Training: Day of the Crane

TRAINING:

DAY OF THE CRANE

Crane Style...elegant, light, and powerful. Focused on speed and flexibility, this work out motivates techniques that can empower the user against threats without focusing on brute strength. On the day of the Crane, I work on my footwork, balance, intercepting windmills, and also a number of strikes particular to the crane.

The Crane focuses on evasion and speed. Indeed, it is a soft style in many ways, but its strikes are formidable. The Crane's Wing is a powerful hit with the forearm, and the Crane's Beak, a multi-finger strike, is also a potent weapon.

The following is my Crane Routine.

Warmup:

Windmills:

• Crane's Beak (Hook)

Hand Strikes: 

• Crane's Wing (Lift)
• Crane's Wing (Drop)
• Crane's Wing (Hammer)
• Palm Strike
• Crane's Beak
• Crane's Neck
• Wing Sweep Strike

Leg Strikes: 

• Snap Kick
• Spring Kick (Heel and Toe)
• Leg Jam
• Crescent Knees

Practice: 

Hand Striking Drills: 

• Crane's Wing Lift Outside
• Crane's Wing Lift Inside
• Crane's Wing Lift (Reverse Step)
• Crane's Wing Drop Outside
• Crane's Beak Hook to Beak
• Crane's Wing Hammer

Kicking Drills:

• Leg Jam 
• Leg Jam Cross
• Inside Leg Sweep
• Side Kick Jam
• Stepping Side Kick

Locking Drills:

• Crane's Beak Lock
• Crane's Wing Sweep
• Crane's Beak Hook to Catch and Knee
• Crane's Beak Combination to Kick 

Conditioning: 

          
Stance Training:

• Crane's Posture (2 Forms)

Core: 

• Half V's

Arms: 

• Triceps with Open Palm

Stretches: 

• Splits

Reflection:

         My crane style workout uses a lot of redirections via the crane's wing and crane's beak hook. Both are meant to move attacks away from their original trajectory in order to open the opponent to attack. 

         With the crane's wing, this can be applied in a soft manner or it can be applied quickly and sharply to inflict damage to the oncoming limb. Either way, the redirection is followed by attacks to subsequently exposed targets, such as palms to chin or  heart, or kicks to the legs or body.

         The crane's hook is slightly different. The hook brings the opponent in closer. The hook itself can also be used to trap and lock the limb that it hooks. Afterwards, the opponent is opened to be struck by arm strikes such as the crane's beak or with leg strikes such as knee strikes. The crane's hook can also help destabilize the opponent's balance, opening them for sweeps and attacks to the lower body.

          Mobility, flexibility, lightness, and speed are the more important aspects of the crane's strategy. The techniques do not require too much "muscle," but they should be applied precisely and with good speed in order to deal quick penetrating damage.