Introduction to Podcast and Diet Discussion
00:00:09
Speaker
Welcome back this week, Voices on the Mountain. We're going to continue our conversation with On Diet with Dr. Steven Wong. Right on, right on. What's up, Asher? Not much. How you doing, brother?
00:00:21
Speaker
Oh, same old. Same old. Same old, same old.
Volcanic Eruptions and Hazards
00:00:25
Speaker
Keeping it real in Colorado. We had another massive volcanic eruption. Nice! It's probably the prettiest one I've ever seen.
00:00:33
Speaker
Huge fountain going over 600 feet and then like this ah kind of quintessential boiling ah small like lava dumping, just dumping lava out.
00:00:45
Speaker
And you told me about these before, but that that doesn't but doesn't concern anybody when these things happen, right? I mean, it should be more concerning. I mean, it's putting a bunch of of not good things to breathe in the air. Okay.
00:01:00
Speaker
But like it's not like nobody lives like near the volcano, right? and No, some people live in the park, like the rangers. And it, I mean, it was raining. When we got back to our car, the Pele's hair, which is like this thin volcanic glass hair, was all over a car.
00:01:15
Speaker
And I'm like, so it's falling down on us, like while we're watching, looking at this lava. And just being next to it too, this one was, it was roaring like a jet engine. It was crazy. Wow. Just the sound of it.
00:01:27
Speaker
Or like a falls. I think any other like waterfall when you're like have that huge kind of impact. It's pretty loud. I love that. know. But like you're never concerned like are we too close looking at this thing?
Lava Flow Experiences
00:01:42
Speaker
I mean okay so years ago Like maybe close to eight years ago or something, the, the lava was, was coming out lower down and elevation closer to the coast.
00:01:57
Speaker
And it was actually going into the ocean. And that was really cool. You had a, you had a hike out, like, i think it was four miles i to, to get to the spot. And when it first started happening, you know, there's like a generic access road, you know, that that goes out in that direction.
00:02:15
Speaker
And the park hadn't set up anything initially. and actuallyly oh This is all in the jurisdiction of the National Park. They're in charge of controlling the crowds that come. And before anyone was there, like people were roasting marshmallows and hot dogs over like the lava.
00:02:31
Speaker
You can get that close to lava? Yeah. Dude, it was insane. Yeah, we were and we were trying to be careful, too. And but in like walk by, you know, this this lava and we were like touching distance or something.
00:02:43
Speaker
And some came moving by quickly. And me and Nikki jumped onto like out of the way off the path. onto what we thought was safe, but I wear pretty thin-soled shoes, so I immediately noticed that there was quite a lot of heat on the ground I was standing on.
00:02:58
Speaker
And I looked down, and you could see, like, the red glowing lava oozing underneath. And I was like, this is not safe. Whoa. Yeah, we went on to to see that lava. So the people were, oh, man, people are just so dumb.
00:03:11
Speaker
um boy This podcast is going to be about dumb people now. So... the the lava is like water falling into the ocean off of a cliff and people are ah going up to the cliff and like looking over the cliff with their phones to like take pictures and then they're doing like a selfie so to do this you have to lean over the cliff and then turn around and selfie yourself with the lava right and it was It was really dangerous. I don't know.
00:03:41
Speaker
Sometimes people do get hurt um for doing dumb stuff like that, but that's, you know, kind of to be expected. Yeah.
Dangers of Proximity to Lava
00:03:47
Speaker
Like if you just slipped and like, like touched the lava, your like hand would melt, Yeah.
00:03:52
Speaker
Yeah. The biggest thing, the usual the usual problem is people get close, they go around to an area and then, and they're just close lava like we were. And something will happen with how the lava is flowing and where the gases are. There'll be a spike in the gases.
00:04:10
Speaker
That gets rid of all the oxygen. Now you can't breathe. You can't see. You can't breathe. You're going to faint. And now you're fucked. Oh. Is the technical term. Yeah, seriously. And then fucked.
00:04:22
Speaker
Yeah. So like that area of the lava flow needs like some ball hole water. It's getting real gassy. Yeah. thank you there You need some life foods to move that gas out.
