I chin ching is the basis for the shaolin art. It is an extraordinary exercise program. Over the years I have met 2 people who have been able to do all 49 postures for 49 breaths. Their abilities were amazing. Outside of the Boulder school there is a large green electrical box. One of the 2 individuals was able to take only 1 step and jump on top of it. I watched the other person lift a man nearly twice his size bend over backwards and drop him. Then he stood back up like it was no big deal. I chin ching is also a foundation for the internal arts. It has the chi be evident after a short period of practicing. The masters recommend doing 7 postures a day for 7 breaths. I have found it to be beneficial to do sets of 7 postures for 7 breaths and the start over and do them again. So do 1-7 i chin ching for 7 breaths then do it again. If you do that 7 times you've done the 7 postures for 49 breaths and it's not as hard to get through them. Another thing that I think is important when it comes to the i chin ching is to practice some of the easier postures wherever you can. Use them in your everyday life. A simple example being tying your shoes. When tying your shoes don't sit down to do it, stand up and bend forward like you're putting your palms to the floor(so you get the stretch). When putting your shoes on stand on one foot to do it and practice balancing or even go up on the ball of the foot your standing on. Be creative and find ways to use the postures in everyday activities or in sparring in class. For sparring when someone punches instead of doing a hard block try to bend backwards to get out of range.(Be careful not to hurt yourself)
Find an i chin ching buddy. Someone to hold you to account for doing the postures daily. One important thing is to have someone you regularly work out with but make sure everyone is getting their I chin ching. Grab someone and say, "hey will you go through these 7 postures with me?" The thing with having a buddy is to get your focus off of yourself and onto helping someone else. You'll find yourself coming up with brilliant things for training that you wouldn't have thought of otherwise. What you want to create is having the other person win and that person having you win. This will lead to a deep understanding of the postures and results. I personally like this method of doing things for everything. Do it at work with something your struggling with. Do it in your marriage.
Schedule it into your daily routine. We are all busy and we don't usually take the time to do I chin ching everyday but what would be possible if we did. Take 15 minutes a day and do the I chin ching. The most important time to do them is when you have that little motivational dialog in your head say I don't feel like doing these today. If we can start to deal with these postures from a stand point of performance then it really makes no difference if we feel like it or not. We will also get the benefits of doing the postures and knowing ourselves as unstoppable if we do them even when we don't want to. If you haven't done them and your laying in bed at night get up and do a few before bed. Just make sure you remember to release the energy before laying back down.
Get a coach. Coaches are people who have said that you will succeed at what you're committed to. They are someone to call when you don't feel like doing the postures. They are someone who you can make promises to and will do whatever is needed to have you succeed. Your coaches job is to have you win. Your job is to have your coach win. Your coach should be someone who can at least do a better job at the I chin ching than you are able to do. Your job is also to do what the coach says. Have your coach always be right and that will empower him/her to continue helping you on your advancement. For coaches it's an honor to be chosen to coach and have it be an honor for you to be coached.
Be a coach. Find someone who wants to be able to do the I chin ching and offer to have them succeed at that. You can't give something you don't have however so make sure your practicing. You'll find if you miss a day so will the person you're coaching.
Create a promise to someone when you will have the I chin ching mastered. Then play full out to fulfill on that promise. I personally am promising to have the I chin ching mastered by the time I am a 5th black associate master. I test in the year 2014. Have your promise be a public conversation. This will give it energy and people will keep asking you how it's going. Some people will tell you that you won't succeed. Let them say that. Resistance creates persistance. The best way to have something happen is to have people fighting for both sides. Let's get people talking about I chin ching.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
The Basics
Hello,
I have created this to help fellow shaolin improve their forms and ad some insights into how the forms are meant to be done. I hope to have other fellow shaolin post their insights as well and have this be a way for us all to improve our kung fu. So lets get started.
The Horse Stance:
The horse stance is the most basic stance. The Weighting is 50% on each leg.Make sure your toes are pointed forward. tuck your hips under so that the hips can straighten the lower part of your spine allowing for you to have the rest of your back straight up. The knees should be pressed out to the sides. Don't allow them to collapse toward each other. The thighs should be lat on top so that you can put a tea cup on it. Build the legs so that you won't spill the tea by shaking because your stance is weak.
The Bow Stance:
The bow stance is the very next stance we learn in class. The weighting is 70% on the front leg and 30% on the back leg. This will happen naturally if your stance is done properly. The front leg is bent at a 90 degree angle and have the thigh flat on top. The back leg is straight. As a general rule never lock your knees it will wear down the joint and cause you to have knee problems. The back foot has the heel pushed back and the toe pointed forward. The front foot is pointing forward. The hips are something to spend some time looking at because a lot of people don't realize that the hips and chest should be pointing forward as far as possible which allows the leg to protect the groin as much as possible. Keep the hips tucked under again allowing for the lower back to be straightened and the upper back to be properly supported. This is also a good tip if you have a job that has you standing all day because it relieves pressure from your lower back. When doing low strikes make sure to lower the stance to hit them don't allow for your back to bend as it compromises the structural integrity of the stance and diminishes the power that you can generate.
The Sparring Stance:
The sparring stance is the third basic stance you will learn. This stance is more versatile, as it's meant to spar with and not primarily for conditioning. This Stance is higher but should still have the legs bent and rooted. The arms are at a 45 degree angle. The rear arm should be half way up the lead arm between the elbow and fist of the right arm. The weighting should be 60/40 in this stance 60% of the weight is on the front leg.
The Cat Stance:
The cat stance is that in my experience is primarily used as a transition from another stance to a kick. This isn't a rule it's just how it's mostly used. the weighting on this stance is 90/10. 90% of the weight is on the back leg 10% is on the front. The front foot is on the ball of the foot. The rear foot is pointing slight forward.
