Pearls of Wisdom

A 2004 study of middle agers showed that participants in a martial arts program showed an overall higher level of fitness than those who were sedentary.  The study conducted by the New York Institute of Technology measured the effects of a martial arts program on eighteen volunteers aged 40-60.  The group made up of 14 men and 4 women had an average age of 47 years.  Nine of the participants were actively engaged in a martial arts program while the other nine remained sedentary.

After a one day battery of tests the study found that body composition (body fat %) was 18.9% for the martial arts group and 30.8% for the sedentary group.  The martial arts group was able to balance for 61.8 seconds compared to 26.2 seconds for the sedentary.  The average number of push ups performed was 47 vs 19, and the number of sit ups was 66 vs 37.  The participants also had flexibility and leg strength measured and you guessed it, the martial arts group showed higher levels of flexibility and quadriceps strength.  Perhaps the biggest difference showed that the martial arts group had a 25% higher level of aerobic capacity.

The study concluded that there were significant differences in between the two groups on all of the physical fitness tests.  The martial arts group showed better strength, flexibility, balance and aerobic capacity.  The martial arts group also had a significantly lower body fat %.  However, the study did not point out how long the participants were engaged in their martial arts program or whether diet was a consideration.

Martial arts is an excellent form of physical exercise for adults and can be a great alternative to a gym membership or expensive home equipment.  The combination of physical and mental exercise creates a perfect method of training for the baby boomer set.  Studies have shown that martial arts is not only a way to improve overall fitness levels, but it can be an effective way of maintaining cognitive function and memory as well.

White Dragon Martial Arts, Train Hard-Live Better!

by Jane Hallander

Black Belt Magazine December 1996

Royce Gracie doesn’t wear a cape or have a red “S” on his chest. He can’t fly, bullets won’t bounce off him, and he never has, or ever will, leap over a tall building - especially in a single bound.

But after the talented Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter won titles at three of the first four Ultimate Fighting Championship events, you’d have thought Gracie was Superman, the way people were talking about him. Of course, these days, he’s simply a mild-mannered Jiu Jitsu instructor working at a great metropolitan martial arts school.

But, all analogies to Superman aside, Gracie’s tournament successes have forced martial artists from striking systems to take a serious look at their arts and address the distinct possibility that their styles may be lacking when it comes to fighting on the ground. Many instructors who never before saw a need to teach the topic are now imparting grappling techniques to their students so they will be better prepared if they are taken to the ground.

But just exactly how do you defend against a guy who latches on to you like a boa constrictor and tries to squeeze the life out of you while you lay in a tangled heap on the ground?

Kung Fu stylist Martin Ferreira believes he has the answer.

Ferreira, who wrestled in college, teaches Choy Li Fut Kung Fu and Yang Tai Chi Chuan at his White Dragon martial arts schools in Encinitas and El Cajon, California. Although Choy Li Fut is noted as a long-range fighting system, according to Ferreira, it actually contains many close-quarters techniques which would prove useful against grapplers. And Ferreira claims Tai Chi, while lauded for its health benefits, is an effective fighting art at close range and includes a number of joint locks and pressure-point strikes.

The Kung Fu strategy involves separating a grappling attack into three stages: as the opponent closes the fighting distance, as he is attempting a hold, and while fighting on the ground. “It is necessary to know how to defend against grapplers from the time they approach you to the time they have taken you down,” Ferreira asserts. “Our strategy is to make a grappler come to us. I try to keep my body as compact as possible, because a grappler needs something to work with. Jiu Jitsu stylists need you to extend your limbs to take you down. A true grappler comes up underneath your center of gravity, so when you extend your arms or legs, you are open to his attack.”
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THE BIOMECHANICS OF THE MEASURED, FLOWING MOVEMENTS OF TAI CHI DEMONSTRATE THAT SLOWER SPEEDS LEAD TO GREATER MUSCLE ACTIVATION IN THE LOWER BODY.

by Yun Shi | August 27, 2009

If you’re familiar with exercise, you know that speed is an important factor to control. For common exercises like running and weight lifting, volumes of research has shown that it’s generally necessary to move faster for a more intense cardio workout and to make measured, controlled movements for building muscles. Other workouts, like mind-body exercises (e.g., yoga and tai chi), are somewhat harder to pin down. They aren’t cardio exercises, nor are they strictly muscle building.

The slow, flowing movements of mind-body exercises have been around for centuries, and they have been shown to help people develop balance, flexibility, and muscle function. Consequently, they’ve been increasing in popularity, both for physical therapy and personal enjoyment. While these exercises are widely practiced around the world, the biomechanical basis for their effects is not well known. To gain further insight, Ge Wu and Xiaolin Ren, biomedical engineers from the University of Vermont, chose to study how the unhurried steps of tai chi benefit its practitioners.

Experienced tai chi instructors like Ben Stanley and Leslie Edwards often remind their students that slower is better. Stanley says that “it’s about breathing and being attuned to the muscles as you’re moving. It’s important not to rush it, or you could miss the full benefits of the exercise.” In fact, Edwards pointed out that “the slower you go, the harder it is, and you definitely feel it in your legs.”

