the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

I have created 6 single leg balance drills to enhance balance. I call it "Kung Fu Walk". People can train this while they are walking.

You can use right leg to (the left leg will be the opposite):

1. Foot sweep I - at opponent's left foot ankle.
2. Foot sweep II - at opponent's left foot instep.
3. Front cut - at opponent's outside right leg.
4. Knife hook - at opponent's inside right leg.
5. Inner hook - at opponent's inside left leg.
6. Outer hook - at opponent's outside left leg.

Any comment?

Example of 1. Foot sweep I - at opponent's left foot ankle.

Hmm - hard to imagine what it looks like!

But it is good to practice sweeping/tripping skills while walking (so that it becomes natural).

I usually walk 4 steps and do 1 leg skill drill. This way, it's considered as fun and not considered as hard work. Sometime I walk 4 steps and throw a hook punch (or uppercut). I like to use circular motion (such as hook, uppercut, sweep, cut, ...). I don't like to use straight line motion (such as jab, cross, front kick, side kick, ...). I believe if I drill straight line motion too many times (such as 1,000 time), it may hurt my elbow joint or knee joint (not too good for health).

edededed wrote:Hmm - hard to imagine what it looks like.

Something like this.

John -
Like walking along with the caravan doing chicken step?

I do this all the time - especially doing something like sweeping the walk.
Mine is the combo you taught -
Inside right foot front hook sweep to right heel - step up - Inside right
foot sweep to left heel - then go left foot next.
Now when I do this my timing will be good and the foot work will be natural.

Is this done in public, while on the sidewalk ??

I used to go along(as natural as possible
)among fellow pedestrians during the rush-hour where it’s most busy, good evasiveness practice

Trick -

Yes - but I live in a very quiet neighborhood.

Haha -
I worked for a while - college days - as a white coat guy in an insane asylum.
There were some experiences there.

Repeat delete

get of the hiking trail and go into the more bushy and loggy forest. there is some whole body awareness walk practice

1st video sweep - I think this is a popular sweep in mantis, too.

2nd video - although funny, he has good leg gongfu I think! (Also, long legs are quite useful for kicking/sweeping.)

johnwang wrote:I have created 6 single leg balance drills to enhance balance.

Can TJQ really be used to “enhance balance”?

The CDC in the USA has so far only found that the scientific research on balance is sufficient to recommend “Tai Chi” for therapeutic treatments for the elderly (although the TJQ used in the “Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance™” program is a simplified and modified Yang style solo form, with supplemental exercises, so it should perhaps instead be called a Qigong exercise that is based on TJQ). While practitioners often think that TJQ has numerous health benefits, the research so far is not rigorous enough to provide more that preliminary indications for other health issues.

One would intuitively think that single leg balance drills, or practices that challenge one’s balance like push-hands or shuaijiao, etc. would improve one’s balance. But how effective is it? I have had two of my students, both relatively healthy, take a simple balance test and they only had about average balance for their ages (one about 60 the other about 70 years old). Since we only meet once a week and only do drills that specifically challenge their balance for a minimum of 6’ each class (although it is longer in some classes, the 6’ is the minimum), perhaps this is not long enough or frequent enough for them to see improvements above the average for their ages. Personally, I (at 60+ years old) have well above average results (>30”) when I do the same test.

SIMPLE BALANCE TEST:

Stand barefoot on one leg (whichever one is better or more comfortable for you – the two legs should not be very different statistically barring any medical conditions), close your eyes and time how long you can stay on the one leg without touching the other foot down or opening your eyes. Repeat several times and average the results.

The normal test values for averaging three tests would be ~4” @ 70, ~7” @ 60, ~9” @ 50, ~16” @ 40, >22” @ 30 or younger. Times above 30” would be above average at any age.

As can be seen, balance decreases significantly with increased age. I would expect most long term practitioners who spend significant time practicing either slow solo TJQ forms (i.e. significant time spent in one leg stances or transitions where the weight is on only one leg) or who regularly practice activities that challenge one’s balance would have good balance times in the above test. I am curious if the practitioners on this forum really have significantly better balance, as measured by this test, than the average person their age.

Note that there are other balance tests, for example one can test balance with one’s eyes open instead, but I thought that the eyes closed version may be best for checking TJQ since it relies more on proprioception and eliminates vision vision. I would think that TJQ should be especially good for proprioception; additionally the eyes closed version doesn’t take as long.

John, knowing that you are so dedicated and likely practice more than many others on this forum, I would be curious what your time would be for standing on one leg with the eyes closed. I would also be curious to know the values for other forum members, especially for those who are above 50 years old (assuming that you are not reluctant to publicly state your test results).

John, I can see why you made your choices of drills. I would probably just recommend that students looking to improve their balance, as well as other aspects important for TJQ, practice as slowly as possible without going so slow that they actually stop (and restart) – more like the minute hand of a clock rather than the more typical second hand pace. Every step would be a prolonged time focusing on balance.

LaoDan wrote:Can TJQ really be used to “enhance balance”?

You can enhance your balance by:

1. Stand on both feet.
2. Stand on 1 foot.
3. Stand on 1 foot and move the other leg (I call this "leg skill").

IMO, 3 > 2 > 1.

5. Inner hook - at opponent's inside left leg.

the taijiquan forms are "Gong-Fu walking" and so are many other exercises/(forms) of CMA that have been around for ages. nothing new, as you know

LaoDan wrote:Can TJQ really be used to “enhance balance”?

Of course it can. Better body awareness = better body coordination = better balance.

Everyone can benefit and learn how to use their bodies better which means improved balance. For elders you also have the aspect of developing and maintaining leg strength, but in general it can help everyone.