00:04:34
Speaker
Yeah. And then so what we did that day, because I was like, man, this is nuts. Like everyone's just like crowding towards this one cliff. So I looked back on the coastline and I picked out a spot that was like ah jutting out on the coast.
00:04:48
Speaker
And it was like, i don't know, quarter a mile away. So we walked back out there to that spot. And then we looked back at the lava and you can see not just the one waterfall lava flow into the ocean, but you could see the three other behind it.
00:05:01
Speaker
there was four of them happening at the same time. wow Um, and so that was definitely a better view and it felt a lot safer. Although a month or two later, that whole section of cliff line fell into the ocean. So, yeah.
00:05:15
Speaker
is Is that originally that's, is that how the Island grew just like lava falling into the water? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're all volcanic islands. Nice. So, so you're kind of, kind of seeing it grow like the Island.
00:05:29
Speaker
Yeah. Amazing. Yeah. Love it. Cool.
Movement as Nutrition Analogy
00:05:31
Speaker
Okay. So where are we at? Yeah. Last week we left off on, um, when we were talking about diet and then this idea of movement started coming up at the end and it got me thinking about our movement diet and like what kind of, and what quality of,
00:05:51
Speaker
nutrition or value are we getting out of our movement you know and like sitting around all day like the couch potato diet is like the junk food diet you know you're not getting much from it and then thinking too because we had a conversation about the supplements or the vitamins and how they're good, but you know maybe not that great. And I was like, this is feels kind of like the gym exercises, like the isometric stuff.
00:06:15
Speaker
ah You're still getting movement, and it's not bad, but it's separated from its natural form, from its whole balanced and nutritional kind of oomph that you get from natural movement. And I often find myself pushing my patients towards incorporating more natural movement.
00:06:32
Speaker
ah They can do PT. I'm happy to work with a physical therapist. They can be great, but getting people to do their PT is also kind of rough. So picking up, you know, like a towel with your foot and moving it around might be really good for you.
00:06:48
Speaker
But how often are you going to do that compared to like, i don't know walking barefoot on, you know, various terrains and what's going to keep you more entertained and which one's more wholesome nutritional diet wise. And it just got me thinking.
00:07:00
Speaker
So a little teaser, maybe we'll do a whole episode on that at some point. Heck yeah, man. I think that'd be super useful to do a whole episode on this. Because we even kind of dropped it last time we were recording, which was like, what is the right exercise for someone?
00:07:14
Speaker
And to get to the nitty gritty specifics, I think we'd need a whole episode. But you bring up a really great point. And I think the first thing is, any movement's better than no movement.
00:07:25
Speaker
Because like you said, I mean, any food is better than junk food, right? So like if you're going to get off the couch somehow, that being the to junk food and analogy, then any movement going to work. So if that's if that works best for you and you're most motivated to go to a gym, i think that's certainly better than nothing. i But I agree with you that there's there's some limiting components to that.
00:07:47
Speaker
um There also is a learning curve with exercise. And so I think if people feel like you know getting over that learning curve, it's easier to go to a class or a gym or a machine.
00:07:58
Speaker
Maybe that works for them. I think they're totally right. But here's a really good example that I think kind of goes to the point you were saying, which is what's the more natural movement? So like when people go for like a machine and they're like, whatever it is, an elliptical, a rowing machine or something,
00:08:12
Speaker
it They're kind of awesome because they you know they help you do a certain exercise or certain movement, and that helps you target a certain area. But the problem is is they take away all the, like you said, natural movements of it.
00:08:27
Speaker
So here's a really good example. If you do a pull-up on a stationary bar that's secured to a ceiling, it's a lot easier than doing it on rings that are hanging from ropes.
00:08:39
Speaker
Right. And the big difference here is if you look at like, so what is
Natural vs Machine Exercises
00:08:44
Speaker
it? You know, it could be calisthenics, it could be weightlifting. And not to say that's bad. I actually really like to do pull-ups on a fixed bar.
00:08:50
Speaker
But I do know that um like, for instance, climbers, they'll tend to do it a little bit more regularly. and Not every climber is different, right? But a lot of them will do it on like free hanging or swinging ah rings or rock holds and things like that.
