Related reading-Wushu waist and leg basic skills
China, no matter what sects, should have flexible waist and legs, clear distinction between reality and reality, steady footwork and no disadvantages of drifting. Therefore, people who practice Shaolin Boxing must first learn the basic skills of beginners, and take the soft waist and legs, flexibility, firmness and strength as the basic kung fu for practicing boxing and equipment. The Shaolin School is like this, and Tai Ji Chuan is no exception.
There is a saying in China Kung Fu: "Exercise your bones and muscles inside and outside." About internal training. Why does Wushu Kung Fu particularly emphasize stretching tendons and pulling bones?
Bone is a human skeleton, and tendon is a bundle of bones. Tendon contraction, joint adhesion, tendon extraction and joint opening. Tendon atrophy and osteoporosis. Muscle depends on qi and blood for health, nerve depends on conditioning and blood depends on support. There are seventy-two bones that support the human body. Among the seventy-two sections, the knee joint is the most heavily loaded, followed by ankle joint and wrist joint. Of course, other joints are not unimportant. Therefore, stretching muscles and pulling bones, lengthening limbs and basic skills of waist and legs are important compulsory courses for learning Wushu.
By stretching your muscles, you can lengthen your body and make your muscles elastic, strong bones and strong muscles. China, no matter what sects, should have flexible waist and legs, clear distinction between reality and reality, steady footwork and no disadvantages of drifting. Therefore, people who practice Shaolin Boxing must first learn the basic skills of beginners, and take the soft waist and legs, flexibility, firmness and strength as the basic kung fu for practicing boxing and equipment. The Shaolin School is like this, and Tai Ji Chuan is no exception. The basic skills of Wushu are like building a building with a deep foundation.
Just beginning to practice boxing, like other sports, you should do some preparatory activities first. When the body is slightly warm, the blood gas will be smooth. Although each door is different, it is always nothing more than' stretching tendons and forking, bending over and kicking, turning arms and expanding chest' and so on. Practicing leg flexibility is a compulsory course for beginners of Wushu. It is necessary to "soften" your legs and create good conditions for yourself, so that it is easy to make difficult moves such as splits, leg lifts, feet lifts and whirlwind feet in the future. To make your legs "soft" is "flexible" in martial arts terms.
(a) Basic skills considerations and training steps
The method of practicing leg flexibility is to "stretch muscles" at first, and then use various methods such as "pressing, wasting and kicking". In fact, it is more necessary to persist every day.
(1) When practicing, you can wear heels with cloth soles or soft rubber soles. Loose clothes, Chinese standard is the most suitable, and sportswear is also ok.
(2) Practice direction: Don't face east in the morning, don't face west at night, don't face south in the afternoon and never face north. It is more appropriate to practice in the morning and evening, or in the afternoon. (5: 00 am to 7: 00 am, afternoon 15 to 16, afternoon 2 1 to 22: 00; This is just a simple description of the standard. If there are other circumstances, you can arrange them at will. )
(3) Age and progress of Kung Fu: Adults, people over 18 years old, must not intensify their efforts and need to persist for a long time. It's a good time for teenagers to practice their basic skills when they are over ten years old. However, more attention should be paid to ways and means. Children around the age of ten are just practicing, but they should not be forced to do it gradually. Because, in the growth and development period, it is especially important to pay attention not to rush! This kind of flexible kung fu is easier for women than men and takes effect quickly. As for the progress of kung fu, it is entirely up to you to control the degree of pain you felt at that time. Remember: "Pain and numbness, no practice." Pay special attention to the following two points: first, the process of stretching tendons requires endurance and continuity. You can't fish for three days and dry the net for two days. If you don't stretch your tendons for seven days, the tendons stretched in front will shrink back, which is equivalent to not practicing. Secondly, the "sudden progress" of tendon stretching is dangerous, and the progress of tendon stretching must conform to the physiological performance and scientific nature of human body. I have seen many cases in which the muscles of the waist and legs are torn due to sudden movements, and disabled martial arts practitioners are left behind without seeing a doctor. So, don't be eager for quick success.
