MORE RANDOM THOUGHTS ON MODERN WUSHU TRAINING METHODS

PART II

Okay, last time I mulled over the question why some of the training methods & exercises used in modern competitive Wushu are more often than not diametrically opposed to the latest empirical findings of sports science. Why the hell do I seem to be the only guy who finds this noteworthy? Nobody in Wushu seems to show the slightest inclination to call at least the very worst of these methods into question... not even after winding up on the operating table.

It’s kind of tragic that the most passionate athletes are often the least informed.

WHAT MAKES A CHAMP A CHAMP... (AND A CHUMP A CHUMP)?

Before I’m going to single out specific no-go exercises &  highly counterproductive workout concepts, I think I need to give an explanation why -- superficially speaking -- they seem to work so well:

In China, where most of the Wushu training methods I’m talking about originate from, the situation is quite unique.

Above all, the country has a virtually infinite supply of people learning Wushu. One Chinese top coach told me straight out that because of this there is no point in catering for the specific needs of the individual student. If one kid can’t cope with the training regimen, who cares? There’ll always be another one who can. Simple as that. Well, this doesn’t come as such a big surprise... I think it’s safe to say that the individual as such has never been too important in Chinese society.

If there’s one thing to be said for those sledgehammer workouts, they are a sure-fire method to separate the wheat from the chaff. And if you’re into the old Spartan only-the-strong-shall-survive thing... boy, this is the method for you.

Can ya stomach THIS, sissy-boy?!

But I fear the main problem is that many Wushu coaches simply don’t have a clue how to teach adults. They just teach you they same way they were taught when they were kids -- when joints & ligaments were still soft and flexible... and you just could get away with a lot of overstress & abuse (because of a child’s far superior energy metabolism).

You know... for kids.

Many Wushu training principles derive directly from Chinese opera or traditional acrobatics, where training usually starts at the age of six or seven. Chen Kaige’s „Farewell My Concubine“ 霸王别姬and Alex Law’s “Painted Faces” 七小福 show in great detail some of the standard training methods at such schools. Do this to a twenty-something guy without a history in training gymnastics or martial arts and you’re likely to have that fellow crippled before you can say: “Relax! This is gonna hurt a little...”

End of story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_dkqiQSOj0

This is a short clip from "Red Trousers" 红裤子,a cool documentary about Hong Kong stuntmen. This particular clip makes the correlation between training methods in Wushu & Chinese opera quite clear

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Of course, one could argue that it makes no sense for a teenager or a young adult to take up competitive Wushu, anyway. “23?! You’re too old, buster. How ‘bout a little Qigong in the park?” Well, that’s the easy way out, Shifu. But I’m not going to let this go unchallenged.

If your coach tells you you're too old for Wushu, you can always join THEM...

I claim that the key to Wushu success in China is: the vast supply of athletic talent, the young age when beginning a career in sports, and -- most importantly -- favorable genetics.

The training methods, on the other hand, leave ample room for improvement.

THE ROLE OF GENETICS – ARE YOU CHAMPION MATERIAL... AND IF SO, WHY NOT?

There are many misconceptions about the role genetics play in sports. Lots of athletes still refuse to face the fact: their set of genes are the single most important factor in the game. Some scientists insist that genetics count for as much as 90% of an athlete’s success. Although such a number is hard to verify, it’s no question that genetics determine to an extremely great extent whether an athlete will reach the top in his sport or not. And what’s more, they determine in which sport you are likely to succeed and in which you are likely to fail.

Genetic factors are primarily responsible for variations in tolerance, responsiveness, and the overall outcomes of training.

You still need to train. But once (proper) training enjoys the status it actually deserves in our equation, we’re going to be able to tell the facts from the bullshit much easier... am I lecturing? Oh shit, I am lecturing!

Duh, never mind.

Example: Most people think that swimming (i.e. a competitive swim training regimen) will give the athlete (any athlete) that typical swimmer’s look the chicks dig so much – broad shoulders, a huge chest and narrow hips. Just like Michael Phelps, right?

Michael Phelps's physique - good for swimmin', bad for Sumo.Sorry, crooked thinking again. Michael Phelps became a world-champion because he was blessed with broad shoulders, a huge chest and narrow hips in the first place... not the other way round. Owing to his advantageous genetic outfit for this particular sport he ended up a swimmer... and not a weight lifter or a jockey.

Some short dude with narrow shoulders, a chicken breast and the hips of a rhino may do the breaststroke up and down the pool until his arms fall off, but this will not change the unfavorable bone-structure he inherited from his parents one bit.

We need to understand at this point, that willpower as such -- although no contender for Wushu honors can do without it -- has been largely overrated. I, too, wish it were not so.

And yet, I’m convinced there’s a great deal you can achieve and improve within your God-given limits. A GREAT deal. You won’t find out until you’ve tried. Just be realistic about it. No training scheme in the world can turn a Danny DeVito into an Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Apart from their anatomical advantages, the genetically gifted have above-average energy & strength resources (based on heart- and lung volume, fast- and slow twitch muscle fiber ratio, testosterone levels, etc.) and superior recovery abilities that help them survive even the most lunatic training programs and physical assaults of sadistic coaches.

That, by implication, doesn’t mean that most if not all of these top athletes couldn’t have reached their peak condition and athletic prime much sooner and much easier through a scientifically based training (or simply common sense). They even would -- in all probability -- be able to maintain their champion level for a longer and largely injury-free period of time.

So, again... why on earth would a sane, health-conscious amateur athlete of average or slightly above-average genetic make-up try to copy an outlandish training system designed by some clue- and conscienceless old sweat for very young, near-indestructible, super-gifted, and sometimes drug-enhanced genetic freaks in an unforgiving, highly selective pro sports environment? A system that sure as shit will result in gross overtraining for him at best, with all the havoc this wreaks on the average body (and mind)?

We can only guess.

(To be continued...)