Martial Arts – General

Relaxation

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Grandmaster Ip Ching speaks of several benefits from mastering the principle of relaxation.  The first and possibly most important benefit of relaxation is that is sets the pattern for learning and eventually mastering the techniques of Wing Chun.

The goal of training is to build correct muscle and tendon memory.  Once you have drilled incorrect body memory they become a habit.  Your body must learn how to move on the correct line of force.  Just drilling punches or movements will not do it.  You have to force your body to become proficient in these movements.  For example:  Drilling punches concentrating on the correct line of power.  Keep your elbow on line.  The wrist, elbow and shoulder must align correctly with the stance.  Paying particular attention to the exact standards of the movement.  This concept remains true in all of Wing Chun whether in stepping, kicking or any techniques.

Again step-by-step is the key for a correct technique.   Illustrated here is another example of a direct line of force demonstrated with a kick.  First, you must keep your foundation leg directly behind your kicking leg.  Second, make sure that the foundation leg remains bent during application.

This principle also applies to defensive techniques.  In advanced stages you must learn to develop your defensive movements.  When attacked try to concentrate on the fastest possible defense.  For example:  When you are attacked with a Lop Sao technique there are several options for defense.  You might utilize a correct Bong Sao, Pak Sao or Tan Sao.  The option will depend on the speed and mastery of the technique you choose.  These skills are developed through consistent Chi Sao practice.

The second reason you should practice relaxation is that it will help you develop explosive power.  An equation taken from Newton’s Second Law of Motion states that one half mass times acceleration equals power.  When you relax, your muscles seem to have more mass.  When your arm is tense the antagonist muscles do not stretch hold the weight of the arm decreasing the mass potential of the movement.  Relaxation also increases your power by increasing your speed.  When your muscles are tense they pull against each other and hold each other back.  Fighting with tension in your muscles is like driving a car with one foot on the accelerator and one foot on the brake.  When your muscles are relaxed your movements will have much greater speed, and therefore much greater power.

Finally, staying relaxed in a fighting situation will help to avoid injury.  When muscles and joints are tense they are more prone to injury.  This situation is often seen in sporting events where athletes are struck during a flexed activity.  Severe injury is often the inevitable result.  When you stay relaxed your body will be able to move with the force of the attack.  Fighters often call this ability, “Rolling with the punch.”

When your ability to relax becomes intrinsic you will have found the key that Wing Chun has given you to unlock your potential.

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Master Ron Heimberger was a direct disciple of Grandmaster Ip Ching, he was one of the Directors of the Ving Tsun (Wing Chun) Ip Ching Athletic Association. Sifu Terry Estcourt represents Master Heimberger in the UK, anyone interested in learning and training Ip Ching Ving Tsun may contact Sifu Estcourt via www.wingchunuk.com
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High-energy karate is only part of the summer camp experience at Integrity Martial Arts! Children not only receive exceptional teaching from experienced instructors, but they also enjoy indoor games, themed activities and outdoor sports.

Active and Fun

Children get great exercise and love to come to Integrity Martial Arts’ summer camp. Integrity harnesses that excitement to teach Respect and Discipline through the martial arts. This is done in such a way that it nourishes children’s self-esteem through positive feed back, overcoming challenges, mastering responsibilities and achieving goals. In between classes, children play games like chess, visit a local park and spend time with their friends.

Real Self-Defense

The staff at Integrity Martial Arts believes that children face real dangers in today’s world and that self-defense is a valuable, possibly necessary skill. They are careful to instruct each of their students on what are appropriate and inappropriate uses of force.

Certified Expert Staff

Integrity Martial Arts doesn’t hire unskilled teenagers to teach their students. All of Integrity’s instructors are certified black belts with extensive experience teaching children of all ages and developmental levels. All senior instructors are certified in CPR and First Aid for the Professional Rescuer. Integrity’s chief instructor, Jonathan Metcalf, is one of only 10 people in the country certified to teach the martial arts by a Higher Board of Education. Integrity Martial Arts is certified as a youth day camp by Connecticut’s Department of Health.

Highly Recommended

Parents enthusiastically recommend Integrity’s programming because of the difference it has made with their children. Integrity Martial Arts has received endorsements from Connecticut’s Governor Jodi Rell, local town officials and several public schools in Enfield, Somers, and Longmeadow.

