1 the first thing you do after a student initiation is to teach the student a basic warmup which consists of easing them into more agressive conditioning one step at a time starting with light cardio, like having students run around the classromm 3-4 times at a comfortable pace. Once that is done, I generally use some easy neck rotations then into various arm circling exercises. Then I do some exercies to loosen the waist, like light twisting motion. It is important to never rush this phase as the body is still cold, and over exertion could damage muscles, and especially lower back. Good exercises include holding a deep back bend or side and front bends. Rotating slowly form back to right side, to front, to leftside bends is an excellnt way to warmup the torso so long as it is done slowly.

Once upper body and mid body is warmed up, it is time to do the lower body. The first exercise is the ONE AND ONLY moo exercise I still use in my system. This would be the way we run in place. I feel it uses more muscles than the standard method, and thus aids in the warmup process. I generally do 72-108 reps. as not alot are nessasary, but it is important to NOT rush this. A comfortable easy pace is best. Remember this is just a warm up. I follow this with front, side and rear leg lifts done anywhere form only 10 to maybe as much as 18-36 depending on my mood and the level I'm teaching.

Once the cardiio part of the warmup is done, it is time to do some light stretching. Stretching should allways be done by holding each stretch and slowly sinking as opposed to boucning. Bouncing damages muscle tissue, and can actually tighten if over done. Bouncing is something that can only be done by practitioners who are already very flexible to ad some conditioning to the routine, and should never be done past the normal range of motion when fully warmed up. Beginner students tend to bounce to extend their range of motion beyond their capabilities when fully warmed up. For thier safety, this practice must be strongly discouraged.

The next phase is conditioning. This is common Ab/Lower back, Chest/Shoulder and Back/Biceps exerciese like Push ups, Crunchies and Pull ups. For beginners a simple 10 minute routine should be done, longer for the advanced.

Once you are done conditioning, it is time to drill some basics. The important thing about basics is that they have to be exercises that actually develop attributes used later on in the system. For example, if you are teaching students to shift way back in VERY deep stances and useing a Crane Hand block that is pulled all the way back behind you (like Pyun Su and Dodoji), you are doing agreat diservice to your students. The reason, is you are training them to turn thier back to an oponent, and place themselves in a very open and easy to expliot position. In combat, you do not have time to think, and your body will do exactly what it is used to drilling for extended periods of time. This means in crunch time, you will subconciously put yourself in the worst possible position, because that is what you have trained yourself to do with exercises like that are commony taught in the Moo. You would be better off teaching a drill like Snake Creeps down which has DIRECT martial application, yet still uses a motion that will give similar hip development. Another good one is an exercise known as Diagonal Cut. This drill will develop the hipss very similar to Dodoji if done very low, but it traines the practioner in very specific motions used in entering to un balancing and throw opponents wile maintaing a covered and safe position in relation to the opponent. All exercise must be directly linked to higher form. and combat application. Anything not doing so is a waste of valuble time and is generally taught by those with nothing ot teach and no understanding of real martial combat training..

In the early lessons, great time and efort must be placed on developing propper body structure. All of the basic drills must be focused on this task. It is worthless to teach a student advanced footwork drills,or drills that are for developing mechanics if they donot have the basics of proper body structure. For example, the drills utilising Snake Creeps Down, and Diagonal Cut are not suited for the absolute beginner because they require body mehcanics. The body mechanics require correct body structure that, the student does not even have yet, so it is important to work on the utmost basics, and NOT move on till the students have become rather proficient with them. In my system, I teach a Tai Tzu Chang Chaun Qi Gong called Kuang Yun Chaung. This Qi Gong is so good for devloping basic body structure, I have included it in my Shaolin curriculem as well as the Emperor's Long Fist.

