does your school have a strengh training program?

[doug maverick]

was talking about this with a friend of mine..i have a friend who has a kung fu school here in ny..and as far as i know he is the only kung fu teacher that has a strength training program to go with his kung fu, weights, kettle bells etc. i think alot of what mma has brought to the martial arts world needs to be incorporated into the kung fu schools..alot of karate and ofcourse muay thai schools do it...but kung fu schools lack alot of modern innovations, that will help take your students to the next level..it also raises the profile of your school. any kung fu schools out there who has a program like this?

[sanjuro_ronin]

Traditonally ALL CMA had ST programs.
I think that cost made many schools focus on forms and such.
Hung Kuen has always had supllimentary ST devices.
The okinawan systems ALL use them.
It doesn't take much to add them to your gym but many teachers think that means using them as part of the class and they certainly CAN do that, but typically they are suppose to be done after class.

[hskwarrior]

Starting with my sifu down to my own students, we never weight trained technically but our weapons were so heavy that by the time you finish the form your arms and shoulders were ready to give out.

after learning the staff forms using our steel staff my students don't like to use the wooden ones anymore.

[TenTigers]

we have a full two tier rack of dumbells from 5-80 lbs, olympic weights, a weight cage, overhead and low pulleys. leg press and extension, calf machine and roman chair, as well as jars, bars,weighted balls, iron rings, sash weights. I am hoping to add stone locks.

[Drake]

I would say steel staff training is still technically weight training...

[hskwarrior]

I would say steel staff training is still technically weight training...

I agree. But its funny when i see them (my students) turning down the wooden staffs to use the steel one. Then they pick up the wooden one and say "wow, its like holding a piece of paper. LOL.

Still, my swords are heavy, my butterfly knives are about 10 lbs (pair), my hatchets are pretty heavy too. at my sifu's school everything was heavy weapons wise.

[mooyingmantis]

We have dumbbells from 10 lbs to 55 lbs for each hand. Plus, we have a straight bar and curling bar with steel plates. Students can come and use them anytime that they like, but I do not use martial arts class time for strength training.

[Scott R. Brown]

When I did most of my teaching, some 35 years ago, we did a lot of calisthenics and I had all my students do 10 pullups before every training session.

Of course I weight trained every non-marital arts training day. But not everyone was into weights way back then. So I never insisted any of my students do so.

[Yao Sing]

i think alot of what mma has brought to the martial arts world needs to be incorporated into the kung fu schools..

At the risk of this thread being derailed I don't think MMA should get credit for bringing weight training to CMA. Last China trip I saw weights at the schools we visited. Stone Locks were around well before MMA.

We have dumbbells from 10 lbs to 55 lbs for each hand. Plus, we have a straight bar and curling bar with steel plates. Students can come and use them anytime that they like, but I do not use martial arts class time for strength training.

Seems to be the general consensus - do pushups and weights etc on your own time, class time is for learning.

[doug maverick]

At the risk of this thread being derailed I don't think MMA should get credit for bringing weight training to CMA. Last China trip I saw weights at the schools we visited. Stone Locks were around well before MMA.



Seems to be the general consensus - do pushups and weights etc on your own time, class time is for learning.

yea but if you go to your average qwoon you dont see any of that. thats why im suggesting it...plus modern strength training and the stuff done with locks is not exactly the same...im talking about incorporating sports science with traditional martial arts.

[MasterKiller]

We use kettle bells for cardio circuits, but you can lift for strength on your own time.

[hskwarrior]

Oh yeah, i also use those Bands specifically to train specific techniques...

I've been going to the gym for my own personal strength training. the elyptical is a mudda chukka....but its my new friend. the first time i did that machine my legs hurt for days....

[Lucas]

seems like im starting to notice more of what i call 'cma gyms', places where cma is trained and taught, but the facility also performs in the capacity of a standard gym as well for all around fitness and development. I think this is a good thing, as long as the owner can support the hours.

we have absolutely no equipment at the judo school. all of our conditioning is done with the body. additional strength training is done on your own time outside of the dojo.

[Drake]

It also depends on what kind of strength training we're talking about. Muscular endurance requires pretty much nothing. Pushups, man... pushups. Do 'em wide for lats, do 'em close for pecs.

Then you could also add a pullup bar. Nothing fancy. Start people off partner assisted, then work your way up.

You could easily get in 50 pushups+ and some pullups in within a couple of minutes. Make it five minutes and you can add lunges and crunches. It's a great way to get the blood flowing too. I recommend starting with a jog in place for a minute or so... some rotations, some stretches, some calisthenics, and then some exercise.

In the Army, we get this all done in less than ten minutes, sometimes faster. Besides... strength is one of the requirements in TCMA. At least in CLF, fitness and nutrition are one of the standards.

[wenshu]

The lack of strength training in kung fu is the modern western "innovation".