Not Just For Summer

Maximum Impact Delivered is a safe and fun way for children to spend the after school hours.  It is a program only available to qualified students. The program incorporates the Maximum Impact leadership program and service learning in addition to the trademarked martial arts program. Integrity Martial Arts has contracted with a licensed and insured transportation company to pick up kids directly from school and transport them to Integrity’s studio (dismissal to parents is at 6PM). Parents can choose pick-up from one to five days a week for children who live in Enfield and Somers (grades 1-6). Call now for availability.

Cool, Clean, Beautiful Facility

Integrity Martial Arts’ 5,000 sq. ft. air-conditioned facility has a large lobby, three martial arts classrooms, a playroom and a room designated for quiet time.

How Much and When?

Half and full-day programs (for beginner and advanced students) will run for ten weeks starting in June. Parents may register their children (ages 4-12) by the day, the week or for the entire summer. Integrity’s Summer Camp hours are 9AM – 5 PM (with early drop-off and late pick-up available at no additional charge). Discounts for full-summer registration or multiple family members are also available.

Check It Out!

Discover the difference Integrity Martial Arts can make with your child! Call them today at (860) 698-9226, stop by their studio at 585 Hazard Ave., Scitico Plaza in Enfield or visit their website at www.integritymartialarts.com for Martial Arts for kids.

Integrity Martial Arts Academy provides Martial Arts for kids , Karate & Self Defense training classes in Enfield, Somers, East Windsor, Suffield CT & Longmeadow MA Schools. IMA offers after School programs in Japanese Karate, Kempo,kickboxing,XMA extreme martial arts, chanbara & summercamp, self-defense for kids and adults. Log on www.integritymartialarts.com/ for more details.
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Learning a martial art and how to attack or defend isn’t necessarily why most people decide to learn a martial art.  The majority of people in our society don’t get involved in fights and brawls on a daily basis – in fact a great amount of people can go through life without even going close to one.  Being in martial arts myself, I have never been involved in a fight or had to defend myself in the real world – just in the ring.  So although a minority attend purely to learn the particular martial art, the majority of people do it for Health and Fitness.

The great thing about any martial art, is that it offer discipline, is structured and helps increase physical health and helps with spiritual growth.  To children it can offer discipline and respect – encouraging children to learn another way.  In my years of training I have seen many a child change from being hyperactive to a model student, both in training and in the classroom.  I have also seen it help very shy children become more confident and grow into successful adults.

As well as all the above, martial arts is available to everyone – men or women – young or old, even people with disabilities have done extremely well with martial arts.  In some of my early years, one of the classes I attended had 3 deaf students and there is a great You-Tube video of a great wing chun martial artist who only has one hand.

Martial arts as well as offering a disciplined, structured program that helps increase physical health it also encourages spiritual growth, especially when you chose the right school. For perfect health and well being, we must be healthy physically, mentally and spiritually.  Looking after our bodies and mind together makes for a great combination, one which you will find in the martial arts training environment.

People who attend martial arts sessions have made a commitment to their well being. Whether you go once a week or several times, the real world concerns are left behind and you learn to focus on your body and mind.  Repetitive health routines in gyms and at home can become very boring, at least with a martial art you are learning a skill and becoming healthy and physically fit as a consequence.  It also takes the boredom out of your fitness routine, as you are doing different things all the time and progressing through the ranks as well.

Dedicated practitioners of all ages have well documented health benefits. Improved stamina, conditioning, less body fat, flexibility and balance. Have you ever seen the people at the park practicing the dreamy, slow moves of Tai Chi? It looks mellow but it is actually a rigorous form of stretching, balance, control and discipline. The slow part is healthy because it stretches your muscles, teaches balance and improves willpower but remember; Tai chi chuan means ‚ÄòSupreme Ultimate Fist’.

When you choose a school you must do your research. In this era of mixed martial arts tournaments on TV, there are indeed new schools that focus more on brutality than spirituality. Obviously, these are not good for people who are seeking to improve their health.

Think about your goals. If you are seeking intensive cardiovascular workouts you might want to try Tae Kwon Do or some other Karate style. If you want to stay flexible and focused try Tai Chi and Kung Fu.  I practice Wing Chun kung fu, which is based on ‘No brute force’ and was actually developed by a female.  Also, do not be afraid to switch classes if things are not working out.

While martial arts demand a level of commitment, the key to your health is your happiness. Keep looking until you find the perfect choice.  Find a martial art that suits your personality and your lifestyle and is in line with your values and belief systems.

