my joints from freezing up. Each only takes a minute or so. Except the horse stance.

When I'm in the garage for any reason, I hit the heavy bag.

When I'm in the yard, I work on my wooden post.

When I'm watching TV, I stretch.

When I'm posting, I feel guilty. Gotta go!

"Waiting is bad." - Musashi

Xebsball
03-19-2001, 03:21 AM
I would like to train 3 hours a day.
But i'm a newbie and i'm sure my body couldnt take 3 hours since it hurts already by training just 1 hour 3 times a week.
Maybe later on, when i have a better condition i will train more.

Vankuen
03-19-2001, 04:11 AM
However, just because one doesnt train hours a day doesnt mean they arent serious.

When Im not doing gung fu, Im thinking about it, or Im sleeping and usually dreaming about it. (or girls, or both....depends.)

I practice whenever I can, if other things dont take priority, and yes, in our world, you cannot put some things behind training. For example you must not have alot of work or have a family, because I doubt seriously that you would be able to train that much and not neglect those things. Just a thought that popped into my head reading this. Sure when I was a teenager I could train like that and did. Im older now and cannot train as long due to life's obligations and monetary necessity.

I do though, take at least an hour of everyday to practice something. Optimal time would be 2 to three hours a day, taking the weekends off. Your body will need time to rest and not burn out. Even the masters had leisure time my friend. Too much yang and not enough yin is unhealthy.

From one thing know ten thousand things - Miyomato Musashi

lee69
03-19-2001, 04:15 AM
CARDIO:every second day i run 3 km and try to break my record (currently 12 mins)

GENERAL STRENGTH:days in between running light freeweights,sit ups,pull ups,pushups,one leg squats etc.

KUNG FU:everyday stance work,forms,sparring with my brother

COOL DOWN AND RELXATION:stretches and cool downs then i go and do chi kung to calm my mind

tyron

Martial Joe
03-19-2001, 04:18 AM
I do my Sil Lum Tao 10 times a day.I do my Chum Kui 10 times a day.I punch my wall bag 300+ times a day.I lift weights every other day..soon to be everyday.And i do stepping drills.That adds up 2 about 2 hours everyday not including class.I think i dont train close to enough.I will start training more as i get better...


Joe

joedoe
03-19-2001, 05:20 AM
OK, now I really feel like a slob :)

Guns don't kill people, I kill people

Scarletmantis
03-19-2001, 06:08 AM
When I finally decided to make Kung Fu my way of life, I was practicing six hours a day, six days a week. No lie. I practiced in the morning with one hour of standing Chi Kung preceeded by a vigorous thirty minutes of form practice to warm up.

I didn't have a car at the time, so I jogged the five miles to work around eleven o'clock in the AM. I had an hour long meal break, so I would put in another thirty minutes of Form or breakdown techniques for speed drills. When I got off work at eight o'clock, I'd jog to class and train for three hours. Finally an hour of standing Chi Kung before bed. Actually, I did the Chi Kung every day for about three years (morning and night).

When I got a family however, this all changed. I had to cut down to about two and a half hours a day, seven days a week. I still do the Chi Kung, I do about a half hour of form. Do I have as much muscle or stamina? No way, but I am MUCH better than I used to be. Luckily, I never injured myself with that regime, but I had NO social life and about ZERO happiness.

I'll never go back to "Rambo" style training. I recommend quality over quantity any day. Do your very best for three hours a day, practice as often as you can, make improvements in small increments. People who overtrain do so because they want shortcuts (at least I did). I thought I'd be a Master in five years tops! Now I know just how stupid that was.
:)

"The essence of life is struggle and it's goal is domination. There are higher goals and deeper meanings, but they exist only within the minds of men. The reality of life is war."

SevenStar
03-19-2001, 08:56 AM
I'm not saying anyone who doesn't train like me doesn't train seriously. Different people train different ways, which is why i asked a question - how many of you train seriously, and what do you consider serious? as far as age and all, I am 24, have a two year old, work as a web developer for fedex.com and am engaged - there's not too much anyone can tell me about time management, so that doesn't get in the way. My friends apartment complex has an awesome gym, and I lift weights there. my fiance works out also, and we take our son, as he likes to kick around in there, and he mimics me doing my forms. During the time I am in class, my fiance hasthe baby, so I have time to train. My stretching I do at home, as I have a stretch machine and I do other stretches. weekends are our family days, which includes working out, and we work during the day. All of that training does not cause much conflict at all with my family life. As meltdawn said in her post, you fit things in when you can.

