Distance Training Kung Fu & Tai Chi

[Drake]

Ok, so here I am, an eager and fit DL student ready to tackle everything the world of CLF has to offer. I have studied the tapes, and can perform the movements. So I finish my regular workout and head upstairs to a solitary area of the gym to work on some CLF training. I perform the basic stance and hand forms, pausing to check my technique, sometimes doing them over if I feel I didn't do them correctly. I then work on some kicking drills, hand strikes, and some flexibility work. By the time I leave the gym, I am a sweaty and exhausted mess...but one thing lingers in my mind. Am I training properly? Is this the way they'd do it at a school?

So it occured that I should have a schedule instead of haphazardly working on different things. That being said, where is a good place to find a decent one hour schedule? I can't really go over that time, because I still have my weightlifting, running, and abdominal work to do.

[nospam]

Any time is a good time to train. If you are not attending a school under a teacher's watchful eye and proper guidance, then training when you do for as long as you do is what you are willing to put into it. As far as you know, you are training well and hard...or are you?

It's a rare breed of person to be able to keep proper consistent and productive training going on their own. You need to set goals that cover many areas of training, from a good 10-20 minutes of basics and advanced basics to drilling patterns and performing patterns to bag work if you do not have a training partner.

It also depends on your MA goals. Although some may debate this, you can not improve your fighting if you train alone and do not practise fighting on an interactive partner. Period.

If you feel your training is haphazzard, then you are not training effectively and to your maximum benefit. Perhaps it is time for a change.

nospam

[Drake]

Thanks for the guidance, but being military, I am used to having my training broken down by the minute. For example... here's a sample PT routine.

10 mins - Stretching/rotations/calesthenics
40 mins - 4 mile slow run
10 mins - Cool down stretching

I was looking for a way to apply that to CLF training.

I'm a structured little monster.

[nospam]

First thing in the morning. Get up an hour early and just do it.

nospam

[Drake]

First thing in the morning. Get up an hour early and just do it.

nospam

We do organized PT first thing in the morning. This morning, for example, we ran 5 miles with sprints up hills and little mini-races throughout. I hit the gym after work to improve my scores on the PT test.

[Jeong]

Since you already have a warm-up and cool-down, I'd suggest perhaps the following:

10 min form: take it slow, focus on correct structure and technique.
15 min basic pad/bag work: Practice power generation with basic techniques.
10 min advanced pad/bag work
15 min drills/applications
10 min form: go full speed and power. Try to stay relaxed and loose, but the goal is a cardio workout to finish it off.

That really doesn't allot a whole lot of time for any given chunk, so really keep the pace up and don't waste any time. Depending on how often you train you might want to give and take a little on the schedule. Maybe one day do more pad/bag work, the other more application work, or whatever.

Also I think nospam is exactly right; if combat is your goal, you need to find someone to practice fighting with.

[Freebird]

Greetings, I am looking for a non hyped up marketing scheme site that trains kung fu & tai chi at home via video. Programs are fine, like one that plumblossom.net gives, but im looking for more styles and variations of your favorites so i will have many to choose from. The only thing available near me is Shaolin Do, i went for a viewing 2 times before i decided it was not for me. I just did not like the styles and the mixture of kids and adults. I dont mind the kids being there, just the ones i seen both times were a bit rambunctious and well careless to say the least. Not all but a few. I am also wanting to know is it logical to train both Kung Fu and tai Chi forms at the same time?
Any help would be great

Thanks in advance,


Freebird

[ginosifu]

I am putting together a distance program for my monkey system. If you are interested please email me:

ginosifu@shaolininstitute.com

or visit my web:

http://www.shaolininstitute.com

Ginosifu

[KFNOOB]

Can you learn effectively this way or must you have significant experience in other arts as a base?

[Freebird]

Not sure, but i assume it would be like distance classes for school.. Just not hands on in a class.. When you really dont have an option it could be the only way. Driving jars me up something aweful, i hate riding in a car for an hour, stiffens me up can barely move afterwards. I gotta keep moving around. and the only school available is not what i want, its settling with a wish sandwhich when you want a steak sandwhich ya know? Hopefully i can get some good links added in here from others. Like to see the styles and what they have to offer. I dont know what im looking at, but im sure ill know what i want to train when i see it. Tai Chi maybe is the best as others have said since i do have back problems, but i want a full course as if i am being taught in person one one by the sifu / teacher.

[ginosifu]

Can you learn effectively this way or must you have significant experience in other arts as a base?

Can you effectively learn thru distance only, "NO"

You would have to combine distance with visiting the teacher in a seminar or private lesson. I have had student s come on monthly basis / some quarterly. You need instruction from the teacher and you also need a partner for Reaction / Timing drills and sparring.

Forms alone are just exercise.

Ginosifu

[Egg fu young]

As most will be able to tell from my video sig, I learned my 24 form from DVD. It's unrefined at best but It's a base. I just found a sifu who's teaching 24 form once a week and guess what! I have bad habits I need to fix. I leave my ego at the door, except his knowledge, focus on what he's telling me and do my best to practice correct 24 form all week until next class. I hope to post another video in I'd say 6 months with noticable inprovement.

[Drake]

Some of us have careers that lead us all over the place, and those places are usually nowhere near a good CLF teacher. For a long time I simply learned from whoever was teaching on the post gym. The usual offerings are karate in some form, krav maga, and for a while I was learning from a Praying Mantis instructor.

It seems nowadays that distance learning is more attainable, but I still feel that many IT resources are not being tapped for this. While your videos of your techniques and forms are able to be reviewed well within 24 hours, with feedback coming shortly after, I also feel that maybe virtual sessions are possible via webcam, along with forums so correspondence students might compare and make recommendations to one another. Even a virtual training log/schedule might be in order.

Looking to the future, maybe someday we could implement biometric tracking of movement during reviews, allowing the teacher to see things he/she might not be able to see on the video. Virtual reality is another option, but it seems that with the exception of the medical field, it isn't really going anywhere as a tech.

In the Army, VTCs are very common downrange. We also have computers tracking our bullet trajectories on the range, and numerous forms of collecting training data. I wonder how we could add that to CLF training for those who aren't fortunate enough to live in CA, FL, China, HK, or Australia.

[ninetoes]

Hi all,

I am looking at a distance learning course for qi gong theory, anyone have any opinions on these courses? i am up in sunny northumberland and i am really struggling to find a qi gong class most are usually tai chi with a little qi gong insight anyone with any info i would be grateful.

[Sal Canzonieri]

Well, that's pretty hard to find.

Al Simon has a great distance learning Qigong course, it is part of his tai chi training, but you will get a lot out of it anyways.