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Bagua standing strengthening practice--are you doing it right?
Published on 2012-05-16 17:07:00
Apparently I don't post enough about Yin Style Baguazhang's standing strengthening (zhan zhuang-- sort of) practice. Guilty as charged. Let's see what I can say about it here to correct that, and in the process, we'll find out if you're doing it right or not. Standing strengthening is a hard pillar of training in Yin Style, and not for any goofy reasons. It's just hard. Make it intense > read more
Re: Turning the circle, keeping it real (by me) on Yin Style Bagua -- Knoxville
Published on 2012-05-09 10:51:00
If you've seen it, great. If you haven't, check out my post on the blog I made for our study group concerning circle turning practice: Yin Style Bagua -- Knoxville: Turning the circle, keeping it real. As the day went on, I thought more about what I wrote, and I have more to say about it. Since I feel that what I have to say about it is more personal than "official," I'm saying it on this blog > read more
New blog, odds and ends
Published on 2012-05-07 15:35:00
I've created a new blog for the Yin Style Baguazhang, Knoxville, study group specifically, so I can turn this blog back toward being one about my personal journey instead of one about our group. Follow the linked words to check it out. That said, I can give some little updates on my own training, specifically on my circle-turning goal, which has occupied my attention far more than it has space > read more
First ever video, applications practice clips from a class
Published on 2012-04-14 15:23:00
So... we finally got around to making a video of ourselves practicing applications. Other similar material will probably find its way onto our new YouTube channel and Facebook page over time, and it will make its way here too. Check it out... > read more
Four huge reasons you need to be sprinting if you practice martial arts like Yin Style Bagua
Published on 2012-04-13 17:21:00
Yin Style Baguazhang is effective. It, in fact, might be the most effective martial art on the planet for those that have what it takes to develop proficiency in it. The title of this blog post seems to imply otherwise, but if trained well, Yin Style can and will provide hardworking, dedicated people with what it takes to defend themselves practically in real fights. Part of that development > read more
The six characteristic terms of Yin Style Baguazhang
Published on 2012-03-21 16:11:00
Yin Style Baguazhang is a formidable martial art. This is partly due to its deep theoretical underpinning and strict adherence to that in practical training. As is frequent with Chinese arts, there is a list of six terms that define how to practice Yin Style Baguazhang correctly. These, of course, are more broadly applicable to any martial art, if the practitioner wants to do it well. From my > read more
Accountability in turning, February style
Published on 2012-03-09 12:52:00
I've really got to set aside more time for this... the only posts I've had a chance to get to this year are boring ones about my turning goal. I'll try to create a couple of good content posts in the next week or two, so stay tuned! There's a fair amount worth talking about.In the meantime, let me keep myself accountable and put up some details about how my efforts toward my turning goal played > read more
A little accountability: January's progress report on turning goal
Published on 2012-02-07 12:57:00
For those of you that have been following along with my training, you know I'm doing a project this year involving turning the circle. Specifically, I'm aiming to get 200 hours on the circle in 2012. This post is a short report on how I did with the project through January. For those of you that aren't interested in my personal training, this post isn't probably worth much to you, so you can skip > read more
Mental discipline, turning the circle and other grinding
Published on 2012-01-06 17:56:00
Because of my desire to improve that aspect of my Yin Style Bagua training and the resultant new year's resolution to turn more, I've been on the circle this week far more than what has (shamefully) been average in the last while. That, of course, has me thinking about turning more, and, for the purposes of this blog, that has me thinking about the challenges related to turning. Of course, these > read more
New Year's Turning Resolution, 2012
Published on 2012-01-01 21:44:00
I know, it's been a long (read: looooooooong) time since I've posted. Frankly, I haven't been training much. I actually really hurt myself this time, and so I haven't been doing a whole lot since the start of November when I took my right shoulder from aggravated to "doesn't work without LOTS of pain." I'm finally getting a handle on that, mostly. In any case, I decided it's well enough, and it's > read more
Sam Harris weighs in on self-defense in an excellent article
Published on 2011-11-08 20:53:00
I almost never do this. In fact, I don't think I've ever done this on this blog before, but this blog post by Sam Harris (of The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape, all New York Times bestselling books, and being one of the so-called "four horsemen" of the New Atheist movement fame) is about practical self-defense. It is very good, and anyone interested in martial > read more
Knoxville, Tennessee, Yin Style Bagua seminar with He Jinbao, Success!
Published on 2011-10-23 22:20:00
This is just a quick post to follow up with the rest of the commentary on the Yin Style Bagua Facebook page regarding the Fall Tour workshop in Knoxville this year. More details on a personal level are to come. In the meantime, interested parties should check out the Facebook page and see the photos from our awesome workshop. Knoxville, TN Workshop - Day 2 First circle walking was trained to > read more
Yin Style Bagua Knoxville seminar with He Jinbao, Day 1
Published on 2011-10-20 21:23:00
This is lifted from the Yin Style Bagua Facebook page. Check it out if you haven't already. Anyway, our first day was awesome, as the post indicates! Local fighters and martial artists, come see what all the fuss is about and train hard like a superman! Knoxville, TN, Workshop - Day 1 Isometric strengthening postures were trained to develop improved circulation and muscular strength. Three > read more
He Jinbao and Yin Style Baguazhang International in Knoxville next week!!!