"Civilize the mind, make savage the body."

SevenStar
03-19-2001, 09:10 AM
Tyron and Joe - Awesome programs! That's what I like. I think we may be kindred spirits

A question for you, Scarlet Mantis...I prefer quality over quantity also, but what's wrong with having them both? Stretching, stance training and bag work is by no means a route to a shortcut, it's merely what I do to develop flexibility and power. Our normal class is three hours long, and the hour or so that I stay after, my sifu will make corrections on nights that I am practicing forms and technique drills. I'm not looking for any shortcuts (and no, I'm not saying you accused me of that) I merely like to work hard. Admittedly though, I need to watch the 'hard chi'- like I said in my reply to brian. I now plan to add more relaxation exercises to my regimen.

"Civilize the mind, make savage the body."

Budokan
03-19-2001, 05:34 PM
Spending a lot of time training is not necessarily training "seriously". The serious part comes through your psychological outlook, not just exclusively your physical exertion.

I don't regard martial arts as a game or a sport. I'm very serious about it. But,since I don't train 3 hours a day, does that mean I'm still training "seriously"?

You'd better believe it.

K. Mark Hoover

Brian_CA
03-19-2001, 07:33 PM
Hey sevenstar,

Actually, there are two types of relaxtion. The feeling a peace one feels after a yoga class or mediation and rest. What I would suggest is 2 days in a row away from any kind of physical activity. Let your body rest and heal, go have a beer (if you are of legal age), sit in the sun and kick back on your butt. Whatever you like to do to lounge around. Something that I found through Yoga is that Hard exertion and extreame relaxtion are the keys to the Kingdom of health. Martial artists are athletes so we should train accordingly to insure long life and good health.

I would however recommend adding Hatha Yoga to you routine. Find a good teacher, question them, find out how long they have been teaching, are the certified, how long was their education. If you here anything less then 1 year walk away and go to the next school.

Hope this helps

Brian
San Francisco, CA

wall
03-19-2001, 08:18 PM
....is that too much training can be counterproductive. Having started wushu (traditional styles, modern and sanda) at age 10, by age 13 I was trainin 5-6 days week, some 4+ hours a day. This included basic drills, forms, sparring, bag work and conditioning. As I continued with this routine until age 21, including also weights since age 18, I made great progress but was often feeling a stressed physically and mentally, and at times drained of energy. Furthermore, as I was getting older (20-21-22...) I was becoming gradually more and more injury prone.
Since age 22 and especially in the past few years (27-28) I have adopted, due also to work constraints, the following routine:
Mon: 1h forms and drills, 12h weights, 12h stretch
Tue: rest
Wed: 1h sparring and bag, 12h weights, 12h stretch
Thu: rest
Fri: 1h conditioning (running, jumps, sprints), 12h stretch
Sat: 12h weights, 12h stretch
Sun: rest
I have found that this regime keeps my conditioning and flexibility at just as good a level, allows me to increase muscle mass and power by giving the body growth-producing rest, and allows progress in my techniques. But most importantly eliminates any physical and mental stress (not too many hours and sufficient of rest time for in between), and has not only allowed my body to heal any nagging old injuries, but has not produced any new ones. This is very important as I intend to be in just as good condition at 40-50-60...? and not have to stop at 30 with chronic knee or back or shoulder problems.
Rest is just as important as hard training for a strong body, strong technique and strong mind.

wall

Kune
03-20-2001, 10:39 PM
I train 5 days a week. I train at my class during my lunchhour. During this time, I do chikung for 30 minutes, than do for forms for 30 minutes. After work I go directly to my class, do an hour of beginner class, than do heavy bagwork for 30 minutes. Than after that I go one and a half hours of intermediate class. After that I do another 30 minutes of heavy bagwork, than another 30 minutes of forms. Than go home, sleep, and do it all over again the next day. After a few weeks of this, I totally burn myself out, go party like crazy for a week, than do it again.. hehe ;) But on this party week I still go for an hour during my lunchtime regardless! Prob is..my kungfu still sucks hard!!! argh!

