Ten Celestial Stems

[kenneth fish]

Andy: I would put these up there with stance training. The most grueling stance training I did was the Xingyi stance work with Master Zhang. I would put the Lohan Shaolin stance work a close second. After those, whenever I played with a new system, the stance was just not that bad. I did some Dragon and Tiger boxing while I was still training in Xingyi - the stances were nowhere nearly as demanding as the rear-weighted, dynamically tensioned stances Master Zhang had us hold.

In the Tian Gan one is grinding from one side to the other with a lot of dynamically opposing forces, engaging the muscles of the trunk and back while at the same time trying to be elastic in the inguinal region. When Mrs. Zhang demonstrated these exercises her groin would be a few inches from the ground at the low point of the movement.

[XiaoXiong]

Ken, that makes more sense. I also don't have a bone to pick, just that what you were saying didn't jive, but what you added makes more sense. Of course I can have it all wrong. Thanks for clarifying anyway.
Jess

[kenneth fish]

You are welcome. I am going to PM you on an unrelated issue.

[edededed]

I just wanted to add - I would also like to line up for any CDs, etc. that Dr. Fish will be producing

Any idea about any expected timelines, etc.? (Not to rush you or anything...)

[kenneth fish]

I am currently filming rough drafts - I expect to do the final, professional shoots early next year and have the DVD's ready for Spring.

[edededed]

Cool, sounds great! (Hopefully I can get myself ready and in shape by then )

[neijia_boxer]

thanks for sharing the video.

[taiwandeutscher]

Then, I'm next in line for your CDs, Ken, but hopefully, we can have a work-out meeting in Taiwan, soon.

For all RSF people: I did meet Dr. Ken Fish this spring in Taibei, sadly only for lunch and coffee, but he is a real Gentleman, whom I could wholeheartedly trust in all martial aspect and their medical sides.

[kenneth fish]

Hermann: Thanks! I hope you are enjoying your time off. I will see you either later this year or early next.

[taiwandeutscher]

Yes, surely, we arrived at 5.30 am, had Weißwürste, fresh brezels and Weißbier for breakfast, great!
But we start working out tonight, wonderful weather and dryyyyyyyy!

[kenneth fish]

Ja, das ist gut

[cdobe]

Auf Brezeln kann ich sehr gut verzichten.

BTW: Ken, I'll be in Paris in August and since you have recommended food joints around the world on this forum and I remember, that you are a francophile, I'ld like to ask you whether you can recommend some restaurants and maybe even dishes in the central part of the city to me. That would be very helpful to me. Thank you very much.

I also have a question for you about the tian gan: Does the person from your video demonstrate all of the exercises of the set as you know it? I am missing a couple of exercises, that have been demonstrated to me as part of this set.

[Bao]

The most grueling stance training I did was the Xingyi stance work with Master Zhang. ... I did some Dragon and Tiger boxing while I was still training in Xingyi - the stances were nowhere nearly as demanding as the rear-weighted, dynamically tensioned stances Master Zhang had us hold.

Pls, can you speak some more about this, what stances and why was it so gruesome?

Btw, thanks for the vid. (I think you have posted it before, for a couple of years ago maybe...?) I love the exercises, I have done some of them and some similar. Great work.

@cdobe: there are french people onboard as well... I know a terribly awesome and cheap Wietnamese restaurant in the southeast parts of the city, in the "China Town"-area. I will try to look it up for you.

[XiaoXiong]

Xingyi was tough for me, but people literally passed out, puked, and fell over from doing tian gan. George would have us hold the postures as he went around making everyone extend, stretch, and sink as low, long, and straight as possible. I remember getting the shakes and having my pants not fit because my ass and thighs got so big from the training.
Jess

[kenneth fish]

Jess, that cracked me up. It brought back memories. I had to have my pants tailored (but then again, that was the standard in Taiwan at the time) because my thighs looked like a competitive weight lifter's.

Master Zhang used to have us hold splitting, almost 100% back-weighted, spine straight, in a medium to low stance, until our thighs stopped shaking. Same with both stances in drilling ( back-weighted drilling and forward, deep bow stance with forward thigh and leg externally rotated, spine straight from heel to crown, chest almost touching forward thigh).

And the infinite repititions of the rear-weighted bengquan would have us in spasms.

But if you told kids these days they'd never believe you.

As for Paris (Paris, Mon amour....) Bao is right, there is some great Vietnamese food to be had - but avoid the Chinese places like the plague. Right off the top of my head, the restaurant I always go back to is La Auberge de la Reine Blanche. Even when they are having an off night they are very good - and the lunch prix fixe menu is a true bargain. There are a couple of other very good places on the same street - I will post a list of favorite places over the weekend - mostly bistro, but if your budget allows there are still excellent haute cuisine places that are not outrageous (unlike in the States).

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187147-d695128-Reviews-Auberge_de_la_Reine_Blanche-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

With regard to the Tian Gan video - no, he is only demonstrating 6 of the 10, plus "Song" (which we did as a separate exercise). He is demonstrating (in order) Kan, Tiao (Diao), Zhuang, Beng, Zhua, Ye, and Song.