Yin and Yang

My own path through martial arts and wellness maintenance has taken me down many avenues. Currently I do several things to stay healthy and develop character. The first is and has always been martial arts since 1993 coupled with my interst in sports and fitness. 21 years on I still have a range of things I do that is right for me now.

http://www.marklauren.com

This is the body weight training regime I follow. Presently I am am working my through his first class program which is his intermediate one, tomorrow I start week 7. I love body weight training as it is honest and great for self motivation as I can't ever rely on anyone else to maintain my health, only me. There are no short cuts and secrets as the women's' mags would have us believe. Only hard work and effort. Oh and it is free and I can use the kids climbing frame for my pull ups!!

http://sadienardini.com

Her style of power yoga is tough and bullshit free. 30 minutes of her YouTube videos will challenge most people

There is also the boxing workouts that I have posted on here which are great for cardio and having a focus if shadow fighting is not something you can easily spend time doing. He loves burpees so be prepared for some taxing work.

Perhaps the most yin aspect is I still do the tai chi form I learned many moons ago. Now I do it upon waking in the garden because it gets the body ready for the day and the movement is nice. I used to do lots of standing and sitting meditation but my preference has been moving meditation. I am going to put up some videos soon of me doing the form not because I am some kind of wizard but just to illustrate what it is. The style is called old Yang style and is said to pre date Yang style which is the most widely spread form of tai chi. It differs as it has several faster and jumping/leaping attacks. And I love it because it is my movement. Contrary to belief, no one owns movement, no one owns martial arts, so my form might look shite or different, but who cares?

Finally there is our style practise which generally includes me ponsing around in front of some reflective surface throwing slow punches to check my stance, structure, the chin to the shoulder, the weight, the extension, the rotation. I even try slow visualisation of the techniques and drills. I find this very mentally challenging.

I am really interested in what other people at the club do so be sure to add your comments to this. Indeed add your comments to any of the blog posts. It would be great to get some type of discussion going on any of the topics covered in class or even things outside of class, how people are getting on, what they enjoy, find tough etc. train hard, train safe.