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Monday 26 May 2014

Week 18 - Century Training.

My Clubbells from left to right pairs of 5lb , 10lb , 15lb , 25lb. Those 25s are monsters.  



This week Id decided to work towards getting through my first century with 10lb clubbells. Didnt exactly go to plan due to extra intensive Shaolin training but a good week non the less. 

Monday 19th May 2014 -  Rest / Active Recovery
- Intuflow Intermediate

Tuesday 20th May 2014 - Light 
- Intuflow Intermediate
- Shaolin Kung Fu Training (1 hour )
This was intense, more so than normal. After all the normal training, we then split up into groups for some anaerobic competition . Exhausting but got through it and our group got second out of 4 groups so not to bad.
Overall my ankle is still healing but I did much better. can feel jumps getting higher and kicks getting batter with straight back.

Wednesday 21st May 2014 - Medium
Already fatigued from yesterday I really should have just done another light day.
I really wasnt feeling it so did what I could without destroying myself.
As Follows.
- Intuflow Intermediate (as a warm up)  with extra ankle circles.
- Swept the Decks
- Shaolin Stretch routine ( not for warm up, just for my own goals)
wanted to do 3 sets of the following but just got through one set and fatigued.
Also started on 15lb clubs but need to go back to 10lb for a while still.
- Mills x 12 - 15lb Club
- Pencil jumps x 20m
- Front Pendulum to back x 12 - 15lb Clubbells
- Frog Jumps x 20m
- Side Torch x 12 - 15lb Clubbells
- Front Kick x 20m
- Wide pushup x 12
- Outside Kick x 20m
- Diamond Pushup x 12
- Punch kick x
After a short break I started to feel pretty good but bored with the routine so just played around a bit with weapons. Swords / Sticks / etc. then attempted still like walking hands and feet down sets of stairs (thats really hard by the way) . by then it was dark so called it a day.

Thursday 22nd May 2014 - Peak
So this was supposed to be a peak
training day but again I should have just rested. but i was keen to attempt my first century with the 10lb clubbells. Didnt make 100 with each exercise as planned but still made the century within time.
- Intuflow Intermediate ( as a warm up)
- Dynamic stretch routine.
- Mills Right arm  10lb Clubbell - 60 / 15 / 25 - Left Arm 70 / 13 / 17  - 8mins 50 seconds.
- Swipes both arms together 10lb Clubbells - 25 / 25 / 25 / 25  - 7mins 53 seconds
Doesnt sound like  much but this is a record for me. to get to single set of 60 and 70 is awesome.
Trying not to totally run myself into the ground I stopped at that for the day.
Main weakness is my hands and grip strength. I could have easily done 100 solid mills each arm if my hands were less like a princess. so will be working on that over the next few weeks.

Friday 23rd May 2014 - Rest / Active Recovery
- Intuflow Intermediate.
had a bit of a twinge in my back / neck. not sure if this is from all the training or some imbalance ive overlooked somewhere in my body. Neck is really sore. Im thinking it may be due to tense shoulders which ive come across during Tai Chi practice.

Saturday 24th May 2014 - Rest / Active Recovery
- Intuflow Intermediate

Sunday 25th May 2014 - Rest Active Recovery
Just a total rest day today.
Did some transverse abdominis exercises in the evening to help support my back. Everyone should do TA exercises every day. My physio told me that a weak TA is the main reason for everyones back pain and constant re injuries. Its also the reason I had a back injury for 4 years. and wasnt until I herniated a disc when I thought I was healed, that I went to a sports specialist physio and he solved all my problems.

WEEKLY NOTES: 
I need to get more rest, and design a smarter program for my self. We weeks are really busy and really hard to make time to get through all this. I end up leaving it to late to put a program together and then have to rush it out just before I do it.
Also, this is exciting news,  I discovered on Sunday that my head coach Scott Sonnon is returning to Australia, and conducting certification seminars in my local city Brisbane this coming December. So Stoked. Ill be well equipped to take on Instructor Certifications is Tacfit / Clubbell Athletics and Flowfit. Perfect timing Scott. So starting to save the cash now. Cant wait. Last time I trained with Scott and Joe Wilson in sydney was a total life changer.

