Bigger Muscle???

[dre_doggX]

Can anyone help, dont want to use the school gym, does anyone have anything, even a special push up excerise that can help build muscle tissue. and qi-gongs

[taijiquan_student]

I thought you practiced taiji? How will this help you? Or is it for the babes?

[Laughing Cow]

Tai Chi Sphere, Tai Chi Pipe and similar exercises should do the trick.

Also try to get a longer/heavier than average Pole and shake it 300 times.
Heavy Kwan Dao will also do.

Plenty of things you can do without leaving the realm of Tai Chi.



Word in warning:
Bigger muscle does not neccessarily equal a stronger muscle.

[Repulsive Monkey]

You obviously don't want to get far in Taiji then if you want to build you muscle mass up?

As taijiquan_student suggests it must be for the babes c'os it sure aint for the Taiji.

Push hands is about sensitivity and refinement and had nothing to do with external development. Are you sure you study Taiji??????

[Former castleva]

When can strength/improvement in condition hurt?

"Bigger muscle does not neccessarily equal a stronger muscle."

Perhaps,but it sure is an indicator of a stronger muscle.

[Vapour]

Doing taijiquan is no excuse not to get fit. If you think being strong will help you, go for it by all mean.

Having said it, I should caution you. I have a friend who lift weight. He has weight bar in his house and lift weight I can't lift. Suprisingly, it turned out that he can't beat me in arm wrestling. Then there is this guy, who is about as muscluar as I am but has longer arm than me. In arm wrestling, shorter the arm, the better. I arm wrestled with him and he is solid. I have noticed that he is also incredibly flexible. I suspect that if you strengthen your muslce at the expense of flexibility, real strength will go down even you bulk up as inflexible muslce are very easy to get locked.

So be careful. After bulking up, you might find yourself weaker than before.

[Vash]

Try the bodyweight workouts first. Here's a link to a book by a complete psycho who talks to Farmer Burns . . .

http://www.mattfurey.com

I can't do those hideuous (sp) pushups since years of bench press w/o posterior work on my shoulders, back led to stupid shoulder problems. But, most of the stuff is cool.

Search for "Pushup Program," "weight training routines," or PM Ford Prefect and say HELP!

Be sure to ask your sifu if 1) weight training would adversly affect your Taiji training, 2) if there are any ways to reduce/elliminate what adverse effects you might experience in your practice due to muscular development.

Would post a routine, but not today.

Keep it real safe, too.

[Ray Pina]

"When can strength/improvement in condition hurt?"

When you're training an internal art. No matter how much you lift, you will not gain a foot in hight, 6 inches in reach, and probbaly not 60 lbs ... in other words, God has put a cap on your "ability".
Also, what is called "self defense"? You don't need self defense against a little girl or boy. But you will need it against THE BIGGER GUY who attacks you. Then you need technique! Weight training reinforces AGAINST! That is 100% against taiji principles. You're better off doing Hung Gar.

As far as conditioning: how hard do you have to work for it? How long can you keep it (two weeks after you stop if you're lucky)? And how old are you? If you're passed 23 it's all going down hill already. If it's martial skill you're looking for, you're betting on a losing horse with bad odds.

[Vash]

EF . . .

How does weight training reinforce poor technique? Yes, improper ratio of training between technical ability, moving iron can cause loss of technique, strength in technique, but proper exercise serves only to improve neuromuscular function, health, and a 1% increase in finding a date for friday and saturday evening.

[bamboo_ leaf]

i see nothing wrong with lifting or not lifting. The question is can you do 3 things;

1. can you really song “relax” with out any residue tension in the body "hard spots"

2. can you after training your body to use isolated muscle to move objects return to using inner momentum starting from the feet transmitted though the arms.

3. can you maintain your sensitive and keep the idea of non-resistance in your actions.

If you can really do these things then I see nothing wrong with lifting.

of couse the ladys are inportant 2,

[Former castleva]

"and a 1% increase in finding a date for friday and saturday evening."

Ha,ha.Excellent.
Hard science?

"Weight training reinforces AGAINST! "

I do not claim to have much knowledge of tai chi but I´m not accepting this.Weight training says none of that,whether you are "for","against""yield" etc. is a separate matter."Cross-training",hear?

"When you're training an internal art. No matter how much you lift, you will not gain a foot in hight, 6 inches in reach, and probbaly not 60 lbs ... "

Yay.Never was it said that you will start growing in height.60 lbs is a possibility but that is up to you.

"Also, what is called "self defense"? You don't need self defense against a little girl or boy. But you will need it against THE BIGGER GUY who attacks you. "

True! Additionally,chances are that you are less likely to attract undesired attention,if you have some flesh to put on yourself.I´m not saying that you should count on it of course.

"If you're passed 23 it's all going down hill already. "

What? Elaborate.

"As far as conditioning: how hard do you have to work for it? How long can you keep it (two weeks after you stop if you're lucky)? "

Up to you and your preferances.

[Liokault]

I thought you practiced taiji? How will this help you? Or is it for the babes?

No he has read a book on tai chi....its kind of differant to having attended a class.

[neigung]

Making your body stronger won't harm your taiji. Good taiji has nothing to do with muscle mass or body size. Doing bad taiji will give you bad taiji.
The human body reaches muscular maturity at around 32 years of age. 23 years isn't even fully mature yet.

[jun_erh]

sounds like a bunch of superstitious nonsense to me. I refuse to beleive alchohol, sex, other pleasurable things are any detriment to ones fighting ability. It's just a myth propagated by teachers to turn there stufdents into obediant hare krishnas

[Ray Pina]

Go ahead and lift. You asked, I gave my opinion. I personally have seen two martial artist lose their skill from lifting, but now they are addicted to the practice. Worst of all, the lifting has affected their mind. Where they used to be open, they are now close minded. Everything comes down to brute strenght. But even though I'm smaller then both of them, I can collapse them both quite easily yet they can not collapse me. They are relying on their muscles, I'm relying on something else.

But again, lift, lift, lift.

As for AGIANST. Lay on your back and bench 250 lbs ... please tell me how this is not against? You are fighting the weight! And when you cross hands and feel resistance, you will have trained to fight against it, give away your intention, and the better trained player will change and get you ... but then your girlfriend who likes your muscles can at least ice your eye for you. So, maybe in the end you do know something.

PS
Maybe you have more muscles mass at 32 then 23, but I don't need to read a health book to know that you don't have bearly the same bounce in your legs, flexibility and stamina that you do at 23 ... how many TKD guys you see at 32 flying through the air ... they're out of it already. Forget WuShu! They're done by 28.

A perfect example to me is Gracie. When he fist came out he beat tons of guys, and he was much smaller than them. He didn't need weight training, he had technique. If you are practicing Taiji and feel you need to add weights, you are doing it because something major is missing. Weight training is against taiji principles completely, and I would even go so far as to say jogging does too.