In his book (Pathnotes of an American Ninja Master), Glenn Morris says you can mess yourself up pretty bad if you do qigong without putting your tongue on the roof of your mouth. He said something bad happened to him, altho I don't remember what.
Wannabe MMA guy
In his book (Pathnotes of an American Ninja Master), Glenn Morris says you can mess yourself up pretty bad if you do qigong without putting your tongue on the roof of your mouth. He said something bad happened to him, altho I don't remember what.
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Who is Glenn Morris?
I do have to admit, I'm already forming opinions since he calls himself an "American Ninja Master".
Last edited by The Xia; 08-19-2006 at 03:26 PM.
Six Harmonies/ZiRanMen
He has wrtten some cool books and has great experience -he died a few months ago.
Horse stance and stances in general:
Apart from just breaking through and pushing yourself out of the comfort zone and into the fire -which you must do - try this....
Meditation will help alot I run an excersie that I got from Dr Morris funnily enough its called the mind scrub.
When doing meditaion practice counting numbers on each breath -one number on the inhale and one number on the exhale breath and so on.
As soon as a thought enters your mind other than that number start again, most people get to 4 or 5 and have to start over.
What you are doing is cleaning you mind of clutter and training it to be clear and focused on one thing only ignoring all thoughts apart from that number.
Once you get some practice in you can transfer this over to situations like stance training.
So when you are holding the stance for your Sifu begin the count as described above - this way you are controlling the thoughts or messages that your body is sending to your brain - like ouch this kills and my legs are on fire, you can turn the volume down on these thoughts with this practice.
If you keep your mind focused on only that number and control the breath (breath nice and deep) in this way a minute or two will fly -dont forget to tip the tongue on the top of the pallet either.
If its a tough stance class sometimes I stay on 1 and 2 just trying to stay on top of the signals my poor legs are trying to send me...Then before you know it you have strong foundation as well as a mind like a steel trap
Seeker of peace & wisdom
Originally Posted by Blacktiger
Meditation will help alot I run an excersie that I got from Dr Morris funnily enough its called the mind scrub.
When doing meditaion practice counting numbers on each breath -one number on the inhale and one number on the exhale breath and so on.
As soon as a thought enters your mind other than that number start again, most people get to 4 or 5 and have to start over.
What you are doing is cleaning you mind of clutter and training it to be clear and focused on one thing only ignoring all thoughts apart from that number.
Once you get some practice in you can transfer this over to situations like stance training.
So when you are holding the stance for your Sifu begin the count as described above - this way you are controlling the thoughts or messages that your body is sending to your brain - like ouch this kills and my legs are on fire, you can turn the volume down on these thoughts with this practice.
If you keep your mind focused on only that number and control the breath (breath nice and deep) in this way a minute or two will fly -dont forget to tip the tongue on the top of the pallet either.
If its a tough stance class sometimes I stay on 1 and 2 just trying to stay on top of the signals my poor legs are trying to send me...Then before you know it you have strong foundation as well as a mind like a steel trap
Is this then a form of "Mushin"?
I am reading "Be like Water", currently and they discuss the "Mindless" state of Mushin. I am trying to put that destination on my itenerary.
Iron Bridge, Iron Horse, 1000 lbs sitting, Fist like Hammer, Finger like Sword, Palm like knife, Claw like Hook, Eyes like Lightning, Fist like shooting Star, Body as supple as a Snake, Body alligned behind punch, Horse Stance 1000 lbs., Strong, but NOT stiff... Fast, but NOT weak!!!
What is the point of sitting in ma bu for so long? I'd say if you can hold a solid horse for 5 minutes then you are looking pretty good.
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agreed....
i'm nobody...i'm nobody. i'm a tramp, a bum, a hobo... a boxcar and a jug of wine... but i'm a straight razor if you get to close to me.
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I will punch, kick, choke, throw or joint manipulate any nationality equally without predjudice.
- Shonie Carter
Well that's scares me.....
Third Strongest Disciple
yeah, the requirement for black belt at our school is 5 minutes in a perfect, thighs-paralell, arms-up stance. Some of the higher ranks/degrees have longer stance times. If I can get some more training time in, I might just break 3 minutes...
Sifu once said that Master Lee (Johnny Lee, aka Lee Kwong Ming) requires students interested in representing the Dallas school in Sanshou events to do a 12-minute horse stance, some number of handstand push-ups, one-legged squats and squat sidekicks (i think he said 5 minutes, but I'm not sure... that just seems nuts!)... And then they start working out
I personally find the squats a lot scarier... horse stance is painful, but squats (and leg-presses) move your muscle through the full range... two different types of resistance, I guess.