00:09:05
Speaker
And what the benefit that they're getting is so much more core strength So much more stabilizer strength. And you might say, well, okay, what's so good about those two things?
00:09:16
Speaker
I mean, core strength, you look at any research, it's just absolutely essential for health. It's really helpful for promoting you know preventing back pain, but also for promoting good organ function.
00:09:28
Speaker
um And we can get to that a little bit deeper and maybe if we have time, but ah so that's one. And then if you're like, what's the importance of stabilizing muscles? So many things, but balance is huge.
00:09:40
Speaker
Injury prevention and balance would be the two biggest. And, you know, when it comes to Why are we eating a healthy diet? Like what is a healthy diet? It makes you healthier.
00:09:51
Speaker
It helps you prevent disease. So what's a healthy movement diet? Makes you healthier, or in this case, let's put stronger in there too. And it helps you prevent injury. So those are just phenomenally important things. Now, like I said, I tend to do stationary pull-ups on like the bar that I use, but I do other things that help me balance out those stabilizing muscles.
Advanced Exercise Techniques
00:10:12
Speaker
So I do add some climbing into my routines, cross-train some. I do different positional stuff. Like if I'm doing push-ups, I do it in different positions to get different areas and that trains the entire. So for instance, if you do like push-ups, and if you do like a standard width push-up, which unfortunately I think a lot of people do their push-ups incorrectly.
00:10:30
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's hard to do a correct one, right? lot of people are like, oh, can you do push-ups on your toes or or not? I mean, that's like step one. step The biggest one is wear your elbows because you see some really funny – yeah, exactly.
00:10:46
Speaker
So if your elbows are squeezed against your rib cage, oh, yeah. Get ready for a tougher pull up or push up. Right. So and it doesn't mean it always has to be there, but that's kind of the standard one. You can even do it in different hand positions.
00:10:58
Speaker
So we do this, especially in martial arts. So the palm on the floor is one option. You can also grab onto what are they called? Like pallets or something. There's like there's something like that. Oh, yeah. Yeah. it'sd With like two blocks of wood on either side. Yeah. It's like you're holding a hammer.
00:11:14
Speaker
It's a hammer grip. That's right. So you can do it that way, or you can do it on your fist. So in martial arts, you'll do like a horizontal, vertical, or a reverse fist pushup. You can also do it on your fingertips. There's lots of different, you can do a triangle one where you're doing those.
00:11:27
Speaker
So when you change up all these different directions, you strengthen your arms and wrists differently. You strengthen, you activate different areas and you get all those different like sub supporting muscles in and around the sides of the pectoral, not just the main puller from one angle.
00:11:43
Speaker
And that's, again, stabilizing, right? So that strengthens the entire thing. And that gives us balance and it also helps prevent injury. So those are two really key ones for, um,
00:11:55
Speaker
exercise. I recommend that people build up to using their body weight. You know, if it's up to them again, whatever, whatever's going to get them out there is the most important, but that's how I like to do it. I like to eventually use my body weight and harder, harder things.
00:12:07
Speaker
So it's like, okay, well, if you think a hanging leg lift is no longer challenging, right? So that's a really great way to do an ab exercise. Don't jump into any of these. If you've never done them, you know, build up to them um just for the listeners and stuff.
00:12:20
Speaker
But if you're like hanging from pull-up bar and you just lift your legs up 90 degrees and drop them back down, That's pretty hard at first. And if that's not hard, well, then make it harder and go up all the way to the bar that you're touching.
00:12:31
Speaker
So if you can like lift your straight legs all the way up to the bar that you're touching, I mean, if that's easy, you are getting quite strong. So then go up and do that and then do windshield wipers, moving your body left to right in that position.
00:12:44
Speaker
So like, that's more interesting to me, but I know, you know, everybody's different. For sure. And when you start doing that, the movement in your core and in your feet, whether or not you're doing wheelchair wiper, or even if you're just like swinging back and forth, we started hitting other muscles, right?
00:13:01
Speaker
And started incorporating. So now, even though the bar may be stationary, my body's not. And so now I'm getting a little bit more, uh, the whole nutritious diet bit. 100%. Yeah, you said it exactly right. And the rest of my body is stabilizing when I do that.
