No pain, No gain

This is a very cliché phrase used over and over again by personal trainers, drill sergeants, and anyone else who is all about getting stronger. When training YSB though, you cannot just throw around this phrase around. When holding strengthening postures this is especially true, because as we all know, that pain is completely in your control. There are no weights or reps, just your own will and time.  I am relatively new to YSB, first introduced to it in September of 2009. From a beginners perspective, the better you get at doing strengthening postures, the more it will hurt. If you practice strengthening postures regularly and are not feeling any sort of strength gains in your muscles and tendons then you probably are not putting in all the isometric tension as you could be. It is probably one of the easiest exercises to slack off on. What I have found helps prevent any weak mindedness during strengthening postures, is to really take the time to prepare your mind for the exercise just before you start to raise your arms and sink down into the posture.  Taking one or two breaths to clear your mind before you start can make a big difference in the amount of focus you put into an exercise.  Think of your mind as a chalkboard. If you are trying to solve an elaborate math problem on a chalkboard that has all sorts of half erased drawings and other math problems, that clutter can distract the mind from focusing on the task at hand. By clearing your mind you can better focus on performing a strengthening posture with all you have and also have extra space for any pain that may be overwhelming. If none of that helps deal with the pain, just tell yourself that the more pain you feel now the more pain your opponent will feel at the end of your strikes later.

 

-George