I think the biggest difference is that martial arts focuses on developing the tendons and lean muscles to support the tendons along side the mind and body connection(muscular and skeletal control) while developing the internal organs. This difference accounts for the difference in physiology you witness. You will see it’s all the same for special ops training. They train for overall functional performance to generate speed power accuracy and endurance by building an energy efficient vehicle. From my examination of wing chun. It does the same yet it has been reduced to an incomplete art form. With too much focus on the forms and not enough physical training to work with the forms. As well as the lack of understanding of the combat mechanics of the art form to begin with. The concept behind wing chun, which is supposed to make it exceptional if practiced correctly and the theory understood. Is essentially a biomechanics that requires less time space and energy to accomplish a task. In terms of combat how to utilize and condition the body and mind to perform while using less energy,space and time. It is essentially quick wrestling. The concept can be seen in the art of war. A good fighter excels at winning with ease. That’s the whole goal of a wing chun practitioner. How do you do that? Use less time less energy less space. If you want to wrestle someone down. Do you grab them and try to pull them down with your body weight and power? Or do you break his structure allowing him to stay up right by pushing the back of their knees forward n giving a slight push forward? If they manage to stop themselves from falling flat with their arms, do you then push them or simply clear one of their hands using your feet. Or use a less efficient route of using your hands to pull their feet? This example is to show the philosophy behind the art. Which birth the ideology of jest kwon do. Which from my understanding was Bruce lee’s understanding of the art form. It’s not a style or techniques it’s a concept/ little idea as the name implies.
Nima ! That’s sick man 😂. Amazing that you can do it. You are truly finding this understanding deep inside your mind which sigung seemed to have . Although you may still be underestimating your ability and understanding , you’re clearly heading in the right direction. He would be proud , impressed and very pleased with where you are taking your personal take on his Wing Chun 🔥
Thanks brother. That is very much appreciated coming from someone like you who has been on this path for so many decades and has as much admiration and inspired by Chu Shong Tin's ability as I did. 🙏
This demonstration was the definitive proof for me that this works. Good that now it is in a completely separate video so it is easier to find and send to friends. Congratulations, you're amazing.
I experiment with similar exercises. Especially with all that time in covid I started grabbing chairs with some weight to them by the top handle and held them out straight to the side with arm fully extended. That way I could test if I was making progress. Relying on muscular force wouldn't work or it would just end up hurting my shoulder muscles, especially since the weight of the chair was more towards the bottom while I challenged myself to hold it only from the top. "Activating" the fascial connection from feet throughout the whole body would be the only way to perform the task. My idea for this exercise was largely thanks to you sharing these kinds of videos. My working explanation is that this kind of power is possible through the tensegrity of the fascia, so I focus on how I train the strength of the fascial connection throughout the body. Though I also think Maxalding's approach to "muscle control" was on to something too... intentionally practicing tensing individual muscles on command only to learn how to then intentionally relax any muscle on command. Do you know what other kinds of tests Chu Shong Tin Sifu did with inanimate objects or heavy objects?
Nice! and good to hear that you are testing yourself like that. Yes, Chu Shong Tin used to test his power by going to construction sites and moving around very heavy metal poles. He would also fill up big construction bags with debris and rocks (he said the bags would be around 50kgs each) and would hold one bag in each hand and see how he could use his Center of Mass to effortlessly move around without strain. He also held his 30kg sandbag between his knees while pumping out pull ups. There are other similar physical things he was doing to test himself like endurance work of holding the human flag position, holding himself off the ground by pushing down on his knees while in a seated lotus position (not using his hands) etc.
By "Center of Mass" do you mean grabbing the bags of rocks and moving his whole body mass to move them -- or do you mean moving from the liter center of mass around the chest level? @@MindfulWingChun
hope one day you write a 800 page book about this, this put light in a lot of things that people think is mistical and man, I really would love people from science, medicine going hard on this. Also, this helps understand how exercise like Triple Circle enhance performance, how the Mabu help bring stability and power, all the foundations are there besides on the past people wouldnt know how to explain all of this. The way that biomechanis works with this can change they way how robots are made as well.
I’ve often wondered about this, like how it would aid in lifting, I’ve lifted for most of my life and when I’ve done sessions with CST students, they’ve helped me release a lot more power and often more than other people in the class, I’m thinking that compound lifts like deadlifting and this stuff can go hand in hand because they require that extra level of connection.
For sure. My thinking is, in Kung Fu, there can be no 'internal' power until the external bio-mechanics is sound and efficient. So, by searching for the internal connection, one is forced to learn to move and produce power as efficiently as possible. I always say that, at least in this method of Kung Fu, we reach the internal forces through searching for the perfection of the external ones I.e. perfect biomechanics, producing very round forces etc. These forces become oir tracher and guide in the search for effortless power production (and handling) and that is how we find the much more subtle and 'internal' energies in the body.
