Bee's Training Log

Discussion in 'Training Logs' started by Brigid, Apr 17, 2015.

  1. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Attended a class run by one of the Laoshi's who trained with my Sifu today. He'd asked me to come to help with TCC training (focusing on the static (hand) drill). Given that I was expecting to be coaching, I got a lot out of the class. We did a good warm up, and I decided not to put any limits on myself in terms of what I had a go at. Because of my nervousness around my ankle, I haven't been pushing myself for quite a while. But I felt the benefit of getting really well warmed up before attempting forms, stances and kicking practice. We went through basic kicks (off the back leg - front, push, side, turning and back hook). I thought Laoshi gave a good explanation of how to execute each kick. I've recognised for a while that I could do with going back through the range of kicks that I've learned over the last few years to do them all better.

    I did do some TCC coaching and then we finished with pushing hands and a bit of Chinese boxing style free sparring.
     
  2. ned

    ned Valued Member


    The competitions I usually go to are the Wu school competition for traditional tai chi you mentioned above in june and the festival of chinese martial arts organised by Dan Docherty's wudang school usually held in Oxford around february.
    Both are similar in terms of hand/weapon forms categories , the oxford event (which I prefer ) also has sanda and a less restrictive free format for push hands , though both also have fixed and moving step .
    On saturday me and my daughter went to another competition for the first time at the Tang Long school in Golders Green . This was much smaller but had a good atmosphere made more interesting by having just one matt for all the categories rather than multiple areas like other events , with hand/weapon forms in kung fu and taiji and sanda but no push hands.
    I was'nt competing but my daughter did well , getting third in the adult chen hand form category , up against much older competitors - so proud :) .
     
  3. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Over the last two weeks I have been attending both classes - Tuesday TCC and Friday Kung Fu. In TCC, we have been focusing on Dao Yin exercises (which makes the class more Qi Gong than TCC currently, but we will move onto Kung Fu Fan form soon), but I'm getting a lot out of the slowness of the movements and the precision which with they need to be done. Having said that two weeks ago I had what amounted to a private lesson because no-one else was able to attend. Not complaining! In that lessons Laoshi worked very quickly through the 12 Dao Yin exercises so I could see what they were like but it was definitely too much to take in in one session. We also did what would be the first two combinations or phrases in the Kung Fu Fan form. That was more than enough! The following week was just Dao Yin but I am making progress to the extent that I can practice some of them at home now from memory. I've had a cold this week so missed today's session.

    Kung Fu class was focused on TCC on first Friday of the month. In addition, there have been changes introduced which bring TCC into the curriculum and grading for those who train with our Sifu. So we have been talking through in class what types of changes will be introduced and over what period of time they will come into effect. I think it's all to the good. As far as I can see, there'll be a stronger emphasis on stance work, kicking as well as learning TCC forms and the related applications. Sparring will include pushing hands as well as the type of Chinese boxing we do now.

    So in the last two weeks the kung fu class has reflected these changes. Last week in particular was very good. We did a good 20-30 minutes of leg strengthening exercises. I am a bit perverse but I do enjoy these exercises because I know how good they are for me (and they are such a great leveller - everybody finds them hard). Lots of leg raises, rotations and wall kicks. We also did some pushing hands drills. These were useful too and I'm starting to get a feel for some of the basic mechanics.

    In between classes, my time at home has been focusing on leg strengthening exercises, still walking loads and practicing the range of forms I am learning, plus stances.
     
  4. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Friday 16 Oct: Kung Fu class. Good warm up with on Laoshi - plenty of it as he's a bit of a demon for pushing us if hard he takes this part of the class. We covered our forms, nothing to report this. At the end of the class, our sifu took us through the new curriculum for each grade. There's a stronger emphasis on stances and on a broader range of kicks as well as the integration of tai chi, pushing hands and Buddha's fists. Working with staffs (forms and set sparring) are going to be introduced for more junior grades, along with knife defences. All good stuff, I think.

    Sunday 18th: Did 5 rounds of a range of exercises to warm up (squats, push ups, plank, jumping jacks, reverse lunges + one other - can't remember what it's called - raising your hips to make a partial bridge) 10 -15 of each. Then worked on basic kicks - front kick, jumping front kick, side kick, turning kick, and a couple of junior forms.
     
  5. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Monday 19th: another 5 rounds of exercises in the same vein as above.

    Tuesday 20th: TCC class: 12 Dao Yin. We rehearsed the stepping. Very clear now and then we did all 12 exercises. Lots of great names - shooting the heart of the louse, rhino looking at the moon. Now feel like I can see how I might get to a place where I know the whole lot. But I think I'm about a month away from this. We worked on more basic fan manipulation. Just snapping it open correctly is more of a challenge than I had anticipated so this time was well spent.

    Our teacher also circulated the written instructions for the fan form. Clearly it's not the same as face to face instruction, but I tend to learn by getting to grips with the general shape of a form and then fine tuning so it's useful to have something to work with.
     
  6. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Been away for half term holiday, walked miles, swam but no proper training.

    Tuesday 3 Nov: TCC class. 12 Dao Yin - did the whole pattern again and I know enough now that I can work through the whole lot with the teacher leading. As a set of exercises, they are pretty thorough workout.

    Followed this with opening elements of the Kung Fu Fan form which covered all the movements for the first four fan openings (?).

    In the evening I did some weights with Mr Bee at home, focusing on arms and shoulders, for about 30 mins including dumbbell curls with a tricep stretch, shoulder press, dumbbell shoulder raises, barbell curls and lateral raises with dumbbells.
     
