Stength & Conditioning for Wing Chun

[redpanda]

As a WT guy, I tend to do a lot of pullups.
Also, I think it's a good idea to not only work the muscles involved in WT/ WC training but to work the antagonist muscles that are generally not used to prevent muscle inbalance.

Absolutely agree, was just talking about some examples. My philosophy is to constantly work on mobility and building the baseline of full body strength, before adding focus and power to the particular muscles that are useful to the art

 

[redpanda]

You need to loose your 3 joints, shoulder joint, elbow joint, and wrist joint. There is an Zimen system training to do that.

1. Loose shoulder joint - Raise right hand next to your right ear, chop down to the left of your left knee.
2. Loose elbow joint - Move right hand from your left knee to in front of your chest.
3. Loose wrist joint - Move right hand from in front of your chest to your right side.
4. Send energy through all 3 joints - Move right hand above right ear, drop your hand straight down next to your right knee.
Repeat 1 - 4 for the left arm.

One day when you move your arms from 1 - 4 so fast that you can't even see your own hands, you have developed some speed.

I like that havent seen that drill before

 

[redpanda]

In our line we have two categories

* Gei Buhn Gung (Body exercise)
My school doesn't do this. I had to do it on my own, I've found squats, rows and pullups to be difference makers. Though the owner has revealed himself to be a less than stellar guy, Crossfit has worked wonders for me in the past. Still hate Oly lifting though.

* Gei Buhn Gung Git Faat Guy (Body exercise specific to the system)
Rounds of punching and footwork drills, attribute specific drilling sets, muscle/tendon/bone external chi kung sets etc. We tend to do these seasonally with whatever the current training focus is.

YMMV, but I've found having a fit-ish body to be a way better life booster than being good at WC.

Crossfit is great and so are those big compound exercises as they are both all about functional strength- which is great for martial arts as you are always in motion.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I like that havent seen that drill before

This is a similar drill. It has been changed and not the same as the original.

字门太极拳基本功2---抛三关_腾讯视频

 

[geezer]

...I assume that the "3 stars" training that you use your arm to strike on your opponent's arm (or on a tree trunk) should be WC people's basic training.

...From a traditional perspective ...No.

Sifu Leung cautioned us not to do "Saam Sing". It is a drill imported from hard systems and not helpful for building good wing chun. The dummy will harden your arms, but you don't try to smack the dummy arms like that young lady in the video.

 

[geezer]

As a WT guy, I tend to do a lot of pullups.

What do pull-ups do for Wing Chun? Not much except maybe give you a good jut sau? Regardless, I also used to do a ton of pull-ups and chin ups.

But I didn't do them to help my WC. I did them for the far more important reason of showing off!

....Up through my mid-fifties I could do a crap-load of chin-ups and pull ups, even hanging by my fingertips ...and easily beat nearly all my younger students in a challenge. Now I'm much heavier and recovering from a rotator cuff injury (it's been taking over a year) so I can't do them any more.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

...From a traditional perspective ...No.

Sifu Leung cautioned us not to do "Saam Sing". It is a drill imported from hard systems and not helpful for building good wing chun. The dummy will harden your arms, but you don't try to smack the dummy arms like that young lady in the video.

Someone may say that until one day his arm has to meet with a MT guy's roundhouse kick.

 

[redpanda]

What do pull-ups do for Wing Chun? Not much except maybe give you a good jut sau? Regardless, I also used to do a ton of pull-ups and chin ups.

But I didn't do them to help my WC. I did them for the far more important reason of showing off!

....Up through my mid-fifties I could do a crap-load of chin-ups and pull ups, even hanging by my fingertips ...and easily beat nearly all my younger students in a challenge. Now I'm much heavier and recovering from a rotator cuff injury (it's been taking over a year) so I can't do them any more.

Pull ups are really good for building your lats which help add power to your strikes through sinking power. They are also good for strengthening the back which weirdly enough is good for your forward strikes as you can throw them more powerfully without ripping your arm off essentially haha. As an extra they also work your shoulder stability which helps with energy transfer through your joints.
Rotator cuff injuries suck- hope you heal up soon

 

[ShortBridge]

Physical and mental conditioning is a big part of training in my club and those that I am affiliated with.

