# My Training - Sharing 2 of my conditioning exercises



## JowGaWolf (Feb 1, 2022)

These are 2 conditioning exercises that I use for myself and my son.  It's a short clip that I made after my workout.  My body mechanics are off but it doesn't matter since I'm only conditioning my stance is also higher for the same reason.  The only purpose of these exercises it for conditioning.

1. *Heavy Bag Taps* (Fists) -  The heavy bag taps are used to conditioned knuckles. Beginners would start off like this with a light tap.  I do about 4 rounds of these at 40 seconds a round.  When I train I tend to train against time and not against how many strikes I do. I pick a time that I want to start with and I punch until that time limit is up.  I can go slow or I can go fast.  It's up to me.   The goal is simple.  Only hit the bag with the knuckles I want to strike with.  I don't recommend hitting the bag hard during this conditioning.  The purpose of the taps is to gradually build up the knuckles.  You should stop if the knuckles become very red or if you start to feel bruising.  This will reduce healing time.  You should stop if you feel bruising, no exceptions.  Even if you haven't finished the round stop.  I don't train on injuries, which is why you don't see me demonstrating harder strikes here.  My knuckles are bruised and it's going to take about 4 days for them to fully heal

2. *Forearm conditioning strikes* (thumb side) - I condition my forearms under the same rule.  When they bruise then I stop.  These bags are good for beginners and for frequent conditioning.  It's feels better than hitting bone against bone or bone against wood. Using the heavy bags means I can train longer. The technique that I'm using is from a Jow Ga punch, but it has other applications as well. This is the punch that I use as a grappling technique.  These strikes should be gentle like the fist taps, an then then increase in power but not to exceed say 30% of your total power.  I'm not adding power or speed to these exercises.  I mainly focus on trying to relax, breath, and land the strike on the correct area of my forearm.

There's a strength building exercise that goes with this one.  These are just 2 of the exercises that I try to do everyday, provided that I'm bruised.  I take 2 days off to heal. I don't do anything on those 2 days except for stretch.


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## JowGaWolf (Feb 3, 2022)

I have fresh knuckles so I'll take another video of this training and expand on it a little from the perspective of knuckle conditioning and forearm conditioning.  I'll probably add the conditioning for my legs. And some open palm strikes.    Don't expect any awesome kung fu stances while conditioning.  Those will come later.  I'll try to get it all on video.  It just depends on who walks in the room when I decide to record.


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## JowGaWolf (Feb 3, 2022)

So tonight I earned a week of injury time from doing a backhand strike on the bag at the end of the workout.  I didn't realize I lost as much conditioning as I did and blew up a vessel in my left hand. It's not too bad a little swelling but it going to be a week of air punches and kicks.  My son earned a week of injury time from hook punches that swipe.

I was able to get a few things.  The fist conditioning that I do 5 days out of the week (when I'm not injured) some forearm conditioning and one of my special punches.  I definitely feel stronger.  It's just a shame that I have to wait a week for my hand to heal, that means a week without punching .I go some palm strikes as well.


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## JowGaWolf (Feb 4, 2022)

The first clip
 is the same exercise that was done in the first video.  This would be considered Intermediate conditioning. Instead of just using my fist.  I try to keep arms into same place while I use my body to twist the punches into the bag.  A
 word of caution a strong waste will adds a lot of power so it's good that my arms aren't powering the punch. I usually do 4 or 5 rounds of this. It looks like this on paper.

knuckle conditioning -> do something else -> do something else -> knuckle conditioning.

The second clip
 I'm doing edge hand strikes. 

The Third Clip 
Is my technique that I developed.  By developed I mean I learned on my own and not from a particular system.   I'm not sure if other systems use something similar but this technique was the result of me exploring the basics.  It's basically a smaller version of the long fist punch punches that some of you have seen in the past. It follows the same principles has the longer punch but it is done within a smaller movement.  This is one of my favorite techniques.  It is what I would refer to as a Hidden Punch Technique (again I don't know if there is such a thing but this is what I call it and see it as).

Key things to note here.

1. Normally when the bag swings, it's because the punch is pushing the bag.  
2. #1 Doesn't apply to this punch.  if you watch it in slow motion you'll see that the bag jump off the fist. You'll also see that my punches don't fully extend.


