The Shaolin Workout, Week 1

Because I needed a new project, you know.  …I wonder if neophile.com is taken?  (Poop, yes it is.)  But still.  I had to take a moment there and revel in my own ridiculousness.

So, for the last week and a half I’ve been working through section 1 (of five) in the “Shaolin Workout” (see giant pic below).

This book has an interesting gimmick:  It was written by perhaps the most famous living Shaolin monk, Sifu Shi Yan Ming.  (Note: In Hanan province Mandarin, “Shi” is pronounced “Shir”.  I think it sounds funny; I smile every time I say it. Which is kinda cool in its own way. ;) …You can learn about him anywhere (and should, if you find that kind of thing interesting), but for “consumer purposes” probably what counts is that this is the Sifu who teaches a) the Wu-Tang Clan, b) Bjork, and c) a hundred thousand (at least) kungfu wannabes who’d be at his school in a red second if we could afford it.

To be honest, I kinda thought the introduction, which has a nice history of the Shaolin Temple as well as a detailed accounting of Sifu’s fascinating life-story, and the beautiful photography of an astonishingly cool-looking person, was worth the price of the book on its own.  So take my recommendation to buy it as either a Definite Yes, or an As Yet Uncollapsed Waveform, depending on whether you care if the workout actually works or not.

“Does it work?” is the question I’ll be answering sometime in the near-ish future.

Shaolin Workout, The - Cover

So far, I can say these things about Section One (under the Mercy Cut):

• Ye gods this isn’t easy.  However, it does feel good, and the stretches (which is what Section 1 is; the simple–Ha! I mean “simple”–stretches) definitely get all the muscles.
• The stretching exercises claim to tone muscle as well as stretch everything, and I believe this claim.  These don’t feel like stretches; they feel like a fancy sort of power yoga.  They will definitely give you sore muscles, too.
• The intact, well-developed and very Chan Buddhism employed throughout the book and the exercises is fascinating.  It’s also fun, almost goofily positive and light-hearted, and intellectually stimulating.  For all the “personalities” or “glosses” people put on workout books, this one stands out for being as mentally healthy as it is physically.
• The instructions are comprehensive and not difficult to follow, even though some of the exercises themselves are pretty complex.  So far I don’t think I’m doing any of them wrong.
• Improvement can definitely be seen in just a few days, and presumably continues, but the process is *not* as fast as advertised (they say about a month, but that’s assuming you can add 1-3 exercises a day, something most people simply won’t be able to do).  This is forgivable since Sifu’s been doing this since a very young age and obviously finds it easy; and furthermore, it’s such an encouraging book that I don’t find myself getting put off, even though it’s taken me almost 2 weeks to do Week 1 and I’m not quite ready to add any more yet!
• If the pudding is any proof, good lord, because Sifu is probably the most physically fit human being I’ve ever seen.  o.O  …The beautiful photography of just what a body can really do when it’s in perfect shape is definitely an enjoyable bonus.

Overall, so far I’m very pleased.  This is exercise very much within the scope of kungfu:  It’s awesome-looking, very comprehensive physically, mentally challenging, and demanding. When Sifu calls this training for “kungfu warriors”, he is probably not intending a conceit at all — but nor is he referring to fighting.  This is a physical workout aimed at mental and spiritual development as well, and unlike many systems that claim the same goals, this one seems to actually have the knowledge, experience, and time-testedness behind it to actually succeed.  It strives to develop quickness, concentration, openness, confidence, relaxation, and a positive manner about oneself and pretty much everything else.  That’s a message that can feel like a little…much, at times; but which certainly isn’t irritating to read or undesirable to work towards.

These are my concerns, so far:

• A lot of this flies in the face of modern Western ideas of stretching and exercise.  There are extreme positions, “pulsing” stretches, and sharp, quick motions.  So far I haven’t hurt myself (beyond one day of very sore muscles, thanks to a stunning and taxing exercise called “Rin Yao” that I think I’m going to come to love someday) …but I’ve been doing tai chi for almost three years; I have excellent balance and spinal posture, as well as moderately good flexibility and strength.  I’d hope that anybody who didn’t would take some of these exercises very, verrrry slowly.  On the other hand, there’s no evidence that doing it this way has done anything but good for Sifu and his students thus far.
• Along the same lines, this book, like many others, claims that the exercises would be “good for everyone” — which, while I don’t doubt that’s broadly true, I think that it makes much more sense not to start a program like this until you’re in at least moderately good shape.  If you can’t touch your toes, or do a sit-up, you’re going to find these so difficult by the end of the first “week” that I don’t think you’d keep up with it long enough to really progress.  As a marker, my mom is someone that I can’t imagine doing this — she’s 60, in average health, with a few not-serious knee and back problems.  She’d never be able to do some of the exercises I’ve already done in the last few days, and would probably hurt herself trying.  My dad, on the other hand, is also 60, but is in excellent health and works out daily — he would probably adapt to this just fine, though certainly not without hard work.

But this is kungfu.  Hard work with proper focus is the whole point — and this book doesn’t neglect the development of that focus, either.  Chi is openly discussed, simplistically but usefully and correctly, insofar as my ability to judge.  If you already do Chi exercises, you’ll see immediately how to apply them here, which is nice.

So, the verdict is, I was initially embarrassed to buy the book (because I’m geek enough without advertising my massive nerdgirl crush on kungfu guys*, including monks eek).  It is very! Positive and! Encouraging Yay! in this wonderful quirky Chinese way, and while I normally don’t care for such perkiness, so far I’m finding the book pleasant to read and invigorating to do.  Combined with the fact that it’s very pretty, and rather a cool addition to any library that has a section on either martial arts or China, I’m going to go ahead and recommend it, even though I’ve only just started.  It’s a cool book.

And you’ll know pretty soon how well the workout works!

…

*ok, and girls.  :P

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