Todai Ling CLF & TKD Progress

Ling,

Keep up the good work in your training.  It is a good idea to practice & follow the best that you can on demonstration videos of which you feel comfortable with, when you receive the lessons, things will then be refined & then from there, you should have less corrections that need to be made & my feedback at that time will be of the greatest benefit.  If you can get that sparring video up, it will be nice to see, if not, it’s ok.  Most people are reluctant to allow sparring videos to go public, which is understandable.   I’m very glad to see that you are putting your efforts in reading material relevant to the Martial Arts, all I can say is keep up the good work.  Osho is amazing.  We are very glad to have you on board, I feel you have much positivity to contribute to this kwoon.  The meaning of “Ling” fits you very well, it is a good choice.

Sidai Kong Introduction

Thank you for participating in the intro. video to allow Todai's to get to know you a little.

ZEN FITNESS @ THE LAKE

 

Zen Fitness Training! By Sifu Freddie Lee
Every Sunday from 10am-11am
Location: Rogers Park Beach
7700 N. East Lake Terrace
(Rogers Ave @ Lake)

 

Hey 49th Ward.
Help keep the community healthy and happy, by exercising
on our beautiful lakefront at Rogers Beach Park .
We will cover, stretching, cardio, strength training, and meditation.
ITS FREE TO THE PUBLIC! 
You have no excuses to get in shape.

Classes will continue every Sunday though the summer.

*Donations accepted*

facebook_invite 

The Husband With No Rhythm

For this morning’s round at the park, I was joined by my wife, Adrienne. She prepared at home while I was doing my calisthenics stuff (leg day), and then came out to meet me for stretching, basics, drills, and kata practice. All is easy and relaxed when she joins me, nothing too serious, good fun. In the following videos, she scolds me repeatedly for mucking up the rhythm in one of our drills, though I think we’re far enough away from the camera that what we’re saying can’t be entirely overheard (too bad)… 

The second video is a run through some goju kata

HEY GUYS MY  NAME IN LIGHTS!

MY THOUGHTS:

I'LL GET BETTER IF I DON'T  DIE FROM THE BURN OUTS.

INTRODUCTION TO
ROTOR CUFF INITIATED ARM EXTENDING MOVEMENT
[ANATOMICALLY SPEAKING MEDICAL SCIENCE HAS EMPIRICALLY VALIDATED
OVER AND OVER THAT THIS ARM POSITION IS THE FAR STRONGER AND
DOES NOT  ALTER THE NATURAL POSITION FOR WITHSTANDING GENERATED AND
PLACED UPON IT STRESS-OR TORQUE FORCES:
FROM SHOULDER TO WRISTS.

LOOK, READ, AND PREPONDER.............

LOVE YOUR TOOLS MORE THAN THE COMMON CHOICE OF

EXCLUSIVE LEARNING AND CONDITIONED PREFERENCE.

ENLARGED WORDING:

IN THE LEAST WORDS WITH VISUAL ILLUSTRATION……ACCORDING TO EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM THE PERTINENT SCIENCES BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF EXCLUSIVE LEARNING AND CONDITIONING, THE BONE STRUCTURE OF THE ARM IS AT IT’S STRONGEST WHEN KEPT AT THE SUPINATION POSITION AND THE WEAKEST AT THE PRONATION. 
ESTABLISHED, CONFIRMED, AND CASE CLOSED.

ANY DEBATE OR PHYSICAL EXPRESSION TO THE CONTRARY WILL EVENTUALLY AND DEPENDING ON UNPRECEDENTED FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO PENDING INJURY…………RESULT. 
THE CHOICE IS YOURS.

AS THE OLD SAYING GOES- THE FOOL SEES DANGER AHEAD AND
DOES NOT AVOID IT

PART 1 NEXT

HERE IT IS:

2-ANOTHER

3-MORE     

_________________

THE SLOW PACED SHADOW BOXING IS IN THE HOPE THAT

YOU CAN SEE THE ROTARY MOTION OF THE SHOULDER MUSCLES AND

THAT THEY DO EXTEND THE ARM MORE ECONOMICALLY THAN THE ACCUSTOMED

MANNER IN WHICH WE ARE FIRST TAUGHT TO DO SO.

LOOK AND NOTICE THROUGH EMPHATIC OBSERVATION.

