Response to the enquiry about “Chinese strength training exercises”
Chinese strength training exercises are endurance exercises. There are specific exercises for specific groups of muscles and specific limbs.
There are two basic groups of strength training exercises. One strengthens the fingers and the arm muscles, and the other strengthens the legs and the crotch.
To strengthen the fingers and arm muscles, make a fist and then open the hands and stretch the fingers. Repeat several dozen times. Count while doing this exercise.
One of the first “forms” of many Chinese schools of martial arts to strengthen the legs and the crotch is “dun ma bu”, literally meaning “to crouch the horse step”, otherwise known as “the horse stance.” This involves bending the knees until the thighs are parallel to the floor and holding both arms forward and parallel to the floor. It is like sitting on a stool without the stool.
Other “forms” include standing on one leg while keeping the other leg suspended with the leg forming a right angle with the torso; standing with the knees bent at either a 30 degree angle or at a 45 degree angle and holding both arms straight and parallel to the ground; standing on top of a wooden stake on one leg; etc.
In my meditation class, I used to demonstrate two endurance exercises. (1) Get a chair with arm rests. Then do the “horse stance” with the feet on the arm rests instead of on the floor. Be very careful not to fall. (2) Get a dozen golf balls and place them on a carpeted floor. Take off the shoes and stand on the golf balls without shoes. This is very painful. The trick is to keep oneself balanced on the balls while enduring the pain at the same time. One can make this exercise more difficult by doing the exercise on a wooden floor without a carpet. This would then require holding the golf balls in place with the feet, maintaining balance and enduring the pain all at the same time.
masterchensays 