(A very good exercise for ingraining them into your mind as well as improving balance while changing and overall strength in the legs. For a description of the stances please refer to the stances page in the "learn the style" section.)

Each stance ( i.e. Gong Bu in Ma Bu to Gong Bu ) should be repeated 10 times on each side in an alternating fashion , the main focus is getting the stances correct, not on how fast you can do them! All other stances come from the horse stance in this exercise through twisting, stepping, or the raising of one leg. Remember to stop in the horse stance after each repetition on each side.

Ma Bu to Gong Bu ( twist )

Ma Bu to Xu Bu ( twist )

Ma Bu to Xie Bu ( step )

Ma Bu to Crane ( Raise, stay facing forwards )

Ma Bu to ring step ( first 10 step around in front )

( second 10 step around behind )

Ma Bu to sitting stance ( twist )

Press ups.

( some of these press ups are unadvisable if you are under the age of 16 as your bones are still growing and it could cause permanent damage these will be marked with a * ) This way of doing press ups takes the standard press up exercise and makes it a lot harder to do, it also strengthens up you wrists and fingers so they don't get damaged while striking with them.

You should aim to do at least 10 press ups in each of these ways, the order you do these press ups in is not important. Remember to listen to your body, and if it say's this is too much then stop. Don't expect to be able to do 10 of some of these exercises straight away as they take some getting used to.

Press ups on the back of the wrists*

get into a normal press up position, now one arm at a time turn it over so the back of your palm is on the floor and your fingers are pointing to the other arm, now do the same with the other arm. If you cannot do push ups this way just stay in this position for a awhile this will build up your wrist strength. ( starting position is when your body is in its highest position, not flat on the ground.)

Press ups on the fingers.*

Get into the starting position of press up and one arm at a time take your palm off the floor and just it so your fingers will be taking all the weight. do the same with the other hand. if you cant do press ups like this just hold the position as this will strengthen your fingers up.

Press ups on the knuckles.

Get into the starting position of a standard press up no adjust your hands so your weight is supported by your fists not your palms, now proceed to do 10 press ups.

Standard press ups.

weight is taken on the palms of the hands now do 10 press ups.

To make these harder you can raise your feet up on a bench / chair. Also if you are having difficulty with these you can put your knees on the floor to reduce the overall weight of your body. if you have not done press ups before this way is advisable for the first month or so.

Sit ups and leg raises.

Sit ups.

lay on the floor, your legs tucked up close to your bottom now raise your upper body of the floor so at least the shoulders come of the ground. If you are beginner start with as many reps as comfortable but aim for at least 10. and over X-amount of time ( could be days, months, even years depending on how often you train) try to be able to complete 100 repetitions.

Leg raises.

Lay on the floor body straight. tuck your hands just under you bottom ( this is not to make it easier but to support your back. ) there is no need to raise your legs above 18 inches. Now follow the same instructions as for the sit ups. Again start off at around 10 repetitions and increase the number of rep's until you can do 100 rep's in one sitting.

Cobra and scorpion raises.

( these are the same a sit ups and leg raises except that you are laying on you front.)

Cobra raise.

While laying on your front, arms either by your side or out stretched in front, raise your upper body up as high as you can get it ( don't use your arms to help you up rely on back strength alone. Aim for at least 10 repetitions. It helps if you can get someone to hold your feet down or you can put them under something.

Scorpion raise.

The same applies hear as in the cobra raise apart from you are now lifting your legs.

If you can get your self into a gymnastics class this will be of great benefit, although there are no extreme tumbling with in this style there are a few shoulder rolls, front flips, and carp flips ( where you spring up off the floor ) These are all easy enough to teach your self but it is always preferable to be shown by someone qualified. Also gymnastics has some great body conditioning exercises in it which will be beneficial. The most important thing to know about any kind of tumbling is 90 % of tumbles have a hand stand in them so get practicing.

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These are quick explanations as trying to put these into words is no easy task to explain. I will add picture's when I can. Most of these are stances that you would have come across in your regular martial art lesson.

Ma bu: horse stance.

