OVER-TRAINING AND OVER-CLEANSING
Sifu Leonard Lackinger
Our chi kung is very powerful. So, guard against over-training
Sifu Leonard Lackinger
Shaolin Wahnam Austria
13th May 2015
Dear family,
Over-Training and Over-Cleansing
Over-training is a term frequently used in our school, but often too little taken care of.
I am starting this thread to share stories and experiences about it and hope those who have experienced it -- I am sure there are plenty -- will join in. Our training in Shaolin Wahnam is very powerful which is often under-estimated.
It's also hard to imagine that something that brings so wonderful results can be overdone. If you have ever eaten too much of your favourite candy once, you should know that there is a limit to everything, even good things.
Yes, a lot of things in our school initially sound too fabulous to be true. It takes some time to realize that what we say is real.
Sifu often tells us:
"The statement that a typical Shaolin Wahnam student gets in one month what a master, including me in the past, gets in one year is true, but many people, including our instructors and students, may find it hard to believe.
I speak from direct experience. My proverbial example of practicing San Zhan of Wuzuquan for two years and had no internal force, whereas those who attended my Special Wuzuquan Course in Penang could generate tremendous internal force in a few days, is a shining example. Those who attended the Wuzuquan course had prior kungfu experience, but I also had 15 years of kungfu experience behind me before I learned Wuzuquan, and I was an exemplary practitioner."
If you think that one cannot have too much energy/internal force, then you should understand that over-training is a special kind of Yin Yang disharmony, something our training should normally get rid of.
In this case Yin represents our capacity to store energy. Yang represents fresh internal force that is built by our training. So, during our practice we increase Yang. Our Yin will then follow to balance out.
But Yin only adapts slowly. If we continue increasing Yang more and more, our Yin gets left behind and the disharmony increases with every session. Fatigue and increased sleep demand are common uncomfortable results. Why is this so? Your body tries to tell you to take a rest. Sleep is one natural mean to harmonize Yin and Yang therefore you get tired and you might suddenly need some 10 or more hours of sleep.
After prolonged over-training, eventually over-cleansing might manifest as a result. This is where it can get really nasty. Pain, sickness, mental confusion and intense emotions are only a few examples of the symptoms of over-cleansing. Yes, it is good to be cleansed, but it is not comfortable to cleanse too much in a short time. It's not only uncomfortable, but can also be harmful! Remember, it is a kind of Yin Yang disharmony, the source of all pain and illness!
I use to set the limit for cleansing where people can still follow their usual everyday life and are able to enjoy it. Why should you risk your job and don't enjoy your spare-time just to build up even more force, which should give you health and vitality and should improve, not hinder, everything you do?
Other people in special situations might set their personal limit otherwise. In some cases, heavy cleansing periods might even be necessary, but most people will approve that generally we should be able to enjoy our life. Especially when we have not been sick at all initially! Why should we torture ourselves unnecessarily? Our practice can launch really big changes, but why hurry? Just enjoy your practice! We are still developing much faster than other practitioners and especially than most people who don't care about cultivation at all.
Types of Over-Training
Quantitative over-training appears if you spend too much time on your training. Without intention to belittle others, especially those students entering Wahnam with prior experience in low-level schools are pre-destined to over-train, if they do not cut down their practice time, which can often be something between a half and a full hour, sometimes more.
Qualitative over-training often creeps in unwittingly. During our practice we are slowly, but steadily increasing our skills. We might notice that we are very forceful after a session and enjoy the feeling and sensations. This can be a good time to adjust our schedule.
After attending a course with Sifu over-training does not creep in, it smashes in with a sledge-hammer. Personally I cut down my training time substantially after taking a course. After the Dragon Strength course I hardly trained anything else than a short Chi Kung session in the morning and the set once in the evening for quite some time.
Our dedicated students who practice one or more of our martial arts are most likely to over-train at some points of their training.
How can you guard yourself from over-training?
First of all, follow the instructions! If your Sifu tells you to train only one section of the Iron Wire Set for a few weeks and only then add a second section, then only train one section and add a second one after a few weeks. It can really be that simple.
