# wing chun long pole



## dan.h (Jan 11, 2011)

I'd like to get a long pole (8 foot long, 1 or 2 inches diameter). I'm not going to be doing any forms or drills with it anytime soon so I'll mainly be using it for developing my forearm with a few exercises.  I know the traditional long pole/dragon poles are made of hard wood but would any type of wood (soft wood) be good as well for my current purposes?

Thanks!


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## Nabakatsu (Jan 11, 2011)

Hi, if your main intent is conditioning, I don't see why the type of wood would matter much.
Out of curiosity, what type of conditioning do you intend on doing?


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## yak sao (Jan 11, 2011)

I had a hard time finding a substitute long pole that wes heavy enough. I bought mine from the VT museum in Dayton, Ohio. It was somewhere in the neighborhood of $120 after shipping.

Try these forearm exercises while you're waiting for the pole to get there:

1) wrap a towel around a pullup bar (making the bar thicker)and do your pullups.

2) hang onto the ends of the towel and do your pullups

3) take the weight off one end of a dumbell, making "a hammer" Then, with your arms at your side, holding onto the handle end, with the weight in front of you, raise and lower the weight with wrist motion only.

4) Do the same thing with the weight facing behind you. 

5) place your forearm on a bench, holding onto the handle with the palm facing upwards. Leave your forearm on the bench and turn the palm downward, taking the weight in an arcing motion to the other side. *MAKE SURE NOT TO USE TOO HEAVY A WEIGHT ON THIS*

5)And the last is to take a dowell rod and hang a 10# weight from it to where it just barely touches the ground with your arms held straight out in front. With wrist action only, roll the weight up and down.

By the time your long pole comes in, you'll be set to really get some use out of it.


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## dan.h (Jan 11, 2011)

Wow!  Those are great suggestions on forearm conditioning.  I don't have free weights or a pullup bar though.  Just a bowflex. lol

For the long pole conditioning, I believe what I was thinking was:
5)And the last is to take a dowell rod and hang a 10# weight from it to  where it just barely touches the ground with your arms held straight out  in front. With wrist action only, roll the weight up and down.

We do this in the kwoon once in a while but a little different I think.  We take an 8 foot long hard wood long pole, hold the end and have the other end of the pole pointing to neck level.  We keep our elbows locked and arms straight out as we lift the pole up (while keeping the point at the end of the pole in the same position) then drop down right away.  If you do this while not moving the position of the other end of the pole and arms straight out, it gives your forearms a great burn.


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## wtxs (Jan 11, 2011)

Since you already own an Bowflex, I'm sure you had done the wrist curl thing.  To really blast/strengthen the inside and outside forearm muscle groups, in addition of build strength and flexibility of the wrists ... instead of just plain curls, try do it with an figure 8 motion.  You can also accomplish the same with a pair of "weighted" nunchuks ... have fun.


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## wtxs (Jan 11, 2011)

Nabakatsu - Please check your e-mail.


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## wtxs (Jan 11, 2011)

Nabakatsu - Please check your e-mail.


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## Vajramusti (Jan 11, 2011)

dan.h said:


> I'd like to get a long pole (8 foot long, 1 or 2 inches diameter). I'm not going to be doing any forms or drills with it anytime soon so I'll mainly be using it for developing my forearm with a few exercises.  I know the traditional long pole/dragon poles are made of hard wood but would any type of wood (soft wood) be good as well for my current purposes?
> ----------------------------------------------------
> A pole is less for muscle development - more for joint alignment and power- your forearm will get stronger but that is a side effect.
> If you find a 8 foot tapered hardwood pole- that would be fine.... but 8 foot dowel/pole from Home Depot will do..even a thick plumbing pipe can be adapted. the key is doing the motions correctly with proper balance.
> ...


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## dan.h (Jan 11, 2011)

Yes, I do the wrist curl things with my bowflex but never tried a figure 8 motion. I'll give it a shot.  

Do you know if there's an actual weight difference in hard wood vs soft  wood for a long pole like this or is the difference mainly in the  strength of the pole?


