More Kung-Fu Fun Than You Can Shake A Stick At

internal arts training internal strength pole-shaking Aug 03, 2008

One of my kung-fu friends, Eric Jones, came over last week to practice pole shaking.

Pole-shaking is a great exercise for the internal arts. I first heard about it from Mike Sigman, then learned it first-hand from Jim and Angela Criscimagna. Chen Zhenglei occasionally does a pole-shaking workshop and I've always wanted to attend one.

For this exercise, you can use a waxwood pole or an 8 or 9-foot section of PVC pipe. I even have a rattan staff--only 6 feet long--that I can do it with, although you don't get as much of a shake at the end of the staff.

The intent is to use the body--opening and closing, whole-body movement, dan t'ien rotation and spiraling--to whip the pole and cause the end to shake when the energy reaches it. And when I say energy, I mean nothing mystical--it's physics, and it works because you are relaxed and using good body mechanics.

Holding the pole as shown above, you hold it so that you don't use any arm and shoulder muscle. This photo shows me at the bottom of the forward strike. I'm moving into the forward kua while remaining relaxed and whipping the dan t'ien and shifting my weight. The photo is frozen during the actual shake of the pole (you can see it bending).

The mistake most people make when they first try it is using their arm and shoulder muscle--bending the arm and extending it to whip the pole. When you get them to straighten the forward arm and stop them from using it, they always find it much more difficult. It's also very difficult if you don't use the ground or if you aren't connected throughout the body. This exercise can teach you a lot.

You can use different motions with the pole to move in different ways--closing into the left kua, the right kua, striking down, up, sideways, forward.

I'm developing a DVD with silk-reeling exercises and I plan to include this on it as an "extra."

One of my favorite Marx Brothers jokes happened when Groucho was describing a party. "There'll be more girls than you can shake a stick at, if THAT's your idea of a good time," he said.

Well, if you're looking to develop internal strength, shaking a stick really is a good time.

--by Ken Gullette

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More Kung-Fu Fun Than You Can Shake A Stick At

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