Move you feet a comfortable distance apart, toes pointing forwards. From here sit straight down over your feet, until your legs are parallel with the floor. From hear open your knees as much as you can.

Gong bu: bow stance.

From Ma Bu twist your waist to the left. Bend the front leg (the left leg) and straighten your back leg. Your toes and you knee on the front leg should be pointing slightly inwards. Your rear leg should be straight with your toes pointing at 45 degrees, not 90. (Tip: when you twist your waist into Gong Bu, as you straighten your rear leg push the heal back and keep the toes stationary. Your foot should end up in the right position. Your waist should be twisted as tight as you can get it so your thighs are touching to protect your groin. Remember your feet should be inline.

Pu bu: Phoenix stance.

This is a low stance. Body rests on rear bent leg, forward leg out straight.

Xu bu: Cat stance.

A common mistake people make with Xu Bu is they have their body facing forwards. It should be side on. From a ready position, lift one foot of the ground and move it out towards the side and gently rest the toes on the floor (There should be no weight on this foot) your foot and knee should still be facing to the front. Now bend the weight bearing leg until the thigh is parallel with the floor (It takes a lot of practice to hold this stance.) See

Xie bu:

For this stance, first stand in a ready position (feet together, ands at waist with fists clenched). Now from this position move your left leg to the right behind your right leg until it is around a foot and a half away from your right leg. The ball of the foot should be touching the ground. Now from this position squat down until your left knee touches the ground this is right Xie Bu

Crane :

stand on one leg, the other leg is raised so the thigh is the same height as your waist. you foot should be pointing to the floor and covering you knee of the other leg (make sure the foot is not touching the other leg )

Ring step:

( cross stance ) move your left leg in front and across your right leg. Knees slightly bent.

Sitting Stance:

I have heard this stance be called the dangerous stance a few times and I can see why. Do the same as in Xie bu, but, instead of kneeling, sit down on the ground. Yours knees should be on top of each other (don't take a wide horse stance before going into this stance)

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This is one of those bits that are very hard to describe in words, but here goes.

Drunken fist: Turn you hand upside down, so your thumb is on the bottom. Grab a Mustard bottle / milk bottle / deodorant can with your thumb and top finger at the top of the bottle, now turn the bottle upside down by turning your hand the right way up, keeping this exact position take away the bottle, and you now have, Drunken fist.

Strike 1 : Use the top knuckle while holding the drunken fist as a strike on an inward curve, like a karate block.

Strike 2 : Use the top finger as a pressure point strike similar to Phoenix fist.

Strike 3 : Use the wrist area, by bending the fist inward, similar to Crane.

Strike 4 : Use the top finger and thumb as a grab, this fits snugly in the throat.

Angel Ho ( Ho Hsien Tu) : touch the two middle fingers with the thumb, and extend the little finger and top finger out and up. Use this eye gouge (but use the top finger only as this is strong through Drunken fist)

Angel Ho 1 : Use the wrist to strike. As above.

Angel Ho 2 : Use the two middle fingers and thumb similar to crane, for pecking, or grabbing.

Angel Ho Palms : This is the same as palm strikes.

Sword finger : ( also known as two fingers shooting Zen) Form a loose fist and then extend you index and middle fingers keeping your thumb lightly touching your ring finger. Your ring and little finger should still be comfortably in the clenched fist position.

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Balance/Stance Training.

This is a fun little exercise to do with a partner or by your self. You need two things. a bit of space and a couple of dozen plastic cups.

Lay the cups out on the floor is a grid ( see fig1 ) roughly a foot apart from teach other.

Fig1

[ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ]

[ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ]

[ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ]

[ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ]

[ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ]

[ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ]

the number of cups is not really that important but make sure you have enough so you can walk about in between them.

The idea of this exercise is you stand at an edge of the square. and your friends pushes you ( let him push you off balance) and as you stumble forwards, backwards, what ever way you were pushed. try to get your balance and get into a stance as quickly as possible. as son as you have done this you partner should push you straight away in any direction he likes. and so on until you want to change around. You might also try practicing your Kata's, or two man Drills in this square to help build up awareness of your foot positioning.