| How did Jackie Chan train when learning martial | | | | comfortable balancing for long periods of time,that |
| arts? | | | | the short amount of actual balance required for |
| One piece of Jackie Chan's biography struck a | | | | kicks seems like nothing at all. Now, imagine |
| chord: As a kid, Jackie Chan had to balance on | | | | applying this idea to your other martial arts |
| one foot for an hour at a time... | | | | training. |
| Now, it's easy to see how Chan maintains such | | | | Useful Over training |
| incredible balancein his stunt sequences. | | | | Don't train so hard that you injure yourself. That's |
| Would you like to know the alternate exercise my | | | | not the goal, or even a byproduct, of over |
| martial-arts students practice? | | | | training. Don't tear muscles or ligaments. Look for |
| In the past, I have forced my students to | | | | skills that you'd like to overdevelop. Figure out |
| practice balancing on bowling balls. (Yes, you read | | | | how to over train for speed reactions. Be faster |
| that correctly.) One criteria for progressing to the | | | | than you need to be. Over train the power of |
| next level in my system was to be able to punch | | | | your kick. Know that you have trained your |
| 100 times while balancing on a bowling ball. Every | | | | lunges, so that you close the distance before |
| student managed to learn the task -- with some | | | | your opponent can react or respond. |
| coaching from me. | | | | Are you getting some ideas ... skills you like to |
| With both balancing on one foot for such an | | | | perfect to mastery? Get out there and train! Go |
| extending time and learning to punch so long on a | | | | over train! |
| bowling ball, you are 'over-training.' You become so | | | | |