Monday 19 May 2014

Week 17 - Regular Day to Day Training Integration


I've found setting micro goals each week works better than just going through the training for the sake of it. So this week I've started Integrating my Shaolin training I've learnt so far, into my day to day life. Its funny , I wrote this on Monday the 12th and during Tuesdays Shaolin Training, Ramesh talked about just this concept. . Although he was talking more about integrating the disciplines, confidence, fearlessness etc. where as I was thinking more of the basic physical things. for example, Rather than simply bending over to pick something up from the floor, Id use stances.
Hanging out washed clothes and picking up from the basket on the ground I'd use cross step, to bend down.
Opening the huge pots and pans draw I'd use a full low Horse stance.  etc. Not quite as drastic as the front stance to the fridge though. ha.

Also this week I'm continuing to experiment with the Light, medium, peak training days in a row with 4 days rest / active recovery. . As I'm growing Ill need to make it more challenging. So see how this plan goes.

Mon 12 - May 2014 - Rest
- Intuflow Intermediate

Tue 13 - May 2014 - Light 
- Intuflow Intermediate
- Shaolin Kung Fu Training (1 Hour anaerobic)

Wed 14 May 2014 - Medium
- Intuflow Intermediate
- Clubbells 10lb
  Just a light one in the arvo before heading to training.
  3 Sets of the following. Each set consists of each exercise one after the other. Then 30second break between sets. Sounds easy but makes you sweat.
  -  Mills x 12 each side - 10lb Clubbells
  - Ankle press inner x 12
  - Ankle press outer x 12 (still strengthening after recovery from sprain)
  - Flag Press x 12 each side - 10lb Clubbells
  - Reverse Parry cast x 12 each arm 10lb Clubbells
Shower before training.
- Chen Style Tai Chi (1 Hour)
- Shaolin Kung Fu (1 Hour Anaerobic)

NOTES: good day. this works well and a good progression for me at my current stage.
Improving on the jump twisting movements in Shaolin training. which is why Im doing lots of clubbell flag presses, strengthening the core and back with weighted twisting movements.

Thu 15 May 2014 - Peak
- Intuflow Intermediate (as a warm up)
- Shaolin Stretch Routine (only to reach that full split goal)
- 3 Sets of the following. Each set consists of each exercise one after the other. Then 30second break between sets. (although I needed a bit more towards the end heh. was tough.
Total time from warm up to end 1 Hour 29 minutes.
This was intense. I also had to break up the final sets into 20 / 14 with a 30 second break between to make the 34. But I made the century for each clubbell exercise with the 10 pounder. which is a record for me.
Felt amazing after this and ran & Jumped around with Suki (my Daughter) for 20 mins after finishing.
I programmed this exercise to help strengthen my ankles and lower legs (so no more sprains)
Plus to strengthen whole body as support for Shaolin / Wushu / Chen Tai Chi practice.

Fri 16 May 2014 - Rest
- Intuflow Intermediate
 Bit sore from yesterday but doing fine.

Sat 17 May 2014 - Rest
- Intuflow Intermediate

Sun 18 May 2014 - Rest
- Intuflow Intermediate
Swept the whole outside of the house again as I started last week, and washed the car. Doesn't sound like much but since we live on a dirt road, I have NEVER washed the car as it just gets dirty straight away.
However ... Because we also live in a rain forest, the weather has been unkind to the cars paint job. The entire surface of the car was covered in this hard black powdery stuff which took 2 hours to scrub off. Was an intense work out in the likes of wax on wax off kind deal so its worth a mention.