00:13:19
Speaker
This is the whole idea that I think this is a really helpful um like kind of bit for people is if you want stabilizing muscles, do stabilizing exercises.
00:13:29
Speaker
And it sounds too simplistic, but what that means is if you're like, say in a plank, you're holding a stable position. And then if you try and move anything in that plank, like grab a dumbbell and pull it from left side to right side of your body, you're resisting changing while staying in a stable position. That's called a stabilizing exercise.
00:13:50
Speaker
So the same thing, if you could hold, I saw this, oh man, I told you that i told you about that seven-year-old in China who just- Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. He would hike a mountain one day and then just like rip on the 20-year-olds at the park the other days. Exactly right. and I think he missed one day of a year.
00:14:08
Speaker
I'm pretty sure he only missed Chinese New Year every year. But it's exactly his regiment. He did arms and just showed us up in the gentlest, nicest old man way every other day. And then, yeah, he would hike a hill or mountain the other days because Beijing is surrounded by mountains.
00:14:24
Speaker
But, dude, one of the first things we saw him do that we were like, oh, how do we do that? He would go. he would hang from like a bar. So it could be a pull-up bar or like ah a double bar or whatever, like those parallel bars.
Exercise Resources and Calisthenics
00:14:37
Speaker
– first like hang and then you just lift his legs up to like basically touch the bar. So he's holding this V style position. So imagine the top of a V style sit up and he's holding it there.
00:14:49
Speaker
And you would usually do a reverse grip for this one. And then you just do his pull up, his chin ups. In that position. So he holds this static position while he would do his pull-up, his chin-ups. and For those of you know what chin-up is, it's it's where your palm faces towards you in the bar instead of away from you. So away is pull-up and towards you is a chin-up.
00:15:07
Speaker
and it was just stunning. And it was we were just like so impressed that a 70-year-old was doing this and crushing a number of them out, right? like So like 20 at a time or something.
00:15:18
Speaker
Wow. Yeah. And so we were like, okay, let's build up to that. yeah ari seven year old is doing But yeah, so those are all really great. Like you said, you can stabilize in, and that's why I like to the stationary bar too. yeah There's just so many things I can do from it.
00:15:35
Speaker
Right. But if you guys are interested, just look up, there's a bazillion resources out there, they're just calisthenic resources. I learned a bunch of it on YouTube because that's one of the only things that wasn't censored in China. um But there's a bunch of them out there.
00:15:52
Speaker
There was one that we liked a lot called Fenex, T-H-E-N-X. ah The main guy was Chris Haria. He's got tons of cool information. think he's got really good body information too. And then, you know, the Galisthenics community, like any community is full of talkers and bros and stuff, but just follow like the people who have achieved good things. And they're they're incredibly strong humans.
00:16:14
Speaker
And so there's other people that you can follow. That's just the one I found. Totally. Yeah. And like you said, i think building up slow, especially if you're trying to rehab something or, I mean, I just tell, I have some patients so I'm just, hang, just, just hang.
00:16:27
Speaker
Cause it'll help reset the soldier position back and you can do it pretty much anywhere. You know, it's not like you need specialized equipment. You can, but you can hang on, you know, door frames walking through them. You can,
00:16:39
Speaker
branches outside. i mean, and anything two by fours that are in your scaffolding, whatever it's like, um, get that hanging in there just to break up and give a different right, uh, movement diet, uh, throughout the day. 100% man. And we come from monkeys. Our shoulders are still built like monkeys.
00:16:56
Speaker
We should hang. they can be but a lot of times they are i feel like the shoulders i think the shoulders and the ankles are probably the two that i most push people towards natural movements huh because i think those two specifically the joints are complicated enough that once you injure it you need like this variety of diet and you need the stabilizing stuff and you just need so much and you're going to have to build slowly that I've seen PT strike out more there, I
Physical Therapy and Natural Movement
00:17:26
Speaker
Just because... I mean, again, you're not paying to see your PT, your insurances, and they're not going to pay for forever. Yep. And you're going to get a couple months in, which is going to be great. And then you're going to hit a wall. um And the natural movement can really just kind of carry you on for the next like three years and help build that resilience that you were looking for.