Thank you Sifu Nima. The time that you take to share with us your knowledge is genuinely a blessing. In 2020 i got hit with what was known at the time as Covid lung where the virus attacked my lungs , i spent 7days in the hospital with oxygen attached 24 hrs because if i tried to remove the oxygen my level of oxygen would start to drop below 80% . When i went in they had me at 2litters, by day 3 they had to raise the oxygen to 5 litters . Long story short, the fear was they would have had to put me under and place tubes directly into my lungs. While i was placed under induced coma. Beside God having mercy and bringing me out of that situation. I started to while in the hospital bed slowly do the SNT ,breathing deep as i could, and slowly. I remember your video where you spoke that Grandmaster CST would look like a statute when doing his SNT form because he was focusing on breath and relaxation. And i started to focus on my breathing. Here i am beginning of 2024 running, and back doing my normal work duties and like i said beside my God giving me the strength and health, your videos of Grandmaster CST and explaining to us how his methods work have kept me active and mobile with out the use of oxygen machine. Is my story a kicking butt one , no but it's a experience that we can use the wonderful concepts in Wing Chun and the time and effort you and your team give to us thru these video and use them to keep us healthy , strong, and active in our daily walk. Thank you Sifu Nima for always projecting positivity thru your videos. Much blessing to you, your family, and in all that you do.
Wow! talk about an inspiring come back story! Well done man and I'm very happy to hear you're back to running and gaining your physical fitness back. Sorry to hear about what you went through, although now that you have gone though it I'm sure you feel like you have grown and evolved on many levels. Adversities that big can change us internally for the better and give us greater Will and Faith! And thank you for the kind words about what I do. Am very happy when I hear that anything we do here at Mindful Wing Chun is helping someone. We hear this a lot, from parents of 3yr. old kids who open up socially from our classes, to 75yr old students who heal their knee and back pain, to stories pick yours who simply picked up inspiration from Chu Shong Tins videos. It's all a blessing to be in a position to help others 🙏🙏
Happy new year Sifu Nima. I'm still fascinated how CST and other masters are able to lift that Bo (or whatever it is called). I tried it myself and it didn't move a Millimeter. But as you said it's about BioMechanics, as always in WingChun. And therefore I don't like words like "chi". They are always used when somebody was able to do something but didn't have an explanation for it. It's like the word "god", which is also always used when people didn't have an explanation for the things in the world. But luckily nowadays with have a better understanding of physics in general, and these words are no longer needed as an explanation/reasoning. Thanks for your great videos. ❤
My pleasure Marco. And yeah don't be discouraged man, as you continue your practice you'll be able to do it eventually. My caution would be to not push it too much and work toward these kinds of things that can put a lot of pressure on weaker joints bit by bit. 👍🏻 You also practice Wing Chun yeah?
@@MindfulWingChun Yes I do, since 2015 only. I discovered it late unfortunately. But I don't learn it for self-defence reasons, I'm mostly interested in the physics/bio-mechanics, the internal 詠春 and I want to delay any old folks symptoms by 5 or 10 years, if you know what I mean.
Happy New Year Brother 👍 67 this year and hoping to be getting stronger in Mind and Body for at least another 40years 🙏 Plenty of time for Spirit after that 😅😊 Take care. Stay safe 🙏 John and Kate
Very cool Nima, I love experimenting with what can be done with CST Wing Chun as well. I had an instructor back in the day explode a round focus pad on my thigh from 1-2 inches away no draw back before striking felt like I had been hit with a sledge hammer in the thigh. I once focused on a point past my small hanging bag until the bag seemed to disappear when I punched to that point I went through the bag and it broke in half the bottom hitting the ground (my students at the time witnessed this). I think maybe with CST's small bag in his kwoon Wing Chun Practitioners keep thinking get my force through the bag like CST could do instead of focusing on a point past the bag, free the mind.
Cheers Carl. Yeah for me these days, I try to be very specific about exactly where I want my force (striking ot otherwise) to go. So I don't teach hitting past the target unless it's a complete beginner. I now teach and practice getting the force exactly to the point or area intended. CST use to blow our mind with the precision he had with directing his force. This way is how I believe things with refine and lead to the flow of Nim Lik too
Wonderful explanation and demonstration, thanks so much for all the content! I also have a question, how would you recommend to organise a practice session at home? Should I start with streching before practicing siu nim tao or can I start right away with siu nim tao and move on to other stuff? I'm asking because sometimes I only have a few minutes for a workout and I don't know what to do 😅
It really depends on what you want to develop in your practice. If you're not on our online school I suggest you check it out and on there there is supplementary section with mobilizations to wake the joints up in preparation for the practice. www.mindfulwingchun.online
Ha !! 💯 percent love your content & totally agree with everything you touched on. Keeping it real brother 👊 With weight training you hit it man, I feel with a high volume of training you start to understand the body & develop the ability to let go of the strength & tightness from lifting weight for martial ability
Cheers bro. Seems eventhoigh we are practcing different forms of Kung Fu our understanding is very parallel. BTW Happy New Year to you and the fam. wishing you all the best for 2024 bro.
yeah exactly. Everything I teach I the online school is to gear towards developing proper force generation like this. There are now a few people who can hold the pole a bit further down than I fid I this video and do it. If they keep it up they'll be able to do this soon
@@MindfulWingChun thank you very much for your response! I practice foshan wing chun but i want to expand my views! I will be soon a member of your course. Thanks again.