(4) Here are the steps of "stretching muscles and stovepipe"
Generally, this kind of "stretching muscles, wasting legs" means using one leg to support the weight of the body, straightening the other leg, putting the heel at a certain height, and then stretching the ligaments of ankle joint, knee joint and hip joint and the muscle group behind the leg through the action of leaning forward of the upper body or pressing the knee with both hands.
What's even better is this. I have been stretching my tendons since I was ten years old. Very convenient. Is the first step with the help of the ground, or with the help of the vertical plane of the road cliff, one leg squats, and the other leg straightens the heel to press the vertical plane, and the heel of the sole must not leave the vertical plane. Stand up slowly, lean forward with your upper body or touch your front legs and knees with your hands, and stretch the leg press ligament and muscles at the back of your waist and legs.
Then, step by step: the first step is preparation; The second step is to stand up; The third step, first contact the toes with the elbow tip of the upper limb, which can be maintained; Step 4, touch the toes with the forehead of the head and keep it; Step 5, reuse the tip of the nose and touch the toes to keep it; The sixth, highest and final step is to touch your toes with the tip of your chin and keep it.
In this way, the left and right legs stretch repeatedly, and the left and right legs stretch each other for fifteen minutes every day. It takes a year for teenagers to stretch their muscles to the top. Adults should need two or three years of unremitting efforts to gradually achieve the goal of improving leg flexibility. In order to avoid the strain of muscles and ligaments, we must not rush for success. Before "exhausting your legs", you should make good preparations. You can run to relax before you start doing this homework. This is called: "the basic skill is diligence, and when you cross the bridge, you will cross it."
(5) Kicking training
The ancients said,' You must be a daredevil if you don't slip your legs in boxing'. Absolutely makes sense. Pay attention to stretching tendons before sliding legs, which is also called "kicking". It is one of the basic skills of Wushu. Both beginners and people who have practiced for a long time must keep practicing. The contents of leg-slipping include: front kick, oblique kick (cross leg), side kick, inner leg, outer leg swing, hind leg (purple crown back kick) and other leg activities, which is quite traditional. Finally, engage in routine activities of fist equipment. At the same time, we should engage in exercise with a happy and relaxed mood, so as to achieve good results.
(2) The basic skill of waist and legs is also a compulsory course in Tai Ji Chuan.
In particular, if you want to improve your boxing skills, you must work hard to stretch your muscles and pull out your bones. The most basic requirement of traditional boxing for the "appearance" of human body is "weak and boneless". Only when the appearance is "as soft as bone" can we adapt to the rule of "using tricks as it changes" in fighting and defense. Laozi's Tao Te Ching says: "The bones are weak and the tendons are soft and firm", "The world is the softest and the world is the strongest". Only when one's body reaches the artistic realm of "softness and bonelessness" can one have "softness" and achieve the most straightforward use of internal qi when attacking. Only in this way can we have the magical realm of "stalemate, combination of learning and fighting". This is the essence of traditional boxing. There is a saying in the boxing proverb: "Be like water." If you want to improve boxing, especially internal boxing, you must work hard to stretch your muscles and pull out your bones.
Now people think that Tai Ji Chuan has no waist or legs and can't lay a foundation, which is wrong. Those who learn to practice Tai Ji Chuan are taking a "shortcut" instead of trying. Beginners began to practice Tai Ji Chuan routine, but as a coach, they didn't practice basic skills, and students didn't know what basic skills were, so it was misinformed. As a result, the basic kung fu of China Wushu has been lost.
When the predecessors practiced Tai Ji Chuan, when they first started boxing, they had to practice the flexibility of waist and legs, stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance of stance In fact, Tai Ji Chuan takes the waist and legs as the initiative in every movement, and so on. Without waist and legs, it is difficult to move naturally and pose correctly, which is even more difficult to understand. For example, power, hand holding is only an aid, and its activity center is in the waist and legs. Boxing classic says: break a thousand pounds skillfully. The same is true of strength. If you only use your hands, it is laborious and slow. It is better to use your waist and legs skillfully. There is a saying in the boxing proverb: "The root is in the foot, the source is in the leg, the main body is in the waist, and the shape is in the finger." Now many people are not good at practicing this kind of boxing. It should be noted that most of them don't pay attention to practicing waist and legs.