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## JowGaWolf (Feb 4, 2022)

I'm running into my first wall monster tonight.  It's sitting on my shoulder saying  "I don't want to train tonight."  I know how that story goes.  If I listen then it's be on my shoulder tomorrow morning saying the same thing and before I realize, days would have gone by.

There's only one way I won't train tonight and that's there are too many people in the gym.   So I'll go to the gym a little later than normal tonight when I know most people are done.  I won't be too sad if I don't work out, Saturday and Sundays, I work out twice a day.  I guess I'll see what tonight brings. I have an entire week of leg work, cardio and air punches.


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## JowGaWolf (Feb 4, 2022)

I made it to the gym.  I tried to use the bags to practice hitting the gaps.  It sucked, It wouldn't swing fast enough. So I had to spice it up.  Not sure if I'm going to keep the work out it trains the footwork, but I'm not sure if the footwork is practical.  I'll train it for a few weeks and will see what happens.

I haven't started shadow boxing yet.  Not sure when that will happen.  Elbow strikes are looking nice I'm starting to get some nice power out of them.  I think one more week of knocking the rust off an I'll be able to up the training a bit.


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## JowGaWolf (Feb 5, 2022)

I had to skip my morning training today.  It's not good to wake up feeling like I just finished working out.  I'll still show up for tonight's workout.


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## JowGaWolf (Feb 5, 2022)

Back from tonight's workout.  Had a good work out even though we couldn't punch.  Sweeps and kicks were the topic of the night. Shin, foot, and ankle conditioning.  I think I have a new kicking drill designed to train to keep the hands up when kicking.

Tonight's workout consisted of.

Stance level changes for horse stance (high, medium, low) - This drill is difficult to explain
Lead jab progressive punches - Jab 1. then twice, then 3 time, then 4 times and you keep progressing until a minute is up.  This drill is done against the heavy bag but can be done with air punches.
forearm Conditioning.
Knuckle conditioning
Edge hand strikes
Hammer strikes
Low kicks (ankle=above the instep, shin) This conditions for sweeps and low kicks to the shin
Back sweeps (high sweeps that I use, not the low sweeps)
Front sweep + Side kick combo (low= knee height /low thigh, Medium = upper/mid thigh)
Knee strikes (thigh height)
1 minute dumbbell press @ 6 rounds (for my son 3 rounds @ 5lbs and 7lbs @ 3)  I did the same but started with 10lbs and moved to 15.   I don't train based on reps any more.  all of my training are rounds.  Rounds are based on a 1minute street fight time.   Most people who don't spar will gas out at 30 seconds.   My perspective is that I need to be able to move constantly for 1 minute without gassing out.  So all of my training is based off that.  I want to do more reps, more punch, or more kicks.  Then I need to punch or kick faster to get more in within that minute.  I don't set a number of how many I should do.  I have to survive the minute first.  Once I can do that, then I can start counting.
It took a little more than an hour to do all of this.  The important part with the kung fu is to get quality over quantity.  So we aren't trying to fly through these exercises.  We'll speed things up only after we have quality body mechanics.

I forgot to do the Jow Ga beginner form.  We are supposed to do form of at the end of the heavy bag training. 

A teen came in and started to hit the bags hard.  He had some really hard hits, but that stopped after 5 power shots.  I guess he hurt his hand.  I feel good tonight and I think I can get a workout in the morning tomorrow.  Who knows.  I'll find out tomorrow when I wake up.


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## Yokozuna514 (Feb 7, 2022)

JowGaWolf said:


> Back from tonight's workout.  Had a good work out even though we couldn't punch.  Sweeps and kicks were the topic of the night. Shin, foot, and ankle conditioning.  I think I have a new kicking drill designed to train to keep the hands up when kicking.
> 
> Tonight's workout consisted of.
> 
> ...


Good on you for starting your road back to conditioning.   Not always easy as it is quite humbling to start at the beginning again.  Although I still do some knuckle conditioning, I have yet to start the road back to getting my shins, elbows, fists and feet to where they once were not that long ago.  The lack of sparring is the major culprit but I have also not found a way to build it into my routine.  I am actually enjoying the feeling of working out without that constant level of pain (discomfort).   Oh well that day will come.   

Again, good on you for starting the road back.