IT'S ABOUT THE ROTARY MUSCLE'S FUNCTION MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE

YOU MIGHT THINK WHILE WATCHING.

THIS FOLLOWING ONE IS ROTOR CUFF PUNCHING MOVEMENT FOLLOWED BY
SHADOW BOXING ARM MOVEMENT PUNCHING:

Before the Intellectual food ....earlier I said, I'm going to continue punching until I knock over the free standing bag...it didn't happen......it broke in half....so here I am hitting it after I patched it up to hold together:

\____________________________________________/

 INTELLECTUAL FOOD :

Ever notice how effective, cool looking and in control the training looks when performing movement

in contrast to when it is time to fight for your life? their movements suddenly look like crap.

There ought not be any difference whatsoever.

Under pressure while in combat for survival you ought look

the same cool looking and effective as when there is no pressure in practice;

two different animals!

PENDING

Mistakes Are Opportunities

The theme of my practice today became: Mistakes and accidents are opportunities for learning. This is a well-known principle where I come from. All someone has to say is, ‘Nitsi’pahtsa’pssi’ (I made a mistake), and everyone assumes they will try to learn from it. Of course, when the mistake involves posturing and movement of the body, you have to try to correct it on the spot, if you’re aware of it, and then remember to do it right the next time around. For some learning, you end up making the same mistake many times before the correction sticks. Main thing is to keep that correction in mind, and make the effort to do the movement over and over and over again, trying to improve it each time. This is why it helps when others are able to witness and point out your faults, even the ones you’re aware of… it’s not a thing to begrudge, but another means of motivation

When I arrived at my training grounds this morning, I found that one of the larger trees had lost a huge branch. You’ll see how I try to take advantage of this situation to learn something that could even save my life in the future, i.e. how to predict which tree branches may be in danger of breaking. I then proceed into the cardio part of my workout, starting with some bends-and-thrusts with push-ups, then sit-ups, then aikido-style tumbling.  As usual, I have taped a bunch of stuff today, a little bit of everything that I was playing with. I recognize that even these abridged offerings are long videos, and people might not want to sit through the entirety. That’s why I’m giving this description, so if there’s something particular that interests you, the video can be forwarded to that point

Anyway, after the rolls, I got down to stance and kata practice. I worked some more on the CLF start, but on review I’d say this is not much better than the first time around, a couple days ago. I did integrate a more dynamic cross punch with loose return hand into the horse stance with the CLF. Between rounds of this leg-burner, I also practiced the seipai kata from goju, which is another one I’m just learning. You will see that I attempt to do the kata with an opposite start as well. Whenever I’m training a new kata or form, once I’ve kind of got the basics of it, I make sure to practice it on both sides. If it normally starts with a movement on the left, I will also practice it with the start on the right, and so on through the whole thing. You’d be surprised how hard it is for even very, very experienced people to perform their katas starting in the opposite direction. Me… I see part of the martial arts practice as a pursuit (never entirely achieved) to be able to move your body, in a split second, exactly the way you want it to move. Attempting to learn new kata is always a good reminder of where one stands currently in relation to this pursuit. So… I fumble, and that’s okay. I’ve left in one good stretch of video where you can see me botching it, fixing, repeating, etc. I end this practice with another attempt at the CLF. Next time, I will try to flow through at least two rounds of the stances without break. At the end of my video, I’ve returned home, changed into shorts, and then taken up hitting my backyard makiwara and doing a few exercises with a log (including holding it on my outstretched forearms while in a horse stance, which was not really easy). All good fun though :)

Hey Everyone!

Thanks to watching your Intro videos, I've been motivated to make one too!
It's been great seeing Todai's outside the kwoon just as dedicated to FMK.
I look forward to getting to know everyone, and hope you enjoy my intro video.
 

-Todai Ai

Sidai Wei: Introduction to FMK Todai's

Hey everyone just wanted to say hi.