Tai chi can certainly be a test of patience for the inexperienced, as it is normally performed about 10 times slower than an average walk (2 mph), but it has a similar intensity to a moderate aerobic workout. Much of its direct benefits have been reported in the legs. To determine if and how the deliberate, gradual transitions in tai chi were responsible for these benefits, Wu and Ren employed a combination of biomechanical force plates, a camera-based motion analysis system, and EMG (electromyography) electrodes.

The 12 subjects, grouped as young (22-34 years) and old (64-80 years), performed a fundamental tai chi movement, “part wild horse’s mane,” at various speeds. Besides marking the participant’s motion from shoulder to toe, Wu and Ren measured the duration and magnitude of activation for six muscles that are key to ankle, knee, and hip mobility.

They found, as expected, that the duration of muscle activation was longer during slower motions in all six muscles. The effect was most significant for the rectus femoris (one of the quadriceps muscles) and semitendinosus (one of the hamstrings). When the participants sped up, these muscles lost this activation duration, while two muscles, the soleus (part of the calf) and semitendinosus, showed an increased activation. Thus, speeding up created an overall loss in muscle activation.

Age was also a factor in muscle activation. At slower speeds, younger subjects showed more muscle activation than older participants. This could be the result of older practitioners having a more limited range of movement. Stanley has often observed that it’s “difficult for older people to really sink down and fully extend in some of the postures compared to younger students,” but he has “seen posture, balance, and overall well being improve through time.”

Overall, Wu and Ren observed that speed had a greater impact on lower body muscles than other factors, like age or depth of movement. Their work demonstrate that slow, controlled movements can activate muscles more than rapid motion. The approach can also be used to study additional movements in tai chi and other exercises like yoga—a thorough understanding of exercise biomechanics should allow people to make more informed choices about what activities to pursue.

Wong Gong was born in 1928 and has been practicing and teaching Choy Li Fut Kung Fu for nearly 70 years.  Not only is Wong Gong an expert in traditional Southern Chinese Lion Dancing, he has also learned all of Choy Li Fut’s rare animal forms, and the founder’s special weapon the Nine Dragon Trident.  Wong Gong is also a highly respected Chinese herbalist and acupuncturist: he has practiced Chinese medicine as a full time profession since 1997.

With 6 generations underneath him and over 50,000 students worldwide, the Jiangmen Branch of Choy Li Fut under Wong Gong has become one of the most successful branches of Choy Li Fut in the world.

Here are Grandmaster Wong Gong’s principles for leading a long and productive life (with a little bit of modern science to go along with the ancient wisdom).

1.  Laugh a Lot Recent scientific studies show that laughter has the ability to increase blood supply to the brain.  Laughter also has shown to decrease the levels of the stress hormones cortisol and epinephrine and increase the level of immune boosting hormones beta-endorphins and human growth hormone.

2.  Practice Your Marital Arts Regularly The benefits of being engaged in a regular exercise regimen are well documented.  Exercise helps with weight management and the prevention of chronic disease like diabetes, improves cardiovascular function and even elevates mood.

3.  Avoid Alcohol and Tobacco Alcohol and tobacco abuse leads to a wide variety of chronic illness that include cancer, diabetes, and arteriosclerosis.

4.  Eat a Healthy Diet A healthy diet that includes lots of fresh vegetables reduces the risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and cancer.  A healthy diet has many, many other benefits too.

5.  Get Plenty of Rest Your body produces more protein while you sleep.  This helps to mend the body at the cellular level.  Getting plenty of sleep will also reduce stress levels and improve memory.  A good night’s rest can also help to control body weight!  That’s right, sleep helps to regulate hormones that are associated with appetite control.

Discover the benefits of Kung Fu and Tai Chi training in San Diego County: whitedragonmartialarts.com

Inside Kung Fu Magazine July 1996

There are as many different ways to train in martial arts as there are martial arts instructors. Some schools advocate forms training to develop form and power by fighting the air. Others stress the value of sparring freestyle. Some prefer self-defense techniques.

There is another option available - multiple person fighting forms. These are patterned forms, usually performed by two people, each one well-versed in his side of the form. One person usually attacks, while the other defends, turning the tables to make the match an even fight. Although the fight is a well-thought out pattern, two-person forms look like the real thing - a hard-fought, fast fight, done either with empty hands or weapons.

Superior Fighting

In Chinese martial arts, two-person forms or sets had their origins in ancient China, when martial arts schools needed to enhance their reputations and raise extra funds. At such times, schools put on demonstrations to illustrate the capabilities of their students. Along with the usual individual hand and weapons forms, kung fu schools presented fast moving, exciting multiple person fighting forms designed to heighten the audience’s interest.

Today, multiple person forms still exist in some kung fu schools, such as Nathan Fisher’s White Dragon Martial Arts in San Diego, Calif. Fisher, who teaches Choy Li Fut Kung Fu, is a product of traditional Chinese martial arts, through his own teacher, Doc Fai Wong, back to Choy Li Fut’s founder’s family.

“It’s probably more correct to refer to multiple person sets as two-person sets or forms, since, even though there may be three or four people in a form, seldom are more than two people fighting at one time,” explains Fisher.

“The sets are done at full speed and usually with full contact. Each person has to know his side well or he may get injured, especially in the weapons forms,” he adds.
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Patience is the companion of wisdom.

-St. Augustine

If you are patient in a moment of anger, you will save a hundred days of sorrow.

-Chinese Proverb

The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.

-Leo Tolstoy

White Dragon Martial Arts, Train Hard - Live Better!