00:17:45
Speaker
Absolutely. Absolutely. And yeah, ah the PT is an interesting one. You know, if you, if you're going to um i think there's so many good PTs out there and there's some that are not right.
00:17:55
Speaker
There's some that just want the prescriptive, Like patient comes in, I give these three exercises for all shoulder issues, done. And that is not a healthy practitioner. That's not a helpful practitioner in any way.
00:18:07
Speaker
So I think as you know practitioners in our field, which we totally recognize suffers from the same thing, you get some acupuncturist, like it doesn't matter what knee problem they come in with,
00:18:18
Speaker
same six needles every time, six needles. And you're like, is is it really? Same needle, same point, same depth for all knee issues. they just They're just giving our field a bad name. you know So anyway, and then there's great PTs, just like there's great acupuncturists too.
00:18:35
Speaker
But like here's ah an interesting variation, I think, that is kind of cool between how PT sees it and how we see it, um which actually ties into acupoint names. Um, cause we do have a chat, ah we do have an episode on that and we'll, I'm sure we'll end up doing more too, but a really good one is, do you, do you know, I don't know what spring wind.
00:18:55
Speaker
No, I think it was spring wind. I heard this somewhere. Um, what's the point number that's one swing above the anterior, armpit line, and are the poster posterior, the posterior armpit line, one swing up from that, that crease.
00:19:11
Speaker
Small intestine. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I think we end... that 14, maybe? No, because we we went from the Hasi point, right?
00:19:25
Speaker
Is that the next point that you're saying after the Hasi point? Well... We jump from Hasi to the back of the armpit. Right? And there's two points there.
00:19:39
Speaker
Interesting. Yeah, I guess you're right. and never Because we don't count points. So we just, we this actually gets to a really interesting difference. Like we see points more as like individual locations rather than a number on a point.
00:19:53
Speaker
Yeah, it's the next one up. Oh yeah, so you're right, nine. Small intestine nine, I just looked it up. um Okay. Yeah. Right. So, let's see, maybe. Okay. Anyways. We all know I would fail this Number. a Small intestine number.
00:20:09
Speaker
um Hey, you passed whatever test you had to pass when you came back to the States, man. Well, if it has the names, i I'll pass it. Oh, okay. I just can't get the numbers because they write the names in pinyin in parentheses.
00:20:21
Speaker
Oh, I got it. Thank goodness. That one was nice. um I still don't want any goofy numbers. Anyway, the point is, is that point, Jinjin, what it should be called is shoulder loyalty, basically. That's the whole meaning of this word.
Acupuncture and Shoulder Stability
00:20:38
Speaker
So it doesn't mean chaste. It doesn't mean virgin. it doesn't In this case, what it means is loyal. And what does that really mean? We see that area, which is, if you translate it anatomically, it's the teres minor and major muscles.
00:20:51
Speaker
The teres muscles is like the crux of the entire shoulder joint, according to us. So this is super helpful because... you're trying to build a stabilized shoulder joint, first of all, you have to remember that our shoulders, because we come from monkeys, are intentionally shallow and intentionally unstable because we want maximum range of motion, even if that's at the cost of a little less stability.
00:21:16
Speaker
So what do we do to stabilize this weird joint that has three bones that come together to create this kind of shallow pit for the humerus to sit in? We need to stabilize the main area. And for us, that's the teres minor and major muscles, which is um that area, chen zhen.
00:21:33
Speaker
That's why that point is so key in helping to activate a stabilized shoulder. But obviously acupuncture can release tension there. We have to get to the other side of it, which is how do we tonify or strengthen this thing?
00:21:45
Speaker
That's not really an acupuncture thing. If you think about what, like, think about tonifying anything with acupuncture. Maybe. Maybe. Moxa, maybe. Moxa, that's a great point, right? Moxa by nature is more tonifying than that ah needles.
00:22:00
Speaker
In fact, traditionally, that was kind of the major difference. Moxa did proceed needles, by the way, for historical reasons. con connoisseurs out there. But the key here is how come you can't mock sell a lot of things successfully because you can't tonify excess things.
00:22:17
Speaker
So don't tonify excess and don't clear deficiency. We all know these rules, right? But acupuncture works great for clearing. So that's why it's also useful for so many things. So the idea here is, well, yeah, we could mox that area.