Cheers Kwan and glad you enjoyed it. Sure, re the question, you can use Messenger on Facebook and if you're not on there can email me at nima@mindfulwingchun.com.hk
Thanks bro, I was lucky to have a great teacher who for some reason took a liking towards me and spend a lot of time and effort in trying to make me understand what he was teaching. And I just keep chipping away at it so hopefully the improvement will continue into old age. You also practice Wing Chun?
yes brother i do practice wing chun before i stop because of busy schedule at work.wing chun is a great art.and i can see you have a high level of wing chun its amazing
@rinojoaquin9876 Glad to hear it Rino. Am always happy to help btw so if you have any training related questions pls do ask. You probably know I have an online school too (www.mindfulwingchun.online) and will keep the videos on TH-cam coming 🙏
@dennisberger5696 yes most Wing Chun poles are around 2kgs (1.5 to 2.5kgs depending on the wood and thickness), we weighed the ones at Chu Shong Tins school back in the day. The force required to lift the poles from the end ranged between 12 to 19kgs.
@dennisberger5696 it's 9feet but not sure what wood it is. In Hong Kong you just go to the Martial arts stores and pick up one that you like and there isn't much info aboit what wood it is. The shop owners usually don't speak any English 😅
Great vid. Funny as a lot of the demo videos over the years (and guilty myself) have been asking the Uke to tense or (don't let me do it). But as you say the true is doing what you have on this video. So question Nima.... the one time I have used the pole and to great impact was having someone hold the end and my thought was... project my mass up through the pole and into the other persons spine. I moved them sideways. With your demo here. did you put your mind to travel through the pole? to make both the pole and your body one mass? re weights. i foolishly believed that weights impacted my wing chun for a long time. Took me to start up weights in my late 30's early 40's to realise it didnt' impact my ability to focus. this was a good video. i'd also like to see you apply to deadlifts for example. One of the effective ways to lift DL is to tense gently the overall body(everything) before you lift. Its a way of connecting all the body to lift.
Glad you enjoyed it mate. And yes, that's exactly what I did, to intend to connect and combine the mass of the pole with my own and that way it becomes easier to handle it, and put force through it. And yeah I do deadlift too 😊 Not too heavy though as I don't feel the need to lift beyond 150kgs for my size and weight.
yes it does 😅 also in the game we cal Mercy where we interlock fingers with the opponent and try to twist and bend each others wrist until one gives up and says 'mercy'.
interesting, I've trained something similar to this in my hung kuen, many years ago. I didnt have any idea about internal structure terms, etc, but I've always felt that I needed to integrated all my body power to rise the long heavy pole I have.
Great video Sifu Nima! I found that I had to stop lifting weights for a while to feel the internal connection more so. My classmates keeps saying I use my upper body too much and need to start incorporating my legs and relax more.
Perhaps is the right thing to do for a while, but maybe not. It's hard to say. I also stopped for a long time (around a decade) when I first moved to HK. If I could turn back time, with my current understanding, I wouldn't fully stop doing strength training, I would do more body weight stuff to keep the stabilizers strong and di loaded mobility exercises that would take my muscles close to their end range to keep them elastic and open. Are you doing any other exercises or training to facilitate opening up the body?
@@MindfulWingChun besides WC I'm doing tai chi/chi gong, yoga, and mobility exercises. I've been doing them slower so that I can both feel the opening and the internal connections more. It also helps me to develop more control on what's going on internally
@@skssuccess75 like he said less heavy weights and more bodyweight/resistance exercises. The qi gong exercises are actually the "key" tho. As you talked about doing it slower, try to do it as slow as humanly possible and pretty much focus only on your breath. To the point you will be moving your body through the breathing like with qi gong. And never stop doing that, but once you get that type of movement down, begin to do things like pushups and other bodyweight exercises/manual tasks through that form of movement.
@@skssuccess75 that will strengthen/develop the connection overall either way. However if that doesn't fix it then you are just still using/holding too much tension somewhere in your movements.(which could come from the weightlifting) but it's truly not about the fact of lifting weights but how they are being lifted. Start with light weights and use them with qi gong exercises/picking up and moving around semi heavy things in that way
@@willtherealrustyschacklefo3812 Thanks for the advice. I was doing really light with with the cable weights. Right now the only weight lifting I use is with the dragon pole and baat jaam do . I do plan on going back to light weights using the qi gong this time .
Greetings from Massachusetts Sifu in listening to different kung-fu people like your self I had this idea that maby if I was to do SNT immediately after waking up every morning would there be any additional advantage to it and have you ever heard of that before
Hi Jarrod, Happy New Year. Yes I've heard of both the body and the atmospheric energy being different in various times of the day. I personally sometimes do it when I wake up, as the sun is coming up to get that low angle light in the eye at the same time. Certainly sets my energy up nicely!!
