The 4 videos on Kung Fu basics training I recommend to watch

• basics 1: power stretching and Kung Fu basics
• basics 2: warm-up talk video part II
• basics 3: Stretching and basic Yue Jia San Shou
• basics 4: basic conditioning in Taiwan

There are many video's by Sifu Mike Martello on youTube, one wonders where to begin. Understanding your training methodology is very important, for knowing where your training will lead you. Most people just train without thinking what the excercise is for and they will never progress the way it should be (what they want).

The 4 video's I have selected emphasizes the importance of "basics" training in Kung Fu, or any other Martial Arts or sport. Most people see traditional Kung Fu techniques and think: this will not work. Most of the time it is because the Kung Fu practisioner has put a lot of training in forms but not enough in basics. His/her body is not strengthened, nor agile, and with little understanding of body mechanics, alignment, core power, etc...

If only form is trained, one develop a training method which is very shallow and will not progress in the essence of true Kung Fu.

Please watch these 4 videos from Sifu Mike Martello. When I first met teacher Mike, I thought the holy grail in Kung Fu is Chi power (as he clearly possesed), but now I understand that the holy grail in Kung Fu is the foundation training or basic!

Note: there are 3 other methods which are important in training of the basics and those are stance training, chi gung and meditation. (I seperate Chi Gung and meditation as most people treat Chi Gung as a pure physical excercise. This is fine but then meditation is required to develop a calm state of mind and spiritual grow).

Basics 3: Stretching and Basic Yue Jia San Shou

This is the third series of basics as taught by Sifu Mike Martello. I am viewing these video to apply it into my training. Remember teacher Mike saying: No basic, no Kung Fu...

Note: Yue Jia San Shou is the family style of grandmaster Wang in Taiwan.

mikemartello — 17 mei 2006 — A small demo to show some ideas for stretching, strengthening the lower basin kua area and springing the waist. Followed by basic Yue Jia San Shou for understanding mechanics, body structure, qin-na and flow of both people. Yue Family style has a unique approach to controling and flowing, with heavy influences in usage of what today is considered internal/external arts. As always these skills and Qin na or chin na are tools in ones arsenal of tools. I hope everyone enjoys objectively.

Basics 1: Power Stretching and Kung Fu basics

One of the most important aspect in teacher Mike's training: basic, basic, basic! Remember: No basic, no Kung Fu... I keep on forgetting it, so let's hear the master again. :)

mikemartello — 9 oktober 2006 — Okay why this? I have been getting many e-mail and questions about my stretch vids... Many like them, Thanks more to come, and many think they are, well, to aggressive or violent as one said, and that I am bouncing and I should not be stretching that way because I will get hurt, it should be gentle and relaxing and yadda yadda blah blah...

Well I am 40, and have fixed all previous sport injuries I attained through training, due to the fact that teachers teach wrong, never say or can show principle, and we just don't know or see it for ourselves!!!! The western problem is just that we are not taught deep enough about proper mechanics of our bodies. Sure we can recite the bible of stretching and so on, but we just don't internalize enough into daily lives down to the bone... Its not our culture to probe the body and mind this way.... So injuries occur and we believe the BS that goes around or why we get injured and then our training suffers!!!

The combined IMA/CMA flexibility, agility, stretching and strengthening and so on, are advanced foundation building blocks for those who want more from their body and there body to grow old gracefully.

In contrast IMA/CMA is not sport training and therefore we should not sport warmup the same way as for tennis or for basketball. I am all for cardio and physical fitness, but not in a sport way anymore.

My idea is after achieving sport fitness, look to attain training deeper through the IMA ways of building the body here forth... Just look to the vids of teacher Wang in his 80's, he is a living example of what and why I train this way... Human bodies are not geared for sport and core strength in old age, as we get older weakness sets in and this is what and why we must train...

IMA/CMA training is just that, it allows oneself to see more that just fighting, but the fight is inside with oneself... Ones daily life style, work, bills, spouses, family and so on... The fighting skills are just a by-product of practicing and self defense skills are attained... Sport fighting and IMA/CMA for me are two very different animals... I am getting older why would I practice to hurt myself, instead I practice to live longer and healthier...

Sorry for the rant!
I hope all enjoy objectively...
mike martello