tongbei people - weighted arm swings?

[MaartenSFS]

you guys would probably love these. the weight is your own body. I couldn't do it. super fun to try

Quite the contrary. I am not a gymnast or a weight lifter. I only train martial arts. That's why these ancient training exercises are so great. They hit two birds with one stone and can be directly applied to combat.

[everything]

yeah probably not MA related at all - I think you'd enjoy it because 1) it's remarkably fun 2) it's literally a weight swinging exercise (the weight is you).

[Trick]

. I highly recommend training Daofa to supplement your unarmed Tongbiquan and vice versa. My hands were already heavy beforehand. Now they're just demonic.

Yes this is my experience to, Daofa is a good supplement for ones TBQ

[kenneth fish]

Kettlebells as such may or may not have been training for martial arts - but similar weight swinging exercises exist in Chinese, Indian, and Persian martial arts. In China, the relative of the kettlebell is the Shi Suo 石鎖 or Stone Lock (because it looks like an old fashioned iron cast lock). These were present in almost every martial arts gym going back at least to the beginning of the Qing dynasty and probably a lot further - they are also integral to Shuai Jiao training.

As for weighted swings in Tongbei - yes, but be very careful. Not for beginners, as said above, and I would avoid direction changes with anything more than a very light (one pound at most) weight in the beginning.

[everything]

it just makes sense if we say that "kungfu" was done and invented by farmers (and most people were doing some kind of manual labor) who were carrying and swinging heavy implements to do their work. when they needed to fight or become soldiers, they already had that training. i'm no historian nor do i want to be one. this seems super common sense-y.

[Peacedog]

Not tongbei, but a Taoist lineage I trained in many years ago has a walking exercise that is done with a pair of dumbbells.

Left hand forward and right foot forward at the same time. It pulls on the fasciae in a whole body manner that trains power and flow very effectively. Due to the momentum involved, I've found I need to use a pair of weightlifting straps to connect the weight and the wrist. I wrap it around the my wrist and then onto the handle of the dumbbell.

Otherwise at weights above 3 pounds it stretches the ligaments in the wrist and causes damage. Keep in mind this exercise is performed for between 30 minutes and an hour. So, shorter durations may not be a problem.

If performed at a cadence of 120 steps per minute, or higher, it becomes a truly brutal form of cardio as well.