Cheers bro. I don't think you're far off it. This is something we can work on and see if I can help you get a better idea on how to attain it during your trip here in March 👊
@@MindfulWingChun yeah definitely I would like to see if you can set me up. I try from time to time, also with a heavy pole. I can hold it about an under arm length away from the position you are doing. I marked that spot in order to measure progression. Cheers bro.
@manoamano3699 Maybe the one that you use is heavier than this one, and you can do it with this one already!! Well check it out in March.. Be careful with your wrists though and don't push it too hard
I guess the balance between physical and internal should be maintained. Now, it also depends in the person, I guess when you develop that type of internal power, I suppose, training your muscles won't make sense. But in a medical viewpoint, having muscle atrophy for lack of physical excersice could be bad for your health. I don't know if internal training could help against muscle atrophy while one gets older, also falling and injures from lack of balance could be bad for a person that gets older but like I said, I don't know if internal training helps against those. But great video, I always had this doubt about internal training. It will also good to know if you can make this type of training with chronic illnesses like back problems, hernias, diabetes, high blood pressure or heart problems.
Yes Lorenzo, it definitely comes down to personal state of the body, goals etc. and everyone is different. In my opinion, even if someone reached very high levels of internals they should still keep their physcial body in good, strong condition. The body is a vehicle for the internal energies and they can not be separated. The better state the body (and of course mind) are, the better everything works. I personally thing about the body as a system and don't think about the muscles separate from the other connective tissues, chi, bones, organs, blood, breathing system etc. So I try to keep the entire system balanced and working well. But yes, if someone is extremely tense muscularly, then that pits the system out of balance so they shouldn't add to that tension with their training. And yes, this method of Kung Fu can certainly be done for people with the issues like serious back pain(have had many students young and old heal it with this), hernia (I had one and had it operated on 15yrs ago), diabetes (I have a student, Kaming, who is doing ultra marathons and loft heavy and can relax), etc. and what you said about the science that is coming out about the importance of muscle strength linked to longevity is an important thing to consider. Muscle strength does not mean being a body builder. We can see Yogis who are not very muscular but who can demonstrate the strength of their bodies by holding difficult Yoga poses, who live to 100. So, my thinking is that you don't need to give up physical strength and performance to gain internal abilities in Kung Fu. On the contrary...
@@MindfulWingChunThank you for the long and detailed reply. I hope more people are able to learn about internal training and its benefits. It's thanks to people like you that this knowledge is becoming more available to everyone. I want to try it too after I am get better with my knee, because after seeing a lot of videos (about your style of wing chun and in kung fu in general), there is a lot of training done with static positions and knees bend.
As I'm sure dozens of the other weapons back in the day when there were no guns. We can also find it in old writings (and that's why it's shown in movies) where masters had 'super-human' strength for lifting things like massive pieces of stone
I've got a broomstick (I don't have room for a long pole) with a small hole that I tie a light kettlebell onto the end for exercises like this you can hold it at various distances depending on your level.
I'd like to take the credit but I got the idea from watching 36th Chamber of Shaolin where he has to hit the bell with the weighted stick. @@MindfulWingChun
My pleasure. Yeah, both. But without sound biomechanics there can be no proper control of energy in relation to producing force and power. And those who claim they can and onky show on compliant partners are sadly kidding themselves and others. Having said this, there are many beautiful practices like various meditation and breathing practices like the Yogic Pranayama that ate very powerful for mobilizing energy for the purpose of healing and spirituality. However, they can not produce combative force with those practices alone. Those who say what they do skips biomechanics have, unfortunately, a big misunderstanding in their practice. This is my personal opinion of course, according to my years of practice, and having met many who claim they are Chi masters but can't even mobilize the shoulder or hip joint while under pressure of incoming force...
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I think the biggest difference is that martial arts focuses on developing the tendons and lean muscles to support the tendons along side the mind and body connection(muscular and skeletal control) while developing the internal organs. This difference accounts for the difference in physiology you witness. You will see it’s all the same for special ops training. They train for overall functional performance to generate speed power accuracy and endurance by building an energy efficient vehicle. From my examination of wing chun. It does the same yet it has been reduced to an incomplete art form. With too much focus on the forms and not enough physical training to work with the forms. As well as the lack of understanding of the combat mechanics of the art form to begin with. The concept behind wing chun, which is supposed to make it exceptional if practiced correctly and the theory understood. Is essentially a biomechanics that requires less time space and energy to accomplish a task. In terms of combat how to utilize and condition the body and mind to perform while using less energy,space and time. It is essentially quick wrestling. The concept can be seen in the art of war. A good fighter excels at winning with ease. That’s the whole goal of a wing chun practitioner. How do you do that? Use less time less energy less space. If you want to wrestle someone down. Do you grab them and try to pull them down with your body weight and power? Or do you break his structure allowing him to stay up right by pushing the back of their knees forward n giving a slight push forward? If they manage to stop themselves from falling flat with their arms, do you then push them or simply clear one of their hands using your feet. Or use a less efficient route of using your hands to pull their feet? This example is to show the philosophy behind the art. Which birth the ideology of jest kwon do. Which from my understanding was Bruce lee’s understanding of the art form. It’s not a style or techniques it’s a concept/ little idea as the name implies.