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## dan.h (Jan 11, 2011)

Thanks for the reply, Joy.  Yes, I agree the key is doing the movements correctly with the proper balance but I thought for the conditioning aspect, you needed a pole heavy enough to work the muscles.  Not sure if there's much of a difference in the weight of hard wood vs soft wood though.  I see Home Depot has 8 foot long soft wood dowlings for just $1.50/ft or 4 ft sections of hard wood dowling that I guess I could glue 2 together to make the 8 foot long pole.


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## Vajramusti (Jan 11, 2011)

dan.h said:


> Thanks for the reply, Joy.  Yes, I agree the key is doing the movements correctly with the proper balance but I thought for the conditioning aspect, you needed a pole heavy enough to work the muscles.  Not sure if there's much of a difference in the weight of hard wood vs soft wood though.  I see Home Depot has 8 foot long soft wood dowlings for just $1.50/ft or 4 ft sections of hard wood dowling that I guess I could glue 2 together to make the 8 foot long pole.


------------------------------------------------------------
Home depot ( a full service outlet)used to have long poles which you could ask them to cut them to 8 feet. If you spar with the poles then hard wood is better. The old poles- rat tailed=
one end thinner than the other used to be made of teak. I have several of them.The old poles could be hung or laid flat on the floor so that they would not develop a curvature.

Two of my poles. I bought from Steve's instructor partner years ago, one was shipped by the late Brendan Lai of San Francisco, one was donated by an unknown lady who bought it on ebay.Three teaks and one some other hardwood. Then there are the Home Depot poles(not teak).And I have some others.Apart from the 8 foot ones..I have some 6 ft wax wood ones. And some heavier 9 ft ones.The 9 ft ones were real cheap -generally used for staking and tied to tall young trees. Depending on what needs to be done.Then there are the plumbing pipes. A cafeteria of poles.
joy chaudhuri


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## KamonGuy2 (Jan 12, 2011)

Please note that whilst certain types of conditioning are good, the long pole is more about control and balance (rather than just how heavy a ple you can lift)!

Its worth chating with yoru Sifu to see how the pole form is done - as some schools teach the pole in an explosive way, whilst others train the pole very lightly and smoothly

If you look on youtube, you will see what Im talking about

Its similar to training weights - some use exposive energy (power lifting) and others train smooth repetitions of lighter weights


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## Eric_H (Jan 12, 2011)

Dan.h,

You may also consider more traditional stance work and things like the Jin Choi (Battle Punch, which is done in low horse) to start developing for the pole. 

WC Pole fighting is fun, its been a long time since I've dusted off Chi Kwun.

~Eric


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## dan.h (Jan 12, 2011)

hmm.. perhaps I've been going about this the wrong way?  With my current sifu, he doesn't let us train with the wooden dummy or long pole until we've already had 4+ years of training with him under our belt.  I've only been with him for 1 year.  The only reason I'd have of finding and buying a long pole would strictly be for forearm conditioning and other exercises like that.  I doubt I'd be using the long pole for any long pole forms.


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## Vajramusti (Jan 12, 2011)

dan.h said:


> hmm.. perhaps I've been going about this the wrong way?  With my current sifu, he doesn't let us train with the wooden dummy or long pole until we've already had 4+ years of training with him under our belt.  I've only been with him for 1 year.  The only reason I'd have of finding and buying a long pole would strictly be for forearm conditioning and other exercises like that.  I doubt I'd be using the long pole for any long pole forms.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
dan.h.
Who is your sifu? You might ask him about "forearm conditioning"?

joy chaudhuri


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## KamonGuy2 (Jan 13, 2011)

dan.h said:


> hmm.. perhaps I've been going about this the wrong way? With my current sifu, he doesn't let us train with the wooden dummy or long pole until we've already had 4+ years of training with him under our belt. I've only been with him for 1 year. The only reason I'd have of finding and buying a long pole would strictly be for forearm conditioning and other exercises like that. I doubt I'd be using the long pole for any long pole forms.


 
It sounds wise. While the forms shouldnt really be secret, I think it can be counterproductive to train things like the knives and pole before you have actually learnt the empty hand forms. I learnt the knife form quite early on and just about understood it. Ive seen beginners rush into the movements and end up developing bad habits

Nothing wrong with playing around with the pole (no euphamism intended) or developing certain 'independent drills'


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