Fall Training
/There is a Chinese saying: Open up to new practices in the Spring, avoid sweating in the Summer, Develop Power in the Fall, and Store Qi in the Winter.
Fall: What is power training? For the most part, power training is the process of improving efficiency. Of the hundreds of different power training techniques one can think of, most, if not all, can be understood as efficiency training. Power training is a process of refining technique. It is the harvest season.
Here is a short list:
Compress (shrink), expand (explode),
Move the whole body as one unit.
Coordinate every part of your body simultaneously.
Focus all 400 muscles on one task.
Use all of your body weight when issuing force.
If you use waves to generate power from one part of your body to another, make sure none of the wave ‘action’ is dispersed before hitting it’s target.
Make all waves smaller and more refined (hidden), so that there is no delay when issuing force.
The process of refining technique can include lots of other aspect of training besides power training. The big question I have for my readers is: How much power does a martial artist need? Isn’t there some point at which more power training is just silly. Isn’t that the point of a lot of Kungfu movies? If my punches can break bones, and knock a man 50 pounds heavier than me to the ground, do I need more?
Isn’t it true that after I have developed a certain amount of power my curve will start to level off, meaning I have to work a lot harder to get a much smaller improvement? I have heard people say that a martial artist's power can keep doubling every few years, isn’t this just a fantasy?