00:22:29
Speaker
That may be some effect. If we need all that area, we're going to clear blockages. But what if it's just weak? Then we need to strengthen or tonify that. That gets to your point, which is exercise is that one of the best ways to do this. So strengthening exercises for that area.
00:22:44
Speaker
Really, really key. And you can just do this with a band. It's really simple. I think they're called reverse flies if you use like the Jimmy term, but it basically exactly. You just get like a a weight or my favorite is an exercise band. to Those big rubber band, you guys.
00:22:59
Speaker
They're really strong. And you just attach it somewhere low, kind of like your knee height somewhere on the opposite side. So if you've got your left hand pulling, it's over by your right knee or further out. And then you just expand out with your palm facing the ground.
00:23:13
Speaker
You just expand all the way out and then bring that arm up. Let's say, you know, ah as comfortably as you can go, maybe up to like 170-ish degrees. seven d-ish degree If you give people 180, that's fine.
00:23:24
Speaker
And then just bring it down. Shoulders should always be dropped in literally anything we do from exercise all the way through toina, all the way through fighting, all the way through everything we do. Shoulders should be dropped. And it's a great way to exercise.
00:23:36
Speaker
um That one actually gets ah two key muscles, depending on the position of your ah your your torso. If you're straight up and down, What that is doing, and I actually like to have the band go behind my back if I'm going straight up and down, that actually doesn't hit the teres. That hits the upper muscle, the supraspinatus, which I think is the second most important muscle to do here.
00:23:56
Speaker
which So I always tell them to do that one as well. And then I have them hinge at the hip like a 45 degree and then do the exact same motion. But now it's coming up to the rear. That hits your teres minor major perfectly.
00:24:08
Speaker
And if you do both of those those things, you can rebuild a shoulder joint. You can literally think about how would you re-foundation a house? That's what you're doing.
00:24:19
Speaker
And it doesn't mean you've necessarily strengthened whatever it is, the injured deltoid or the injured thing. But now you have the foundation that you build on. Super important for joint stability. Nice.
00:24:29
Speaker
Have you ever done stuff with Indian clubs? What's Indian clubs? Indian clubs is, it's a tradition of swinging clubs that was, ah been around in India for a long time.
Indian Clubs for Rehabilitation
00:24:42
Speaker
The weight of the club is on the end of it. So it's the worst kind of, you know, fulcrum way. And this is to um make swinging the clubs harder for the joint space and the shoulder so that the little muscles get more workout.
00:24:56
Speaker
And you do a bunch of different swinging around and, you know, you can buy, know, I think I started when i started i started with like a half a pound or a pound. I think it was just a pound. And then now I'm up to like three pound swinging around. in That's a lot.
00:25:10
Speaker
but At the end of a long lever arm, that's a lot of weight. Yeah. Well, when, when you, in certain parts, you know, like the club is spinning in a circle too, like your whole shoulder is maybe doing a circle, but then the wrist does a circle too. And then that, uh, will increase to the weight right when it's all facing down to like six pounds or something as you swing it on the slowest point.
00:25:31
Speaker
Um, And yeah, I mean, for, for me, I was doing shoulder rehab for, for years. I had a shoulder injury and like, I don't know, 2012 or something.
00:25:42
Speaker
And for years I was doing whatever the PTs were telling me to do. And, uh, After I graduated school, i kind of took my own advice, which is always hard for us to do.
00:25:53
Speaker
I would always tell people if they were like, they would be doing something, PT, exercise, whatever, and they weren't getting better. And they'd still be doing their PT exercise. would be like, well, let's let's change what you're doing because you're telling me it's not working.
00:26:06
Speaker
And so after like, i don't know, five of eight years, I took my own device and was like, okay, like this PT stuff, like just isn't doing it. One, I'm, I'm bored of it. And do like, I'm, I don't have, i think the other thing is like having the knowledge base, right. Of like, oh, I do this fly in this variation or in this variation to hit all these different muscles. It's like, I don't have that knowledge. I have some of it, but I'm, I'm no, by no means an expert.
