Recently in Training Category

Pain in the ass

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Over the past few weeks ive been getting treatment for a long term injury I have. Its basically a form or IT band syndrome, usually seen in runners who do to much. The IT band is pretty much a big bit of tendon that runs from the outside of your knee to your hip.

To cut a long story short, overuse of the legs can cause friction leading to inflammation, especially around where the IT band slides over the hip joint. This makes the IT band tight which pulls on the outside of the knee, causing pain.

Ive had physio on my knee before, acupunture, massage, but with little luck - it always rears its ugly head again. But lately ive been getting treatment on the muscles at the hip - as the IT band isnt muscle its connective tissue, meaning it doeant really stretch - so working the muscles around it should be the key. Its been working well and feeling a lot better. My glutes (ass muscles) particularly seem like a problem, and perhaps my Glute medius isnt working properly (from a kick in the ass perhaps..bad joke)

So heres a little stretch I found which hits my ass nicely (hmm..ok), it really loosens me up where i think the origin of the tightness comes from (pic from runnersworld.com)

ChairHipStretch4.jpgHeres the part where Im supposed to make a funny joke about having a tight ass or something, but I figured it had already gone through your head.  

 

Is it old or is it new?

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meandyjiangun-250.jpgSo I wanted to have a rant about training..specifically about modern methods vs percieved traditional martial arts methods. First of all when I talk about modern methods, Im talking about gym centers, personal trainers and all that jazz. Its not really a accurate name, as things tend to go in cycles in the training and sport performance world, but it will suffice.

So to make a huge generalisation, in a "modern" plan we go to a gym, we lift weights, we get strong, we perform better. In a "traditional" or more specifically a martial arts methodology we do a bunch or kicking, punching, some push ups, sit ups, maybe forms, sparring, wrestling..you get the idea.

Now, common gym training has often followed (well, should follow) what is known as periodisation. Periodisation basically breaks your training into periods. These could be days, weeks, months, and in those periods you can set your training intensity, type of training,etc. Most commonly people use periodisation in quite a linear (or straight) fashion, gradually increasing the load by heavier weights over time.

This can also be seen in kung fu schools - you start with ten push ups, you increase that to 50, then 100 and so forth, with most other variables, like how much rest time you have, staying rather constant.

Now contrary to common belief, traditional martial arts - well specifically kung fu, did have a lot of weight lifting type activities. Not only were traditional weapons heavy as f**k, but they had other tools, such as stone barbells and stone locks (石锁) check out below...   

 

 Now where it gets interesting (well for me anyway) is in the sequencing of training modalities in a training plan,.. in plain english - how you put the different types of training together.

Standard gym procedure is to build a big chest and biceps so you can hit on the hot bird at the bar while half pissed, however, for performance improvement there are other things, such as speed, power, muscluar and cardiovascular endurance and strength.

The usual modern way is do one thing at a time: start with an aerobic base, like running, until you build up some cardiovascular endurance, then move to some hypertrophy (doing reps around 10 per set), then work on strength (less reps) and finally work on your power(faster movements) and move sport specific actions. Each phase may be weeks or even months working from one to the nextin a sequence.

As with all things,  popular belief ebbs and flows, however our bodies still work the same. Currently there is an increase in support for conjugate training (sometimes called concurrent). In simple, training which mixes the modalities up so rather than working on strength for a few months then moving to power, you might do strength on monday, then power on wednesday, or even some together in same training session.

Conjugate training thought says in sequential training, you lose ability in one mode while working on another... makes sense huh? 

Interestingly enough, traditional martial arts training is conjugate in itself - doing a bunch of push ups - muscular endurance, holding a horse stance - isometric strength, punching a bag - power.

So it leaves me to wonder, is the current thinking only now coming round to the performance benefits of a traditional martial arts training plan? Hmmm, Im not the type to claim traditional training is superior to modern advances in training, but dont always believe everything your personal trainer says.

 

 

 

Movement Monday: The Sumo Squat

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Each Monday Im going to post up a movement I like. Now Im assuming the masses that read this blog..ahem,..the two people that stubbled across it while looking for porn, are not educated in areas like anatomy, physiology and the like, so I'll refrain from using technical terms where possible.

Im not gonna give you a training plan, but just exercises that Ive come across from various places that I use and think are useful and that people might like to try, and possibly include them in their training if they feel they are beneficial

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Ok, so the sumo squat is named so because, well, sumo wrestlers do it. But dont be fooled, they are amazing athletes and there's muscle under that there blubba'

To do the squat, start standing with feet about shoulder width apart or a bit more, now turn the feet out. Its best to start small and aim for about 45 degrees turnout from your centerline. Now all you need to do is squat down while keeping your feet flat on the floor. You can place your hands on your knees for support, and try to maintain a straight back.

The goal is to increase the depth of the squat while maintaining good body alignment. Take it easy on the amount of foot turnout (external rotation) at the start because if the hips arent flexible enough it can put a bit of strain on the knee, like all things take it step by step.

This is not really an exercise to be done for high repetitions, as its more for flexibility in the groin and is great for increasing range of motion in the groin and hips. I like to do it in the morning for 10 or so reps and maybe 2 or so sets, good for loosening up. There you have it, now give it a go. 

Note: You can do this with weight, but get the movement and flexibiliy down first before adding weight unless you like injuries - also there is a deadlift version of this exercise, but the mechanics are different.

Whats happening with Kungfuology?

