This a pretty broad question, it depends on the person what they need work on and what aspects.
For warm up exercises you should start with joint rotation, then onto stretching, then onto strengthening, then onto relaxation. Have a top to bottom approach.
Kung Fu is quite broad. However generally speaking I would recommend a lot of coordination exercises. These should be incorporated into practical drills, starting with using one, then two, then three limbs simultaneously. Fighting is just reactions. However you do martial arts to give you something from which to react with. However as there is little else like it, to be able to bridge the gap between theory and real life, I recommend you Chi Sao. Otherwise you are learning moves but because the brain isn’t conditioned to use them spontaneously like in a scuffle you won’t be able to use them effectively. Drills are good, however as there are no set routines that exact situation may never come up. If sparring is only getting limited results you need to combine it with out training methods that are going to help you deal with the unpredictable, and improve you capabilities. Hanging in there and chipping away is not an option.
I wouldn’t go for massive biceps. Instead I would focus on strengthening your back, abdominals and legs. However you should follow any back strengthening with back flexibility exercises. This has practical implication in terms of structure. For instance if you have one foot in front of the other in order put you centre of gravity lower to make you more stable rather then scissoring yourself you hip needs to be at an angle, however you need a strong but flexible back in order to fight face onto to you opponent with you shoulders straight an level in this position so you can use both hand equally rather then fighting at a bias. Sign of a good fighter is somebody who can move and keep their shoulders level and move as a unit without needing to dip or bob or duck. You may wonder how people get out of the way. the answer simple they get out of the way, they are not stuck to the floor. They can use their hip and feet to move the body, and put the full force of their body into it, especially using the resistance that the floor gives. the great thing about that is you can move straight into an attack, even though you have move out of the way of one ( you might have heard of centre line theory) Even “uppercut” doesn’t need for you to dip you shoulders just people are taught to think they get more power that way. A lifting punch is a powerful as an uppercut and there is no damage your structure.
Having structure from with to control and attack is a real plus. However there needs to be a movable structure. You need to practice you footwork and generally moving with structure. You can fluidly move you body around you opponent, rather relying on contorting you body to try and get out of stick situation. Food work should be second nature by the time you enter competitions, as should you core techniques. You should not be thinking about doing x techniques, you should be focused on control and attack, especially sustained attack.
There is no power in the short range without learning to relax the muscles so you can turn them on and off when you need them. Relaxation is also really important for sensitivity.
If your style of Kung Fu relies on lots different body positions to provide structure, the transitions between these are really vulnerable. I would avoid over committal moves in general, and focus on moves that leave you ready to continue even if you make a mistake.
MMA competitions, boxing are actually you focusing on different disciplines within the overall fighting spectrum. You are going to be limited but that is no bad thing. You should take this approach in order to work you less goo areas. For instance speed drills shouldn’t be passive exercises, you should spar in such a way where you are forced to use your reactions, such use having to use one hand. A great one is having someone doing the classic boxing taking pot shots, jabs etc, yoru job is to control and attack, however you can only strike the chest or abdomen (preferably in a small area), and not strike the head or limbs. At first you may go wild and find you get hit a lot, that is because you are just exchanging blows. There is not control, you also may not be moving.
I seen clips of MMA where both of them knock each other out at the same time. That is a very poetic example of how not to approach things. Actually it is quite rare, but what is not rare is the reason for this happening. That is the strategy of just exchanging blows and taking hits, see who falls first sort of thing. Even if you are built like a tank you can still come unstuck this way.
I could tell you a lot more but I’ve already got a tad specific as it is.
27 Mar 2010, 4:46 pm