 

[drop bear]

Well I like to focus on joint mobility particularly working thoracic mobility and shoulder to help increase the freedom of movement throughout the body to allow energy transfer more easily. Muscle wise its good to focus on the legs, particularly the calves quads and adductors but general leg strength should be a big focus. Core training with a focus on anti-flexion and anti-rotation so no power is leaked. Also lots of work to the serratus as that is what WC punches use that is a little different to most martial arts. Also a focus on speed and power development with the muscles throughout the whole body.
Sorry for the long reply its something I can talk heaps about haha

I would just steal some boxing work outs.

 

[wckf92]

boxing work outs.

The old saying..."conditioning is King inside the ring"!!!

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

The old saying..."conditioning is King inside the ring"!!!

When your shin bone meets on your opponent's shin bone, whoever can feel less pain will win.

 

[Oily Dragon]

I assume that the "3 stars" training that you use your arm to strike on your opponent's arm (or on a tree trunk) should be WC people's basic training.

The Da Saam Sing technique is super important for eliminating the ouch factor involved in crossing hands.

Sadly, this particularly type of training is rarely found in Wing Chun schools. It's pretty common in Hung Ga and Choy Li Fut and related Five family styles, at least in my experience.

Asking any kung fu student if they know where their "3 stars" are, that's always worth a hoot. I've heard some wild explanations, laugh, but it takes about 5 seconds to show them what it means.

 

[jobo]

The old saying..."conditioning is King inside the ring"!!!

conditioning is king where ever your fighting

 

[jobo]

Absolutely agree, was just talking about some examples. My philosophy is to constantly work on mobility and building the baseline of full body strength, before adding focus and power to the particular muscles that are useful to the art

well that's a truism and has validity if your going to fight someone else who is using wing chun, it's less valid if your fighting someone with little or no formal training, who uses his greater conditioning to grab you, run you backwards in to a wall at speed and then beat on you, at that point you may wish youd put more emphasis in development of non wing chun specific muscles

fighting is a full body exercise, you really need to be able to match your opponent, at what ever he chooses do, which is very unlikely to be wing chun

 

[jks9199]

well that's a truism and has validity if your going to fight someone else who is using wing chun, it's less valid if your fighting someone with little or no formal training, who uses his greater conditioning to grab you, run you backwards in to a wall at speed and then beat on you, at that point you may wish youd put more emphasis in development of non wing chun specific muscles

fighting is a full body exercise, you really need to be able to match your opponent, at what ever he chooses do, which is very unlikely to be wing chun

You've got a valid point that can be held against lots of schools and styles, namely that they train really well to defeat their classmates, but your delivery could be misread... Remember that MT doesn't endorse attacks on styles.

 

[jobo]

You've got a valid point that can be held against lots of schools and styles, namely that they train really well to defeat their classmates, but your delivery could be misread... Remember that MT doesn't endorse attacks on styles.

I'm not attacking anything at all, such as there was a degree of criticism, it's against the training regime he is describing, and that might only be the way he summarised it

 

[geezer]

....fighting is a full body exercise, you really need to be able to match your opponent, at what ever he chooses do, which is very unlikely to be wing chun

Even as a Wing Chun guy, I have to agree. And as JKS said, this isn't a "style specific" problem. It's a problem that's common in a lot of systems ....even some competitive ones. And now that I'm going on 66 and small of stature (5' 8" with a medium-small frame) I can't depend on physicality anymore for defense either. Good to be realistic about your limitations and not fall into the delusion that "pure technique" will win the day.

 

[jobo]

Even as a Wing Chun guy, I have to agree. And as JKS said, this isn't a "style specific" problem. It's a problem that's common in a lot of systems ....even some competitive ones. And now that I'm going on 66 and small of stature (5' 8" with a medium-small frame) I can't depend on physicality anymore for defense either. Good to be realistic about your limitations and not fall into the delusion that "pure technique" will win the day.

strengh, is one of the easier physical attributes to hang on to as you get older, by easy I mean not time consuming, it's never " easy" or it doesnt work, which is how peole allow their strengh to diminish in the first place

 

[geezer]

... it's never " easy" or it doesnt work, which is how peole allow their strengh to diminish in the first place

That ....and injuries. Training injuries can really set you back and after a certain age, depending on the individual, it's hard to recoup.