Quote Originally Posted by Miqi View Post
In statistics there's a problem called the denominator/numerator problem, which is when one set of statistics is compared against another set of statistics, but each was actually collected by a different method, rendering the final figures suspect. Similarly, it's difficut to compare the training of people in the past, with their poor diets, poor health care, need to do back-breaking, long hours of hard work etc., with professional level atheltes in modern times, who have access to really great, scientific diets, training and methods. You would have to hold those factors constant - i.e. assume that they were the same for both - before assessing whether there are any training principles in the old ways which are useful. Or, you'd have to consider the needs of the old wushu guys, compared to their capacity to achieve a good level. In that case, maybe their stuff was the best it could be at that time.
I would say one could have the best of both worlds- for instance after chopping down trees all day and stacking them into piles, I pick the large piles up and sling them over my shoulders/ top of the head for balance, making sure they are really heavy but well-balanced. Then I walk with the load on my back, hauling the piles for a quarter mile, up moderate inclines where I can dump them. So this kind of thing is how people worked in the past.
At the same time I do that, I also train in Kung Fu, Tai Chi and other exercises like running, push-ups, some weight lifting, etc. A lot of the body-builder types cannot do strenuous manual labor- I found that out in high school, at a concert in the city, when a group of body-builder type guys could not "ring the bell" with the hammer on one of those carnival games. Then I strut up, built but lanky (big shoulders, big chest, some meat on my bones but 'skinny'), smoking a cigarette (unfortunately in those days), grab the hammer and get the bell to ring in one try. All of their girlfriends looked at me sideways, ha ha.

Yeah, that guy in the video has an intense work-out, he is ripped, holy geez.