WEEKLY NOTES: 
Although I've stopped recording my weekly weight. Out of curiosity I  weighed myself and fat% on Sunday morning and I've lost another 2 kg. Now at 78kg . Gaining muscle and eating way more than I was a few weeks ago which is getting expensive. Only eating clean foods . Good quality meat and veg. Scratch made meals. and no processed anything. plus no refined sugar at all, and no alcohol. Don't even feel like drinking any more. Would rather drink herbal tea.  Ha Ha what happened ?  Have way more energy because of it , its just costly. Although I were to be using supplements in place of real food. it would cost far more. Not its not that bad.

This weeks 3 days on was awesome. Gained a ton of strength and fast. Smarter / shorter work outs are the way to go. Broke my Clubbell record this week, and wasn't that hard. But as Scott mentions in "The Big Book of Clubbells" you need to find your limit but without exhausting yourself. Idea is to build upon, as opposed to breaking your body. Looking forward to next week to break some more records on the peak training day.

Monday 12 May 2014

Week 16 - Welcome to Chen Style Tai Chi


Monday - 5th May - Rest
- Intuflow Intermediate.
I also finally found an old school straw (millet) broom . They are quite hard to find around here.
and why ? yes well Shaolin Kung Fu was built around daily farming / temple chores. Like sweeping the temple paths , digging in the fields, carrying water in buckets up to the temple from the valley below. etc.
Since we do a lot of sweeping around our house Id like to get a more old school broom to sweep out huge decks paths regularly as part of my daily training. There are techniques that use a similar motion to sweeping in this manor so it might help me strengthen those techniques plus it makes for more practical exercise.
I got home and did the driveway, 100 square meters of deck, paths and stairs, and another 120 square meters of downstairs veranda. Definitely worth it. My lower back, core and shoulders are burning from that.
Will do this as much as possible. Plus it make the exterior of the house look lovely. :)

Tuesday - 6th May - Light 
- Intuflow Intermediate
- Shaolin Kung Fu Training (Week 16)
This was an intense night. Pushed to the limit. I still did pretty well, however my shins and ankles are still a problem. I also got myself some Muay Thai liniment for this problem to help warm up the area and to keep warm after training. This helped a great deal, although I need more focus on this area to strengthen.
I've also started adding a lot of CST style ankle circles to my pre training warm up routine which is helping.

Wednesday - 7th May - Medium
- Intuflow Intermediate.
- Chen Style Tai Chi (1 Hour)
- Shaolin Kung Fu (1 Hour)

This was the first time at Tai Chi. I went along early last Wednesday to check it out and looked awesome so wanted to give it a go. Similar to kung fu but much slower and flowing. I really enjoyed this and felt amazing after. Legs are burning from all the slow stances, however looking forward to more and will start integrating this into my daily routines (where possible.)

Thursday - 8th May - Peak
Had a big one planned however it didn't go to plan. I had my daughter with me all day so had to try and sneak in the workout when she was having her arvo nap.
- Intuflow Intermediate
- Shaolin Qi Drill
- Tai Chi warm up & Slow walking
- Shaolin Kicks - Front / Outside / Inside / Palm Heel / Groin Throat
Then 4 sets of the following in a row to make 100 of each.
- Double Shield Cast x 25 - 10lb Clubbell
- Shaolin Punching Drill 1  x 25
- Ankle Squats  x 25
- Shaolin Punching drill 2 x 25
- Side Torch Press  x 25 each side- 10lb Clubbell
- Ankle Circles x 25
- Horse / Front Stanch Drill x 25
- Shaolin Form 1 x 25
- Shaolin / Wushu Form 1 x 25

Only just got one full set done and Suki woke up. Doh. thats ends this set.
Was getting through it quite easily, and needed another 3 sets to make 100 of each.
Total time 1 hours 40 seconds. It was a bit of a rush to put this workout together and really should leave the Tai Chi elements for a separate rest / training day workout. It took up a lot of time which meant I missed the harder peak sets after. Think I was just keen to go over it all again as its new stuff.
Will have to wait till next week to make another peak set.
Everything I've been doing so far is making a difference. Feeling stronger, jumping higher, and ankle is almost repaired. Then its back to Wushu, and try and land those jumping spins that I stacked it on in the first place.

