Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu Training Diary / Blog

Bit behind on my posts this week so Im going to catch up on last weeks monday, tuesday and wednesday training in one post and just list the training I did with a little detail when its needed!

Monday Hakka Mantis

Got to class early and stretched, ran through chow gar forms as well as the kalari forms. Worked on Say Ban Gen Sau and some of the gungs.

Trained in the 8 section sensitivity drill before the class started. Warm ups came after with stretching and some of the exercises used to warm up that relate to movements we do in techniques and forms. After warm ups came training steps with san sau followed by saam bo gin (if chy sau and doy jong used for developing power than saam bo gin is used to bring out that power and refine it. Its also a power building form…general thoughts!).

After saam bo gin came yum yearn kum la sau - ying yang seizing hands. This was broken down and covered slowly with applications. Always useful and helps to remind you of techniques, body and hand positions as well as the names of the techniques in chinese.

Partner work followed with long rounds of chy sau with different partners, mor jao training (good for building strength on a few techniques - claw, mut sao, tan kui, got sau), sensitivity drill.Finished with some gung training for back and ribs.

Training that we should be doing at least? Saam Bo Gin 3 times a day and at least 20 press ups a day…not difficult to do really is it? Just needs to become part of a pattern in your daily life style! That perhaps is the hardest part, adding or breaking a habit!

Tuesday Tong Long

Before the mantis training I did the class in kalari and worked on the forms, techiniques and applications, two man drills and hindu squats.

Hakka mantis tong long training started with warm ups, gee lik gung (finger / clawing type gung using the opening and closing from saam bo gin and really working the ribs and stance) and iron step gung.

After the gungs we went straight into yee kup saam bo gin, 9 top asking hands, mor kam claw training, 18 dark internal power hands and clamping palm. The mor kam and qi gung forms I like to train as it has a lot of emphasis on breathing, using the waist with each techniques, building internal power and it is the softer side to the style.

Partner training followed with mor jao and pic jao. Mor jao your partner claws your bicep from the inside and you mut sao to break the grip. With Pic jao the claw is done on the outside of the arm and you have to peck sao to break the grip and continue to finish the rest of the drill.

Training finished with a new dip gwut gung exercise I had not train before and a new sun sook gung training exercise.

Wednesday Tong Long

There was lots of chy sau…lots of chy sau! Lots of yau loong chy sau and doy chong. Everyone pretty much trained with everyone as partners changed. It was great and tiring and an effort to carry on and keep good form and power.

Forms trained - saam bo gin (pretty much an effort to do this after all the chy sau and doy chong), law sun sau and finished with buk kui chy sau (a hard chy sau to do (yea yea i say that about all of them) which works different muscles and joints in a different way. The power being worked in buk kui chy sau is the outside power I think.

One to One

Trained and got more detail on gungs for the throat, steps / legs and ribs - dip gwut gung. Trained and corrected the forms yee kup saam bo gin, clamping palm, 18 dark internal power hands and learned a sitting down qi gung type exercise for strengthening back and stretching - good for overall development of power.

Learned some of the Bo Sim Ma steps and sidewards cross steps and finished with Kalari training (new form, applications of the forms techniques, where to strike marma, two man drills and applications and corresponding organs and marma points to aim for).

Thursday Visit

Made a trip to Shepards Bush to visit Si Gung David Ip Chee Keung at his london class as he was making a short visit to UK. Had a nice chat and asked about punching in Chow Gar (with regards to the elbows being completely down and the release of power either being full or a little being held back). Jumped in to help some of the students with some tips on training elbow pick chong and got back to speaking to Si Gung David.

Last saturday I got to the hakka mantis class a little late (traffic on the roads I swear!) so I missed a lot of the beginning of the class. I walmed up quickly and joined and ran through san sau - ying kam more so.

We spent a good deal of time on the 9 top asking hands and its sections thoroughly. The sections and some of the techniques were broken down and the applications were trained two man. This was really good and I learned a lot from it and it will make my techniques and form a lot more better with the some of applications in mind.

I trained forms and gungs for a bit and than partnered up for fighting form and lots of 2 man fighting drills. Spent a good deal of time on the mantis fighting stuff and finished with conditioning.

The next hour or more was spent on the grappling class which included most of what i have posted about before and lots of rounds with different partners working from stand up, ground, different mounts, working on locks and getting a tap out. All good fun and very tiring and physically demanding stuff.