SevenStar
03-22-2001, 07:35 PM
I'm not by any means saying that you have to train for 3 hours in order to be training seriously - that's just how long my class lasts. I asked how many of you train seriously, and what do you consider serious. I said outside of class, how much do you train, So, my three hours doesn't count anyway. I'm just looking to see what other martial artists consider serious training.

"A wise man speaks because he has something to say; A fool speaks because he has to say something."

BIU JI
03-25-2001, 03:16 PM
Well I don't think serious training just means going hard at it every time as you all know there are times you just don't have the energy. Our classes are three hours minumin as we often go over time but my personal training can go as long as two hours depending on time and energy.
Though when training if I don't have the energy for hard training then I spend more time on breaking forms down and looking at techniques . doing forms slowly, finding the powers, body postures, breathing etc. So to me serious training can be doing forms at full pace , bag work, conditioning, break downs, the list goes on. If your mind is focused with intent in what you're doing then it's serious training.
So I believe!

Drunken Monkey
03-26-2001, 03:27 AM
I'm new at this, have nobody to spar with, have no master, and am trying to train from books, informative posts, and what ever i can.

But what I do do is stretch out every night, try working out three times a week, do this running exorcise i got from a post, and if i can go out side and practice routines i saw in something.

so, i dont train to seriously either, but i dont know how i could.

SevenStar
03-26-2001, 04:49 AM
Of course you can train seriously! You can practice your basics repeatedly and ensure that you have them mastered. You can do cardio, dynamic tension and weight training. I am curious however - how are your forms? With no teacher to point out your faults, I imagine they will be hard to perfect.

"A wise man speaks because he has something to say; A fool speaks because he has to say something."

BIU JI
03-26-2001, 02:17 PM
Remember often in books there is missing info in transition between techniques as these have application as well not just the obvious strikes etc, some people who bring out books or videos can leave out important information, not wanting to give out too much. So without guidance I'm personally sceptical about books and videos, unless of course it's a system you're familiar with and am aware of those subtle aspects.

Budokan
03-26-2001, 05:28 PM
Drunken Monkey, it sounds to me like you ARE training seriously. Why would you think that you're not? From what you said it's evidently clear that from what you can accomplish now, you take it very seriously. Good job, and keep it up.

K. Mark Hoover

Drunken Monkey
03-27-2001, 04:47 AM
I do try to train seriously, but I am awaiting the arrival of a freaken movie so I only have the stuff from magazines, which I do practice. I didnt mean that I didnt try to train hard or seriously, just that I am rellying on this months issue, which has mostly sparring steps.

Drunken Monkey
03-27-2001, 04:53 AM
Thanks alot Bukadin for the compliment.

GunnedDownAtrocity
03-30-2001, 02:06 AM
i was training 3 hours every day a little while back, but at that time my next door neighbor went to class with me and it was alot easier to train longer with a partner.

i also have always used my lunch hour to do chi gung. what's funny is that nobody believes me .. they all insist that i go down to the stream to smoke a joint! i save that for the end of the day jeesh! this takes from 20 - 40 mins.

i have class only two nights a week for 2 hours.

every monday, wednesday, and friday i train at home after work. the first thing i'll do is my breathing exercises if i was unable to do them at work. the rest of my routine starts with 10 mins fu cking around (hitting the bag, practicing animal movements, stance work while smoking a cig, slow kicks, etc.) to warm up my legs. i then stretch my legs for aboutr 15 minutes and upper body for about 5. this is followed by an ab work out, form training (meaning the form behind any punch or kick . . we rarely do sets), power training, specific technique work, and footwork. that kinda sounds like alot but i only spend 5 - 10 mins in each area as i dont get home from work until 9 on these nights. i top it off with 20 mins - half hour of weights a beer and a cigerette and or a joint.

tuesdays and thursdays are breathing exercises of course and class.

i used to train about 4 hours on saturdays and literaly 8 or 9 on sundays as all my friends would come down to my basement to train with me. (my basement is awesome .. . it has a huge pit that we put carpeting down in . . this part of the basement is about 30 feet long, 15 feet wide, 12 feet high. it aint pretty but its huge and functional) but they stopped coming over and i am a pathetic loser with no disipline so a rarely train on weekends anymore. if i were to take any days off as some mentioned before it should be monday and friday as i usualy dread monday nights do to exhuastion and friday nights cause all my friend are upstairs having fun with the start of the weekend while im downstairs busting my balls.

where's my beer?

