Posts Tagged ‘kung fu’
When you learn kickboxing onlinelearn there are a few areas in which you need to ensure that you have good techniques. Things like power and accuracy are some of the attributes you need. However if you develop them in the wrong order long term it can lead to bad habits.
Power
Once where happy with the form and speed of the technique then we can start focus on adding more power to the skill or technique. To hit a target as fast as you can won’t have much effect in a real self defence situation if there is no power in your strikes. To start adding more power focus on bending your knees slightly and digging your toes in the floor, it’s what boxers call sitting down in your technique. To add power into your technique you need to hit targets, a kick shield, focus pad or bag will help in this area. Focus your mind on going through the target with your technique and relaxing your body and only tensing your muscles at the exact moment of impact.
Accuracy
In self defense situations it’s often not what you strike with but where you strike that has the most effect. For example if you punch someone in the face it may not have as much effect if you struck someone in the throat. So when training your techniques be aware where you are striking because muscle memory can set in, if you shadow your kick and you strike the chest area it’s going to be a natural reaction to hit this area in a confrontation as oppose to a more effective area to strike such as the bladder.
You can develop accuracy through martial arts home training and shadowing by visualizing your opponent and making it real in your mind and be aware of your target area you aim to strike. Do it in your mind first by visualizing, imagine striking with power, imagine what effect this strike has on your opponent or attacker, and then actually do it for real, you will see a big difference in your performance.
A great deal has been written and said about kicking in today’s age of modern martial artists. Many people who are cross training seem to mainly focus on low Thai kicks because of their effectiveness and they present less risk of being taken to the ground by the grappler.
When it comes to kicking you really have to decide what your purposes are for learning kickboxing online, it might be that the art you practice in encompasses a lot of kicking. If you are aiming for competition then kicking might be an important element, or you may be hooked on the chop soky movies and like all the flamboyant kicks which are generally kicks.
When I was a junior, kicking was my best technique and I quickly realised that I also need to be able to punch after being beaten by the puncher on several occasions. I then set about developing my hands to the same level as my kicks to be an all round fighter through learn karate online.
I personally enjoy kicking very much and find it rewarding, I am confident enough of my kicking ability in a real situation, because I have had the unfortunate pleasure of using them on several occasions, but you must train your kicks for this test and not just competition to give yourself any chance of success.
Front Kick
The front kick is a good powerful kick that is good for stopping attacker coming towards you. Practice chambering your knee, so your knee faces the ceiling. Extend your leg out bending your toes back and striking with the ball of the foot. Keep your hands up and if kicking with the back leg change your guard over. You can snap your kick or push kick (we will go into different ways to kick in a latter column). Good areas to strike are shin, knee, groin, bladder and abdominals.
One can use many different types of Tai Chi weapons when one is practising Tai Chi Chuan. When many people think of Tai Chi Chen, they picture people in a transitive state, kind of in a stance, moving slowly with a sort of ritual like dance. We always thought that only the old practises Tai Chi as they cannot engage in actual martial arts. But that is not really the case. Tai Chi Chen, while movement is slow and ritualistic, has many mind, body and spiritual benefits that can be realized by both novice and expert alike. Not many know that Tai Chi can also be practised with different type of weapons. The Tai Chi sword, for instance, is a popular Kung Fu weapon used to practice Taichi. When the Tai Chi sword is used, it is used as an extension of your hands, thus transferring the energy from your body into the deadly weapon itself. It’s a beautiful alternative to the unarmed Tai Chi practice moves but caution must be used so that you don’t harm yourself while practicing this ancient eastern art form.
Learning To Use The Tai Chi Chen Sword
If you’ve been learning Tai Chi Chen and you intend to use a Tai Chi sword, it is not advisable to just pick one weapon up and start swinging it around. There are certain techniques and fundamentals that go along with using the Tai Chi sword. While one can learn Tai Chi from books and videos, using a Tai Chi sword is best learned by learning from an actual Tai Chi master. There are many Tai Chi classes that teaches on how to use the weapons, but that doesn’t necessarily make them better than the unarmed version. They are all the same martial art, it’s just that the Tai Chi sword is a more advanced form of Tai Chi Chen.
Before you start to learn how to use the Tai Chi sword, you should master the Tai Chi moves first. It’s only by learning the hand, foot, and body movements of Tai Chi can you hope to incorporate the moves while also holding a sword at the same time. Once you’ve become an expert at the unarmed version of Tai Chi movement, then you can learn how to use the other weapons involved with Tai Chi, including the Tai Chi sword and other Tai Chi weapons.
Using the Tai Chi sword is just like practicing the Tai Chi moves unarmed. You go through the same fluid moves, learning the yin and the yang, the ebb and flow of the body and mind’s natural energy. Practicing with the Tai Chi sword can help you better understand the Tai Chi movements itself. If you think of the Tai Chi sword as merely an extension of your arm, you will be able to transfer the energy into the sword’s blade, making it a very powerful and lethal weapon.
The main reason that people want to practise with sword is not to hurt the other. While the practice of Tai Chi Chen can be used in combat, it’s more of a form of meditation, where you get in touch with your inner soul – mind, body and spirit as one cohesive unit. The sword merely becomes a natural extension of that and can act like a swift lightning rod, effectively transferring even more inner energy into your body than you’d be able to realize with the unarmed version of this ancient art.
Those who teach tai chi moves are very quick to proclaim the sheer volume of health benefits of practising tai chi to the consumer public. Increased health, wellness, peace of mind are some of the benefits of tai chi movements. And of course, these perceived health benefits can greatly enhance a person’s ability to increase his or her quality of life. The good quality of life can only be realised if the tai chi moves truly provides what it claims to do. Therefore, there needs to be a critical examination in regards to the actual positive elements of the system and whether or not the person who studies the art will actually achieve the promised benefits.
What needs to be immediately understood in regards to the benefits of tai chi movements is actually that these benefits are based on basic cardio vascular conditioning and isometrics. In other words, the positive benefits of tai chi come from both basic physiology and biology.
Many of the mystic notions of tai chi moves comes from the early history of kung fu which can trace their origin many hundreds of years prior to the inception of tai chi and carried over into tai chi when tai chi became incorporated into the collective whole of martial arts. In other words, much of these beliefs are a result of lack of understanding of physiology and science.
Of course, to truly gain the benefits of tai chi it is critical to understand the science behind the benefits of this exercise. To believe in weird mysticism will undermine success and should always be avoided. Sadly, many do not avoid it. Rather, we should embrace the notion. Avoid this trap. Always stick with logic and disappointment will be avoided.
You need to be consistent in the practise to be able to fully benefit from the this form of martial arts exercise