Kalarippayyatu

Another hour of my training was spent doing kalari. I ran through a lot of form work, getting it right and training them on both sides (left and right) as well learning a new one and working on the ones I was weak on. Trained 2 man drills, fighting drills, locking drills and finished with some new sword work I hadnt done before. The sword work was very good as it was very close to the body and requires use of the waist and body moving together with the sword.

Training for me finished with muay thai style pad work to really finish off. Worked on constant kicking on pads non stop for a few rounds on both legs. This went to kneeing (techniques to knee from front and side) and than doing constant knees on pads with partner.

Saturdays is always a great and demanding training session that really makes me sweat and work!

Im behind with my posts, been very busy. I keep notes so I dont forget but it takes me a little while to write it all up. Once I get a flow I usually type on for longer than I intend too, so this will only be a short post.

The first class is the weapons class and I usually try to do both mantis and kalaripayatu weapons. I spent the majority of the time doing kalari stick work, pure stick work. I worked on 2 man drills, 13 hit and defend drills, footwork, hand postioning of the stick, locks and disarms using the stick and the fighting 2 man stick forms.

After training the indian sticks I finished by doing southern mantis pole sparring geared up with the chow gar students in the other hall. Trained for 3 rounds with different partners working on moving, using good technique and defending. Good fun.

Tong Long Mantis Class

Class started with warm ups and we trained the following forms - saam bo gin, yui kui, pin kui, yum yearn kum la sau, law sun sai and mo ying sao. One thing stuck out in what was said while training yui kui. The arrow punch in yui kui should be done as one motion step and punch at same time, like an arrow being released and peircing - sharp and powerful (as opposed to step first than punch). When you release an arrow from a bow the wire doesnt stop and than release the arrow.

Partner work followed training in yui kui chy sau, doy chong, fighting form, two man fighting drills and conditioning. Conditioned with a partner kicking different parts of the legs and ribs, back of palms, forearms, geng tan chong, gow choy jong, gow choy hitting and a two man conditioning which trains legs, palms, arms, stomach and hips.

Class finished with san sau with steps and chi gung breathing.

One to One

Trained and worked on yee kup saam bo gin. In the form I wasnt rounding my back enough and pushing the shoulders down and forward enough so my back wasnt fully rounded and I need to use my ribs more effectively.

Trained gungs as I have mentioned before and asked some more questions regarding where I place the tension, how I breathe and why we do this, . Learnt 3 new dip gwut gung exercises with were difficult and made my sides ache aswell as everything else! I keep saying it, gungs are demanding physically.

Went over the chy sau’s I have learned and added 2 new ones - say ban gen chy sau and fun sau chy sau. The fun sau chy sau was really good and has a lot of circular motions and sensitivity to it for both partners. I was tired from the training before so doing chy sau really kills me off, my arm feels dead and very weak, but i give it all i can as its good training to go past your limits.

Finished the rest of the class with Kalari. Trained 2 new forms and applications as well as going over the forms I had learned perviously and having them corrected. I learned a new short form that incorporates a lot of elbow attacks whilst moving forward at 45 degree angles and turning.

I find training the kalari gets me to move a lot more, twist, turn, jump and do forms according to shapes / patterns that require you to fight in many / all directions whilst looking and constantly keeping your eyes fixed on an opponent…there are also cool techniques where you pick up something (i.e. sand or debris) and throw it at the opponents eyes.

A lot of the techniques require you to cut right through and use good footwork, waist and not be so tense. I’m learning to use my body a lot more because of it as well as move a lot more freely and looser. Love training this art.

On Tuesdays if i can get to class early i train both kalaripayatu and chow gar tong long. Started the kalari with warm ups and went into the long and short kalari forms with repeating on the opposite side for each form. Spent quite a while on this working with a partner and helping each other through it with some corrections.

After the forms trained techniques, 2 man lock drills and fighting drills. These can be pad work or drills using kalari techniques (punches, kicks, chops, elbows and many more). The locks I really like and the counter locks or escapes. So much to learn though!

Southern Mantis Class

Training started with how gung (two types we trained to build the neck / head specifically but also other areas) and the iron step gung. Had some clarification on training these correctly such as where the tension and compression is to be placed.