Published on 2011-10-13 19:18:00
By this time next week, some of the toughest men and (hopefully) women in Knoxville will be finishing up with dinner and getting ready for an early bedtime after one of the hardest days of martial arts training in their lives. Yin Style Baguazhang International is coming to Knoxville again, for the third year in a row, and the workshop taught by incredible martial artist He Jinbao kicks off > read more
Yin Style Baguazhang Fall Tour 2011: St. Petersburg, FL, Oct. 27-30
Published on 2011-09-23 12:16:00
Although no one needs an extra excuse to visit beautiful St. Petersburg, FL, this year's Yin Style Baguazhang Fall Tour, 2011 edition, tour stop, taught by He Jinbao, gives us all one more reason to head to the sub-tropics. This U.S. Fall Tour stop this year by YSB, International features the Lion System at an intermediate level, like the seminar in Knoxville the week before, featuring > read more
Yin Style Baguazhang Fall Tour 2011: Knoxville, TN, Oct. 20-23
Published on 2011-09-13 21:45:00
I hold a special place in my heart and on my blog for the Knoxville, TN, visit of the Yin Style Baguazhang Fall Tour, 2011 edition, taught by He Jinbao! It's home! Our U.S. Fall Tour stop this year by YSB, International features the Lion System at an intermediate level. In Knoxville, though our training will actually take place in Maryville, just south of Knoxville, we look forward to a great > read more
Yin Style Baguazhang Fall Tour 2011: Berlin, CT, Oct. 13-16
Published on 2011-09-13 13:15:00
The Yin Style Baguazhang Fall Tour, 2011 edition, is coming to Berlin, CT, near Hartford! Like the other seminars on the 2011 tour circuit, it will be taught by He Jinbao. It makes the fourth U.S. Fall Tour stop this year by YSB, International and features the Phoenix System at an intermediate level, getting into some of the deeper material including the subtle and effective transforming palm > read more
Training tip: Train to a theme
Published on 2011-06-14 22:23:00
Really, this post could be filed under "Ask Dr. Jimberly" since it stems from a question I got out our study group's training session last night, but I figured I'd file it under "training tips" instead. The basic gist of the quest > read more
Ask Dr. Jimberly: Starting your own Yin Style Baguazhang study group
Published on 2011-04-22 16:15:00
As promised about ten days ago or so, I would get around to writing a second installment to an "Ask Dr. Jimberly" post, this time addressing the question of how to go about starting a study group for Yin Style Baguazhang in your neck of the > read more
Beast Mode: Coming to a close and facing reality
Published on 2011-04-19 20:05:00
If you've been following the blog lately, then you know I did something of a month-long tribute to the 2011 Beijing Intensive, now at a close, by upping my working out and training regimen to what I termed "Beast Mode." In all, it must have > read more
Ask Dr. Jimberly: Why the Lion System?
Published on 2011-04-13 19:05:00
Some time ago, I received an email from someone with the following in it: I started with the lion dvd's several years back as that is what was recommended by ATS, but I am far more interested and physically inclined to the dragon system, so that's be > read more
Beast Mode: Post-burnout workout, promised and delivered
Published on 2011-04-08 19:31:00
It's only been about three hours since my last post (which will challenge you if you're a one-a-day kind of reader). That post was about burnout keeping me from maintaining my Beast Mode status so well over the last week. It also suggested some tips > read more
Beast Mode: Burnout and what to do about it
Published on 2011-04-08 14:58:00
Beast Mode is wearing on me. In fact, over the last week and especially for the last three days, despite doing some decent workouts and training in that time, I definitely cannot call what's going on "Beast Mode" any longer. I hit burnout, > read more
Beast Mode and eating -- calorie intake and overtraining
Published on 2011-03-31 21:12:00
So... Beast Mode is catching up with me, apparently. I haven't lost the mental fire and have kept pushing myself to do the workouts at my fullest capacity, but honestly, over the last several days, the physical gusto has just kind of been dwindling. > read more
Beast Mode -- Heavy metal workout and line-stepping drills into infinity
Published on 2011-03-30 17:47:00
Beast Mode continues! Much of the workout stuff is the same as the last several Beast Mode posts -- lots of turning and standing, then lots of striking and forms drilling, and then hard-ass conditioning workouts, pretty much every day. It's fun. Our > read more
Beast Mode -- a much-needed rest and hitting it hard again
Published on 2011-03-25 19:57:00
Apparently, rest days are important, even during Beast Mode training. Yesterday's training consisted only of a half an hour of turning, mostly Phoenix with some Lion, and a half an hour of forms at medium pace and power, kind of like amplified learni > read more
Beast Mode continues, and you need a GymBoss!
