Category Archives: Progressive Training

Immediate and long term benefits of practice

Health Benefits, Progressive Training,

eclipses

When practicing some form of exercise there are immediate benefits that are the result of just one session and there are long term ones that manifest themselves after months and years of practice.

The immediate effects of a Kung Fu session can be compared to taking your car in for a service.  You may change the oil and filter, top up all the key fluids, and make sure there are no serious issues that need to be taken care of.  With clean oil and a new filter your car leaves the service feeling the best it can in its current condition.

The long term effects of Kung Fu training can on the other hand be compared to upgrading your car.  I used to own a Mitsubishi Eclipse some years ago.  It was a fun fast and relatively cheap car.  It came with 210 horsepower and could do 0-60MPH in around 6.5 seconds.  The crazy thing about that car is that it could be upgraded to over 600HP.  The engine remained the same, the main thing that changed was how much air was pumped through the system.  From the air intake, to the Turbo, all the way to the exhaust, the air flow was maximized.  Other components then needed to change to match the new system, such as the suspension, fuel injection, and electronics.  Additional instrumentation was added to see exactly what was going on to enable fine tuning the performance.

The cool thing about upgrading the Eclipse is that the fuel efficiency of the car was actually improved for regular daily use.

The parallels with developing a Kung Fu body are very interesting.  Breathing efficiency has the highest focus and the amount of oxygen flowing through the body is maximized.  Skeletal strength and stability while moving are next, this is like the suspension of a car.  The efficiency of the digestive organs which deliver energy from food, or our fuel, is also improved.  Kung Fu requires improvement in reaction times, this is our electronics.  Finally a deeper awareness is required to continue fine tuning and developing all of these aspects.

The result of continuously challenging one’s body and mind to develop it to its full potential is that regular daily life becomes easier and more enjoyable.

So try a session to experience the immediate effects.  When you get a taste you will then be able to imagine what the long term effects will be like.  Don’t waste your time, start today and enjoy them for yourself ASAP.

Progressive Training

Health Benefits, Progressive Training

When studying mathematics understanding basic operations such as addition and subtraction is just the first step.  After these are mastered the student moves onto multiplication, division and beyond.  Studying only addition and subtraction has very limited use.

evolution-of-math-understanding

The same thing goes for doing exercise.  With any art of movement it is first necessary to start with very basic exercises.  Once these are accomplished, it is time to move to the next level, one that builds on top of the previous one.  Then the next level, and so on.

Unfortunately today most people never experience this.  They go to a gym class, they follow a group.  They get some benefit, then progress slows down, then they get bored.  They may stick with it because they know it gives them some health benefits or they might try something else.  But they rarely go deeper and the benefits of the practice do not increase beyond a certain level.

Eventually old age sets in.  Maintaining a healthy active body becomes more difficult.

Ba Gua Zhang training takes a progressive approach that has been polished over millennia.  It challenges and develops every aspect of the body and mind.  These include flexibility, strength, coordination, speed, balance, awareness, and concentration to name just a few.  Each facet has corresponding progressive training that can start at your current level and will never stop changing.

The main benefit of this lifelong practice is optimal health throughout your lifetime.  So why not start today?