Do-it-yourself Meihua Poles?

[onyomi]

I remember my teacher telling me that when he did stance training they often did it on poles, which I believe is called "Meihua-zhuang" training. I also remember reading here that they did this at Wah Lum.

So, my question is, is there anyway to safely approximate this training in your backyard without actually putting stakes in the ground? I read someone saying they practiced standing on V-8 cans, though I'm not sure whether they meant they were rooted to the ground or not. It seems very difficult, albeit not impossible to stand on cans if they're free-standing, but then you can't shift to other stances and have to set them back up if you lose your balance. I considered actually attaching cans to the bottoms of a pair of shoes, but that sounds kind of like an ankle injury waiting to happen.

So, for anyone who's done this training, could you give me a more detailed explanation of how you do it and possibly some suggestions on how to do it at home? I'm assuming the point is to train the achilles tendons, calves and quads by standing only on the balls of the feet, thereby increasing speed and nimbleness. Do you actually do Tantui with all the stance shifting on cans/poles, or do you just use them to hold static stances? Once you can do it on the balls of your feet do you bother still doing stance training/Tantui with the heels down, or do you think that you can get the full workout using just the balls of the feet?

Thanks in advance.

[mooyingmantis]

Onyomi,
Flower pots turned upside down or round pation block can substitute poles. Stances and forms can be practiced on top of them. Moveable objects are actually better (IMHO) than concrete embedded poles, since moveable objects can be arranged according to the movements of the form. Sparring on top of them is especially fun!
We never emphasized the ball of the foot, as you mentioned. Though I can see where that would be good exercise.
Also, practicing on top of raised 2X6 planks (drills & sparring) is a fun way of testing sure-footedness and balance.
Richard

[monkeyfoot]

i just took a load of stumps off a fence near my house, cut them to just over a foot in length, and smashed them into the ground with a f^^k off mallet

craig

[Chop Socki]

Neat topic - I think we're already talking about two different things though.

I've done training on 'plum flower poles' (Mui Fa Jong), but aside from the generic strength/balance benefits you'd expect to get from walking around on 4" wide posts (and unstable ones at that!) there was a very specific training regimen associated with them - sort of a pre-determined set of transitions from one stance to another.

Mooying has the very nice idea of moveable objects that give you more flexibility with regards to location and the types of drills you can invent; it's also much nicer on the lawn. His idea of flower pots sounds good; I've used standard bricks for the same type of 'impromtu' exercises.

If your goal is to practice moving from one stance to another with balance and confidence, I don't think the actual item you stand on top of matters much, and you'd use the same part of your foot as you'd use if you were standing on the ground. If you find something stable (and cheap!) that you can arrange to your liking and that won't cause grievous damage when it tips over or you fall off of it, I think just about anything will do. You may even find yourself moving to smaller, less stable objects as your abilities improve!

Good luck!

- CS

[mickey]

Greetings everyone,

Onyomi, you had me thinking about this all day long. One way of creating a portable Mei Hua pole arrangement is through the improvisation of the Chinese style guest table; you know, the one that is a giant, plywood, circular board that you place on top of the square table and can fold in half for storage. I think you have the visual. Now buy table legs or wooden dowels of same or varying heights and configure it so they can screw in at various points on the board. You can build additional supports for the legs. Your set up will look like an upside down table with several geometrically or chaotically arranged legs. When you are finished you can remove the legs and fold the table in half for storage (Dang, I should get bucks for this idea!! It is so HOT!!!).

Past purposes for training the Mei Hua formation:

1-Light skill

2-Balance

3:Mobility

4- Muscular strength through the development of the stabilizer muscles: this one is my experience


I hope this helps.



mickey

[onyomi]

Thanks for the info, but it seems you must use the ball of your foot if you're standing on a beer can or something even smaller (someone from Wah Lum mentioned V8 cans). My whole foot is on the ground when I practice stances normally (other than xu-bu, duli-bu, etc.), so I can't just do the stances as usual.

I also read that people arrange the poles in the shape of a plum flower (one center pole with a pentagon around it) and then practice routines on them. Which stances do you practice and how do you transition like this? Do you say do horse on two, then step back with one foot into a bow stance, for example? I wonder if anyone has a video of this training. Thanks again.

[David Jamieson]

they don't call it post stepping for nothing

these babies give you balance and get you gripping with your toes (well, your whole foot actually)

there are patterns, but they all lead to free flow stepping with rapidity and sinking in all the variations of footwork you woudl use within your style.

I used to use the hydro pole width posts they use for park fences.

but coffee tins filled with sand are ok as well.

If you did want to put posts in the ground, they certainly don't have to be 9 ft in the air (unless you want the climbing practice too), it's good to have slight height differences, and even one or two that are a little more effort to get to. They should be at least 3 feet into the ground though so they don't topple and bag you.

coffee tins and what not will tip when you leap onto them unless you bring your weight straight down.

great leg workout and gives different strength than say plyometrics. also will improve your lion dance ten fold.

[Yao Sing]

Ok, I haven't been on the poles in a long time but I'll offer what I can to help you out.

I put poles in the ground but I also built a travelling set for performances. Here's some pics. It was built with PVC pipe from Home Depot. If you're interested I'll try to put together a parts list.

It's lightweight and wobbly enough to force balance. I originally wanted to be able to disassemble it and carry it in a bag but I had to sturdy it up so everything is glued except for the center. I can fold it up for travel or separate the top and bottom.

There is no set routine other than one I devised myself. Normally it's just a freelance run through stances. The pics and video clip are for informational purpose only. Please disregard the skill of the player.

[Yao Sing]

Oops, 5 picture limit. Here it is folded up, plus an old pic of me on the old poles at Wah Lum Temple. As a bonus 2 old pics of Master Chan Pui performing on poles.

Here's a short clip of usage:
Meihua Poles Example

[mickey]

Greetings,

Yao Sing, that is a really great idea. Whaat you have is also good for indoor practice as well.

I like it. I LIKE IT!!!!


mickey


P.S. :Is there footage of Grandmaster Chan performing on that setup?

[TenTigers]

you ca also get gallon paint cans and fill them with sand and use sacrete to harden it. I am doing this. I will then cover them with red duct tape, just to keep them looking somewhat better than the Glidden labels. You can place them in any pattern you like and add more too.

[cjurakpt]

I remember that in the old Mineola school, someone got ahold of an old telephone pole, cut it into pieces of varying length, and then attached them to square plywood bases: I still have some of them in my parent's garage, BTW...

[Yao Sing]

Old telephone poles is what was used to build the new section of poles at the Wah Lum Temple in Orlando. The tall ones are much higher than the old ones but a lot fatter too.

I prefer the narrow shaky ones but that's probably because I started on them and spent a lot more time on the old ones than the new ones. I put together a training routine on the large ones but it wasn't as difficult as the thin pole routine.

WARNING: Any Temple students reading this I advise NOT getting up on the old poles as they are no longer safe. The short ones are fine and a nice stance routine can be devised to use on them. I always warmed up on the short ones before moving up to the higher ones.

[mickey]

Greetings,


I forgot to mention another medium as substitution for the poles: cinder blocks. I have used these in the past for indoor use. The ground must be pretty level for outdoor use.


mickey

[Tao Of The Fist]

Yao Sing,

If you could post a list of the materials used to make your portable meihuazhuang, that would be great! I live in an apartment, and that would be an awesome, efficient way to practice without getting in trouble with my landlord.