Published on 2011-03-22 22:20:00
So much for daily posts! The Beast Mode daily workouts have been continuing, though, and they're apparently going well enough because I've got a classic overtraining symptom: nearly constantly elevated body temperature. Here's some of the stuff I've > read more
Beast Mode, Day 1 -- Training to prepare for a lunar perigee Super Moon
Published on 2011-03-18 21:58:00
First of all, just in case you don't know: the current full moon is occurring at lunar perigee (use Google or Wikipedia or something if you don't know what that means), and lots of hee-haws are calling it a Super Moon and predicting all kinds of cala > read more
Can't go to Beijing for the intensive? Ramp it up at home!
Published on 2011-03-17 14:14:00
As any and all but the newest members of the Yin Style Baguazhang community are aware, this is the time of year during which the annual journey to Huairou takes place for the Beijing, China, Yin Style intensive. Attending this intensive is considered > read more
Sometimes zero!
Published on 2011-03-09 17:05:00
If you've followed this training journal much at all, then you know of my golden rule of training: "Never Zero." To quickly summarize this rule, there is never a day where there is no training performed, even if it's brief or only in the mi > read more
A Yin Style Baguazhang beginner's guide to what you need and what should you do with it
Published on 2011-01-10 18:10:00
Suppose you're just starting out on your adventure in training Yin Style Baguazhang, or perhaps you've been at it for a while and want to be sure you've covered the bases. There's not a whole lot of stuff out there, as you've probably found, but ther > read more
Ask Dr. Jimberly -- "Humongous Godzilla Sword" -- What's with the dadao anyway?
Published on 2010-12-26 19:58:00
Here's another edition of Ask Dr. Jimberly, where I share questions and answers that I get about Yin Style Baguazhang with a wider audience: What's the deal with that "Humongous Godzilla Sword" (read: the Yin Style bagua dadao)? Technicall > read more
Structured time makes better training
Published on 2010-12-16 14:58:00
After years in the education field and in having dealt with organizing and running both lessons and workouts, I am completely convinced at this point that the place your workout or training session should begin is at a desk or table with pen and pape > read more
Snow day! Train hard!
Published on 2010-12-13 10:39:00
The other day I posted some training tips for training in cold weather, notably after we trained out in some cold. Today, something relatively rare happened in East Tennessee: it snowed and stuck. I took some advantage of the opportunity to test out > read more
Ask Dr. Jimberly -- Yin Style Bagua questions and answers -- About turning and breathing
Published on 2010-12-12 11:11:00
Since I get questions in my email from time to time about training in Yin Style, and since people tend to be happy enough with my answers, I've decided a nice thing to do would be to put some of these questions and answers up on the blog, maintaining > read more
Training tips for cold weather
Published on 2010-12-09 14:58:00
After reading "When Cold......", by George on the Beijing Yin Style study group's training blog, I decided to put together some of what I have to say about training in cold weather, which is, obviously, appropriate for the season for many p > read more
Setting goals
Published on 2010-12-05 19:59:00
One of the absolute most important aspects of finding success in any endeavor, particularly long-term endeavors like those presented by training a martial art, is proper goal setting. I've talked about this before (like here and here, for a couple of > read more
Saluting Stockholm
Published on 2010-12-04 21:59:14
I've seen the pictures on Facebook:YSB now, Stockholm... and while I can tell you with certainty that I'm not busting it like MB's busting you, I am saluting you in my own small way. In response to the Yin Style Bagua 2010 Stockholm workshop, now in > read more
On training Yin Style, to paraphrase Laozi
Published on 2010-12-04 21:59:00
To paraphrase Laozi, here is a comment on training Yin Style Baguazhang: When serious martial artists hear of the methods of training Yin Style Baguazhang, they train them ceaselessly. When mediocre martial artists hear of the methods of training Yi > read more
Flat back
Published on 2010-11-19 17:56:00
A flat back... I have one. At this year's successful seminar series, in which I was glad to participate in two tour stops, it was made literally painfully clear to me that I have an overly flat upper back, and that I am to work hard to correct this > read more
Working, working out, and training -- Exercises aren't created equally
Published on 2010-09-04 20:18:00
Since it seems that I've had a bajillion things to do around the yard this summer, mostly involving a fair amount of physical labor, I've had some time to reflect upon how working, meaning hard, physical labor, working out, as in the gym, and trainin > read more
An hour a day... Turning training tips for beginners: Getting your time up
Published on 2010-08-20 19:57:00
Turning practice is difficult, and to follow Yin Style Baguazhang's demanding schedule for maximum development, it is a goal of all serious Yin Style practitioners to turn for an hour a day on every day that their schedule permits (particularly if th > read more