Jeff Edward asked:




Fitness training is paramount for martial artists. Pad-up! Offer a free range of fitness calculators and tools to facilitate your martial arts training. The following suite of tools and information guides may be used as a metric to gauge the effectiveness of your training regime. Tools are also provided to help you select your most suitable martial arts discipline.

Body Mass Index for Martial Artists

Muscle tone is often important to martial artists especially when conditioning for a competition. Your Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of fat based on both your height and weight.

BMI Ranges

Underweight =

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Rosendo Lopez asked:


Nunchakus, the katana sword, double sticks, and others are among some of the weapons to be mastered through different styles of traditional martial arts.  All of them have their own merits, but I believe the two most powerful weapons which can multiply the power of your techniques are the subconscious mind and Chi energy.  Below I will explain in detail why.            

 

All skills we have learned in any style, after hard and serious training, become natural reflexes.  The reason for this is that there is a section of our mind that is in charge of memorizing all of our experiences from the moment we are born until the last breath we take.  This part of our mind is in charge of vital functions of the body, such as breathing, defecating, regulation of bodily fluids and circulation as well as, other complicated processes.  This part of our mind is working 24/7 without rest.  Behold the subconscious mind!            

 

What is the subconscious mind and how can it help you become a powerful martial artist?  Sub means under and conscious means your everyday mind or the mind of everyday life.  So subconscious means the part of your mind that is below your conscious awareness.  In order words, you are not aware of it.  The most important part for a martial artist to know and master about the subconscious mind is its inability to recognize physical limitations.  Whatever skills regardless of the situation, you will be able to accomplish it if you impress or command the subconscious mind with an exact image of what you are trying to accomplish.                               

 

Let me use myself as an example.  I do lots of visualization with my techniques and when I do them physically I’ve noticed something very interesting.  I feel like I’ve been performing them for a long time physically.  They feel crisp, with more strength, faster and alive.  All the things I’ve visualized give me a sense of connectedness to the techniques. In other words, my body, mind and emotions work together as one with the technique.  This was an “aha” moment because I had heard the stories of visualization, but had never experienced them myself.                    

 

Another function under the control of the subconscious is the reflexes.  When you react or attack your opponent, before all this happens, there is a signal sent from the brain to the body via the nervous system.  The nervous system activates the muscle and then the muscles move the body.  This happens in an instant, but you can lessen the time it takes for your muscles to receive the signal by training your subconscious and the body at the same time.  This is accomplished using visualization as the above example proves.                                      

 

Aside from the subconscious mind, there is another aspect to the training of martial arts call Chi training.  Chi is not easy to explain, but let me give it my best shot.  Chi is life itself and all things are made of it.   It is internal and external energy.  Planets and constellations are made of Chi.  In the human body, Chi is regulated by the conscious mind and the amount is limited.  Breathing exercises are one of the tools used to increase the amount of Chi in your body.  I know, if all things are made of Chi how come it is limited in the body, that’s your question.  I don’t know the answer to that question yet, but I have a theory and I will explain it later on.                

 

 Among the benefits of increasing your level of Chi is a stronger immune system, an increase of overall strength, faster reflexes, faster blood circulation, a strong sense of being grounded and a feeling of being in the present moment or in the Zone.  If you practice martial arts, extra strength and total awareness and being in harmony with your opponent is a great skill to have, don’t you think? Ask your teacher if he knows anything about Chi and ask him to teach you about it.  If you are a practitioner keep reaping the rewards of your Chi.                  

 

Finally it may be possible that Chi is another expression of the subconscious mind.  It is not a subjective experience, all you’ve got to do is practice and you will soon reap the benefits of Chi training, whether you practice the martial arts or not.   



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Dalida Turkovic asked:


Focus

Many students ask – what do I do with my eyes? Where do I look? Regardless what the practice is – standing, walking, moving – eyes are looking straight but your mind does not register information taken by your eyesight. The gaze is turned internally, observing your muscles, your legs, your hands, scanning every single part of your body with your mind. I used to go to crowded places to train for competitions – the more distraction the better it was. Well, no doubt, I learned how to focus and keep final destination constantly in my mind – perfection of the body posture, allowing the energy to flow freely like cleaning blocked pipes or dirty chimneys. Meridians are fresh, blood circulates to all parts of the body, there are no blockages and as qi starts in your dan tian it swirls through the whole body and is being released into the ground. To reach perfection you first hear about what it is that you are looking for and then step by step focus on each requirement until you get it and lift yourself up to new horizons. I take focus as another insight for daily living.

Flexibility (applies to practicing 1:1 with Sifu)

A lot of people are put off by the idea of martial arts for a simple reason that you need to wake up early and practice outside during winter. In my opinion these are such minor components of the whole practice and if you do get into practicing at dawn and during the winter than you are already into it that much that it does not matter. Your teacher may be flexible enough to assist you in learning whenever it is convenient for you, some teachers take it easy during winter and if you have a spacious apartment you can practice at home. So, first of all martial arts teaches about flexibility. By being flexible I mean physically and mentally because it is all connected and one directs the other.

