Training tip: Train to a theme

Really, this post could be filed under "Ask Dr. Jimberly" since it stems from a question I got out our study group's training session last night, but I figured I'd file it under "training tips" instead. The basic gist of the question was on how to focus training properly to get a lot of benefit. Since this is a topic that we have experimented with quite a bit before seeking wisdom on the matter, largely due to training in relative isolation for quite a long time at first, I figure we've got something decent to say on the matter. It seems that in any martial art or skill, but particularly in Yin Style Baguazhang, it pays off for your time to "train to a theme."
This matter sounds pretty simple, and in essence it is. Still, it's a bad idea to take this to its extreme. Let me give you an example. Hopefully you'll laugh at how off-base this mentality is, even if it seemed like a good idea at the time.


Early on in our group's existence, long before we earned the coveted position of being officially recognized, we got this notion that we'd get a lot out of our training if we really focused it. We also deemed that we'd be at the Lion System, and nothing else, for at least six or seven years, which we dutifully rounded off to eight. "Eight palms in the Lion System, eight years to train them," we reasoned, "so we might as well focus hard on one palm per year and get really good at it." This, it turns out, is a very "karate" mentality and a really bad way to go at learning baguazhang. Learn from us -- this is a bad idea, and you don't want to get that ridiculously strict about your "training to a theme" if you want success.

From my experience, there are a few competing factors that influence how to break up your training into effective themes:

1. A gigantic list of material, some of which isn't entirely obvious but still important to drill;
2. A heavy "grinding" nature to training, in the sense that modern video gamers use the term -- "boring" and repetitive activity;
3. Seemingly overlapping material with subtle nuances of difference that are important, for example the basic strikes in the sweeping and hooking palms of the Lion System, requiring rather comprehensive training;
4. Finite time and energy.

Because of this, there's a need to balance the amount of time you put into any particular theme(s) that you're training in any given session, and yet there's a need to cover each very thoroughly. It's absolutely critical to keep things relatively fresh by changing themes regularly, otherwise training gets to feel stale and personal engagement with the training drops off... with training time and effort right on its heels. On the other hand, if you take a shotgun-blast approach to your training, it will be hodgepodge and fail to help you get the development you're looking for. For that reason, I suggest that your themes be spread out over time periods ranging to no longer than a month, with three or four days to a week seeming to be ideal. It's also best if various aspects of a particular training theme are drilled and considered throughout the period that you focus on the drill. Even better than that is to have meta-themes, or bigger themes, overriding the main thrusts of your training sessions, lasting for a month or so at a time.

So what kinds of things make good themes? Well, honestly, what you want to learn or improve at. Here are some examples:

• A particular palm (striking method) or two within an animal system or compared across two (or more) animal systems (e.g. Lion and Phoenix chopping -- this made for a very interesting training session one night for our group, focusing especially on the swinging chopping strike in each system);
• A comparison of similar strikes (e.g. rising sweeping and opening hooking, both Lion) to find the overlapping force generation and subtle differences between them;
• A particular strategy (kind of form) as it is expressed over a few palms of a single animal system or over two (or more) systems;
• The movements of the waist and how each generates and adds to the force output of various strikes;
• Drilling stepping methods;
• Studying one form in depth: the form itself, the single-action techniques from the form, combinations of movements from the form (2, 3, 4 movements strung together, e.g.) or tied to a basic technique from the same palm, applications of the techniques and combinations from the form, etc.

 This list, of course, is nowhere near exhaustive. Those are just some ideas. In the last one, I mentioned doing some applications. Including this aspect of training in all of your "themes" is really critical to improving your fighting ability, which is, in all likelihood, why you're studying Yin Style Baguazhang anyway. You really should consider making that a serious part of your training on any theme, even if you don't have a partner to practice on/with (creative visualization is a very, very valuable practice to any training routine).

To close up, when you're training to one of these themes, it's most useful to set realistic, attainable goals for the time frame you anticipate to train the theme, including a plan of action. If you're studying a particular palm, say chopping, for instance, you might make a weekly goal "to make an obvious improvement in power in chopping strikes" or "to make noticeable improvements in the connection between use of the waist and expression of power in chopping strikes." Goals and plans make it more real, and the themes keep you on the idea of aiming for a particular skill or aspect of development.