Shaolin Warrior - Workout - Vol 1 - Beginners

On reviewer wrote, "If you have any fundamentals in martial arts, you might not find this DVD set all that useful." For what I ask? This is Kung Fu and not exactly the same stuff in forms as the rest of MAs. Now if you want to begin learning authentic Shaolin from a Sifu who is the real deal in your own living room, I have seen none better. The is the beginner workout, and it's not easy at all. It's a fairly lengthy workout that is practically non-stop. The Sifu does some warm ups, works on stamina, some forms, (the forms will really help for the uncoordinated, BTW) just about the right amount of stretching to be able to do this workout without injury (hey. you can work on serious flexibility at another time. It's not necessary to spend too much time here), some basic punches and kicks, and a little Chi Gong at the end to cool and calm down. As far as the workout, I can virtually guarantee you (I am not a shill, BTW and this is an honest review) that if you are out of shape or have too much body fat, if you do this workout say three times a week and watch your diet (that's another topic which you need to master) you will be buff, yes buff. This is how demanding this workout is. So I agree to learn some basic Shaolin Kung Fu and to get into shape, this is a great DVD. As far as street fighting for self defense, no you won't be a great fighter, but you sure as heck will be better off by being in shape, more flexible, and with a more powerful kick and punch than you had before. Besides, this is just the beginning, not the end. To summarize: if you want to build your stamina, be more flexible, get coordinated, and get buff, this is a great session. Buy this video. This is the real deal, the stuff you see the actual Shaolin practitioners doing when you watch those you-tube vids of them doing workouts at the temple. This is supposed to be the easiest of the three Warrior Workouts. He also has a series called Boot-camp which is supposed to be harder than the advanced session in this series! I hate to see that one even the beginner session.[Edit 2/8/2012: I have heard that some have said this DVD is too hard. Well, yes, it is hard, but you do not have to do the whole thing at each session. Perhaps you are not flexible, are overweight, or you have weak knees or legs. These things are just typical. You can start by practicing a horse stance building up your time in the stance for leg strength. Begin with 20 seconds and add a few seconds a week (or even four a day or four every other day. Do this stance once in the morning and once in the evening or night. I guarantee you will notice your muscles in your upper leg, leg strength improvement, and it getting easier in just a couple weeks time. While doing this work on your flexibility. At the same time maybe you can do just the warm-up, stamina training, and Chi Gong of the DVD. This by itself is a fairly decent workout using just three sections. Also do some walking during the week and perhaps some light jog/walk once a week. Not too much you may hurt your knees if you are too heavy and not used to jogging. Then when you get to your proper weight add some more sections (or one at a time). As far as diet I recommend this book: The RAVE Diet & Lifestyle - 3rd Edition.It tells you everything you need to know to eat healthy and lose weight. It's a vegetarian diet which is far superior to any other kind. R= no refined foods, A= no animal products, V= no vegetable oils, E= no exceptions and exercise. There is also a DVD called "Eating" by the same author. I recommend aiming for 3 pounds a week until you reach your proper weight. Make a log. You will learn what it takes to lose two to three pounds a week by getting to know your body. There are calculators on the Internet that will tell you how much you should weigh and give a range. They are general but pretty good in most cases. Just losing the weight will make many of the exercises and forms much easier to accomplish. Imagine how much easier just a horse stance will be after losing say 40-50 pounds. Most people are at least 30 pounds overweight. Another great book from a Buddhist perspective (don't get hung up on the word Buddhist. The stuff will not contradict your mainstream religion except in a few sentences perhaps and you can just ignore those parts if you come across any. It will actually reinforce your religion in practice and actually tell you how to use your mind to do it instead of just saying "don't do this-do that")is Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life.][Edit March 5, 2012: I would also add these two great books by Dr. Joel Fuhrman Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, Revised Edition and Super Immunity: The Essential Nutrition Guide for Boosting Your Body's Defenses to Live Longer, Stronger, and Disease Free. Both in the same vein as the RAVE Diet. Many of the recipes are great in these books.] These two books are a little more flexible than the RAVE diet, but generally the same kind of approach to food. I recommend reading all three.Good luck. Well, you really don't need any luck, just the intent. Yes, it will take time but just stick with these things. You will be richly rewarded with a healthy body and peace of mind. Rome was not built in a day. And if you just can't take the diet 100% all the time, by all means treat yourself to a cheat meal a week, but don't over do it.

Well, Shifu Yan Lei will not get the giggly, bouncy, bubbly instructor award of the year. He is very serious and VERY good at what he does. I am a bona fide beginner and this workout was a little over my head (speed-wise). I think this workout would be a bit more beneficial to those with some Kung Fu experience; there is not a lot of step by step break down of the moves. He announces a movement (his English is very broken), he demonstrates once or twice (he's really amazing!), and then the students take off like whirlwinds. I think over time (with a lot of pausing and reviewing) I can make it through the combinations. I really liked the stretching segment (toward the end of the workout). He gave a lot of modification advice for those of us whose joints have not reached the consistency of spaghetti. He also gave a lot of breaks between each set of exercises (punches, kicks, forms), so my heart rate never stayed up. It's really going to take patience on the beginner's part to slowly learn the footwork and hand placement if you are not coordinated or already knowledgeable in Kung Fu. Overall, I liked the video.

I had seen some amazing footage of the Shaolin Monks' training, and its overall benefits [physically- internal and external, and mentally/spiritually]. I can across a few Yan Lei's videos on You Tube, and decided to purchase this workout [along with the Qi Gong vol 1] in early january.Even for a beginner of Martial Arts, this instructional video is easy to follow [clear audio and visual instruction], adaptable to your physical fitness level and level of flexibility, and you can see benefits early on in your training [if you exert yourself with some level of effort].I also find his blog posts very helpful [ [...]]. In them he gives additional insights to assist your training, and to encourage you along the way. With the workouts, it is a good 1-2 punch.I have noticed that some find his accent hard to understand. Yet, I am neither chinese nor learned in chinese, and after some familiarizing myself with his speech, I do not find him difficult to understand at all.I highly recommend this video. I look forward to his vol 2, of this series, as I progress in my own training.