Calm

Another simple implementation of martial arts in daily living is that you learn how to keep being focused and relaxed while doing strenuous exercise. The practice gets your body to twist in new directions, to use muscles you haven’t used before, to learn what ‘natural posture’ means in terms of martial arts. After a while your body becomes soft outside (for the observer) and hard inside (you experience the flow of qi in your body). Simply, if you manage to keep your body relaxed during strenuous exercise then in daily living you can maintain being relaxed in stressful situations. Needless to mention, daily practice enables you to remain calm and focused despite the circumstances and the environment.

Patience

Recently I have been translating for Liu Sifu – he has new students who do not speak much of Chinese and I am amazed (again and again) how much patience he has. Each student is treated in a new way, with new perspective, so much appropriate for their personality. I stopped asking how he does it, each time it is just as if he knows how nature works. Of course, practicing ba gua was helpful for increasing this insight (amongst other things). As I translate I keep rushing ahead, giving my perspective on what is being said, talking about my experience while he sits calmly and waits for me to finish. Never a single comment, never a single request. I look at new students practicing zhang zhuan (standing stance) and keep thinking: they must be bored, there is so much more to it! And yet, I realize – their mind and body are so occupied maintaining the proper standing stance as it looks simple to an observer while the person practicing has busy time thinking of all things that need to be done – usual case with internal martial arts. I learned patience by living in China and I know that patience is part of every journey – accept the fact that beginning is slow and that some things you will do well, some will be hard.

Determination and Discipline

Over the course of 7 years of practice I have learned one thing about internal martial arts – there are times when I enjoy it, when the flow of it is so natural and free, by body wakens and mind empties itself accepting nature as the only guide. As everything else in life, there are also times when I am lazy, I dread waking up in the morning, my body rebels, practice seems boring and I question if there is anything coming out of it. Liu calls these times “guan” (”pass”). Each guan is blocking the way towards new learning, realization and expansion. So there is physical guan, lazy guan, guan of doubt etc. It is our choice to stop and retreat from practice or to continue and see what awaits us behind the obstacle. Usually it is expansion of physical and mental experience: body becomes stronger, mind reaches new horizons. However, it does not mean that if you pass one guan you have finished with that lesson. For me, lazy guan keeps coming back but the time needed to pass it is getting shorter and shorter. Lessons are fulfilling enough for me to realize that determination and discipline is what takes me further towards abundant and balanced living.

With flexibility, calm, focus, patience, determination and discipline I look forward to every new challenge.

Copyright Dalida Turkovic 2007



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martial arts london ON asked:


 

The Benefits of Tai Chi and Internal Martial Arts for Self-defense: Part 1 of 2

Internal Martial arts such as Tai Chi, or Ba Gua can be extremely effective for self defense if trained correctly. There are a few strategic principles in Chinese internal Martial Arts that can provide a tactical advantage in melee combat. I will outline them in the following sections: Body Alignment and Changing, Friction and Sensitivity, Timing, Initiative (these last two I will explain in part two of this article). You will notice there is no magic to any of this – it is all science. For more information on tai chi, self-defence and kung fu please visit Martial Arts London Ontario (MALO).

Body Alignment / Posture and Body Changing

The first thing about internal chinese martial arts like Tai Chi and Ba Gua is that they are based off of the chinese system of medicine. This system has been well aware of things that chiropractors and sports physiotherapists are just starting to learn about the human nervous system and spinal cord, meditative benefits, and muscle/tendon functional excellence. Like gymnasts and dancers, internal arts practitioners do difficult and challenging exercises, drills, and forms in order to literally change their body’s metabolism, balance, structure, tendon strength, speed and flexibility. The more serious one is with their body changing training, the more results they will see. Doing Tai Chi once per week without the requisite secrets is not good enough. At first this training is extremely difficult, just as jogging is extremely difficult for the beginner. But after years of practice, the internal martial artist’s body starts to change, and they start to see the health and martial benefits as they begin to move as a functional unit and cease using “awkward force”. They also get damaged less often in hard martial arts sparring. This body changing also includes tendon conditioning, thus making an internal artist “seem” stronger as they move as a more functional unit. Tendons are as strong as steel. If you can learn to use them, and to strengthen them, then you will move as a more functional and solid (yet fluid) unit.

Friction and Sensitivity

Another key aspect in internal arts like Tai Chi, or Ba Gua (Cheng Sher and Magui), is friction, or what is sometimes called sticky hands. With this body changing, and two person “push”, “search”, or “sticky” hands practice, practitioners become more sensitive to the movements of others, and by using this sensitivity, internal martial artists can use a foe’s force against them by placing them off balance. And by using friction, the practitioner can deliver more kinetic energy per second than a straight punch. All boxers know that more friction means more damage, so too does this apply to throws and arm drags. The more friction when throwing an opponent, the more kinetic energy you deliver into them, the faster they hit the ground. Also, using friction properly



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