[This message was edited by GunnedDownAtrocity on 03-30-01 at 04:13 PM.]

unclaimed effort
06-11-2001, 06:46 AM
I always wake up at around 5 o clock in the morning to practice my martial arts for a few hours. Do my things, when i'm free i practice some more, but if my friends want to play basketball or play games i don't practice till i come back. Of course at night I find time to look into the stuff in the forums, but most of my free time is found in practicing. Unless at the weekends, I get lazy sometimes, and think of philosophy instead of physically practicing. Also in school, or something else really boring i wander off and think of techniques and philosophy.

I can be like one of those philosophers who hide everything in poems, but instead I can tell you the true secret of martial arts in one word:

PRACTICE!

Ford Prefect
06-11-2001, 04:51 PM
I dunno if this is serious, but this is what I do:

Saturday -
Hindu-Squats 12 sets of 20
Push-ups Pyramid 10, 12, 14,...20
Wind Sprints
Pull-ups 12 sets of 5
Ab work
Sand Bag Loading 50lb x 50
Turkish Get-ups 3 sets of 50lbs x 5 ea. shoulder
Back bridging
MA Class (every other week or third week)

Sunday-
Various endurance lifts (sand bag bear hug, clean and presses, farmers walks, kettlebell snatches)
One set of Hindu Squats and Push-ups to failure
One set of Push-ups to failure
Ab Work
Three sets of hand stand push-ups
Back Bridging

Monday-
Kettlebell Bent Presses 4x4
Morning and Evening MA Classes

Tuesday-
Extreme aerobic conditioning (many many many bodyweight exercises)
2 Martial Arts Class in Evening (2-3 hours)

Wednesday-
Endurance Lifts like Sunday
Sand Bag Loading
Ab work
Turkish Get-ups
Back bridging

Thursday -
Kettlebell Bent Presses 4x4
Morning and 2 Evening Martial Arts Classes

Friday -
Ladder of Hindu Squats
Ladder of Hindu Push-ups
3 sets of Hand stand push-ups
2 Ladders of Kettlebell Snatches
3 sets of Turkish get-ups

My Martial Arts classes include Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Boxing, and wrestling. I'm just coming off an injury and have only been able to get to 5 classes in the past two months. I've been working hard conditioning and rehabbing with this routine for the past month and am making my MA return next week. ;) Can't wait! Obviously I could be doing more agility work, but first things first. I'll also start olympic lifts in the fall again when I have access to free weights.

shaolinboxer
06-11-2001, 08:12 PM
Being serious is irrelavent.

Being sincere is essential.

SevenStar
06-13-2001, 06:50 AM
So, a person's one day a week of sincere training has more benefit of one not as sincere that trains 5 days a week? Also, those who train seriously would also be sincere, I'd imagine. The two seem to go hand in hand.

-SevenStar©
"I see!" said the blind man.

shaolinboxer
06-14-2001, 05:17 PM
This is a very personal issue and is difficult to define.

I personally prefer to train with people who have a firm grasp of balance within their lives. They train when they can because they love it and thoughtfully make time for it. They are patient with their technique, not concerned about how good they are but rather how their training makes them feel. They do their homework out of love for the art, and in the long run often become highly skilled (and have a much lower burn out rate). I would consider them to fall under "sincere".

There are other people whom I train with who are very gung ho about their training, but who's desire to "get good" removes their ability to keep a proper balance within their lives. It leads to difficulty within their personal relationships, and resentment towards others whom they feel threatened by. Often they burn out, or get permanently injured in one of their knees or elbows, and are so concerned with "effectiveness" that their technique actually (in the long run) is less effective. I would say these folks consider themselves "serious".

These are my personal definitions.

dumog93
06-19-2001, 06:44 AM
I totally agree.Enjoying what you are doing and the people around you has to be the most important part.I tend to think the same way,just glad to see someone else does as well.I personally work out on the weights 2 or 3 hours a week(deadlift,squat,bench) and do martial arts 3 times a week for about an hour.I do sometimes add time on the dummy,jog,etc. when i get the time/inclination and i seem to be doing fine(though i'm sure everyone wants to get to their "peak" faster.)

-Devildog