When i train the how gung I put effort into keeping my tounge up, clenching my jaw tight, tensioning my neck muscles, tightening my lips and concentrating on working my stance and other body parts while im training it (and doing the motions while pulling tightened muscles / against tension - as it seems you do in these types off gungs). When i finish my jaw and neck does ache and I consider it worth it if it means I strengthen my jaw / head better to take a hit.

Chow Gar mantis form work came after and I trained yee kup saam bo gin (use my ribs more and really push out the arms and round the back so shoulder blades dont point out), bic sarn, 9 top asking hands form (told to make the techniques distinctive and more refined so each one is used and can be seen), first section of bo sim sau 6 times and 3-4 of the 18 swimming dragons (had my stance corrected, body posture and told to make more use of my waist and body.)

After form work I trained yui kui chy sau with different partners for a long period on both arms. Yui kui chy sau is just as tiring as you are driving forward in one motion with the arm and the leg - back and forth with tension. Burns the legs, feet ache, arms ache, waist and ribs….argh. love it.

Finished with gee lik gung which I found hard to do as I felt tired so I did a mixture of constant tension and lightly. I still gribbed my stance and tried to use dip gwut gung and towards the end I put everything I had in it till i felt like my arms were going to drop off.

Got to class early to train on my own and work on techniques, forms and general exercises. Started with general stretches concentrating on my hips and hamstrings and arms as they feel too tight of late and I really dont spend enough time regularly stretching my legs and hips.

I than trained the form 4 way gate hands and worked on using my waist and ribs in conjunction with the right posture and correct execution of the techniques. It takes time and practice to do the forms using the waist and dip gwut gung on each technique consecutively and with good form, so I slowed it down to get more feeling from it while getting the right lines and imagining applications.

I than did yee kap sarm bo jin slowly so I could concentrate on using the ribs for the shock techniques with my waist and firm stance. It felt better doing it a little less fast and working on getting the right feel. I did feel the techniques to be sharper and I felt more in my ribs and waist, so I must be doing something right .

Afterwards I wanted to work on mo ying sau also known as no shadow hands. A cool name eh?. Its a short form and has a movement similar to a pak mei form, i.e. forward moving forward grabbing claws. I like the form as it uses headbutts, one of my favourite moves! This form is done quickly but I did it relatively slow so I could get the right movements / techniques and go over anything I felt needed work on in the form.

I did the same process for training kau dau sau with a mixture of adding power and constantly checking myself and feeling and imagining applications. For each section I went slow and fast aswell as repeating anything if I made a mistake or wasnt happy with it. As its training on my own I like to do this as I feel its good to make time to practice more and perfect / work more on what you know.

Once forms work was finished I trained many different kicks and kicks with hand techniques. Similar if not the same as I have posted about earlier. I used front kicks, low side kicks inside and outside and trained in different stances and positions.

With some time to spare before class I went over kalari forms and techinques movements. I went over forms I had newly learned and worked on my footwork and positioning in some of the steps, they need work. Another kalari student came in and we finished with some two man fighting drills using chops, kicks, turns and spins.

Good stuff and warmed me up for the class.

Southern Tong Long Mantis Class

Class started with forward and backward steps, cross steps, cross over steps, toong sut knee raises (toes pointing down, knee up and across, sharp and fast, land and grip) and mouse steps on alternative sides backwards and forwards.

After I went to help a beginner with baat sic - first 8 movements of the first saam bo gin form and how to step punch and first the closing. We went over it a few times and I talked him through it as I did the form next to him. I joined back in the class and we trained the second chow gar mantis form - saam gin yui kui. In the initial baat sic I opened the ribs at the started and closed on the downward strike, than opened them again as i came up and closed on the last elbow strike. I was feeling it out and trying to concentrate on this and the float, spit, swallow and sink principles. The baat sic is the beginnning of many of the forms.

Next we trained with speed and power Law Suen Sau, bao jong gow choy, i think we did the 9 hand drill and some san sau. After this we partnered up and did a few rounds with different partners of chy sau and doy chong. I dont go to hard or too strong in chy sau or doy chong but try to put as much power as I can while still keeping good form and a constant controlled tension and use dip gwut gung. Its not easy (I keep saying this but it isnt!). The same applies to doy chong - stance is important, use of waist, elbows down and in, shoulders down, controlled and constant power…its tiring but builds a unique strength internally - joints, ligaments and muscle.

