To answer Yoshi's inquiry on the claw training, I will answer it in two parts, one part Ying Jow and one part Shaolin eagle, under two of my three masters:
In Ying Jow:
1) We used the 5 finger pull in device, with rings at the end, metal springs at both ends, and use to pull in until we almost made a fist, 100-200 times each hand, several sets.
2) One hundred reps each hand of circle claw, hanging claw, and yin/yang claw, with the yin/yang claw usually done with a Ying Jow front kick in a certain turn and grasp drill. This technique is my brother's Joel Rodriguez favorite kick, and one he is known for, along with his Ying Jow sweeps.
3) Take plastic or glass water bottles of different weight, fill them with water, sand, buckshot, etc, and grasp the tops with your five fingers and hold the bottles in increasing times, then move in stance with the arms extended either out or forward.
4) Using the wooden dummy, grasp and pull the arms many times while turning the waist or sinking the root.
5) Perform the "Ten Punches," various sequence of stances with certain claws and punches.
6) Different drills where one would have a partner, and with stance movements do different claws to the arms of your partner, and then alternate with the partner doing the same.
7) Two person sets.
8) Joel and I use to get objects, either soft or hard, step off certain distances, and then throw the object where the other person had to catch it quickly out of the air with the Ying jow claws. Got pretty good after getting hit in the face or chest several times....LOL!
9) Sitting in mabu for up to 15-30 minutes with arms extended out, hands with fingers extended, while Sifu or seniors came by and checked to ensure sending chi through finger tips for straight hand strikes as well as claws. Good for splashing hands techniques, our senior Cecil Jordan to this day extraordinary with this!!
These were some of the drills we did to toughen our claw and locking capabilities. There are others, but loathe to mention them since they can be harmful without supervision/instruction of Sifu or someone like Joel, Cecil, Benson, Gi, Mark, etc.
In Wudan Shaolin Nine Bird, Shaolin Eagle:
1) In Shaolin eagle, the hand training is usually with the index finger, middle finger, and thumb or "Southern," along with the typical Ying Jow for the actual pull in or locking, while the other is used for striking.
2) Stripping tree bark with bare fingers, usually oak or other tough bark trees.
3) Pulling grass or mud while closing the fingers digging down up to 2-3 feet with both hands, alternatively.
4) Sitting in mabu horse stance with a partner, grasping each other's claw fingers, then pulling each other, maintaining the horse stance, and resisting allowing the fingers to be pried open.
5) Striking different surfaces with the three fingers, then pulling in tree branches with the locking claw. Also, using the yin/yang claw and fa jing, breaking branches in half with the upward and downward pressure of the hand movements.
6) Having progressively heavier bean bags with buckshot thrown at full speed at you and grasping them from the air.
7) Fingertip push-ups progressively from five fingers down to two fingers, while either supporting yourself or with weight on your back until you could support body weight of your partner. Pray your partner weighed 150 pounds like you did....LOL!!! No such luck!!!!
8) Ripping shirts, gis, etc. off partners, or when that got too expensive, using a dummy with clothes on to do the same. Got pretty expensive for awhile.
Yoshi, these are some of the drills I learned in two of my three schools. I will say that at age 50, after all these years, the other essential elements are twofold: make sure a legit ranked Ying jow or eagle instructor/master guides you on this training, and stock up on plenty of dit da jow! If you are in California, between Pat B., Ken Edwards, Delroy Miller (if you can learn his great scissor take downs from Ying Jow, and his other Ying Jow take down techniques, great back in the day!) and of course Benson Lee, one of our two seniors currently in Glendale (and learn his body connectivity to his claws!).
I hope all of this helps, but like I said, please do all of this under one of the above if you are in California as otherwise you will bring harm to yourself! Happy New Year to everyone!
