Adrenaline: Friend or Foe?

Adrenaline, or adrenal response, can be a double edged sword during an altercation.

Adrenal response is sometimes referred to as "fight or flight" syndrome. The decision to fight or run will depend on individual tendencies. This means that adrenaline taps into our basic survival instincts.

While this can be a benefit, it can also be the Achilles heel of self defense techniques.

Human basic survival instinct usually reverts back to "gross motor movements". This means that the part of your brain that controls fine movements is temporarily overridden.

Why is this important? Most martial arts training is taught in a very predictable manner. This results in low pressure training that doesn't stimulate adrenal response. The closest thing some martial arts have to "real" pressure is sparring or competitions.

Sparring and competitions have rules, referees and in most cases safety equipment.

Although MMA competitions do not use much safety equipment, there are still rules to protect the fighters. And, you can quit before any real injury occurs.

The problem with sparring and competition is you can psychologically prepare for the event. This allows for partial adrenaline control. MMA competitors talk about being amped up and adrenalized before a fight, yet they have had months to prepare for a fighter they were assigned to fight.

It is drastically different when the fight is not scheduled and the opponent is a random attacker on an otherwise ordinary day.

If you want to see what happens to a MMA fighter when they become adrenalized all you have to do is watch the first 3 UFC competitions. These examples highlight what happens when fighters cannot control their adrenaline. You will witness accomplished martial artists resorting to "swim" type flailing of arms (gross motor movement) premature fatigue and an inability to effectively process attacks and defend. You will also see what happens when a calm methodical fighter can control his adrenaline and win.

Adrenaline can help summon super human strength in an emergency; however, it does this by pulling the blood in from the extremities as part of survival response. Without the ability to control the level of adrenaline, this strength will be short lived and result in premature fatigue.

It is essential to learn how to control adrenal response in order to take advantage of the increased strength and reflex speed. This is done through repetitive movement, training your fine motor movements to respond under adrenaline – repetition, repetition, repetition.

Knowing that adrenaline must be controlled is a step in the right direction. This combined with understanding the function of adrenal response allows practitioners of self defense to prepare for the unexpected.

Fear not the 1000 kicks practiced once, but the one kick practiced 1000 times.

Siu Lum Canada is Winnipeg's Shaolin school. We teach the Siu Lum style of kung fu. Our training revolves around real life situations and real life solutions. There is no question that we will not answer.

Watch our video and get a glimpse of what we do at Siu Lum Canada.

Follow us on Twitter at @SiuLumCanada

Email us at siulumkungfu@gmail.com

Stance and Balance

I'll try to keep this discussion as open as possible and not specific to Siu Lum kung fu, so that every martial art, including MMA, can take something of value and apply it to their own training philosophy.

Proper stance when training is extremely important. Think of your stance as the foundation that you build the "house of perfect technique" on.

Stance comes down to a few key elements.

• Proper foot placement: depending on the martial art, proper foot placement will vary depending on movement. An example of this would be if you are attempting to shoot in and perform a take down, your feet are more likely going to be in a toes forward, straight ahead position. It would be inefficient to approach this type of attack with your feet pointed out like a duck.
• For us, proper foot spacing would be similar to a linebacker stance in football with the feet armpit width apart. This is what we would call a regular spacing. Combat spacing is much wider with the weight lowered. Movement from these positions should be explosive and direct.
• Balanced vs. unbalanced stance: if you ask most people to show you a balanced stance they will most likely spread their feet apart equally and drop their weight a few inches into a stance like the horse stance. This is not a balanced stance. This is a centered stance. Weight is dropped and distributed equally (balanced) between each leg.
• Why isn't this a balanced stance by my regard? Simply because you don't actual require any balance to perform it. It is a lowered center of gravity stance.
• What are the limitations of performing this stance in this fashion? If you intend to stay put and attempt a block strike combo to an opponent who doesn't know any better, then there is none.
• This being said, if body weight is equally distributed between legs then one must first transfer weight in order to move. This adds extra time to a moving counter attack.
• Instead of this definition of a balance stance, I offer an alternate view.  A stance with pre-loaded weight distribution allows for ease of movement. Distribute your weight in an non-obvious fashion to facilitate quick movement in your desired direction.

I recommend about a 40-60 distribution. This provides an example of what I consider to be a balanced stance. While standing in a posture that appears "normal" I am able to pre-load the leg of my choice. This allows me to rapidly transfer the remainder of my weight into whatever action I have selected.

In this position, at 40-60% with very little motion, I would be able to lift the 40% leg slightly off the ground. This is what I mean by balance. In essence, in the 40-60, I am in fact balancing the bulk of my weight on the 60% leg. Doing this allows me to transfer the 60%, or more, into the 40% leg when necessary.

