Health and Fitness

You may have a great martial art's routine but  are you in  a rut?  In order for your body to work at its optimal you need to keep surprising it.  My 15 DVDs c omplement each other and keep your body surprised as they move you through traditional kung fu, hard and soft Qigong, Shaolin Tai Qi, and the fighting arts. Once you know the moves on the DVDs, you can get creative and start mixing them up to make your own workouts.  Even if you're not working with my DVDs, your workouts still need to have elements of surprise. If you don't confuse your body, it will get lazy and reach a plateau where it's no longer burning fat as quickly as it should, and your fitness levels, flexibility and skill are no longer increasing. Here's my six top tips to how you can keep your mind and body in optimal fitness. Please note these tips are not for beginners but for those who already have a solid martial arts or workout schedule.   1) Switch Your Workouts Do bag wo...

  For this blog post you will need a pen and paper.   What small step can you take to improve your health and fitness?  Or, if you're a martial artist or fighter, what small step can you take to make your skill better? Write it down   - writing something down increases the likelihood that you will do it.   Don't make it ambitious - The  Tao Te Ching says: "With expectation, One will always perceive the boundary"  Make sure it's simple and doable . If it isn't then think again. Schedule this small step into your diary for the whole month. Make a note of where you are now so that you will be able to see the improvement you've made. Keep acting on this small step. (This one step is something you're going to build on later on and I'll explain how in next month's blog post. ) The famous basketball coach, John Wooden says, "When you improve a little every day, eventually big things occur. Don't look for the big quick improvement. Seek...

The Bodhidharma Is Your Teacher   I've been studying martial arts for more than twenty years and I've been a teacher for more than ten years. I make my DVDs, and write these posts because I want to pass my experience and love of martial arts to people, like myself, who also love martial arts. I am a Shaolin Master living in the West, and I am saddened to see so much myth and magic surrounding the Shaolin Temple. My aim is to clear away the myth so that you can get to the heart of the practice. Whatever your view of The Shaolin Temple, this is not important. It's the teachings that are important. The teachings originate from the founder of Zen, Bodhidharma.  The Buddha said, do not rely on the teacher, rely on the teachings. When we take up the teachings, we owe a debt to our ancestors, and we must respect them for passing such great teachings to us. In many ways, I see the Bodhidharma as my teacher more than the Buddha because he showed me how to use martial arts as a med...

With the exception of Rou Quan, all of my DVDs can be practiced in a space the size of a yoga mat. What can't be taught in a DVD I don't teach. I'm not interested in wasting my time or my student's time. Morihei Ueshiba was correct when he said, " Progress comes to those who train." But training incorrectly and without direction is like not training at all. My DVDs and books take you step by step through exactly what is taught in the Shaolin Temple with a focus on health and combat. These are the two aspects I'm passionate about. I give you the key to unlock the gate of the Shaolin Temple , but it's only your sweat and training which will open the gate and let you in. Transformation My DVDs are designed to transform your mind and body into a martial artist's mind and body. This means you become fighting fit, flexible, have strong will-power, inner confidence, sharp reflexes, peaceful sleep, an abundance of energy, look younger than your years, and ...

How to train with ill-health or injury Q: A doctor told me that my shoulder injury is fully healed but I still have pain and stiffness, what would you recommend I do? A: Injuries usually take about 100 days to recover but this doesn't mean you don't do anything for 100 days. Stretching and practicing the Qigong from my "The Way Of Qigong Volume 1, 2 or 3" will help your body to recover properly. The only Qigong that wouldn't be suitable is Qigong for Lower or Upper Body as this would be too hard for your injuries. As the stiffness starts to ease, you can start to slowly factor in doing some push-ups and squats. But you need to be careful and listen to your body. Don't be too impatient to start training again. If your joints feel pain then this means you are doing something incorrectly and you should stop. Q: Is it okay to go straight into Qigong without a warm up? A: Maybe you don't need to do a body warm up but you need to do a mind warm up because ...

Do you want to improve your health and wellness ? Maximize your martial arts? Control your weight? Turn back the clock? Identify the areas you want to improve and let me guide you on the right path. Using the correct combination of my DVDs and resources will deliver your desired results. Shaolin Martial Arts challenges us and helps us to reach the full potential in ourselves that we only dreamt of before. Using the powerful life energy that exists inside our body, we can make ourselves healthy and balanced. Health and Wellness The Western focus on exercise has mainly been on making the body look beautiful through weight and cardio training. But this is starting to change. On the Oprah Winfrey show, Dr. Oz said, "If you want to be healthy and live to 100, do Qigong." How can Shaolin Monks train all their lives, while remaining free of injury and looking younger than their years? How can they be beaten with bricks or sticks and not fe...