Am I training with your Shaolin Warrior DVDs correctly?

I made my DVDs to share my more than thirty years knowledge of Shaolin. My life has been transformed by my practice and I hope that my DVDs can transform my student's life.

Of course learning from a DVD has its drawbacks. For example, if you are doing something incorrectly then there is no one there to tell you and correct you. So it's a good idea to keep checking your movements and your forms and even to video them so you can see how they compare to mine or my students who train with me.

How do I know if I'm training correctly?

I can see if students are training just by looking at them. Everyone who trains in Shaolin looks younger than their years, are more grounded, their reactions are quick. Even within a few weeks of dedicated practice, students transform. I've seen this with students who train with my DVDs and come for a check up as well as students who train one2one.  So check yourself, do I look younger? Do I feel more grounded and confident? If the answer is no, then you need to find where you're going wrong.

How hard should I push myself with your kung fu DVDs?

I recommend you start training with my 3 Shaolin Workout DVDs, then progress to Bootcamp and then Circuit Training. If you're training to be a martial artist then you need to train 6 days a week. You can alternate these DVDs , as you advance do less workout and more Bootcamp and Circuit Training. Take a day to slow down and check your form and your stances. There should be no pain when you train. You will ache the next day, if you don't then you're not pushing yourself enough.

Your stances should get deeper, you should become more flexible and your stamina should be as good as a boxer in training. Check your stamina, time yourself. Do my running exercises on youtube, and keep pushing yourself safely. A martial artist is in tune with their body so as you train, your bodies wisdom will take over.

Read The 3 Keys To A Powerful Qigong Practice to check on your Qigong practice

7 Actionable Tips To Live Your Best Martial Art's Year Ever

Make A Goalless Goal

Shaolin Training doesn't underestimate a person's strength of body and mind. The masters knew how much we could achieve and they wouldn't let us get away with anything less. The first goal young disciples have when they come to the Shaolin Temple is "Never Give Up." Once that statement is made, it's like sitting on a plane and knowing the destination is Beijing. We don't need to think anymore about where we're heading. Our mind is no longer caught up thinking maybe I should head to Chicago or London instead. There's no way we can get off the plane, so we let go and focus on the journey. The goalless goal is another way of simplifying our life.

Brush Your Teeth

Research shows that the brain is pliable. Forget about willpower, it runs out quickly. This is why it's  important to train at least 4 times a week and if possible at the same time. Training like this changes the pathways in the brain and makes training a habit rather than something you have to make yourself do. Do you need to make yourself brush your teeth in the morning?

Sharpen Your Knife

Shaolin Training encompasses the fitness of a fighter coupled with the internal training of a Zen master. You're not training in Shaolin if you don't train both the Yin and the Yang. If you do another martial art, you still need to train in both of these in order to balance your body and prolong your martial art's life. A professional cook must sharpen her knife in order for it to be functional. Qigong is the sharpening of the knife. Kung Fu is the knife being used.

High Intensity Training

High Intensity Training  has been used by Shaolin Martial Artists for hundreds of years. Recent research has shown that high intensity training is a more effective workout than longer moderate workouts. Not only that but high intensity training is the only way to keep your metabolism high for several hours afterwards which means you keep burning calories. Moderate exercise doesn't do this.

Once you're able to keep up with my Shaolin Workout DVDs then you need to move onto Shaolin Circuit Training and Shaolin Bootcamp. Interval training isn't easy. To be effective you must use a large percentage of your aerobic capacity. You need to get your mind to accept new limits by pushing yourself, safely. High Intensity Training challenges the body to it's maximum.

Get Bored

In order to perfect your martial art you need to repeat the same movement thousands and thousands of times. Don't allow pride to get in your way. Practice the movements that challenge you and you find the hardest. You have to work hard, often, and consistently in order to see results.

Stretch Dynamically 

Why are Shaolin monks so flexible? Because we do two types of stretching: static and dynamic. The Shaolin dynamic stretching we do are the five basic kicks, and the five stances from Shaolin Workout 1. This opens the hips and warms up the leg muscles. When our muscles are warm we then statically stretch our legs.  A flexible body is a relaxed body, centered and more in tune with itself. Flexibility improves posture, makes training easier and helps the Qi to flow around the body.

Be A Disciple Of The Bodhidharma

The Bodhidharma taught us how to use martial arts as a meditation. Each person who learns from me, either in person or with my DVDs is also a student of the Bodhidharma. In the West we tend to over complicate things. My master never allowed me to do this. Coming from a Zen Temple meant I wasn't allowed to ask my master many questions because if he gave me answers then they would be his answers and this would cloud my direct experience. Keep  your training simple Combine internal with external, Qigong with Kung Fu. Practice movement and breath, breath and movement, train intelligently, don't over complicate. Just do it. This means you a disciple of the Bodhidharma. This means you are training in Zen.

For more information on the Shaolin Warrior graded series of DVDs click here