Carrying on with partner work I did fighting form 3 times with 3 different partners. My first partner I went steady and not too fast or strong but enough to get a good flow and try to get the right techniques and principles. The second time was a little faster and harder and the last I partnered with sifu and got a very good and tiring few minutes. Under pressure, fast, moving and hard can be quite a challenge when its coming at you and you can see how you cope. My arms dropped a few too many times from tiredness or lack of concentration or both and I got a lovely hit in the jaw and face . Im sure I blocked but it had little or no effect. Im just glad it wasnt full power with the intent, phew!

Lastly we went over the gau mun sau 9 top asking hands form slowly with some clarification of techniques. The class finished with san sau techniques and a bit of chi gung (which ended up being very hard as my arms were tired and it burned!).

I couldnt stay for the grappling class as I had some family stuff to get home for (summer holidays are always full of family things like visits, weddings, going out, birthdays. I tend to get out of them most of the year, lol, but I have enjoyed a lot of them this year.)

Train hard and be well all.

No training this wednesday as it was Rakhee so I had to do shopping for gifts and get home for the occasion. Nice to spend some quality family time and have a rest (though I am eager to train as wednesday is a great session for me and I kept walking off to train with the broadsword quickly lol.)

Kalari

I got to the kalari class before the mantis class on tuesday and it was tiring and gave me a great workout overall. The perfect warm up for a mantis class? haha.

Started with kalari warm ups and trained a lot of the forms and their techniques on both sides. This in itself is tiring as you train the forms back to back and repeat on both side (some only have a few techniques but they are repeated in 4-5 directions).

We did partner work with pads and a lot of moving crocodile press ups, hindu squats, hindu press ups, snake press ups, jumping kicks continuously and a few other equally difficult and tiring exercises intended to build strength. They are demanding on the muscles and on your lungs. It was a struggle to do a lot of the exercises and I did my best but I was soon breathing hard and fast and sweating loads.

Good training and it made me work but all my warm ups before mantis should be like this… .

Mantis Class

After initial warm ups went into strengthening gungs training a number of times on alternating sides. Gee lik working on clawing, opening and closing of the arms, the ribs and stance work. Than we train iron step gung and 2 different how gung (throat power, jaw, head, temples). My jaw and neck was really aching after this as I made the effort to work it.

Next came yee kup saam bo gin with which I trained paying attention to using my waist, the ribs and sinking. We ran a new technique or training method I hadnt done before which is like single mor jow training. It is a continous clawing exercise using the waist and opening and closing of the fingers while doing a fun sau type motion. It really burns the arms and forearms and I think this is a good exercise to do in place of chy sau. Will have to look into this.

Partnering up I trained dan kui doy chong (i think this is the right name) which is a 2 man strength and sensitivity drill that uses tension while changing from one technique to another whilst sticking to you opponents bridge. A tiring exercise and hard on the arms as we trained it up and down on both sides.

Continuing came a two man double mor jao exercise changing partners which includes clawing, coming over your opponents arms and than clawing his arms and so on. Doing this constantly and slowly makes the form arms and hands burn and really works on the ribs and elbow. After a few rounds of this came yui kui chy sau which was hard to do as I was feeling tired and my arms ached. I still burned through it and put as much as I could into it.

Class finished with hap jeurng gung - clamping palm with notable use of the waist / ribs in conjunction with the arms and going over all the 36 san sau.

Another good few hours of training for me and I felt really good afterwards! But still need to train harder and get stronger!

Before Class

As I got to class one hour early I trained on my own and worked on forms, techniques, kicking and kalari.

I started with yee kup saaam bo gin and working on this slowly concentrating on techniques to make sure I was using ribs and closing and using the waist.

Once I had finished this form I went in to mo ying sau twice slowly again working on techiniques, applications behind the movement and techniques, steps and movements of body and techniques together. Mo ying sau has clawing techniques driving forward, head butts, very fast moving defending and attacking hands, sharp movements and the form when done should be performed fast and with shock.

After mo ying sau I trained bic sarn and worked on moving / steps whilst doing each technique (techniques with steps / movement). I broke apart some of the techniques from the form and trained them on their own. One section has bao jong, inside and outside palm (same hand aimed at blocking the arms), chop, gow choy, chop, gow choy. Nice combination and I ran this a few times on both sides.