Basically, it is a 6 position Horse stance drill. The first posture is done in a high stance. The student should be instruced on how to tuck the tail bone, round the shoulders, and keep the back strait. This will be hard, especially for those with Chung Moo Quan experianc as they are taught to arch the back and stick the chest out wile pulling the shouldes back. The next posture of Kuang Yun Chuang is a deep horse stance, ideally with the thighs level to the ground. The biggest issue, is making sure your student maintains thier body structure as they sink deep. There is a natural tendancy to arch the back and pull the shoulders back and totally beaking the correct structure and form. The best way is to have the student go ONLY as low as possible wile still maintaining proper structure. You will find it will take considerably longer to develop the ability to perform deep stances ths way, but once the student does have them, they will be solid and correct. This is a very critical phase in the students development as it is the foundation all else is built on. Failure here is what develops practioners like Jerry Barfield whose structure and mechanics are horribly bad. Even after 20 or more years of practice, they are still not beyond a beginner level. Other than some superficial strength and speed, they completely suck. All they have is flash and show, nothing real. Never rush to do deep stances in sacrafice of proper body structure. It is the biggest mistake a teacher can ever make. It is better to never teach a student the advanced skills, but train them to absolutly MASTER the basics of structure and mechanics. With that, they can walk the path alone if need be, without it, they are nothing, no matter what they are taught.

Once a student has progressed, and gotten good at the basic body structure exercises, it is time to teach them the first form. In my case, that form is a rather modern Shaolin set known as "Wu Bu Chaun." This form teaches the student to apply his basic structure learned in Kuang Yun Chuang to all the basic Shaolin postures, AND it uses the transitions between them as drills to begin developing the proper body mechanics that rest on the correct structure. Like Kuang Yun Chuang, ideally each posture should be practice at it's full depth, BUT the beginner, and even intermediate student will not be able to maintain proper body structure by doing so. So, it is important that the student be directed to go as low as they can wile still maintaining proper body structure, and not an inch lower. With each sesion, the student should try to go alittle bit lower so in a progressive step by step mannor, they will eventually be able to achive the deepest of stances, wile still maintaning the all important body structure. Again, this is a very critical part of the training, and failure to do this is what creates practitioners like Jery Barfield, or Joe J. who "appear" impressive to the uneducated, but apon closer examination are really very poorly trained. All they have is flash and show, nothing real. Never rush to do deep stances in sacrafice of proper body structure. It is the biggest mistake a teacher can ever make. It is better to never teach a student the advanced skills at all, but train them to absolutly MASTER the basics of structure and mechanics. With that, they can walk the path alone if need be, without it, they are nothing, no matter what they are taught.

Once all this Structure and mechanics has been worked on, the student should go through full flexibilty training. It is important to do this wile the body is still very warm, hot even, as the muscles are very supple, and rspond best to flexibility exercises at this time.

The final stage of the daily class is self defence practice. Early on, a student does not have the body structure or mechanics, so it is important to teach very simple two man drills where the techniques themselves can be used to reinforce the lessons learned in the early part of the day's lessons about body structure and mechnics. In my system, I teach the 18 basic Shaolin techniques to the first two levels (Ranks for lack of a better word). The first 3 are very good for the absolute beginner. It is best to discuss postion, basic foot work & entry methods used to get good positiong relative to your opponent. Introduction to basic cover and martial combat principals should also be done at this time. Remember, this is the "Reward" for hard, boring and extremely difficult training the rest of the lesson.

As the student progreses, this training should be advanced to include more techniques, two man sets, and step by step to full free sparrring with heavy resistance wearing full protective gear like the common MMA fingrless gloves, Headgear and cup & mothpieces. Each movement in the form should be examined, deciphered and drilled for it's combat applications. Every student should be expected to develop thier own variations on the techniques in the forms as well as the ones you teach them. This helps develop creatve, thinking, fighters who have the ability to adapt to the ever changing and unpredictable enviroment of combat.

Advanced students should be expected to learn forms from the manuals, as well as be able to decipher applications out of them on thier own.