  7. Frodocious

    Frodocious She who MUST be obeyed! Moderator Supporter

    I'd count that as active recovery. Taking a break from proper training can be good for your progress and keeping active whilst doing this is always a good thing.
     
  8. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Well, I think that's what I'll call it from now on! I have to sit still at work too much so holidays are all about avoiding that (after a decent lie in :))
     
  9. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Thursday 5 November - another weights session of about 25-30 mins. So we did chest (bench press), inclined 'fly' exercise with dumbells, leg extensions and hamstring raises. We have chinning bar so I am working on being able to do some pull ups and am looking forward to a time where my feet leave the ground....

    6 November - first Friday of the month focuses on TCC. I enjoyed the warm up which was less of the usual running/push ups etc variety and was a bit more tai chi/qi gong oriented. Focus was on getting the whole class up to speed with the hand drill so I did a bit of coaching newer members in groups and one to one. We looked at the applications of the first two movements (which are defensive). A key point for me is always this business about moving from hard to soft movements. The blocks when done well are soft but I do find this difficult so need to do some practice in the week. I had a chance to work on my kung fu forms. Another note to self to run through them in the week before class next week in order to fine tune.
     
  10. belltoller

    belltoller OffTopic MonstreOrdinaire Supporter

    Are you using any sort of assisting device (standing on a platform, etc)? Harry mentioned the use of slow negatives which really helped me up my chin-up game.
     
  11. Frodocious

    Frodocious She who MUST be obeyed! Moderator Supporter

    Negatives are a great way to help with pull ups/chin ups. Bands can also help a lot.
     
  12. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Sunday 8th November - four sets of squats, push-ups, planks, reverse lunges and shoulder bridge. Did 3 tai chi drills - repeating movements from the forms I am learning both left and right sides - holding the ball to parting the horses mane, crane spreads it wings and brushing the knee. We did this at class on Friday and I found it helped me to make small adjustments to the movement with each repetition to see what difference it makes.
    Monday 9th - weights - focusing on shoulders - three to four sets of ten reps - four different exercises - with dumbells and barbells - weights are a mix of metric and imperial - shoulder exercises ranging from 10kg to 20kg. Also leg extensions - 40lb x 2 x 10 reps and 60lb x 1 x 10. Chin ups - first round from floor - second round with some support from Mr Bee.
    Tuesday 10th - TCC class at lunchtime. For the second time since starting, it was just me. I'm getting the hang of my teacher's way of working and am more familiar with the Dao Yin exercises so we ran through these together quite easily. I've probably got 5 or 6 fairly clear now. I should have them sorted by Christmas no bother. We then did the first 3 combinations of the Kung Fu Fan form. I undertook to practice in the week so I can show what I've learned to the other class members next week.
     
  13. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Thursday 12th Nov - 5 rounds of squats, push-ups, planks, reverse lunges and shoulder bridge (10-12 of each, planks 25 secs). Interrupted a couple of times by younger son getting in and out of shower. More weights - bench press (3 sets by 40lb) inclined fly exercise (3 sets by 10kg), bicep curls (3 sets by 10kg) with a push back to work the tricep too. Practiced kung fu fan form section I learned at class this week.
     
  14. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Friday 13th Nov - Kung Fu class - good warm up - 20 mins of pretty intense exercise. Form practice - we ran through 7 forms from the most junior upwards. TCC form practice. The stance practice - the three basics - riding, front and back stances - performed both static and in a moving sequence. The moving sequence is a good challenge - more difficult than it looks. Finished the class with a mix of sparring and pushing hands. Really enjoyed the sparring - it has been ages.
     
  15. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Sunday 15th Nov - 5 rounds of exercises - standing squats, push ups, planks, reverse lunges, shoulder bridges ( 10 -12 ). Did some additional tai chi exercises - repeating parting the horses mane, brushing the knee and crane spreads it wings both left and right sides - lots of repetitions to help get a good flow of movement.

    Tuesday 17th November - TCC class at work. We did 12 Dao Yin exercises quite quickly although I still could not do the whole set without being led by teacher. By the time we got all the way through it, it felt like a good work out. Made further progress with the Kung Fu Fan form. We covered the pattern for the first four fan openings (with the music).
     
  16. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Weds 18th short weights session - shoulders - shoulder press - front and back and rows - 3 sets of each (8-10 reps) with barbell and 9kg (20lb) weights followed by stretching.
     
  17. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Thursday 19th Nov: Bicep curls with tricep extension - front, side, and across the body with dumbells - 3 sets x 10 reps x 20lbs.
     
  18. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Friday 20th Nov: Kung fu class. 20 mins warm up. I am still minding my ankle so did standing squats instead of squat thrusts. Good session. Kung fu forms practice and TCC forms practice. I am doing them slowly but decided to give my favourite form more pace and power. I need to get some feedback about how well I am doing them. We then did a session on self defence which was very good. I was working with a couple of relatively new starters who are prepared to work at the releases and locks we are meant to be covering Finished with pushing hand
     
  19. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Monday 23 Nov: Weights- bench press. fly, bicep curls, tricep exercises. 3x10 reps x 10kg. Fan form practice.
     
  20. Brigid

    Brigid Kung Fu Mother

    Wednesday 25 Nov: 5 rounds of standing squats, push-us, supermans, reverse lunges and shoulder bridges (10-12 ).
     

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