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We started with a bit of bang and then fizzled like a sausage, but that doesnt mean we are throwing in the towel. Ive had a bit of a messy year with the visa debarcle, but things seem to be sorted now. Andy's blog is going well, and although I would have liked to have been at some of those gigs Ive spent more time headbanging to people telling me what I do and do not need for my visa.

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Things are looking up, however. Now that I can legally stay in China we have plans for our next few videos, Weve still got some design areas to fix with the main site but Ive got this nice new blog colour (shanghai smog gray), and Ive even created a new category - Movement Monday.

Every Monday I will post on a training movement I like. Some will be warm-up/flexibilty based, some will be strength focused, and others will be more activity movement specific.

Ive left you with a nice pic of me with my Shifu and kungfu brothers (Nate,Shifu Kai,Christian,me). My elder kungfu brother (shixiong) Christian Kubiak just visited us for 10 days and I managed to sneak back from HK just in time to do some training with him. Hes a big guy with very fast hands so its always good to get the chance to train with him. Only problem is he lives in Germany so we only get to train together every so often. Oh well better start saving them pennies for Octoberfest next year I guess. 

Qianshi Sanda

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Its taken long enough, but ill finally review Qianshi Sanda. Actually Ive been training there for a few weeks now, but just havnt got around to posting about it.

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Qianshi sanda is located just off Lujiabang road, down Fangxie rd. Ive had a few taxi drivers get confused as Lujiabang changes into Xujiahui rd at the next intersection. Its downstairs in the sport center, which I had actually played dodgeball in a few years back, but didnt realise they had a sanda club.

The club is not extremely big, but its big enough. They have about 9 or 10 heavy bags hanging, with 2 of those being extra hard. The floor is padded and suitable for throwing practice, and they have various equipment to use, and wraps, shorts can be bought there.

Qianrenbiao, the coach is a former multiple sanda champion himself(not sure if thats national or just provincial), and has coached the Shanghai team, and national team. Hes a very approachable guy, no nonsense, and keeps himself in good shape. He still likes to train a lot himself,  probably kicks harder than any of the students and seems to have a good wealth of knowledge.

One thing I liked about this school is there is a good number of student, 20ish on a good night, who train well and often come early and stay late after class to keep training. They train 4 nights a week, 1.5-2 hours a class and at 2800RMB a year, it represents probably the best value for money you'l find in Shanghai. 

This is probably the best combination of quality teaching, training, and price Ive found so far for sanda in Shanghai, apart from training at the Shanghai University of Sport. Ill do a post sometime about my experiences there for comparison.

Titans Kickboxing

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I recently went to the Titans Kickboxing club to try out a class and see what it was like.

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The club is run in the Gong Dojo, where Shihan Gong runs his Kyokushin Karate class. There are a few locations, I went to the main one in the Jingan sports center on Kangding rd.

The center itself is quite good. They have showers, a small gym with machines, a bench press and smith machine( I hate those). The training area is a decent size, but not huge.

The teacher was nice and friendly and seemed to know his stuff. He also teaches Kyokushin Karate, so was obviously well conditioned. The only qualms I had were the fact that they didnt have any heavy bags, everything was done with pads, and also class time is only an hour - thats only enough time to warm up, do a bit of conditioning and run some basics. Also there were only 2 others in the class, they say weekdays have more, but this cuts options for sparring etc with only a few students of varying levels. Overall, I'd go back based on the teachers ability. Those Kyokushin guys tend to do a lot of sparring and it showed in his knowledge.

Next up I'm going to check out Qianshi Sanda and see what their Sanda class is like.

Getting my stretch on

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Ive embarked on a new stretching program recently to increase my flexibility. Flexibility is kind of the bastard step child of a lot of training programs, confined to a few feeble attempts to touch the toes after a "real" workout. In the kung fu world we also get a lot of "oh, in real life you never do high kicks, its too dangerous" yada yada. Thats no excuse not to have good flexibility in my book. So in order to put my money where my mouth is I've come up with a cunning plan...follow some flexy freakazoids advice.

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I'm following the program laid out in Stretching Scientifically by Thomas Kurz. Now as you can see from the covershot with the author on it (right), he is certainly no slouch when it comes to stretching, and lays down all the technical aspects of stretching, different types, and some program outlines.

I've already been doing the program for about a week and a half, and already I've seen about a 15% increase in flexibility. If things keep going this way I'll be suspending myself from chairs in full split all over Shanghai. I'm also interested in finding out how to clone myself while in the full speadeagled position, but alas no tips in the book.

I'll keep posting on progress and any problems I encounter (from what I can tell excessive pain and hatred of stretching isnt a problem).

 

Let the blogging begin

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Welcome to the blog. sh250.jpg

Ive finally gotten off my ass and made the hard start of beginning. This blog is mostly going to focus on aspects of training, some insights into my life, and probably some moaning about China (it wouldnt be a real China blog without complaining about China, right?).

I'm going to try post at least once a week, and I've got some new stuff I'm trying at the moment with regards to training (martial arts and otherwise) so hopefully I can keep up with my wild and wacky ideas in the cyberworld, That way when I have children they will have something to laugh at their old man about.

Im located in Shanghai so I guess most of my stuff is gonna be Shanghai specific, but I'll try to branch out where I can. I hear the MMA scene in Beijing is getting bigger, and on a recent visa run to Hong Kong I saw quite a few adverts for MMA gyms there. II'll try find out more info on that and post it up.

 

 

 

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