Think and grow rich in.. speed, power, gold medals, etc.

Here is an underlying principle that will apply in all aspects of life- Just when you feel like giving up, DONT. Make sure to keep going and you will be sure to succeed.

It’s like I was told in cross country – “sprint up the hill, when others are walking” / “sprint passed the finish line, dont let up when you are 5 feet from the finish.”  If you follow these principles you will come out stronger and on top of your opponents.

In the last part of practice or competition everyone gets tired, but it is those who truck through and do not quit that succeed because it is right when you are getting hit the worst or feel most down on your luck that the prize you been fighting for is closest within reach.

Keep this in mind next time you feel exhausted and just fight through it a little bit longer and you will see what I am talking about.

Here is a brief analysis of vitamins and supplements for martial arts training based off of experiences and analysis of results on other athletes.

Are vitamins and supplements essential to be a good martial artist and skilled at your craft? The answer is absolutely not. Can they be beneficial though? Yes, and let’s take a closer look into this.

Vitamins and supplements should be exactly that – supplemental to your diet and to your training. If you are just getting started in martial arts and do not do any other heavily strenuous sports activity such as running marathons, lifting 500lbs weights, etc. I would say that a simple multi-vitamin and a healthy diet would suffice. Vitamins in general can be good for us because even if we eat reasonably healthy meals we still may not get all the essential elements we need in our daily consumption. That being said, keep in mind to drink lots and lots of water.

Now I do believe for the professional/highly top 5-10% competitive level these added vitamins and nutrition can play a more important role. I am talking about people that train so much that (almost) no matter what they eat they will not gain weight and they burn off more than they consume. In these situations your body is breaking down and rebuilding muscle every day so getting high volumes of the appropriate proteins are neccessary. For these people I would recommend some sort of protein powder or drink along with multivitamins, l-glutamine, and msm/glucosomine at the very least.

In the end, most people can achieve most goals without supplements, but used in the right way, there is definitely added value in taking the right vitamins to boost your martial arts training results.

The butterfly kick. Many people seem to think that they need to kick both legs up equally, as in a circle during a butterfly kick, but a tip that Coach Wang Wei has taught me is that the butterfly kick isn’t circular.  In order to gain height, you need to lift your left leg higher than your right leg.  If you look at Zhao Qing Jian’s butterfly, he demonstrates that clearly.  His right leg lifts, then his left leg lifts even higher.  Doing this will add extra air time.

That video also demonstrates clearly how to improve your cleanliness and height for a butterfly kick.

Cheers,

dta

Wushu a Chinese Martial Arts from China is known for its grace and power in both performance and combat.

But.. what is something else that top Wushu Athletes have in common? They are all slim and well toned!

How do these athletes get in such shape that most males have bodies like Bruce Lee and the women have figures of a bowflex model?

Here is a list of reasons AND exercises you can do to get into such good shape!

1) Wushu focuses on repetition and light conditioning. This means that if you use lighter weights you will tighten up instead of bulking out.

2) Do at least 10-15 repetitive movements and maintain the same level of intensity each time. Try to do 10 front stretch kicks, 10 outside crescent kicks, and 10 inside crescent kicks. (You can look back at a previous how to article to see how to do a proper outside crescent kick) As a quick tip / reminder- keep your legs straight and kick straight up.

3) Jog for at least 10 minutes. In wushu you always warm up. This act of warming up begins the process of burning fat even though the goal is just to loosen up and get ready for your real wushu workout, it has the effect of getting your body ready to burn more fat and keep you thin and ready to do some flying kicks.

4) Stretch! How does this help me lose weight? When you stretch it increases the flow of blood and circulation. Also you may notice that just by pushing yourself a little while stretching you will work up a sweat. Stretching for about 7-8 minutes is good to prime your body for more weight loss. Do not over stretch and do not sit on the floor stretching for too long because it will cool you down and you want to stay active and sweating during your workout.

5) Rinse and repeat. After you run through some wushu forms or even just do some general conditioning, take a breather and then do it again. You should not take too long of a break if you want to optimize burning your fat. When your body is tired and needs something more to burn it will burn your fat so you want to keep on moving and not let your body rest too much during your workout!

Do the above 5 things over and over – plus make sure you always eat some good healthy food and you are guaranteed to lose pounds and tighten those arms, abs, legs, stomach, and look like a wushu athlete.

I will try to follow this up with a video tutorial, but for now I will give you a few quick tips and pointers on how to do a nice big clean wushu outside crescent kick.

For those of you who arent sure what this move is.. it is when you kick outward in circular motion starting from the opposite side of your body moving away from yourself. The kick forms a crescent shape- thus the name outside crescent kick.

TOP THREE MOVES TO IMPROVE YOUR KICK ARE:

1) Stretch, stretch, and stretch. – You should be able to kick up to your head otherwise this kick will never look good by a wushu outside kick standard.

2) Pull your toe back when you kick up. Your kicking foot should not be dangling or purposeless. It should be going up and pulling back with a clear direction and then moving quickly outward and then downward getting ready to reach the ground.. so in other words you have to have some form of coordination because this happens all separately and simultaneously while you are kicking your leg up and out.

3) Keep your freakin knee straight. Do not try to cheat and bend your knee. No good! Knee locked, back up. Can’t repeat enough (and tired of repeating it).

Alright! So there you have it. 3 top tips to improve your outside kick. More advanced tips on refining your kick once you have mastered these 3 points.

-Alfred