Wing Chun Kung FuYoung and Healthy
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Making the change from Ving Tsun Sticky Hands to Taijiquan Pushing Hands should be an easy one. Of course, a fire drill is always easy, until one has a real fire in their backyard. Thus, to understand this change one must make a few adjustments in the way they think about things.

First, the Sticky Hands of Ving Tsun is usually done with a certain springiness in the limbs. Someone pushes on your defense, and you give away enough to guide them, and then spring into the opening created. This is a generality, and there is a lot more to the drill, but it is what we must focus on to make our transition.

Second, the pushing hands of Taijiquan is actually a bit misnamed. It should be called ‘emptying the whole body,’ simply, one must give way until the opponent over pushes and thus unbalances himself. This summation of Pushing Hands is quite inadequate, but, again, we are attempting to bridge from one exercise to another, and this is what we must focus on.

Now, we go from giving way with a certain ‘springiness’ inherent in the movement, to a giving way (emptying of) with the entire body. One drill is giving way with the arms, and the other is to absent the whole body from incoming forces. Thus, if one can take the ‘springy’ quality out of the arms, and just concentrate on emptying the arms and the rest of the body, the transition can be accomplished easily.

When an opponent strikes and you feel that the springing quality is not sufficient for the situation, or you just feel like converting into Taiji, match the velocity of the incoming strike, turn the waist, and guide him past. It goes without saying, that he should not feel you manipulate him. It must be a guidance not of flesh to flesh, but of hair to hair. Your touch should be so soft that he doesn’t fight it.

At this point you should be able to question whether you are doing the art of Ving Tsun, or the art of Taiji. The only difference, you see, is in the depth and height of stance. You may be standing in a two legged stance (goat riding) or in a single leg stance of some height, versus being in the deeper shifting stance that is common to Taijiquan.

So we come to the crux of the matter. Give way in sticky hands and let the attacker fall through (or into a lock). Or give way in pushing hands, and then use springiness.

We are not really talking large differences here, merely subtle differences that are, truth be told, inherent in either exercise should one take the time to study gung fu long enough and with a correct eye to the potentials. The whole point here, is to help people who have been trained in one art to adjust to new training and new methods, and new (sometimes just stated differently) awareness. That is how you make the transition from Ving Tsun Sticky Hands to Taijiquan Pushing Hands.

If you liked the data in changing from Wing Chun Sticky Hands to Tai Chi Chuan Pushing Hands, check out Five Army Tai Chi Chuan. Head over to Monster Martial Arts.
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Fighting uniforms are used in many kinds of sports from boxing to martial arts. Not everyone uses them in order to participate in the sport but if you look at some of the most accomplished and famous martial arts experts in the world, you’ll notice that they all wear fighting gi when they participate in tournaments and the like.

This is because there are many benefits to wearing fighting uniforms, otherwise known as gis, when practicing and during tournaments. If you’re still on the fence as to whether you really need to invest in a fighting gi, consider the following benefits.

Full Range of Motion

Wearing a gi will provide you with the full range of motion that you need in order to perform all of the moves correctly. This will allow you to learn everything you need to know without the implications of too tight clothing or awkward fittings. Be sure to order the right size and you are good to go. Otherwise you might not feel like investing in one was a good idea.

Ability to Showcase Your Level

As you progress through the martial arts craft you will be awarded different color belts that look best on fighting uniforms. In fact, it looks pretty funny wearing your well earned black belt around some sweat pants and a t-shirt. The most common color fighting gis are white ones because they help to highlight the colored belts.

An Affordable Solution to Workout Clothes

Instead of having to invest in a set of workout clothes so that you don’t have to wash them after every workout, you can buy only one gi and be ready to go for the entire year, and maybe even longer. This is important in today’s economy so don’t overlook the financial aspects of your investment.

There are a number of reasons to purchase your new fighting uniforms on the Internet if you’re interested in investing in one. The first reason is because you can find a wide range of options compared to what you are bound to find at your local brick and mortar store. Another reason is because you can easily compare the different options available so that you can make sure that you’re getting the most bang for your buck.

You can read consumer reviews to learn what others think about particular products, which is also a great way to learn about new products other people are recommending. Because there is so much competition on the market, you will find the prices to be quite affordable which will make your decision to get a fighting gi for your next tournament or practice. Remember to take your measurements before placing your order!

Fighting Uniforms Can Improve Your Game
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