Monday, June 09, 2008

Fun times at last Wednesday's Wing Tsun Kung Fu Summer Seminar!

See Jennifer and I working on our "fighting faces" near the end of last week's seminar:


Combining life and simple, effective training...

Last night, Ivana and I decided to go for a walk. We wanted to get some extra exercise in so decided to go along the Arbutus Railway Corridor. That way, we could combine our evening walk with some balance and agility training!

Remember how fun it was as a kid to balance on the curb, along the seawall, on a log or indeed a railway track? The reason we had such a great sense of balance as children is because we regulary PRACTICED it at play. We were not dependent on "finding time for the gym" in order to keep up a skill that remains practical for our entire lives.

Sure, we get busier as adults but we also learn to multitask in order to get more done at work and at home. Why not multitask to get and keep a healthier and more balanced body? A great bonus is how much more fun your everyday activities can get with a little "play" involved!

As a final note to those who may feel embarassed or self-conscious balancing on railway tracks or going across the monkey bars at a local playground... don't be! Who cares what anyone else thinks!?! Last time I checked, having fun and testing your strength, balance or speed was not illegal. Knocking a small child off the slide however is, so please be aware of your surroundings : )

See the highlights of last night's walk below:


Thursday, June 05, 2008


Wing Tsun Vancouver June Seminar - Day 2

The "Main Event" at Wing Tsun Vancouver on Wednesday night continued where we left off Monday, with more drills using the rubber knives as a psychological tool to increase the power of our strikes.

We worked in an even closer distance, learning to both take care of the incoming attack and generate the appropriate short-range power needed to disable our opponent. I made the "mistake" of asking a few questions about the correct application of the pak-sau and the rest of the students were then "treated" to some personal demonstrations from Sifu Ralph : )

If you think the slapping pak-sau is painful, try the one using the heel of the palm! Ouch!

As on Monday, we had a good session of powerful lat-sau that really forced me to relax my traditionally tight right shoulder. This relaxation and transfer of muscular support is only possible by working through the initial pain and an added benefit is the mental toughness needed to do so. I was thinking back to being close to tears while holding positions in my early private lessons with Sifu Ralph and how once I understood going beyond the pain, my positions increased in strength and effectiveness. Thanks Sifu!

We continued out training with the shock sticks, working on really penetrating with our punches. Luis was lucky enough to only be accidentally hit on the neck by yours truly a couple of times : )

The sticks and knives were then left on the floor as we worked on our inside and outside attacks. The focus was on getting past our opponent's arms and into punching-range safely and effectively. Luis and I had some fun strong-arming each other to ensure our positioning and stance was up to the task!

The evening finished with the Trainer Team assisitng in the testing of our younger WT brothers and sisters. Our chests and abs took a good pounding (thanks Jennifer!) for about 25 minutes as we helped them out training both endurance and punching power. I think Nilo ended up with the reddest chest...

All in all, another great seminar and now 2/3 of the way to my First Technician Grade!

Can't wait til next Monday evening's class!
Some more pictures below:










Tuesday, June 03, 2008


Wing Tsun Vancouver June Seminar - Day 1

Last night we had our second seminar of the year at Sifu Ralph Haenel's Wing Tsun Vancouver.

I was very excited to attend as am continuing my testing towards First Technician Grade!

We had head-instructor German Ferrer from Wing Tsun Calgary as our guest. It was my pleasure to make his aquaintance and I look forward to seeing more of him in the future.

Sifu Ralph had us go through a series of exercises showing how using a weapon (shock stick or knife) to strike helps carry over into making our empty-hand strikes much more powerful. It was quite amazing to feel the difference once we set the weapons down! The strikes felt much smoother and indeed more powerful. Another bonus was the increased aggressiveness training with weapons provides. It is quite important to train in as close of a mindset to the real thing as possible!

I must also not forget to mention that the exercises also included some hard and often stingingly painful pak-sau practice. There was quite the selection of red, blue and purple right arms by the end of the evening. A worthwhile sacrifice in the effort of improving the power and impact of the pak-sau!

After the break, we worked on kicking. Sifu had us doing 3 exercises focusing on distance, speed and chain-kicking respectively. I was quite happy to be picked by Sifu as an example of good kick-training form : )

By the end of the seminar there was not one person without a soaked t-shirt. I look forward to the "Main Event" on Wednesday evening!

Below are some pictures from last night. The last one is my audition shot for Inside Kung Fu : )













From 13 to 50 chin-ups in less than two-weeks!

Congratulations to my client James who texted me on Saturday to announce he had done a total of 50 chins in his workout the day before.

Another living testimonial to the power of the ladder rep scheme!
High reps DO NOT have to equal a high level of fatigue.

I hope he is not TOO sore when I see him later this week...
We know exercise makes you smarter. Now so does blogging!

A good reason to perhaps start your own?

Here is an excerpt from a piece by writer Jessica Wapner of Scientific American on why scientists think that blogging (and other forms of expressive writing) are beneficial:

Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.

Scientists now hope to explore the neurological underpinnings at play, especially considering the explosion of blogs. According to Alice Flaherty, a neuroscientist at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, the placebo theory of suffering is one window through which to view blogging. As social creatures, humans have a range of pain-related behaviors, such as complaining, which acts as a “placebo for getting satisfied,” Flaherty says. Blogging about stressful experiences might work similarly.

Flaherty, who studies conditions such as hypergraphia (an uncontrollable urge to write) and writer’s block, also looks to disease models to explain the drive behind this mode of communication. For example, people with mania often talk too much. “We believe something in the brain’s limbic system is boosting their desire to communicate,” Flaherty explains. Located mainly in the midbrain, the limbic system controls our drives, whether they are related to food, sex, appetite, or problem solving. “You know that drives are involved [in blogging] because a lot of people do it compulsively,” Flaherty notes. Also, blogging might trigger dopamine release, similar to stimulants like music, running and looking at art.

If you do not want to start up a blog, try writing a journal or diary of your day to day experiences. You can also add a written portion to your training log describing what you thought about and how you felt during your training session. I find this to be a great way to monitor how my mental attitude, past workouts, sleep patterns, diet and other variables effect my workouts.

A great online training log can be found at dragondoor.com. It is simple to use and allows you to type as much info as you want in any format you choose. The log is automatically private and others can only see it if you decide to make it public. I have recently switched over to this method of recording my training and am very happy with it! You can, of course, make your own with Excel... but will you? : )

Do.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Only in Japan...

Human Tetris!

Why can't we have shows like this in North America!?!


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