Nima ! That’s sick man 😂. Amazing that you can do it. You are truly finding this understanding deep inside your mind which sigung seemed to have . Although you may still be underestimating your ability and understanding , you’re clearly heading in the right direction. He would be proud , impressed and very pleased with where you are taking your personal take on his Wing Chun 🔥
Thanks brother. That is very much appreciated coming from someone like you who has been on this path for so many decades and has as much admiration and inspired by Chu Shong Tin's ability as I did. 🙏
This is your best video by far
@peterjeck2684 Glad you enjoyed it Peter 👍🏻
This demonstration was the definitive proof for me that this works. Good that now it is in a completely separate video so it is easier to find and send to friends. Congratulations, you're amazing.
Cheers Breno 😊🙏
I experiment with similar exercises. Especially with all that time in covid I started grabbing chairs with some weight to them by the top handle and held them out straight to the side with arm fully extended. That way I could test if I was making progress. Relying on muscular force wouldn't work or it would just end up hurting my shoulder muscles, especially since the weight of the chair was more towards the bottom while I challenged myself to hold it only from the top.
"Activating" the fascial connection from feet throughout the whole body would be the only way to perform the task. My idea for this exercise was largely thanks to you sharing these kinds of videos.
My working explanation is that this kind of power is possible through the tensegrity of the fascia, so I focus on how I train the strength of the fascial connection throughout the body. Though I also think Maxalding's approach to "muscle control" was on to something too... intentionally practicing tensing individual muscles on command only to learn how to then intentionally relax any muscle on command.
Do you know what other kinds of tests Chu Shong Tin Sifu did with inanimate objects or heavy objects?
Nice! and good to hear that you are testing yourself like that.
Yes, Chu Shong Tin used to test his power by going to construction sites and moving around very heavy metal poles. He would also fill up big construction bags with debris and rocks (he said the bags would be around 50kgs each) and would hold one bag in each hand and see how he could use his Center of Mass to effortlessly move around without strain. He also held his 30kg sandbag between his knees while pumping out pull ups. There are other similar physical things he was doing to test himself like endurance work of holding the human flag position, holding himself off the ground by pushing down on his knees while in a seated lotus position (not using his hands) etc.
By "Center of Mass" do you mean grabbing the bags of rocks and moving his whole body mass to move them -- or do you mean moving from the liter center of mass around the chest level? @@MindfulWingChun
hope one day you write a 800 page book about this, this put light in a lot of things that people think is mistical and man, I really would love people from science, medicine going hard on this. Also, this helps understand how exercise like Triple Circle enhance performance, how the Mabu help bring stability and power, all the foundations are there besides on the past people wouldnt know how to explain all of this. The way that biomechanis works with this can change they way how robots are made as well.
I hope so too! 🙏🙏
I’ve often wondered about this, like how it would aid in lifting, I’ve lifted for most of my life and when I’ve done sessions with CST students, they’ve helped me release a lot more power and often more than other people in the class, I’m thinking that compound lifts like deadlifting and this stuff can go hand in hand because they require that extra level of connection.
For sure. My thinking is, in Kung Fu, there can be no 'internal' power until the external bio-mechanics is sound and efficient. So, by searching for the internal connection, one is forced to learn to move and produce power as efficiently as possible. I always say that, at least in this method of Kung Fu, we reach the internal forces through searching for the perfection of the external ones I.e. perfect biomechanics, producing very round forces etc. These forces become oir tracher and guide in the search for effortless power production (and handling) and that is how we find the much more subtle and 'internal' energies in the body.
Thank you Sifu Nima. The time that you take to share with us your knowledge is genuinely a blessing. In 2020 i got hit with what was known at the time as Covid lung where the virus attacked my lungs , i spent 7days in the hospital with oxygen attached 24 hrs because if i tried to remove the oxygen my level of oxygen would start to drop below 80% . When i went in they had me at 2litters, by day 3 they had to raise the oxygen to 5 litters . Long story short, the fear was they would have had to put me under and place tubes directly into my lungs. While i was placed under induced coma. Beside God having mercy and bringing me out of that situation. I started to while in the hospital bed slowly do the SNT ,breathing deep as i could, and slowly. I remember your video where you spoke that Grandmaster CST would look like a statute when doing his SNT form because he was focusing on breath and relaxation. And i started to focus on my breathing. Here i am beginning of 2024 running, and back doing my normal work duties and like i said beside my God giving me the strength and health, your videos of Grandmaster CST and explaining to us how his methods work have kept me active and mobile with out the use of oxygen machine. Is my story a kicking butt one , no but it's a experience that we can use the wonderful concepts in Wing Chun and the time and effort you and your team give to us thru these video and use them to keep us healthy , strong, and active in our daily walk. Thank you Sifu Nima for always projecting positivity thru your videos. Much blessing to you, your family, and in all that you do.