The next form I trained was Gau Mun Sau - 9 top asking hands. I worked on the techniques with use of the waist and any techniques I felt lacked power I would do again to try and feel the mechanics of my body and the technique and generate the power that was comfortable for me. I like 9 hands as it introduces some turning methods with attacks and stance changes that are new and different. It takes some getting used to as you dont train or see them till this form I believe.

Next I worked on poon loong kerk on a hard uncomfortble wooden floor…slowly of course and not too hard from stand up to floor. From here I took some of the kicks and blocks from this and trained them singly with steps on both sides. I than worked on kicks with hand attacks and blocks. Front kicks, low side kicks with inside and outside of foot, chambering kicks from front and back leg, moving out at angles and kicking and so on.

With some time to spare before the class started I worked on some new kalari steps / forms I had learned as well as the ones I hadnt practiced properly. I trained the long and short forms that I felt rusty on and referred to my written notes to help me remember!

Chow Gar Class

Class started with stretches and warm up exercises and from there we went into the steps / footwork. Trained in forward steps , backward steps, cross steps, half forward steps, toong sut emphasising in the sharpness of the knee raise , stepping with grip and closing ribs aswell as sinking and finally the cross over steps.

After steps came saam bo gin twice slowly with emphasis being made on gripping, tensing the stomach, clawing and bring the elbows in. Some peoples stances and conditioning were tested while doing the form and that made me work even more, haha.

We than went straight into saam jin yui kui - 3 step shake off the bridge and saam bo pin kui - 3 step level bridge. I trained them with the elements of saam bo gin and put power and effort into the strikes and movement.

After forms we partnered up and did chy sau and doy chong. Chy sau tired my arms and body out after a few rounds and even more so when I came next in line for Sifu. Again, i concentrated on knees bent, bosy straight, shoulders down and out, ginger fist tight, arm up, elbows down, ribs and so on. Its not easy, not easy at all and something I am slowly getting stronger at but not as strong as I feel I shuould be. As long as i keep at it and with good form, thats the important thing.

Having trained the power building stuff we partnered up again for fighting form for 3 rounds both sides with different partners. I trained the fighting form with speed, power and intent my first partner and he did the same. Sometimes I felt like my control wasnt as good as it should have been so I worked on that in the next round.

My techniques also got trained as I would get into a bad habit of using my whole body for a certain technique which made me loose my root and structure. I was of course corrected and we carried on. Good fun fighting form and tiring done fast and full on, especially when its done partner after partner.

Carring on with partner work further I trained attack drills, combinations, free flow with certain techniques and different combinations with kicks, punches and takes down a different one each time with the initial partners attack. We took turns in attacking with either sides and went over breaking down the techniques as well as adding extra to experiment.

I was quite tired by now and I got even more tired when we sparred for 3 rounds with different partners. With my first partner I tried using bo sim sau and made effective use of it. I concentrated on relaxing, moving around more, quick feet and almost bobbing and weaving like in swimming dragons. Next I partnered with sifu and he used swimming dragons and moved and flowed. I tried to do the same and it wasnt easy. I attacked, moved tried different techiniques. I got taken down and pummeled and mounted and reacted to this from the grappling as best as I could. Got elbowed, gow choyed,kicked and palmed. good fun.

Class finished with more partner work, saam bo gin (felt heavy on the arms and body and hot), and ji lik with qi gong movements. This was very hard as the shoulders were burning, the arms felt like they weighed a ton, legs shaking , felt really hot and it was not comfortable. I managed to continue without dropping my arms but i had to grit my teeth and try to concentrate on something other than the pain. I focussed on one thing and blanked my mind of the burning and heaviness I was feeling. It helped!

Grappling

Grappling was as it was last week except I worked on a few different techniques / locks from the half mount whilst on my back. We went over all the locks and techniques as usual and worked on them, trained them with different intensities aswell as getting partner feedback on how it felt.

Than most of the class was spent grappling and changing partner after partner working on locking and tapping each other out, trying your techniques and learning from each other. Its tiring and you get hot but its a great work out and learning process.

A nice few hours of training and more to come on tuesday.

Kalaripayyatu Weapons

Didnt train in the chow gar mantis weapons class on wednesday. Usually I divide my time between the two but instead I spent all of it running through a lot of the single long stick 2 man fighting forms / drills. I learnt two new drills / forms and went over some I havent done in a while and some that I had tranied in india, but not since returning a few months ago.

