Old School Strongman training for Kung Fu.

[Royal Dragon]

Has anyone ever looked into the methods of old school strongmen to condition for Kung fu?

[MasterKiller]

It's called lifting weights.

[Royal Dragon]

I don't mean conventional bar bell stuff, I mean Old school strongman training, like throwing logs or lifting wiskey barrells and stuff like that.

[SevenStar]

Last summer, I worked out with guys who compete in national strongman competitions. I will probably do it again this summer. It's one of the hardest things I've ever done. They have a set up with all of the events they compete in - yoke carry, stones, log press, tire flip, farmer's walk, sled drag, etc. good stuff. I blogged about it in my blog on the training forum.

[Royal Dragon]

I probably should have started this thread in the training forum.

What experiance i have had with those guy is that they seem (at least) to be much stronger than weight lifters of similar size. i don't know if it's because they work muscle groups to perform tasks, and weight lifters isolate more, or if it's just a perceptual thing on my part.

[neilhytholt]

Shaolin had stone locks and balls and stuff.

[SevenStar]

kinesthetic strength combined with a method of strength training that is teaching the body to act as a single unit.

[phoenixrising]

Sevenstar, I beg to differ. I think the difference is the old timers had alot more tendon/stabilizer strength and this is the difference Royal Dragon perceives. The tendon/stabilizer strength comes as a result of carrying and lifting oddshaped/off balance objects such as full kegs,...'alive' weights. Also comes from supporting feats and one handed lifts- bent press, etc... This is 'real', highly transferable, practical strength. Dinosaur training=recommended reading.

ps- No Royal Dragon, I'm not training 6 elbows anymore

pps- I'm cool

[SevenStar]

like I said - kinesthetic strength. enhanced body awareness.

[Li Kao]

I worked one summer with my grandfather, who was a mason, and let me tell you, schlepping concrete is a good way to build some real functional strength too -- my grandfather, at 60, could run circles around me when I was 18 and in pretty good shape. He wasn't a large man, but when he shook your hand it was like getting squeezed in a vice. Not that I'm advocating running down and joining the local Masons Union, just adding an observation.

[Royal Dragon]

I think the difference is the old timers had alot more tendon/stabilizer strength and this is the difference Royal Dragon perceives.

Reply]
What the heck is "Tendon" strength? A Tendon does not make useable strength. It is like a piece of steel rope, it cannot contract, and thearfore it's not capeable of producing strength. All it does is connect the MUSCLE to the bone. The muscle makes all the strength.

[phoenixrising]

Re; tendon strength

Well, I'm not a scientist, but I do know that both the old chinese and the old time strongmen both talked about tendon strength and considered it important. One of the ways the strongmen developed it was through lockouts and holds. One example is the farmers walk (or farmers 'stand'- can be done not moving.) Take a 75 lb. dumbell in each hand, totally straighten your arms out down at your sides, hold for as long as possible. What do you think/does it feel like this is developing? Same principle as 'iron board.'

ps- baby, I didn't do it! And I still wanna know who Brian is (I'll kill him! )

[Royal Dragon]

Here is the thing, just about anything you do to build the muscles, developes the tendons, bones and joints.

Tendons develope more tensile strength, but they don't have any functional useable strength like a muscle does. They just develope a resistance to damage.

[neilhytholt]

Re; tendon strength

There's no such thing as tendon strength as has been talked about endlessly on here, tendons don't get stronger by themselves.

Do you think they mean slow twitch vs. fast twitch muscles?

[WinterPalm]

I think that type of training is good especially for clinch and wrestling type training but it is hard to balance that kind of stuff with regular practice and hard sparring sessions without getting too worn out. If you are going to strength train, that stuff is good but probably at a 6-8 rep scheme rather than all out for a couple seconds.
Personally I think the best stuff is circuits of weighted and bodyweighted exercises that push you to the limites of strength and endurance at the same time...not entirely max strength developing but very good for system as a whole.
I like to think that as kung fu guys we need to be very explosive and agile so that additional training for this is a good thing. Not saying traditional weight lifting is a bad thing, as I think everyone should deadlift to prevent their backs from getting weak, but odd shaped objects and thick-bar stuff, strongman steel beding, pushing cars, hitting a tire with a sledge-hammer, that is far more fun as well!