Wow! talk about an inspiring come back story! Well done man and I'm very happy to hear you're back to running and gaining your physical fitness back. Sorry to hear about what you went through, although now that you have gone though it I'm sure you feel like you have grown and evolved on many levels. Adversities that big can change us internally for the better and give us greater Will and Faith!
And thank you for the kind words about what I do. Am very happy when I hear that anything we do here at Mindful Wing Chun is helping someone. We hear this a lot, from parents of 3yr. old kids who open up socially from our classes, to 75yr old students who heal their knee and back pain, to stories pick yours who simply picked up inspiration from Chu Shong Tins videos.
It's all a blessing to be in a position to help others 🙏🙏
Wow
Happy new year Sifu Nima. I'm still fascinated how CST and other masters are able to lift that Bo (or whatever it is called). I tried it myself and it didn't move a Millimeter. But as you said it's about BioMechanics, as always in WingChun. And therefore I don't like words like "chi". They are always used when somebody was able to do something but didn't have an explanation for it. It's like the word "god", which is also always used when people didn't have an explanation for the things in the world. But luckily nowadays with have a better understanding of physics in general, and these words are no longer needed as an explanation/reasoning. Thanks for your great videos. ❤
My pleasure Marco. And yeah don't be discouraged man, as you continue your practice you'll be able to do it eventually. My caution would be to not push it too much and work toward these kinds of things that can put a lot of pressure on weaker joints bit by bit. 👍🏻
You also practice Wing Chun yeah?
@@MindfulWingChun Yes I do, since 2015 only. I discovered it late unfortunately. But I don't learn it for self-defence reasons, I'm mostly interested in the physics/bio-mechanics, the internal 詠春 and I want to delay any old folks symptoms by 5 or 10 years, if you know what I mean.
Thanks Nima! Great, as always!
Glad you enjoyed it 😊 🙏
Happy New Year Brother 👍
67 this year and hoping to be getting stronger in Mind and Body for at least another 40years 🙏 Plenty of time for Spirit after that 😅😊 Take care. Stay safe 🙏
John and Kate
Happy New Year to you both. 67 years young John?! All the very best and here is to the next 40years of your health 🍻
🍻👍Back at ya 🙏
Very cool Nima, I love experimenting with what can be done with CST Wing Chun as well. I had an instructor back in the day explode a round focus pad on my thigh from 1-2 inches away no draw back before striking felt like I had been hit with a sledge hammer in the thigh. I once focused on a point past my small hanging bag until the bag seemed to disappear when I punched to that point I went through the bag and it broke in half the bottom hitting the ground (my students at the time witnessed this). I think maybe with CST's small bag in his kwoon Wing Chun Practitioners keep thinking get my force through the bag like CST could do instead of focusing on a point past the bag, free the mind.
Cheers Carl.
Yeah for me these days, I try to be very specific about exactly where I want my force (striking ot otherwise) to go. So I don't teach hitting past the target unless it's a complete beginner. I now teach and practice getting the force exactly to the point or area intended. CST use to blow our mind with the precision he had with directing his force. This way is how I believe things with refine and lead to the flow of Nim Lik too
great video.... lots to think about here!
Glad you enjoyed it 🙏
Wonderful explanation and demonstration, thanks so much for all the content!
I also have a question, how would you recommend to organise a practice session at home? Should I start with streching before practicing siu nim tao or can I start right away with siu nim tao and move on to other stuff? I'm asking because sometimes I only have a few minutes for a workout and I don't know what to do 😅
It really depends on what you want to develop in your practice. If you're not on our online school I suggest you check it out and on there there is supplementary section with mobilizations to wake the joints up in preparation for the practice. www.mindfulwingchun.online
Ha !! 💯 percent love your content & totally agree with everything you touched on. Keeping it real brother 👊
With weight training you hit it man, I feel with a high volume of training you start to understand the body & develop the ability to let go of the strength & tightness from lifting weight for martial ability
Cheers bro. Seems eventhoigh we are practcing different forms of Kung Fu our understanding is very parallel.
BTW Happy New Year to you and the fam. wishing you all the best for 2024 bro.
Just great! But is this teachable? How? Within your online course?
yeah exactly. Everything I teach I the online school is to gear towards developing proper force generation like this.
There are now a few people who can hold the pole a bit further down than I fid I this video and do it. If they keep it up they'll be able to do this soon
@@MindfulWingChun thank you very much for your response! I practice foshan wing chun but i want to expand my views! I will be soon a member of your course. Thanks again.
