Kung Fu Body Conditioning DVD 2

Kung Fu Body Conditioning 2: Traditional Training for Endurance and Power” with Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming begins with an introduction that shows Dr. Yang training students at his California retreat center. The first thing I though was, “wouldn't it be great to be able to live and train there with a man as knowledgeable as Dr. Yang.” After this 5 minute introduction, one of Dr. Yang's students provides a quick introduction regarding what is featured on this DVD.Next, we have Dr. Yang describing basic qigong and the importance of martial grand circulation breathing. He brings in students to help illustrate how to perform the different qigong exercises he teaches in the program. (Including some on Taiji Ball Qigong and Candle Staring) The end of the qigong section of the DVD is at approximately 51 minutes.Part 2 of the DVD focuses on conditioning exercises. Arm conditioning is first and includes candle punching, punching with weights, staff fundamentals and more. This section is taught by and illustrated by some of Dr. Yang's students. And while I prefer Dr. Yang teaching, these students do a good job of sharing what they have learned from Dr. Yang. At approximately 82 minutes, the students start teaching and sharing leg conditioning exercises that include brick rooting and jumping exercises. At almost the 95 minute mark, the training switches to bag kicking and kick training. The six kicks focused on in the program are toe kick, heel kick, ramble kick, external sweep, internal sweep, and straight cut kick. At approximately 108 minutes, the ten stances are taught. These include horse stance, four-six stance, mountain-climbing stance, tame the tiger stance, and others. Drills for each stance are shown to train the legs. This section ends at approximately 118 minutes.Part 3 of the DVD teaches Partner Drills. These include reaction drills, distance drills, and arm conditioning drills. Again, this segment of the DVD is taught and illustrated by Dr. Yang's students. It concludes at approximately 148 minutes.Part 4 of the program is on Outdoor Training and includes information on training both the arms and legs outdoors. Things such as post punching, weight vests, pullups, dips, cinderblock flipping, log running, monkey running, and trampoline are covered. These are also taught by Dr. Yang's students and the program goes to approximately the 195 minute mark. It then has a section to music showing Dr. Yang's students training outside in a wooded area. Again, it makes one wish they had such a beautiful location to train. This goes to about the 201 minute mark.The DVD then concludes with Dr. Yang discussing preserving Kung Fu today and the deeper meaning of martial arts. I agree with Dr. Yang that we should preserve the older arts, and greatly appreciate his teaching to do just that. This DVD is excellent for showing the older training ways that have been passed down for many years. I also really liked his emphasis on the philosophy of martial arts and not just the physical for hurting or killing others. Dr. Yang is a wise man and I hope many listen to his message. There are then a couple of outtakes and the program ends at 210 minutes.Like many of YMAA's DVDs, there are previews of other DVDs in the bonus section. Also like other YMAA DVDs, this DVD is has excellent production values in regards to the filming and sound.With modern science, we have advanced physical training methodologies that have taken athletes to the highest levels. That does not mean we can't learn from the past. I really like this DVD for a couple of reasons. One, like Dr. Yang, I want to preserve the older teachings and this DVD does an excellent job of teaching and preserving the older Kung Fu body conditioning methods. Two, the program provides alternate training than many are probably used to, and that can be refreshing and bring results different from what one might be currently doing. I like mixing my training up once in a while, and the exercises and drills contained in this program provide a lot of different ways to train and add variety. I also liked the emphasis on training safely to build power without injury.If you are looking to include some older conditioning exercises and qigong into your training, or just want to academically research the older Chinese training methods, I highly recommend this DVD with Dr. Yang and his students. It's an excellent program on traditional training that builds on the first DVD.