Friday - 9th May - Rest
- Intuflow Intermediate

Saturday - 10th May - Rest
- Intuflow Intermediate

Sunday - 11th May - Rest
- Intuflow Intermediate.
This was supposed to be a rest day but I was itching to do something physical .
So after the Intuflow warmup. I got to sweeping the decks again. (it really is a decent workout , both hands on same side, long sweeping motion) then into some kicking drills

Friday 9 May 2014

New weekly routine Take 3

Sifu Ramesh Patel from Shaolin Kung Fu Guan taking classes at Buddhas Birthday Celebrations. 
Photo from Buddhas Birthday Festivals facebook page. 

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I really should stop calling it a 'routine'.. Trying to plan work-outs around work is more of an organic life form as both my wife and I have such flexible work situations. So its coming down to doing what I can when ever I get a chance.

So this week I knew we were very busy, but this means ill be close to my Shaolin School at the right times so Im planning on doing as much training as possible, and see how my body can handle it.


April 28th - Monday - Rest
- Busy day totally missed doing intuflow. Gotta make time, as it only takes 15 mins.
  Rosanna's new website needed finishing so we were up all night with very little sleep (about 2 hours)
  not a great start to a workout week.

April 29th - Tuesday - Light Routine
- Intuflow intermediate
- Shaolin Kung fu (week 15)
  NOTES: Learnt 2 new techniques to work on. and felt pretty good considering only getting 2 hours sleep . Turned out to be more of a medium routine than light.  Got home 8:30pm. crashed hard. ha

April 30th - Wednesday - Medium Routine

- Intuflow Intermediate
- Shaolin Kung Fu (late session)

NOTES: This was pretty hard as I exhausted myself the day before.
Luckily we focused on wrist / punch defence take downs and pondered the question "What IS self defence"
I learnt a lot and many things to think about over the next few days. 


May 1st - Thursday - Peak Routine- Intuflow Intermediate
- New Peak routine focus on strengthening movements used for Shaolin first form and Broadsword.
As Follows
   - Shaolin kicks x 4 lengths of my deck. Front  / Outside / Inside / Throat groin / Palm Heel
   - Shaolin forms 1  x 10
   - Shaolin basic Broadsword form x 10
   - Shaolin Punching drills 1 and 2 x 1min each.
   - 30 seconds rest (geh)
   - Clubbells 10lb  5 sets all in a row, 30 second breaks between. ended up more like this.
                                                       Set      1         2        3       4         5        6
      - Double Shield cast                               20       15      20     16      16      13       (Total 100)
      - Ankle press                                         20       20     20      20      20                 (Total 100)
      - Side Torch Press left and right.             20       20     20      20      20                 (Total 100)
Total time 1h 13mins including Intuflow.


NOTES: I'm really sore now. ha . Had to do a catch up set as I couldn't handle 5 sets of 20 Double shield casts.
Reason I chose these Clubbell movements
- Double shield cast. is very similar action to some Broadsword movements.
- Ankle press - I'm still strengthening my Ankles, shins and calves.
- Side Torch Press is similar to the second movement of the first Shaolin form, which I noticed a major weakness during last weeks training.


May 2nd - Friday - Rest- Intuflow Intermediate


May 3rd - Saturday - Rest
- Intuflow Intermediate
- Day at the coast with the extended family.


May 4th - Sunday - Rest
- Intuflow intermediate
- we spent the day at Buddhas Birthday festival in Southbank.
helped out with the Shaolin market stall for a few hours and met the monks from Chung Tian Temple.
Its amazing how much respect Buddhist monks have for Shaolin. And we received warm welcomes when in their presence . Was a very insightful experience and more motivation to train harder in Shaolin style and get more involved with the Shaolin Kunbg Fu Guan events in the future.

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NOTES:
Overall this was a good week. Workouts were good and recovery fast.
the 3 days Light medium peak then the rest of the week recovering is working wonders.
I've gained a lot of strength in the past few weeks and new muscles popping out that I've not seen before.
Next week will be quite different so will do the best with what time I have.