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## JowGaWolf (Feb 7, 2022)

Yokozuna514 said:


> Good on you for starting your road back to conditioning.   Not always easy as it is quite humbling to start at the beginning again.  Although I still do some knuckle conditioning, I have yet to start the road back to getting my shins, elbows, fists and feet to where they once were not that long ago.  The lack of sparring is the major culprit but I have also not found a way to build it into my routine.  I am actually enjoying the feeling of working out without that constant level of pain (discomfort).   Oh well that day will come.
> 
> Again, good on you for starting the road back.


Thanks.  It's paying off.  I just have to pace my self and not get too ahead of myself.  I opened up a little to day to see what was in the tank I'm not there yet but I'm getting there.  My edge hand strikes are getting more powerful.  My son got a lecture from me today.  I ask him how his hands are.  I'm always asking and today he say his hands were bruised.  I think he was practicing on bruised hands all this time.  So I gave him the lecture and made it clear that I didn't want him to do that.  He's supposed to let me know when his hands start to bruise so we can stop and do something else.  

He puts his all into it, more than I want him to for conditioning purposes.  I explained to him again, that if we stop when we first feel the bruise then we will heal faster and train more.  If we wait until we are badly bruised then it will take longer to heal and our training will suffer.  

I started him on his footwork today.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Feb 8, 2022)

JowGaWolf said:


> These are just 2 of the exercises that I try to do everyday, provided that I'm bruised.  I take 2 days off to heal. I don't do anything on those 2 days except for stretch.


I'm happy for you that you are still in your development stage. I'm already in my maintenance stage.


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## JowGaWolf (Feb 8, 2022)

Kung Fu Wang said:


> I'm happy for you that you are still in your development stage. I'm already in my maintenance stage.


That's an easy fix. Get out of shape and then get back in shape.  I don't recommend it though.

Maintenance stage is good as well.  You are in better shape than me.


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## Yokozuna514 (Feb 8, 2022)

JowGaWolf said:


> Thanks.  It's paying off.  I just have to pace my self and not get too ahead of myself.  I opened up a little to day to see what was in the tank I'm not there yet but I'm getting there.  My edge hand strikes are getting more powerful.  My son got a lecture from me today.  I ask him how his hands are.  I'm always asking and today he say his hands were bruised.  I think he was practicing on bruised hands all this time.  So I gave him the lecture and made it clear that I didn't want him to do that.  He's supposed to let me know when his hands start to bruise so we can stop and do something else.
> 
> He puts his all into it, more than I want him to for conditioning purposes.  I explained to him again, that if we stop when we first feel the bruise then we will heal faster and train more.  If we wait until we are badly bruised then it will take longer to heal and our training will suffer.
> 
> I started him on his footwork today.


Hahaha, that is the trick isn't it ?   How to dampen our own enthusiasm to get right back to where we were.   I remember training with my kids and it isn't easy.  They are the hardest workers and often put more effort than everyone else.   Unfortunately it can put their bodies to a point that they find their limit very quickly.   I realized that my kids were following the example they were given and that has changed my way of training with kids.  We still train hard but there is a big emphasis on fun, especially learning new things in a fun way so that they can enjoy training and exploring their own limits without injuring themselves.  We train for life.


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## JowGaWolf (Feb 8, 2022)

Yokozuna514 said:


> We train for life.


This would make a great TMA slogan or T-shirt.  TMA  systems are known for people well into their 80's training.

Take any TMA system and you'll find people like this in it as something common.  It's also a good way to connect people of different generations.


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## Yokozuna514 (Feb 8, 2022)

JowGaWolf said:


> This would make a great TMA slogan or T-shirt.  TMA  systems are known for people well into their 80's training.
> 
> Take any TMA system and you'll find people like this in it as something common.  It's also a good way to connect people of different generations.


It may already be a slogan or trademark but if it isn't than I'm going to coin it .   Martial training is alive and should evolve through a person's life.   The goals or goalposts may change but that is the nature of finding and learning new things.   Who is it that said, if you haven't changed your perspective in 20 years, you have wasted 20 years of your life.   My best tournament days may be behind me but it is up to me to find new goals and challenges to extend the life of my passion to punch and kick things.  Preparing the next generation is a good way to keep myself motivated because the work doesn't get any easier, Osu.


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## JowGaWolf (Feb 12, 2022)

So last 2 nights have been a good reflection on my skill sets. Much of my skills that I see as basic aren't. My son is struggling and I'm finding myself having to reduce things to the lowest level.