This enables me to summon enough inertia to deal with a larger opponent while still allowing for mobility to move and adjust to a faster one.

Siu Lum Canada is Winnipeg's Shaolin school. We teach the Siu Lum style of kung fu. Our training revolves around real life situations and real life solutions. There is no question that we will not answer.

Watch our video and get a glimpse of what we do at Siu Lum Canada.

Follow us on Twitter at @SiuLumCanada

Email us at siulumkungfu@gmail.com

The Importance of Proper Speed in Technique Execution

When practicing martial arts or self defense techniques, speed of execution becomes very important. Many martial arts schools believe that unless you practice at very fast or real time speeds, you will be ill prepared or unable to do them during a real life confrontation.

While full speed execution can be beneficial, it can also be sloppy and inefficient.

Varying your execution speed as competency increases can be invaluable if done properly. It is recommended to perform movements slowly when first learning. This provides an environment that fosters proper execution of all aspects of the technique. It is easier for a martial arts instructor to correct minor mistakes during the slower execution phase. This ensures proper movement, technical proficiency and allows for the student to be successful.

Once a student feels comfortable with the movement, it is possible to add pressure by increasing to moderate speed while still focusing on perfection of execution.

It is important to state that repetitions are important regardless of speed. This provides for training what is referred to as "muscle memory". Muscle memory means that movements practiced over time will become automatic and reflex responses. This is the main factor with variable speed training. Slow movements for perfection and moderate movement for added realism. During the moderate movement phase, it is possible to have your opponent initiate a strike at full, or near to full, speed. This allows you to respond to the initial attack in real time. Once the strike is deflected or blocked, the student can proceed at the appropriate speed to ensure proper technical execution.

In short, it's not necessary to practice or perform movements and techniques at full speed. Training for muscle memory with variable speed ensures that, when needed, the speed of execution will be there.

Now, when I speak of techniques I mean whole techniques. I am not referring to endless punching or kicking in front of a mirror or on a heavy bag. All this teaches you is how to punch and kick. Anyone knowledgeable in martial arts, MMA or self defence, knows that you must learn more than just that in order to be successful or victorious.

Siu Lum Canada is Winnipeg's Shaolin school. We teach the Siu Lum style of kung fu. Our training revolves around real life situations and real life solutions. There is no question that we will not answer.

Watch our video and get a glimpse of what we do at Siu Lum Canada.

Follow us on Twitter at @SiuLumCanada

Email us at siulumkungfu@gmail.com

Sport Training vs. Real Training

What makes Siu Lum Kung Fu (aka Shaolin) different from MMA or mixed martial arts?

I think the answer to this question warrants a deeper description as to what MMA or mixed martial arts started out as.

A very, very long time ago (as in almost two thousand years ago) an Indian monk named Bodhirama developed the first system of kung fu. Over many years and with many different practitioners from all over China who studied different forms of kung fu, they all formed one

complete and comprehensive fighting system – Siu Lum (or as you probably know it from TV and movies, Shaolin). Therefore, Siu Lum kung fu is technically the first real form of Mixed Martial Arts (or as you know it from TV and movies, MMA).

Interesting Fact Time: Did you know that most modern forms of popular martial arts have only been around since the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, such as Karate, Aikido and Tae Kwon Do.

MMA is a sport based martial arts system utilizing what participants, practitioners and coaches believe are the best techniques from multiple disciplines – nothing wrong with that, at least they’re

heading in the right direction.

The most common disciplines utilized for ground fighting are Brazilian jujitsu, amateur wrestling and catch wrestling. Techniques for what they refer to as "stand up" fighting are derived from Judo, Karate, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Tai Kwon Do.

These techniques all have one thing in common that makes them the perfect fit for the sport of mixed martial arts – they are all competition or sport based.

No matter what the practitioners of these individual arts or MMA say about the historical origins of their devoted area of practice, one cannot argue with the fact that sport has infiltrated the combat and real self defense applications of these disciplines.

This is not to say that some of these martial arts do not have movements that would work in a street fight; however, most of these movements are not taught due to the fact that they are illegal in the ring or there are liability and moral issues with teaching how to actually harm your opponent.

Sprawling, rolling and lying on the ground with your opponent might be an acceptable idea in the ring with a referee; however, in today's society a one-on-one fight might not be on the menu.

In a multiple attacker scenario the last place you want to be is on the ground or mount as you are open to kicks from your opponents’ friends.

As for stand up, all of the disciplines mentioned fight using linear method. This means putting yourself direct in line with potentially a bigger, stronger and better opponent. There are no weight classes in street fighting.

No one can argue that there are rules in competitions and MMA tournaments. These rules have been put in place to protect the competitors from kicks or knees to the face and elbows to the spine if they slip while attempting a take down. There are rules that prevent you from striking the throat, hitting certain pressure points, gouging the eyes and breaking fingers. In other words, the rules are there to protect the fighters from inflicting real(ly) serious damage.