@TheGiarpi my pleasure. And looking forward to having you on our online team 🙏
Another great video mate!, thank you for sharing 🙏 (I'd love to ask you a private question)
Cheers Kwan and glad you enjoyed it. Sure, re the question, you can use Messenger on Facebook and if you're not on there can email me at nima@mindfulwingchun.com.hk
your wing chun is amazing brother
Thanks bro, I was lucky to have a great teacher who for some reason took a liking towards me and spend a lot of time and effort in trying to make me understand what he was teaching.
And I just keep chipping away at it so hopefully the improvement will continue into old age.
You also practice Wing Chun?
yes brother i do practice wing chun before i stop because of busy schedule at work.wing chun is a great art.and i can see you have a high level of wing chun its amazing
@@rinojoaquin9876 I hope you get back it once your schedule finds space for it cause I can sense your passion for the art 🙏
@@MindfulWingChun❤ I'm planning to.im watching your other TH-cam videos you have also strong kick and again your wing chun is amazing.
@rinojoaquin9876 Glad to hear it Rino. Am always happy to help btw so if you have any training related questions pls do ask. You probably know I have an online school too (www.mindfulwingchun.online) and will keep the videos on TH-cam coming 🙏
Dragon Pole 2.75 cm round about 2.3 Kilo with Heavy Wood Like purple Heart
@dennisberger5696 yes most Wing Chun poles are around 2kgs (1.5 to 2.5kgs depending on the wood and thickness), we weighed the ones at Chu Shong Tins school back in the day.
The force required to lift the poles from the end ranged between 12 to 19kgs.
How Long is the Pole ? and which Kind of Wood ?
@dennisberger5696 it's 9feet but not sure what wood it is. In Hong Kong you just go to the Martial arts stores and pick up one that you like and there isn't much info aboit what wood it is. The shop owners usually don't speak any English 😅
@@MindfulWingChunthank you for the answer
Great vid. Funny as a lot of the demo videos over the years (and guilty myself) have been asking the Uke to tense or (don't let me do it). But as you say the true is doing what you have on this video. So question Nima.... the one time I have used the pole and to great impact was having someone hold the end and my thought was... project my mass up through the pole and into the other persons spine. I moved them sideways. With your demo here. did you put your mind to travel through the pole? to make both the pole and your body one mass? re weights. i foolishly believed that weights impacted my wing chun for a long time. Took me to start up weights in my late 30's early 40's to realise it didnt' impact my ability to focus. this was a good video. i'd also like to see you apply to deadlifts for example. One of the effective ways to lift DL is to tense gently the overall body(everything) before you lift. Its a way of connecting all the body to lift.
Glad you enjoyed it mate.
And yes, that's exactly what I did, to intend to connect and combine the mass of the pole with my own and that way it becomes easier to handle it, and put force through it.
And yeah I do deadlift too 😊 Not too heavy though as I don't feel the need to lift beyond 150kgs for my size and weight.
5'3 and 52kg that's an impressive DL
Would this work for arm wrestling?
yes it does 😅 also in the game we cal Mercy where we interlock fingers with the opponent and try to twist and bend each others wrist until one gives up and says 'mercy'.
@@MindfulWingChunYep,I used that against a Taichi teacher,and it worked like a charm 👍
@@worldtraveler007 😊👍🏻
2 Kilo Not more
interesting, I've trained something similar to this in my hung kuen, many years ago. I didnt have any idea about internal structure terms, etc, but I've always felt that I needed to integrated all my body power to rise the long heavy pole I have.
nice one Christiano 👍🏻
Best explanation.
Thank you and glad it made good sense to you! Happy New Year to you and yours 🙏
Great video Sifu Nima! I found that I had to stop lifting weights for a while to feel the internal connection more so. My classmates keeps saying I use my upper body too much and need to start incorporating my legs and relax more.
Perhaps is the right thing to do for a while, but maybe not. It's hard to say. I also stopped for a long time (around a decade) when I first moved to HK. If I could turn back time, with my current understanding, I wouldn't fully stop doing strength training, I would do more body weight stuff to keep the stabilizers strong and di loaded mobility exercises that would take my muscles close to their end range to keep them elastic and open.
Are you doing any other exercises or training to facilitate opening up the body?
@@MindfulWingChun besides WC I'm doing tai chi/chi gong, yoga, and mobility exercises. I've been doing them slower so that I can both feel the opening and the internal connections more. It also helps me to develop more control on what's going on internally
@@skssuccess75 like he said less heavy weights and more bodyweight/resistance exercises. The qi gong exercises are actually the "key" tho. As you talked about doing it slower, try to do it as slow as humanly possible and pretty much focus only on your breath. To the point you will be moving your body through the breathing like with qi gong. And never stop doing that, but once you get that type of movement down, begin to do things like pushups and other bodyweight exercises/manual tasks through that form of movement.
@@skssuccess75 that will strengthen/develop the connection overall either way. However if that doesn't fix it then you are just still using/holding too much tension somewhere in your movements.(which could come from the weightlifting) but it's truly not about the fact of lifting weights but how they are being lifted. Start with light weights and use them with qi gong exercises/picking up and moving around semi heavy things in that way
@@willtherealrustyschacklefo3812 Thanks for the advice. I was doing really light with with the cable weights. Right now the only weight lifting I use is with the dragon pole and baat jaam do . I do plan on going back to light weights using the qi gong this time .