My son watches me do a technique and he sees what I do, but his brain can't reproduce it.  starting tonight he will be a beginner again in Jow Ga.  I'll also have to revisit my curriculum and maybe have some of you guys give it a try.


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## Yokozuna514 (Feb 14, 2022)

JowGaWolf said:


> So last 2 nights have been a good reflection on my skill sets. Much of my skills that I see as basic aren't. My son is struggling and I'm finding myself having to reduce things to the lowest level.
> 
> My son watches me do a technique and he sees what I do, but his brain can't reproduce it.  starting tonight he will be a beginner again in Jow Ga.  I'll also have to revisit my curriculum and maybe have some of you guys give it a try.


There may be nothing wrong with your curriculum, and equally, there may be nothing wrong with your son not being able to do it right away.   It may mean he needs more time to assimilate the information and practice it.   The fact that he still wants to train with you is the most important aspect that cannot be taught.  After 25 years of teaching kids (mine and others), I've come to the conclusion that inspiring kids to learn and encouraging the spark to discover things on their own is the best way to keep kids involved in an activity.  They know when they are doing things wrong and yet the answer on how to correct it is not always evident unless they put more time in to seek the truth of why for themselves.   Keep encouraging him to persist and you can offer to help with suggestions but in the end, they have to push through and discover for themselves how it is supposed to feel when they do certain techniques.   Very much like we do even to this day.  Good luck.


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## JowGaWolf (Feb 14, 2022)

Took Sunday off.  Saturday's workout was brutal.  1 hour of kung fu and 1.5 hours of weight lifting.  Keep in mind that I don't do reps.  I do 1 minutes rounds this applies to lifting weights.  We normally get in 20 reps to 40 reps per minute. It varies depending on how exhausted the muscles are.  

I have to buy some weight lifting gloves to help him get through the pulling exercises.  He can't afford to have blisters from weight lifting as that would take him out of everything except for kicking and footwork drills.

but so far we are doing good with the weights and will probably be able to increase in about a week. May be next Monday.  I haven't decided if I'm going to increase weight or if I'm going to stay at the weight I'm at until my arms stop burning.  At this point the muscle endurance is more important to me, so I'm leaning towards staying on the same weight until my arms no longer burn. I'm hoping taking yesterday off will help with that process.  An extra day of healing should improve the muscle endurance. Even if it doesn't, I feel more refreshed today.   Shadow boxing starts tonight.  Working on moving at 45° angles, the jab, and 1 technique out of the Jow Ga's Sei Ping Kuen.  Not sure how long we'll be doing the drill over all but we will train it everyday until we can use it without issue.  I'll probably have to add backward movement to this as well due to the limited space in the heavy bag room.

I've been noticing that the MMA guy has been using some of my workout drills. I'm curious if he will use this one


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## Wing Woo Gar (Feb 14, 2022)

JowGaWolf said:


> So last 2 nights have been a good reflection on my skill sets. Much of my skills that I see as basic aren't. My son is struggling and I'm finding myself having to reduce things to the lowest level.
> 
> My son watches me do a technique and he sees what I do, but his brain can't reproduce it.  starting tonight he will be a beginner again in Jow Ga.  I'll also have to revisit my curriculum and maybe have some of you guys give it a try.


I would try out what you are doing, given the chance.


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## JowGaWolf (Feb 14, 2022)

Wing Woo Gar said:


> I would try out what you are doing, given the chance.


I'll shoot some video in 3 days. The next 2 days are scheduled off days for training. 

Right now we are working on footwork.  He's learning about 45° degree stepping and dealing with the lead hand.

45° degree stepping - kicking, punching, evading, pinning, sweeping. moving off the center line, kneeing. "cutting angle" (which is just moving at 45° and pivoting.) this includes long step, shuffle and short step shuffle, and foot placement.


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## JowGaWolf (Feb 18, 2022)

So tonight was a light Kung Fu night.  My son had one of those instant injuries where normal movement causes something to slide out of place.  He bent his knee during stretching and that was pretty much the end of the training for tonight.

He's getting stronger with the weight lifting.  The 1 minute rounds are helping him a lot.  I'm currently at a peak, which just means that I will spend longer at a weight range until my muscles stop burning.  Tonight they were on fire even during the break between switching out with my son.  Hopefully that will go away in the next 2 weeks.


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