Last edited by BlueTravesty; 08-12-2006 at 07:26 AM.
"Prepare your mind..." "For a mind explosion!"
-The Human Giant, Illusionators
Seeker of peace & wisdom
Wow, lucky you. I had to sit that way (except our arms were in chamber) for five min. and this was the 1st test!! And as an added bonus, some of our si-hings and si-baks, lined up on either side at about the 2 minute and 4 minute marks and tested the structure of our horse stances. A good time was had by all. Trust me, I'm not complaining, I need focus like I need air!!! I just wish I new about this site b4 the test. Thanks to all of you, I'll be ready for the next one.
Last edited by Wil-Hung; 08-12-2006 at 07:57 AM.
Iron Bridge, Iron Horse, 1000 lbs sitting, Fist like Hammer, Finger like Sword, Palm like knife, Claw like Hook, Eyes like Lightning, Fist like shooting Star, Body as supple as a Snake, Body alligned behind punch, Horse Stance 1000 lbs., Strong, but NOT stiff... Fast, but NOT weak!!!
Registered User
Count out loud. The more you feel, the louder you count. Yes, you will be screaming numbers at the top of you lungs, but it really helps!!
Eventually yo will not need to do this as you will find a relaxation to the practice, but if you haven't found that yet, Yell!!!
Those that are the most sucessful are also the biggest failures. The difference between them and the rest of the failures is they keep getting up over and over again, until they finally succeed.
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Third Strongest Disciple
My sifu is hardly a chumpYes, I know I need to train harder, and I have to admit, when I was up to a good, solid 3.5 min, practicing it in the morning made an 8-10 hour day at work seem much less intimidating.
As far as now, yes, I CAN go 3 minutes. Heck I could probably go five, just not with my thighs perfectly parallel, hips pushed back, back arched and arms up. If I cheat my way through it though (which I would be) I'm only cheating myself, and I'm simply not willing to do that. I don't doubt your stance prowess, but I'm getting there myself. Shoot, I'm trying to GET parallel (hip joint issues.) But I go as low as I can.
"Prepare your mind..." "For a mind explosion!"
-The Human Giant, Illusionators
Seeker of peace & wisdom
I don't know your style of choice, but in my Hung Ga class, the phrase that reverberates through my head is my sifu yelling "BACK STRAIGHT, BUTT IN!!" When you try this, you feel as though you will fall backward, but trying this continuously will structure you better, and your balance WILL adjust. Probably not on your first several attempts.
Disclaimer: I am a newb, so all of what I just said may be MT air, but it is helping me.
Iron Bridge, Iron Horse, 1000 lbs sitting, Fist like Hammer, Finger like Sword, Palm like knife, Claw like Hook, Eyes like Lightning, Fist like shooting Star, Body as supple as a Snake, Body alligned behind punch, Horse Stance 1000 lbs., Strong, but NOT stiff... Fast, but NOT weak!!!
Third Strongest Disciple
This makes sense, since Hung Ga and other southern styles require a totally different body structure than the northern styles. Our back is "straight" too, but it's arched backward, so that the shoulders are in line with the hips (if we pushed the hips back and kept the back truly straight, we'd be leaning forward.) Whenever I do horse stance I find my hips rolling in, trying to keep me stable. I always have to fight to keep 'em pushed back. It looks kinda like the horse stance used in Wushu forms, in my opinion (our Empty stance is also similar to the Wushu version, with the knee turned and the inside edge of the foot just barely touching the ground.)
Note: not ALL northern styles do this. According to "The Sword Polisher's Record" by Adam Hsu, most styles don't push the knees out either (this is hard to do with both feet pointing straight ahead... I usually have to let mine angle out a bit in order to stay low) but rather, go at a "natural" angle.
And no, I DO NOT DO WUSHU. (remembers the famous Seinfeld quote "Not that there's anything wrong with that!")
Last edited by BlueTravesty; 08-13-2006 at 06:27 AM.
"Prepare your mind..." "For a mind explosion!"
-The Human Giant, Illusionators
Registered User
Bluetravesty, sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was insulting you... I always forget that northern styles put less emphasis on horse (I do hung ga for the most part) as well. and I didn't mean to call your sifu a chump ^_^. Keep working hard.
Six Harmonies/ZiRanMen
Yeah I guess so...
I dont do loads of meditation by any stretch but as this practice bulids over time and you keep doing it you will be suprised how quiclky you can use it.
People forget that you have to train the mind as well as the body otherwise your body will control you in situations such as stance training
There is no secret to this stuff just practice!
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