Tim,

I thought you might like to see this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17Q6bBsaLb0

Very nice hand stand!

Craig

What year is hat video from?

Thanks Craig,

I'd almost forgotten about that awesome Bagua T-shirt Dan Miller gave me.

It was around 1993 I believe. Bill Tucker and I went from Taiwan to the Mainland to work as interpreters for a group that Dan Miller and Vince Black brought over for training.

I think I also see Richard Clear and Tom Bisio in there.

Too bad there was no push hands or sparring. I would have been bored out of my skull doing wrist joint locks.

The training went on for 10 days, not 6 minutes!

Tim,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like a lot of martial artists develop good balance on their feet, but don't work as much or at all with balance on handstands. I was wondering when and why you developed this balance? I can only imagine that you can fight better now while walking on your hands than a lot of people can balanced on their feet.
It's cool seeing these clips that feel historical. It reminds me of a time when there was no internet, and that martial arts still felt mystical! LOL. That Bagua T-shirt is very cool.

You guys did that same joint lock for 10 days!! Just kidding.

Tim, I left a message on the zhao bao thread. The 8 exercises you showed me are supposed to be done as slowly as in those videos? Thanks tim

Craig,

I practiced Yoga daily from the time I was 13, I learned a lot of variations of inversions then. I also trained with the gymnastics team in University for a year and learned a fair amount about bodyweight conditioning. I still practice various types of hand balances and inversions in my solo training.

I don't know if handstand ability helps stand up fighting very much (outside of the conditioning aspects), but the strength and skills I've developed from the training have been a very good for my ground fighting game.

Timber,

The ZB basic exercises can be done at a range of speed, with the movements slowing down as you become more advanced.

Thanks, Tim.

Thanks Tim,

That's interesting to know. A friend of mine that teaches Yoga raves about the health and fitness benefits of inversions. That's interesting to know that you already had a lot of experience with alignment and athletics... It must have given you a unique perspective when you were training the martial arts in Asia.

Chael Sonnen was talking recently and someone asked him what wrestling sport she should push her son into when he is old enough. He recommended that she first put him into gymnastics so that he can have good core power and learn to use his body as a whole unit better which will benefit him in any sport(sounded a lot like what Tim Cartmell would say). Then after he has a base in gymnastics see what he wants to do.

Good advice.

Thats why I studied wushu. For the core ]basics and flexibility. I didnt finish the training though. xD

Well that was just totally random. :D. That was awesome.

Most Russian athletes are advised to train in gymnastics as a kid, for no matter which sport you end up playing, the kinesthetic intelligence you get from gymnastics will help you.

Will gymnastics hp me win the World Series of Poker?

Is there two kinds of gymnastics? Here's what I mean. My girlfriend took gymnastics when she was a kid but didnt do any strengthening. They stretched the crap out of her to make her bendy and flexible and spent a lot of time teaching tumbling.

Whenever I see GSP doing gymnastics he is always doing static strength training.

As a sport, there is only one kind of gymnastics, that includes several events, and some events differ for men and women.

If your girlfriend was a kid learning to tumble only, there might not have been as much need for strength work.