Ma Bu routines

[Djuan]

how were you taught Ma Bu?
what duration was prescribed?
do you practice with stabilizers (bowls, poles, books etc)
do you move your hands at all?


Lets all share some insight to a foundational practice.

Amituofo

[Djuan]

Answers:


as a foundation, no forms aside from wu bu quan taught without mastering ma bu for..
at least 2 hrs. (we went from 5, 10, 15, 30 minutes, then an hour, then 2.)
books
sometimes punching out, or running thru all hand postures of a taolu, or qi gong movement like wei tou present pestle from yi jin jing, or drawing the bow and shooting arrow from baduanjin


whats some of your most brutal experiences with horse stance instruction? I've heard stories of Shaolin fighters holding Ma Bu from sundown to sunrise :eek:

[bawang]

Who is the more superior man, the rice bowl holding the horse stance or the man being paid 2 to 4 times minimum wage to tell u to squat down and hold still?

* stroke beard

[Djuan]

Who is the more superior man, the rice bowl holding the horse stance or the man being paid 2 to 4 times minimum wage to tell u to squat down and hold still?

* stroke beard

:D heyyyyy ..... no man is superior ,
however....
to delve into your perspective,
I'd say the ground they both stand on is superior.
they both seek firm footing, just in different ways,
the cheap teacher, by means of money,
the eager student, by getting some good ol skoolin.


Amituofo.

[wiz cool c]

The way I learned it and still practice is with the elbows at your ribs arms bent at a 90% angle, palms facing up. You can hold bricks in your palms. I hold fist sized stones in them. My teacher said to do 20 to 40 minutes. His reason {because you got so much other stuff to practice]. I feel good results with this method.

Also like to practice the two man balance games, kind of testing the root. One where you face each other in side Ma Bu and hold hands trying to pull each other out of their stance. The other where you cross wrists and try to grab your partner's wrist while trying to escape any grab. Once a hold on the wrist is secured you work on pulling them out of their stance.

[Djuan]

The way I learned it and still practice is with the elbows at your ribs arms bent at a 90% angle, palms facing up. You can hold bricks in your palms. I hold fist sized stones in them. My teacher said to do 20 to 40 minutes. His reason {because you got so much other stuff to practice]. I feel good results with this method.

Also like to practice the two man balance games, kind of testing the root. One where you face each other in side Ma Bu and hold hands trying to pull each other out of their stance. The other where you cross wrists and try to grab your partner's wrist while trying to escape any grab. Once a hold on the wrist is secured you work on pulling them out of their stance.

your teacher has a good point. at a traditional school, or modern school, you have an entire curriculum ahead of you, so to devote a year to some stances seems futile, yet its necessary with Shaolin. which, this topic of timesmart training traditional GongFu can be a thread within a thread lol.

right now I'm doing anywhere from 25 min to 45 min. I have heart sutra recorded mantras I use to time myself, I play them and sit there. that in itself is a good meditation.
doing it without a teacher hovering over you is good for discipline. keep your spine upright, focus on rooting feet, proper angles of the bodily harmonies (elbows knees etc),
harmonizing breathing, etc. if you can hold that for 45 minutes with no teacher there, you are solid in my eyes.

its just a busier time in general. parenting, working, schooling etc, so to commit to deep Shaolin (temple like) practice requires more focus, and literally no "western leisure" lol, have to find fun in training. which I still very much do.
train all day whenever appropriate, however possible.

Amituofo

[hunter_02]

how were you taught Ma Bu?
what duration was prescribed?
do you practice with stabilizers (bowls, poles, books etc)
do you move your hands at all?

1, Only 'maneuvering' in Ma Bu. No TeWaza. (to the left, the right, forward, reverse)
2, Between 10 and 20 minutes, depending on the day.
3, Not back in the day. Now, when I'm really feeling my juice, I'll knock out 15 minutes or so with 2 6" round marble spheres.
4, No. Elbows at my side, palms up, fists softly clenched.
I start my practice with 12-15 minute of Ma Bu, do whatever I'm going to work on that particular day, and end with 12-15 minutes of Zhan Zhuang, standing stake.
I'm 67 years old and have been playing since I was 14. Pak Mei:p
hunter

[Djuan]

1, Only 'maneuvering' in Ma Bu. No TeWaza. (to the left, the right, forward, reverse)
2, Between 10 and 20 minutes, depending on the day.
3, Not back in the day. Now, when I'm really feeling my juice, I'll knock out 15 minutes or so with 2 6" round marble spheres.
4, No. Elbows at my side, palms up, fists softly clenched.
I start my practice with 12-15 minute of Ma Bu, do whatever I'm going to work on that particular day, and end with 12-15 minutes of Zhan Zhuang, standing stake.
I'm 67 years old and have been playing since I was 14. Pak Mei:p
hunter

Its the integral practice with any style of kung fu. Shaolin especially. moving through Taolu. you need that firm foundation. I hope to still be going strong at 67!! thats a serious accomplishment today, I salute you for that!