Good training

As with all of Dr. Yang's videos within his YMAA Publication Center, he creates a foundation of balanced opposites, and then proceeds to inspect the various details generating this balance of the human essence (body, mind and spirit) through martial movements and conditioning. Volume Two of Kung Fu Body Conditioning achieves this very delicate balance through engaging very traditional training methodologies.This single disc set is organized in a detailed flow of lecture, integrated with Dr. Yang and fellow students, demonstrating key physical principles of traditional martial conditioning. Dr. Yang begins this instructionally enriched DVD with explaining basic qigong. Learning to better control one's breathing, posture and internal energy flow translates into stronger internal and external sustained platforms of operations. It is important to learn how to open one's naturally occurring energy `gates' existing in the body, if one desires to gain and generate more power and fluidity in all external expressions of martial movements.Once the foundation is made pertaining to breath-control, opening energy gates within the system for both internal and external disciplines, the physical drills and exercises follow.The first set of drills and exercises address upper body conditioning, and here we see drills using candle flames to focus punching power, and progressive arm movement using wooden staff and long metal bars in swinging applications for developing both coordination and strength-endurance so important with extended hand-held cold-weapons work. There are drills hitting the heavy bag, in this segment, as well, and with a twist, there are multiple, free-swinging heavy bags one strikes as if dealing with multiple adversaries.The second set of drills and exercises address leg strength, endurance and coordination through balance drills on vertically stacked bricks, vertical and horizontal jumping drills, along with numerous kicking exercises and extensive stance work.There are numerous partner drills presented, focusing on developing sensitivity to adversarial movements and reaction speed sensitivities, such that, we are able to respond more quickly and more correctly to the typical adversarial cues we might receive for real. Also, in the partner drills, the issue of developing sensitivity to distancing, to and from our opponent, is stressed so that we can eventually develop an intuitive level of correctly assessing distances between the self and others. Included, are the traditional arm conditioning drills made famous within the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, here, too, which obviously, own their origin to traditional Chinese martial arts conditioning.The part I enjoyed the most within this DVD offering, is the segment addressing outdoor training paradigms. The outdoor "gym" Dr. Yang has created at this Northern California Retreat Center is simple but, dare I say: harsh. It is absolutely challenging, and offers a natural way to develop martial kinematics in a fashion that is specific to the need to move in a combative environment.There are numerous pillars buried into the ground that look essentially like tree logs covered in heavy padding and black duct tape for punching and kicking. Again, this set up, like the free-hanging heavy bags, offers a type of multiple adversarial attacking practice and sensitivity. In this outdoor training there are the typical vertical high chinning bars and parallel bars for upper body work. There are grip-strength drills flipping rectangular cinder blocks; work done wear weighted vest and runs with rock filled backpacks. Yes, militarily harsh, and I love it.In addition to the above workouts outside, there are agility drills where students run along long piles of randomly stack logs. It reminded me of logs dumped in a papermill about to be processed, and how the logs are just dumped all about. Running along log piles provides one the opportunity to stress and generate great agility and balance or else fall into a heap of hard logs--ouch. Also, students engage in a type of parcour running around the main house, jumping about, and running along waist high wooden fences and tree boughs. Fitting, it is called "monkey running" in the video, and is definitely a unique anaerobic/aerobic mix of working.The one training tool present in this video, that, to me, seemed out of place, at least for a traditional approach in training students, was the use of a modern day trampoline. While this can be fun and develop unique gymnastic abilities, it just seemed rather an odd addition, and misplaced.In the concluding remarks, Dr. Yang discussed the importance of preserving truly traditional training methods along with the importance of achieving a deeper spiritual connection with the development of all martial movements, as was once originally fostered in the Ancient and Old Chinese Martial Disciplines, and how today's over commercialization of such traditional approaches of practice and learning are causing this spiritual essence to erode and die out.Dr. Yang does want to maintain that balanced triad of human attributes in his martial teachings, and why in this video he stresses developing and refining the entire human being: body, mind and spirit becoming as one functional essence, harmoniously in balance with nature and the surrounding environment. This DVD's conditioning and training methods succeed at illustrating at least one approach to achieve this goal. Well done! And this second volume is a great continuation, progressing naturally with the first DVD addressing total conditioning of the martial practitioner.

The purpose of the information in this 2-dvd series is to establish the first necessary step in martial arts training - to put the student's body into excellent condition in preparation for the rigors of the martial arts training to come....both to develop the student's strength to properly perform that training, as well as to help strengthen the body's defense against injuries.There is a wealth of clearly-presented information and guidance for each of the different conditioning exercises. In addition, variations of different degrees of difficulty are presented to continually challenge the student as he or she gains strength and endurance in their progression from beginning to advanced stages. Although some of the advanced conditioning exercises might appear to be extremely difficult to some people, there is so much helpful information that is of great value; and conditioning exercises, stretches, range of motion movements and meditation that are of immediate benefit and ARE possible right now to a beginner. And, as the student attends to the things that they can do at this time, they will discover that they are doing things that at one time seemed impossible to them.I recall occasions where Dr. Yang has mentioned on other dvds that skills in martial arts, as well as other aspects of internal and external training, result only from long and dedicated work; and this 2-dvd series is a good reminder of that. But, this information clearly shows the student the way to establish an excellent physical and mental foundation for those skills to develop upon.

Absolutely brilliant!Highly recommended,this DVD of Kung Fu Body Conditioning 2 is absolutely amazing and very informative. I purchased the 1st one and found it very useful so it made sense to purchase the 2nd one.Glad I did.Packed with content as always and you can't go far wrong if you collect all of Dr Yangs library!Go for it!!All the best Matt