Basic Hand and Leg Strikes:
The Reverse Punch:
The reverse punch is performed by punching straight out with the first two knuckles. This punch goes primarily to the face area. The fist palm will stay facing your body.
The Horizontal Punch:
The horizontal punch goes straight out and is primarily used for striking the body. Again strike with the first two knuckles and ensure that the wrist is straight. If you don't make sure your wrist is straight then you may break your wrist while punching. If you use this punch to strike to the face your power will again be diminished because you have to raise your shoulder in order to get the strike that high.
The Front Snap kick:
The front snap kick is performed by raising your knee up and pointing the knee where you'd like to kick. The foot then snaps straight out. Pull the toes back and hit with the ball of the foot.
The Side Thrust Kick:
This kick is performed by thrusting the leg out to the side of the body. The foot is striking with the heel of the foot and the toes are pointed slightly down. This kick is designed to penetrate deep into the body and does not snap back. Remember on all of the kicks to keep your guard up so you don't get hit in the face.
Peripheral Vision
Another thing I'd like to discuss briefly is the peripheral vision. The peripheral vision sees movement better than your normal vision. So if you unfocus your eyes this will allow you to see what your sparring partner is doing easier than if you stay focused on them. There are a few ways to practice this. One way is to look at the opponents chest and see everything he is doing from there. Another way which I like is to look slightly off to the side of your partner rather than straight at them. I personally like this way because it's distracting to the person and a little demoralizing because they start thinking geez this guy doesn't even have to look at me to kick my butt or they get arrogant and are willing to try more stuff not realizing you can actually see everything they are doing. The only down side I have found to this strategy however is it limits what you can see from one side of the body. So at first I recommend looking at the chest and seeing what you see.
I think this is all for now.
I have created this to help fellow shaolin improve their forms and ad some insights into how the forms are meant to be done. I hope to have other fellow shaolin post their insights as well and have this be a way for us all to improve our kung fu. So lets get started.
The Horse Stance:
The horse stance is the most basic stance. The Weighting is 50% on each leg.Make sure your toes are pointed forward. tuck your hips under so that the hips can straighten the lower part of your spine allowing for you to have the rest of your back straight up. The knees should be pressed out to the sides. Don't allow them to collapse toward each other. The thighs should be lat on top so that you can put a tea cup on it. Build the legs so that you won't spill the tea by shaking because your stance is weak.
The Bow Stance:
The bow stance is the very next stance we learn in class. The weighting is 70% on the front leg and 30% on the back leg. This will happen naturally if your stance is done properly. The front leg is bent at a 90 degree angle and have the thigh flat on top. The back leg is straight. As a general rule never lock your knees it will wear down the joint and cause you to have knee problems. The back foot has the heel pushed back and the toe pointed forward. The front foot is pointing forward. The hips are something to spend some time looking at because a lot of people don't realize that the hips and chest should be pointing forward as far as possible which allows the leg to protect the groin as much as possible. Keep the hips tucked under again allowing for the lower back to be straightened and the upper back to be properly supported. This is also a good tip if you have a job that has you standing all day because it relieves pressure from your lower back. When doing low strikes make sure to lower the stance to hit them don't allow for your back to bend as it compromises the structural integrity of the stance and diminishes the power that you can generate.
The Sparring Stance:
The sparring stance is the third basic stance you will learn. This stance is more versatile, as it's meant to spar with and not primarily for conditioning. This Stance is higher but should still have the legs bent and rooted. The arms are at a 45 degree angle. The rear arm should be half way up the lead arm between the elbow and fist of the right arm. The weighting should be 60/40 in this stance 60% of the weight is on the front leg.
The Cat Stance:
The cat stance is that in my experience is primarily used as a transition from another stance to a kick. This isn't a rule it's just how it's mostly used. the weighting on this stance is 90/10. 90% of the weight is on the back leg 10% is on the front. The front foot is on the ball of the foot. The rear foot is pointing slight forward.
Basic Hand and Leg Strikes:
The Reverse Punch:
The reverse punch is performed by punching straight out with the first two knuckles. This punch goes primarily to the face area. The fist palm will stay facing your body.
The Horizontal Punch:
The horizontal punch goes straight out and is primarily used for striking the body. Again strike with the first two knuckles and ensure that the wrist is straight. If you don't make sure your wrist is straight then you may break your wrist while punching. If you use this punch to strike to the face your power will again be diminished because you have to raise your shoulder in order to get the strike that high.
The Front Snap kick:
The front snap kick is performed by raising your knee up and pointing the knee where you'd like to kick. The foot then snaps straight out. Pull the toes back and hit with the ball of the foot.
The Side Thrust Kick:
This kick is performed by thrusting the leg out to the side of the body. The foot is striking with the heel of the foot and the toes are pointed slightly down. This kick is designed to penetrate deep into the body and does not snap back. Remember on all of the kicks to keep your guard up so you don't get hit in the face.
Peripheral Vision
Another thing I'd like to discuss briefly is the peripheral vision. The peripheral vision sees movement better than your normal vision. So if you unfocus your eyes this will allow you to see what your sparring partner is doing easier than if you stay focused on them. There are a few ways to practice this. One way is to look at the opponents chest and see everything he is doing from there. Another way which I like is to look slightly off to the side of your partner rather than straight at them. I personally like this way because it's distracting to the person and a little demoralizing because they start thinking geez this guy doesn't even have to look at me to kick my butt or they get arrogant and are willing to try more stuff not realizing you can actually see everything they are doing. The only down side I have found to this strategy however is it limits what you can see from one side of the body. So at first I recommend looking at the chest and seeing what you see.
I think this is all for now.
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