This is an intro video I did today. Enjoy! :)

Initial Philosophy Contribution

Having not expended any of my holiday leave yet this year, I’ve taken a few days off work to do some maintenance around the house. This morning I awoke to fog and mist, which made for a very pleasant shadow-boxing session among the trees at my park. I then came home and took advantage of the cool weather to direct my attention toward our yard and garden. Part of what appeals to me about FMK / Zen Martial Arts is its holistic approach, including the diet along with everything else. Thought I would show you guys my garden and how I am growing healthy, organic food as an aspect of that wider perspective. Also, I figured it might be time to make my first philosophical contribution, and decided I would go right to the heart of the matter that seems to be commanding so much of Shi Zu’s attention – the mainstream propensity toward competition, aggression, and violence

Working on a sorter / categorizer for FMK Family Videos

**** SEARCH ****

FREDDIES MODERN KUNG FU 

 YOU-TUBE VIDEOS (VERY ROUGH DRAFT)

 

 SEARCH Freddies Modern Kung Fu - YouTube Videos.

Enter a SEARCH term into the empty box , 

then click the Search FMK YouTube button.

For Example the Below Words with links will show what pages would show up based on that word.
CONTACT
WEI
TODAI
 CLF
JONG
SHUNYUAN
FAMILY 

 

oops... I just noticed YouTube has a SEARCH CHANNEL option once your on the channel.  The only difference is this way you can watch multiple videos... Oh well , just a rough start...

...................

 ô¿ô Kong

...................

Initial Attempts At CLF Start

So last night, I finished watching the initial videos Sifu sent me, covering the four stances that will go into the CLF form, as well as breathing, and how they're to be combined and practiced together. This morning, drawing from that memory, I integrated it into my dawn workout. Since it was also my day to jump rope and run, this turned out to be a very leggy session. My thighs were burning afterward, and I needed to do a goju kata to kind of cool down, but I really enjoyed it... even though I botched the CLF stuff up pretty good, over and over again. I cut more than half of the attempts out of the video, but what I left is a fairly accurate depiction of how I was doing throughout. Given that this was an initial attempt, drawing from memory of seeing the video instruction one time only, I think things were going alright. It's definitely a worthwhile routine for the legs. Also, I would have trimmed the jump rope portion of this video down considerably too, but I liked how it looked from this angle, and so left it in. Please skip past if you're getting tired of seeing this old guy jumping around

"Sifu, I've seen it all"

How sight has become the best way to manipulate masses

It is undeniable that today, sight has become the first of our 5 senses. Continually stimulated, it has the strongest influence on our behavior.

Vision can represent up to 90% of our perceptions, and a large portion of the brain is dedicated to the processing of the millions of pictures we are exposed to everyday. Therefore, it is not surprising that the oppressors invest so much time and money in movies and video clips.

The modern man goes from one screen to another: from computer at work to computer at home, to the tactile screen of a mobile phone to the GPS of a car, ending up in front of the TV, until critical consciousness has totally left his body.

The total number of hours we spend in front of a screen is alarming : 8 hours for an adult, nearly 10 hours for a student (18 – 24) These young people watch the smallest amount of live TV of any age group (three and a half hours a day), but they watch the most online video (5.5 minutes a day). Source : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/business/media/27adco.html

Being 24 myself, here comes my point: watching online videos allows you a much more larger number of possibilities. Therefore, the younger generation is given a larger choice of programs, including more extreme videos that are part of the internet, where every possible desire finds its response. From sexuality to violence, most of young men “have seen it all”.

Identification : an obstacle to Consciousness

The problem is the difference between “seeing and doing” and the critical question of consciousness. As Shi Zu Freddie Lee stated “all they really do is watch people doing things”. When you are a young person developing your identity, you mostly identify with a subject: most frequently a famous sports player, a singer, an actor or an athlete. Let’s face it : there are very few leaders and an infinite number of followers. The internet allows you to collect data on this person, and tabloids will let you know anything of his private life. You will feel closer to him, to the point where your ego (the ideal representation one has of himself) will be very close to him/her. Therefore one part of you (the unconscious, egoistic part) will assume that you can do the same. This results in a false sense of superiority towards real people.

The scene I depict is nothing new: how many out of shape crawling couch potatoes can you hear on a game day?

The Master/ Disciple relationship in a dead end?

Therefore, when a young man walks into a dojo, he has seen bricks breaking, gun shooting, online murders. He might even identify with steroid-injected athletes in a cage destroying the people in front of them. He assumes he already knows a lot about martial arts styles and fighting. What works and what doesn’t. He is here to pay only for what he wants in a merchant/customer relationship that doesn’t fit with the martial arts. His teacher or master (the title is rarely accepted as it is a sign of submission), compared to the best gymnasts or fighters in the world seems very petty. He might have 20 or 30 years of experience he doesn’t look so strong after all.