00:26:30
Speaker
And just by doing the Indian clubs and swinging around, it's like I'm getting all of them. yeah And it's a much more ah kinesthetically pleasing and mind pleasing. So yeah. fun which to that yeah um I've never done those, but those sound phenomenal. I think that's great that there is a Chinese and Japanese version of that.
00:26:49
Speaker
um i don't I don't practice Japanese martial arts. I did a long, long time ago, a year or two of Aikido, but that was that was before i even started studying Chinese martial arts. But the Japanese way is they'll do a lot of sword play masters will do this.
00:27:02
Speaker
Instead of using swords, what they'll use is like basically oak paddles. Yeah. like the same paddles you would, which sounds, i don't know what that sounds like, those are heavy as shit. Yeah. there to Like, you know, steel swords, not light, but like, it is a lot heavier than that.
00:27:20
Speaker
And if you can, you know, move all the things, the directions and stuff, you get all the full range of motion stuff. You are like, Oh my God, I know why this is such a good training tool because it's just, it's the weight vest for your shoulders, your arms, your elbows and all that stuff.
00:27:36
Speaker
um All the kind of ones that you'd want to hit if you're a swordsmaster and strengthening those.
Martial Arts Techniques for Strength
00:27:41
Speaker
The Chinese way of doing it is we usually use staves, either single-ended or double-ended staves.
00:27:47
Speaker
um And so this is most prominent in one branch of Chinese martial arts um called Eagle Claw. Or if you you know have ever seen any of the old movies, it's more like Eagle Crawl.
00:28:01
Speaker
Anyway, um can cancel me. I'm half Chinese. So the key here is what they'll do is they'll take like a single ended staff, which is basically the the staffs that you would mount a spear tip on.
00:28:13
Speaker
They're usually made out of a wood called white wax wood. Really beautiful. But what you do is you grab onto the skinny end and then it as it'll slightly widen as it goes out. And these we're talking like six foot, eight foot staff sometimes. So somewhere between six and eight is kind of standard, depending on your height.
00:28:28
Speaker
And you have it one end and you basically move back and forth. um And so you'll do like basically windshield wipers, but just with your elbows like glued to your ribs. You definitely want that.
00:28:39
Speaker
So shoulder down, elbow down, wrist elevated. By the way, in case anybody has never heard that trio, that is the... um like perfect trio of upper body postural alignment, drop the shoulder, point the elbow downwards. So sink the elbow, but then lift the wrist.
00:28:57
Speaker
So shoulders up, you'll get shoulder injury, elbow out, You'll get elbow injury, including tennis elbow, and then wrists depressed downward, your carpal tunnel.
00:29:07
Speaker
So we do them all the other way. We drop the shoulder to keep it connected to our body. We sink the elbow and then we lift the wrist. This is what we call the T-Rex position. So if you don't look like a silly Tyrannosaurus Rex, you're not doing it right.
00:29:19
Speaker
Exactly. And you just do that. You go back and forth. Dude, you will get so strong, so strong. And that's one of them. Another one that we'll do is we'll take rattan stabs, which is what we call a double-ended staff. It's made of like a hanging vine, basically.
00:29:31
Speaker
um So it has some pliability to it. You stick two together and then you wrap them, literally. So one person's holding at the other end and you grab the both of the stabs and you twist them around each other. And if that's easy, you hold it right there and then you reposition and you twist again until it's really hard and then you untwist.
00:29:47
Speaker
You twist again and it will get you like, if you are, if you want, like, you know, I'm sure there's some martial artists out there or people interested in martial arts that listen to this. you will get literally the strongest grip I've ever seen.
00:29:59
Speaker
I think it'll supersede even climb climbers. And those people are like superhuman to begin with. Right. The old Eagle Club masters were known able to break joints and bones with their grip.
00:30:10
Speaker
If you can break someone's bone, like let's say you're not even crushing that bone, right? Let's just say you're collapsing the space between their radius and ulna. Yeah. What's that? You are good ridiculous fighting force.
00:30:24
Speaker
Yeah. And just so strong. Because you just took away their whole ability to fight you. Yep. Left arm is on, boom. yeah and what And I guess they could like knight of knee it and just come at you with their elbow until you get... I'll shoulder punch you. and