There is a reason that practitioners of real Kung Fu do not or are not allowed to participate in MMA competition. Kung Fu utilizes a realistic approach to ending the confrontation as quickly as possible and with as little effort as possible. If you look back far enough say 1000+ years, you will be able to trace each of the martial arts mentioned back to the Shaolin (Siu Lum) temple.

What that means is Siu Lum is the root form of the majority of modern martial arts, and when an art is based on Siu Lum, Siu Lum practitioners can defend against it simply because we know its root form.

Throughout time other martial arts have taken a few root forms from Siu Lum (Shaolin) and created whole systems from them. When you know the root; you know the system. Bruce Lee started to strip away this corruption of the martial arts and get back to the root before his death.

In short, Siu Lum Kung Fu is a realistic martial art based in the historical and authentic origins of most modern martialarts. Practitioners utilize efficient and effective techniques that work in

all techniques and environments.

There is no place in sport for Siu Lum Kung Fu and no place in Siu Lum for sport based movements or techniques.

Siu Lum Canada is Winnipeg's Shaolin school. We teach the Siu Lum style of kung fu. Our training revolves around real life situations and real life solutions. There is no question that we will not answer.

Watch our video and get a glimpse of what we do at Siu Lum Canada.

Follow us on Twitter at @SiuLumCanada

Email us at siulumkungfu@gmail.com

The Siu Lum Cost Advantage

In today's society it’s always go, go, go; rush; rush; rush. It’s getting more and more difficult to commit to doing anything long term.

Work takes up to 8 hours (or more) per day. Then you get home and dive right in to the children's activities. With the day to day family life, it is understandable why most people don't make time for themselves.

Many activities require three or more days of commitment in order to extract perceived full value from them. This is usually why they are short lived. Life gets in the way, and before you know it, you are mulling over whether or not it’s worth it.

At Siu Lum Canada we train one hour per week. Where is the cost advantage? Where is the value? Let me explain and the answers will be evident.

What are the advantages to training once per week?

• It is far easier to set aside one hour per week when bogged down with a busy schedule.
• It allows the movements to move from the conscious mind to the subconscious mind and become reflex responses.
• Siu Lum Canada students are constantly challenged to remember movements under stress due to the break, and this simulates real life stress when dealing with the unexpected.
• The mind and body require time to absorb and recover.
• Allows Siu Lum Canada instructors to keep class sizes small and provide more personal instruction.

What do I do during the other 6 days of the week?

• Siu Lum Canada students are given numerous techniques and exercises designed to improve reflex response, speed, strength, as well as help them become more technically proficient during class-taught movements.
• 15 minutes per day time commitment for the exercises.
• Siu Lum Canada students are expected to reflect upon movements taught and imagine possible scenarios where they could/would/should use them. This provides an opportunity for the student to answer scenario based questions for themselves, or discover scenario questions they would like to bring to the instructors attention.

Now think about your current or previous class. It doesn't matter what martial art. There is training several days a week. What is the majority of that martial arts training? Cardio? Techniques? Do you practice punching a bag over and over and over again?

Let’s say you have three classes a week at one hour per class. You’re already up to three hours (in case you didn't know). Your travel time obviously depends on where you live. For arguments sake, let’s say 20 mins there and 20 mins back. Now, times that by three. Your travelling time per week is 120 mins (or 2 hours for those of you who are time telling disadvantaged). That’s 8 hours a month!

Now you’re up to 5 hours for one week. That’s 20 hours a month.

Now let’s factor in gas. If it’s winter time, you’re warming up the car to drive there; warming up the car to drive home. You get the picture. With the gas prices the way they are, and depending on your vehicle of course, you’re looking at minimum $100 per month if you’re lucky.

So, you think that you’re paying what the martial arts school advertises. You think that you’re getting “value”. Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. But, if you think you’re paying the advertised price of $80 (or whatever) a month and getting great value by going three times a week, you may very well be possibly wrong. You’re paying $80 + $100 + 8 hours of time spent away from your family because you’re driving + 12 hours of time spent away from your family because you’re in class.

THAT IS A VERY BIG COMMITMENT AND INVESTMENT.

The cost advantage or benefits for Siu Lum Canada:

• Predictable class schedule
• Real life, real time training
• Less travel time, meaning less gas money and time away from family
• Low time commitment
• More personal instruction
• Smaller class size
• Self-driven home training

Siu Lum Canada is Winnipeg's Shaolin school. We teach the Siu Lum style of kung fu. Our training revolves around real life situations and real life solutions. There is no question that we will not answer.

Watch our video and get a glimpse of what we do at Siu Lum Canada.

Follow us on Twitter at @SiuLumCanada

Email us at siulumkungfu@gmail.com