Greetings from Massachusetts Sifu in listening to different kung-fu people like your self I had this idea that maby if I was to do SNT immediately after waking up every morning would there be any additional advantage to it and have you ever heard of that before
Hi Jarrod, Happy New Year.
Yes I've heard of both the body and the atmospheric energy being different in various times of the day.
I personally sometimes do it when I wake up, as the sun is coming up to get that low angle light in the eye at the same time. Certainly sets my energy up nicely!!
Well explained
Thanks, nice TH-cam name btw 😄
😊
Impressive
Cheers bro. I don't think you're far off it. This is something we can work on and see if I can help you get a better idea on how to attain it during your trip here in March 👊
@@MindfulWingChun yeah definitely I would like to see if you can set me up. I try from time to time, also with a heavy pole. I can hold it about an under arm length away from the position you are doing. I marked that spot in order to measure progression. Cheers bro.
@manoamano3699 Maybe the one that you use is heavier than this one, and you can do it with this one already!! Well check it out in March..
Be careful with your wrists though and don't push it too hard
Are you saying that any force that only works through a human requires a compliant participant and will not work without compliance ?
Not at all!!!
@@MindfulWingChun Thank you for taking the time to reply
I guess the balance between physical and internal should be maintained. Now, it also depends in the person, I guess when you develop that type of internal power, I suppose, training your muscles won't make sense. But in a medical viewpoint, having muscle atrophy for lack of physical excersice could be bad for your health.
I don't know if internal training could help against muscle atrophy while one gets older, also falling and injures from lack of balance could be bad for a person that gets older but like I said, I don't know if internal training helps against those.
But great video, I always had this doubt about internal training. It will also good to know if you can make this type of training with chronic illnesses like back problems, hernias, diabetes, high blood pressure or heart problems.
Yes Lorenzo, it definitely comes down to personal state of the body, goals etc. and everyone is different.
In my opinion, even if someone reached very high levels of internals they should still keep their physcial body in good, strong condition. The body is a vehicle for the internal energies and they can not be separated. The better state the body (and of course mind) are, the better everything works. I personally thing about the body as a system and don't think about the muscles separate from the other connective tissues, chi, bones, organs, blood, breathing system etc. So I try to keep the entire system balanced and working well. But yes, if someone is extremely tense muscularly, then that pits the system out of balance so they shouldn't add to that tension with their training.
And yes, this method of Kung Fu can certainly be done for people with the issues like serious back pain(have had many students young and old heal it with this), hernia (I had one and had it operated on 15yrs ago), diabetes (I have a student, Kaming, who is doing ultra marathons and loft heavy and can relax), etc.
and what you said about the science that is coming out about the importance of muscle strength linked to longevity is an important thing to consider. Muscle strength does not mean being a body builder. We can see Yogis who are not very muscular but who can demonstrate the strength of their bodies by holding difficult Yoga poses, who live to 100.
So, my thinking is that you don't need to give up physical strength and performance to gain internal abilities in Kung Fu. On the contrary...
@@MindfulWingChunThank you for the long and detailed reply. I hope more people are able to learn about internal training and its benefits. It's thanks to people like you that this knowledge is becoming more available to everyone. I want to try it too after I am get better with my knee, because after seeing a lot of videos (about your style of wing chun and in kung fu in general), there is a lot of training done with static positions and knees bend.
Weight Training has always been in even the Internal Arts. The Wing Chun Pole has Weight to it. Tai Chi Swords have weight
As I'm sure dozens of the other weapons back in the day when there were no guns. We can also find it in old writings (and that's why it's shown in movies) where masters had 'super-human' strength for lifting things like massive pieces of stone
I've got a broomstick (I don't have room for a long pole) with a small hole that I tie a light kettlebell onto the end for exercises like this you can hold it at various distances depending on your level.
Nice! great creativity 👏
I'd like to take the credit but I got the idea from watching 36th Chamber of Shaolin where he has to hit the bell with the weighted stick. @@MindfulWingChun
RESPECT. 🙏✝️ 🇬🇧
Thanks Lloyd. Happy New Year to you and yours mate
Do you believe in chi or bio mechanics?
Ah you explained ! Thank you
My pleasure. Yeah, both. But without sound biomechanics there can be no proper control of energy in relation to producing force and power. And those who claim they can and onky show on compliant partners are sadly kidding themselves and others.
Having said this, there are many beautiful practices like various meditation and breathing practices like the Yogic Pranayama that ate very powerful for mobilizing energy for the purpose of healing and spirituality. However, they can not produce combative force with those practices alone.
Those who say what they do skips biomechanics have, unfortunately, a big misunderstanding in their practice. This is my personal opinion of course, according to my years of practice, and having met many who claim they are Chi masters but can't even mobilize the shoulder or hip joint while under pressure of incoming force...
1st
😅😅🙏