The stick drills involve aiming at marma points and main points that will cause the best damage or desired effect against an opponent. With the movements both you and your partner attack and defend, move, block, change how you attack with the stick and which end you use, jump, turn and so on. They are good drills and teach you how to move whilst simultaneously attacking / defending in different directions and ways.

After a lot of stick work I finished with partner work on kalari knife / machete drills. These are set patterns that involve attacking, moving, avoiding the knife, turning, jumping, locking the partner and taking him down to attack him and he reacts and does a counter lock. Nice drills, i hope to learn more and some of the kalari knife fighting forms (double and single).

Finished and got ready for the mantis class.

Southern Mantis Kung Fu Training

Class started with warm ups and lots of stretches. We than worked on steps consisting of forward and backward steps (both sides), knee raises, cross steps, half forward change steps and a different variation on cross steps. On each of the steps I tried to step and land with the whole foot, grip and lock the stance and sink down with my body (ie closing the ribs and rounding the back).

Next we trained Sarm Bo Jin slowly and I tried as always to perform this as best and as correctly as I could by thinking of the float, spit, swallow and sink principles, gripping the stance and holding it properly, working the ribs, clawing the fingers, punching with elbows down and in, elbows in and shoulders down and everything else I have mentioned in previous posts .

The next form was Law Suen Sau and we did this a number of times with Sifu correcting or showing the techniques. Performing the techniques fast and performing them correctly with the proper body position isnt easy. It takes time and lots of practice. I think there is a difference between doing a form or techniques that looks perfect / nice and one that doesnt in how realistic it is in its use and application. Saying this I try to keep in mind the applications of what I am doing.

The rest of the class was dedicated to partner work.

I trained Chy Sau slowly and really concentrated on my stance and keeping a controlled tension in the full range of motion and experimented with using the waist and ribs. When I felt I was getting tired I would keep my form as best as possible and go softer. We trained until the arms felt dead and burnt pass that. We trained 2 variations of buk kui chy sau which involve pushing the arm or pulling the arm against resistance. These really work the waist, stance and ribs and we tried both made each other work for this.

After chy sau we trained diu sau doy chong but made it more difficult by adding 3 opening and closes for one step. At each movement we would watch each others shoulders / body and help correct it and judge how much power we used against each other. Chy Sau and doy chong being partner exercises usually means helping each other out and working with each other to get the best out.

After the power building we trained combination drills which include a take down and attacking with kicks from the ground to a standing opponent. We ran through a lot of combination attacks on both sides against each other and than trained pad work with attacks aswell as attacking each other and reacting to the set combination attacks. I prefer training the combinations with a person as its extra conditioning for the arms .

After pad word and combination drills we finished with san sau and trained chun sau (passing hand with attack) and ying yang breaking hands (which sifu showed the applications to). Class finished and I got ready for my private, which I usually feel tired for by the end of wednesdays class!

One to One Mantis Training

I wont spend too long going into too much detail about this private as its taken me a few days to catch up on my posts so far!

We started with the chow gar power training / body strengthening gungs and Sifu gave me some further information as well as reminded me on the gungs and how to do them correctly (one useful bit of information is that you should be tensioning the legs, grip and be rooted and not forget about them).

We trained how gung (iron neck), back and waist gungs, dip gwut gung and iron step gung. As I have said before, the gungs are quite energy draining and tiring. I asked sifu how to breathe in certain gungs and he showed me the pattern when doing them. As I trained the back and waist gung Sifu explained where the tension was and hit my back, solar plexus and stomach. I took it and only really felt it on my solar plexus - but not pain or winded.

We than went through the chy saus but concentrated on only a few while quickly going over the ones I had done already. Training the chy sau was hard and tiring. Sifu kept me going when I felt like I couldnt move my arm any more and I didnt want to give up or say I cant do any more! So I carried on even when I really felt like my arm was weak and not doing anything. When one arm was finished we swapped to the other for the same thing.