In the traditional Tai Ji Chuan posture, there are only five kinds of legs that are obviously exposed, namely, left and right wing legs, kicking legs, kicking legs, flying legs, single pendulum lotus legs and double pendulum lotus legs. People who don't understand think that Tai Ji Chuan is not good at using the leg technique, but they don't know that in Tai Ji Chuan's moves, every imaginary step contains the leg technique. This is Tai Ji Chuan's secret. You can only understand it when you study and practice to a considerable extent.
In boxing, some legs are meant to kick people's shoulders, and some Shaolin boxing factions also kick people's heads with high feet. Tai Ji Chuan didn't use stilts, except to avoid injury, but also because the practitioners didn't practice the basic skills well, so hitting people with their legs was slow and easy to be caught, which led to self-defeating and being caused by others, so they had to give up using their legs. In fact, there are many kinds of Tai Ji Chuan's legs, such as wing, kicking, kicking, swinging and stepping, which can be used at will. However, we should pay special attention to the fact that the application of "lifting in the air" must be fast and must not be taken away. In order to exert strength, the focus must be on the consistency of waist and legs, which must be achieved and not moved. Never, move your waist, move your legs, and move your legs. There is a saying in the boxing proverb: "Hands are two doors, and you can win with your legs."
When beginners are not skilled, they often feel that the fist is not round, the waist is not sensitive, and the legs and feet are ineffective, all of which are caused by the shortcomings of not practicing waist and leg kung fu well. If you can train your waist and legs to be flexible, and you can move forward, backward, look left, look right, lift, dodge and block, you can use all your physical skills to enter the room.
Tai Ji Chuan's advantages are well known: gentle movements and natural breathing; Be quiet while moving, and hold your breath. But little is known about the benefits of waist training. When practicing Tai Ji Chuan, you often rotate your waist, so that the Mingmen point of your waist can be stretched. Mingmen point is between the two kidneys. Men are used to store sperm and women are used to store cells. Promoting fluid production is the key to the strength of the human body. The fire of life gate is transpiration, which can turn qi into blood, be promoted to spirit, stretch muscles, move into strength, and be full of qi. On the contrary, symptoms such as pallor, low back pain, cold knees, joint pain of feet, bone pain, and weakness of yang all start from the damage of life gate and involve the kidney.
Therefore, the waist is very important to the human body. If you can practice properly, the weak will be able to reach the realm of health and strength. If you keep practicing, your skin will be moist, your face will be red, your ears will be red, your temples will be full and protruding, your eyes will shine, your tongue will swell, and you won't drink water. These are all phenomena in your life, which have a lot to do with health and wellness. It can be seen that the importance of Mingmen. As far as modern physiology is concerned, if the waist of the human body can often do proper exercise, the involuntary muscles of the viscera can increase the exercise strength, which is of great benefit to the kidneys and intestines. Furthermore, if the waist and kidney can be sound, it will have a great effect on all parts of the body, especially making it easier to reduce food poisoning.
Waist skill is the basis of martial arts posture. As the saying goes, "If you don't practice boxing, your skills will not be high after all", which also shows the key special effects of practicing Tai Ji Chuan's basic skills of waist and legs.
Sit cross-legged: Regular practice of cross-legged can improve the flexibility of legs, ankles and hips, make legs and hips soft, and help prevent joint pain. In fact, it will relax the muscles of the whole lower body. Long-term cross-legged practice can slow down the blood circulation in the lower body, which is equivalent to increasing the blood circulation in the upper body, especially in the chest and brain.
This posture can also make the respiratory system unobstructed and make people breathe smoothly. Harvard Medical School receives nearly 10,000 patients every year. In addition to giving drugs to patients, doctors often teach them to meditate cross-legged, so as to eliminate mental stress and strengthen their physique. In Japan, the trend of becoming a "one-day nun" has arisen in many places, that is, female bodybuilders meet to go to temples to meditate cross-legged and fast, which can not only relieve stress and eliminate troubles, but also exercise. Sitting cross-legged can be said to be a sitting posture lacing method. Buddhism, Taoism and yoga all advocate this method. It can be said that sitting cross-legged is a safe method, which has been practiced for thousands of years.