A rotation exercise to strengthen the legs

Master Kongling All, Conditioning, Exercises advanced training, Shaolin 3

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A rotation exercise to improve the lower limbs’ performance in combat

In this tutorial, we are going to see an effective exercise to gradually increase leg strength.

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

The functional applications of this practice are related to:

Full body movements (eg. raising from the ground)
Control of the inertia (eg. change direction)
Strength against strength situations (eg. resisting the opponent’s action)
Speed improvement (eg. decrease the resistance that the bigger muscles must face at the beginning of a movement)
…

A note by Master Kongling – Despite what we said, it is important to stress two things: the first is that strength is the last skill to develop and not the one to count on (read The most important skill in combat), the second is that in combat speed development, absolute strength is only a part of the training (not the most important and surely not the one to address in the wrong way, worth the impossibility of reaching our maximum potential).

The exercise

Preconditions:

This practice requires a certain kind of effort and if we are not in good physical shape it should not be performed for an extended time
A quick warm-up and stretching are always a good start (especially if we are not very flexible, read Basic warm-up and 18 easy stretching exercises for martial arts)
If we feel pain / discomfort we must immediately interrupt the practice, especially those who are overweight and are likely to ligament damage (let’s be gradual)

The execution:

Let’s assume a wide horse stance (Ma Bu, read The correct position of the rider (Ma Bu))
The arms can be in a flexible guard stance (read How to rapidly learn Kung Fu: guard stance)
Let’s bend the left knee to the left and let’s extend the right leg to go to ground
The feet never have to leave contact with the ground (they are constantly and fully attached)
When we reach the maximum of our bending and lengthening capability, let’s reverse the movement going to the right (without standing up)
Then we return up to the initial Ma Bu stance and with a circular motion, we start again (down, left, right, up, a loop)
Substantially our body must describe (as accurately as possible) an ellipse
Let’s start at the speed we like but let’s perform deep and complete movements
In this first step, the feet remain always in the same place

Important details:

The movement should be continuous, soft, regular and harmonious (no unwanted accelerations, decelerations, etc.)
The first few times, if we feel that our legs have difficulty following the path, we can help ourselves by placing our hands on our knees (facilitating the execution)
The entire body must be involved to make perfect the flow (no vibrations)
The feet should always be parallel and face forward
The back should always be straight (perpendicular to the ground)
The pelvis has to be rotated upward (let’s Imagine that we have a coin between the buttocks)
The head should be straight and look forward (we have to imagine it hanging by a thread)
The shoulders are open and”moving away” from the ears
The knee should bend completely, while the other leg has to be extended to the maximum
We must always keep the weight balanced centrally (no oscillations)
The body is entirely and always as relaxed as possible
When we are in the upper half of the ellipse we inhale, in the lower one we exhale
Let’s implement warrior breathing (read Breathe Yoga: the warrior’s breathing)

Variations:

Let’s decrease at a minimum speed while maintaining constant and fluid the movement
Let’s increase speed to the maximum while maintaining the completeness of the movement
Once we acquired regularity in the movement (fluidity and harmony) we can gradually add various types of weights (stone, wood, metal, etc.) even heavy rather (from 2 to 50 kg) to keep (on our shoulders, hands, forearms, etc.); the crucial thing is that the weight is not going to affect the quality of the movement or the stance
Another more advanced variant of this exercise (in “Shaolin style”) is to grab two large buckets of water gradually more and more full (to be held with the arms parallel to the ground and stretched out at 120° in front of us); the goal is to perform the movement without spilling even a drop of water (the more the water is close to the edge the more it will be difficult)
Let’s move a step forward after each rotation
…

Evolution steps:

First of all, we have to acquire the free body movement
Then we have to gain fluidity (maximum slowness)
Then we can acquire speed (maintaining accuracy)
After that, little by little, we can add some weights; we can start with bricks to fortify at the same time the grip of our fingers (1 per hand, then 2, then other kinds of weights, etc.)
Finally, we can add footsteps (always without losing the previous results)
…

Final notes

A few conclusive thoughts:

This exercise is very useful because on one hand it stretches our body and on the other, we get used to easily / rapidly assume positions that normally our body rejects
In addition to what was said at the beginning, having strong and flexible lower limbs also helps rooting (read Kung Fu rooting: the pyramid concept)
…

In the next article s of this series, we will see other leg-strengthening exercises.

In-depth video courses

Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu Exercises – All the fundamental practices to develop real martial skills
Advanced speed and reflexes training – The full path toward real combat speed
Basic kung fu stances: how to – Each stance of 6 Dragons Kung Fu explained in detail
Full body stretching exercises – A complete set of stretching for the entire body

In-depth articles

How to improve balance: tricks and exercises – Fundamental notions and exercises for balance
4 exercises to strengthen our toes – How to increase the explosiveness of the lower limbs

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

How do you feel your legs executing this exercise?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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