I learned 2 new chy sau’s - a ginger fist wrist locked type chy sau. This was really hard and put a lot of emphasis and pressure on the elbow. Its pretty much a forward and backward chy sau aiming at each others solar plexus and Sifu said that you always keep the wrists together and the ginger fist tight as well. This felt like one of the hardest chy saus I have done personally, dont know why. hehe

Next chy sau was yau loong chy sau which has a motion similar to a figure 8 on its side. It uses a lot of waist movement as you go into the partner and deflect the arm in a constant motion. Its a good chy sau and I intend to work on it. How you move the body and use the waist with the arms takes practice and your partner correcting you. I was leaning too far into a part of the chy sau too much and not using my waist and keeping quite straight.

One to One Kalari

After the mantis training we went over the Kalari. I went over one of the main long forms we train and apps. Sifu than showed me two more short forms which use elbow attacks (with the body in a position that it is behind the elbow and he corrected my footing and posture). There was also a step jump called the peacock step which took me a few tries to get used to.

I worked on the forms and stepping on both sides to drill it into my head. There was a lot there as they utilise grabbing, punching, back hand punch, clearing, kick blocks and more. Sifu corrected me and explained as well as showed the stances to put power in the attacks.

After the form work I was shown some of the kalari exercises, breathing and yoga type postuers with breathing. There is a breathing method in which you breath all your air out, as much as possible - you suck your stomach in so it is almost touching your spine, you hold it and and than breathe into it. This was hard and tiring.

Sifu also showed a breathing method where you expel the air in short powerful bursts which is used in kalari to remove bad air from the lungs if i remember correctly.

Next came lotus seated posture with the breathing and a method of sitting on the ground and doing a yoga like movement with prayer hand motion and offering in conjunction with breathing. I had done this in my training in india so I picked it up quickly and it was nice to go over it again as I had not trained it for a while.

The last training was an exercise in kalari train the knife edge of the feet for kicking. It involves balancing on the outer edge of the feet, stepping on them and than doing a hindu squat motion with correct breathing.

We ran over what I had just learned and I mentally noted them all to write up on my train journey home so I could practice them later in the week.

I know this is a southern mantis blog but since I train a few things and different exercises I think its worth noting them plus its good for my own reference. So I will add some short information about the kalari and other things I train in time.

Kalaripayyatu

On tuesday the mantis class starts at 7, before hand is the kalari class. If i finish work on time I can make it and train extra. I made it on time and started with the kalari warm ups which involve yoga type postures and movements / drills related to the movements / techinques from the art.

After the warm ups I went over the short forms which are trained on both right and left hand sides. The forms use kicks, elbows, figure 8 hand techniques, punches, chops, moving and attacking all 4 sides (north, east, south west) and many techniques. Once I ran over the short forms I know I trained the longer forms (sifu came and corrected some of my form) and than broke down some of the attacking techniques to drill them.

Class finished with some very tiring and hard exercises - hindu press ups, jumping crocodile press ups, hindu squats, snake press ups, straight arm side plank, side planks rotating to opposite side. My whole body ached after these and I couldnt do some of the exercises for a long period or properly after a certain time or number. Must train harder and more often ni these!

Finished and loosened up and got ready for the mantis class.

Chow Gar Training

Class started with gungs - we trained jee lik, dip gwut gung exercises, how gung (throat), and the back and waist gungs. Gungs take a lot out of you, they are quite energy draining given the tension and movement against tension and the breathing. I really felt it all over after a while and even when its got tiring and burned I pushed on through to do my best. I find there is a connection you have to make with the mind and body to place the tension equally as well as in the place you are concentrating on.

After the gungs we trained the softer saap baat um gen sau a number of times slowly, breathing while using the waist in conjunction with the arms moving in and out. Having trained the gungs even doing this form was quite hard as my arms felt like lead with the weight and no tension.

After the gungs I did a number of forms - yee kup saam bo gin, bic sarn, 9 hands and the first section of bo sim sau. There is a form called jor kui but I dont know it yet so I watched with great interest trying to imagine the applications behind it. The forms were done fast and with power and I had some corrections to make and take into account in each of them.

Next came chy sau and yui kui chy sau over and over with different partners. This kills the waist, ribs, arm and my legs especially. Its a good chy sau and utilises the waist moving the arm in motion with the leg pushing forward. Doing this back and forth does get harder and harder and by the end of this and the class I was sweating and feeling tired…and loving it.

Finished with some breathing and correcting my opening movements on yee kup saam bo gin. Nice couple of hours of training and looked forward to wednesdays long training!