Our goal, as martial artists, is to help these people getting over the fake wall of illusions and to enter reality, developing mind, body and spirit. At first it will be hard for one to realize his own weakness. But with courage, progress will start to show and the one who was once an arrogant boy may become a wise man. As an artist, he will then be able to express his own visions and creativity.

Not to post pictures of how great we are on the internet, but for a better self-image of himself and humanity.

Todai Ling

Todai Charlie Introduction

Some Riding Punches

Did an evening session at Sensei Taka Kinjo's gohakukai dojo last night, where the absurdity of sports combat was discussed in some depth. Ended up getting to bed fairly late, so allowed myself to sleep in this morning in order to compensate, and this meant less time than usual at the park before work. Feeling a bit weary as it was, I pretty much just fed the ring-billed gulls, stretched and did some stance work, both static and moving

I've been watching some initial videos Sifu sent me links to, really thorough introductions to basic postures and how to understand their functions in relation to fighting postures. Of these, I've never really worked with the cross stance, and so this is some new learning for me, which is good. Also, I'm getting a taste of the techniques component of the Zen Martial Arts curriculum Sifu has put together, and I really appreciate the level of instruction

One of the practices I'm familiar with is moving in straight lines with the stances, and combining them with basic punches and kicks. This morning, I played with moving in several directions, more freestyle, mixing through the stances, weaving around my cluster of trees at the park, etc. It was kind of awkward, owing in part to the patches of slippery mud at the base of each tree (they'd just watered before I got there), but also to my inexperience just trying different ways of flowing between them. So I"m going to play with that a bit, and hopefully put something up eventually when it looks half-way pretty. In the meantime, thought I'd at least post a couple minutes of riding punches I taped today. This is good evidence of where my flexibility and leg-strength is at right now, having recently taken such a long break. Not way far off the mark, but definitely needs some work as well...

 

Wood Lock Chinese Medicated Oil

http://www.amazon.com/Wong-To-Yick-Medicated-Analgesic/dp/B00176GV2C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342631310&sr=8-1&keywords=woodlock+oil

I highly recommend this oil to heal bruises, sprains, strains, joint & muscle pains. 

Xiaolang Introduction - Part 1 - The 'Low Tech' Way

Is anything about blogging 'low tech'?

...Well, probably not, but I have called it that because I realise that doing a written introduction is probably not as exciting as a video but I do not have access to a video recorder at the moment so I am afraid I will have to do it the old fashioned way.

Anyway...

Hi everyone!

My name is Xiaolang (translation: 'Little Wolf') and I may go into why I chose this name at a later date. It is a real pleasure to have been invited by Sifu Freddie Lee to take part in this blog and to meet all of you, and great to meet you again todais Kang, You and Jia!

 I will do my best to keep this brief because I would like to do a video introduction as soon as I can source a camcorder but I wanted to just give a quick shout out saying 'Hi' and giving a bit of basic information about myself.

 I am 30 years old, I live in England and have been following Sifu Freddie since he began his channel back in the winter of 2009 and have been communicating with him via emails since mid 2010. He has really inspired me to step up my attempts to better myself body, mind and spirit and I have to say, I am loving the journey.

 I trained in Wing Chun for four years whilst I was studying toward my Wildlife Biology & Natural History degree at university. I am passionate about nature and wildlife, particularly canines (as you may be able to tell from my Chinese name) and already I can see that there are others involved in this blog that share my love of the natural world, which is fantastic. I will save the rest of my interests for my introduction video.

 I think it is awesome that so many people have started to gather together in this idea of peaceful expression, free of competition, ego and aggression and I hope that we will all be able to learn from each other and share ideas, thoughts and guidance.

 Okay, I think that will do for now, if I don't stop now I will keep on writing and Sifu Freddie will attest to just how long I can waffle on for if I don't keep a handle on it. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will get my mitts on a camera that takes video and will post an introduction video.

 Again it is a pleasure to be here and a pleasure to meet you all! I look forward to getting to know you all better in the near future.

 In the mean time if there is anything you would like to ask me or want to talk about then don't hesitate to give me a shout.

 'Til the next time my friends!

 All the best and keep on smiling,
 Xiaolang

Jumprope2

Dips2

Pushups1