Let me share something with you that Sifu once sent to me:
"Over-training is now a major problem amongst our students in our school, and it usually happens amongst dedicated students. Even when they follow our advice of not over-training, and they normally do as they are good students, they do not do so sufficiently. In other words, even when they do not train as much as they like, they still over-train."
Regularly validate the effects of your training! If you experience any deviations from the normal benefits, reconsider your training with the types of over-training in mind. Your Sifu will be happy to help you in this process, so consult your Sifu! If you are training on your own, then adjust your training using the following list.
What can you do, if you experience over-training or over-cleansing?
First of all understand that the inconvenient symptoms are not an illness itself, but a manifestation of the self-made Yin Yang disharmony. The following approaches will help you to recover your balance.
Like I mentioned in the "types of over-training", we can adjust our schedule quantitatively or qualitatively.
The first means spending less time on training and more on other wholesome activities. Every task you do, be it working, reading, playing football or having wholesome sex will spend some energy. You don't need to worry about losing your energy, especially when you are in the situation of over-training. Just enjoy whatever you do!
Only some days ago one of my students told me that he felt better after skipping one of his two daily sessions for a few days. From prior experience he noticed the symptoms of over-training correctly and adjusted accordingly. This is a great example of responsible training and instantaneous change.
The latter means reducing the level of practice. This can be done by doing the reverse of the usual instructions, i.e. thinking, singing a song in your mind or tensing your muscles. In my personal experience I initially found it hard to reduce the level as it became natural to do it correctly. So I normally used to cut down the training time and enjoyed the forceful training, although shorter. But what works well for me now is to focus my mind on correcting my form in every movement. This is a win-win situation as attaining picture-perfect form is a by-product of this approach.
Sifu has elegantly put it in a nutshell:
"When cleansing is comfortable and manageable, a practitioner should continue as he has been doing. When over-cleansing occurs, i.e. when cleansing has become uncomfortable, the practitioner should slow down -- in time or in intensity of practice. When adverse effects occur, he should stop training until the adverse effects subside. Then he resumes training gradually."
To substantiate the underlying philosophy and our warning not to under-estimate the power of our arts, I will share another recent experience of one of my students.
He has been training diligently for about half a year. He started with Chi Kung and Shaolin Kung Fu and added Tai Chi Chuan two months ago.
During a Chi Kung session he did not experience much outward movement during chi flow, but a strong vibration in his whole body. He became unconscious and only woke up when he hit the floor. His body continued to shake vigorously. He managed to climb up his bed and noticed that his head was bleeding. He had hit his head on a singing bowl during his fall. He took care of the wound. Luckily he was not in pain and nothing worse happened.
The chi flow generated by his practice was so powerful that it overwhelmed him completely. This is also a symptom of too much in a too short time, i.e. over-training.
He is a good student. So he consulted me, we adjusted his training and he is completely fine now and enjoying his reduced training.
I don't share this case to scare you, but to validate how powerful our practice can be, even after just a few months of practice.
What can we learn from this event?
- Train in a safe environment!
- Don't underestimate the power of our training!
- Don't overdo it!
- Notice the signs of over-training and adjust your training accordingly.
- And last, but not least: if anything strange happens, don't hesitate to consult your Sifu!
So, don't take over-training lightly! The warnings are not just shallow words. Over-training is real and even common among our dedicated students.
When you started practicing you might have had initial doubts about the existence of chi at all, due to the lack of previous exposure to it. Soon later you realized that chi is real.
I hope this thread kicks off your realization that over-training is real too and that you should heed the advice and warning signs.
Enjoy your training, but not too much!
Best wishes,
Leo
Shaolin Wahnam Austria
http://www.shaolin-wahnam-wien.at/
The way we practice Iron-Wire is very powerful. It is easy to over-train.
The above discussion is reproduced from the thread Over-Training and Over-Cleansing in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
A German version of the article can be found here
LINKS
Courses and Classes