Those of us fortunate enough to take part in Tai Chi classes fully understand the importance of mastering the (7) fundamental stances. However, when I practice away from class I find it hard to know how long I should hold a particular stance for without feeling like I am rushing through them. Usually my knees are the things that tell me to switch poses. So how do I to train my knees to hold out longer without splitting my focus. As an engineer, I figure there must be a more efficient way of working on my form without watching the clock like a hawk and counting the elapsed time I have held each stance.
Then it hit me. The last Crossfit gym I trained in had a device called an Interval Timer. This device beeped every time the boxer or student needed to change activities. This is exactly what I needed, so I went on the hunt to find one for the iPhone. My one and only device that comes with me EVERY WHERE!! Low and behold “there’s an App for that!” I found an app called the ‘UltraTrainer’. It is an interval timer that lets you setup a routine with variable times and randomized actions so that you are kept on your toes during your workout. So I took an hour and put in the following stances within a WORK interval that I need to work on:
Left Forward Bow Right Forward Bow
Left Back Stance Right Back Stance
Left Cat Stance Right Cat Stance
Left Crane Stance Right Crane Stance
Left Box Stance Right Box Stance
Left Dragon Stance Right Dragon Stance
Horse Stance
Then I set up a REST interval, because we all want to know that there is a rest period SOMEWHERE in all of these stances. When these are setup, then I can set the amount of time I want to spend working and then the amount of time for my rest period. This helps range the amount of time you want to spend with one repetition of the workout session. So I set the time ranges to the following:
WORK Duration: 2 min
REST Duration: 15 sec
Repetitions: 4
So my total workout is a random organization of all of my stances that lasts no more than 9 min. Not bad I think. One bonus to this app is that you can record a title that can be announced every time that particular stance is chosen. This way, you can keep all of your attention on working through the pain while your iPod/iPhone tells you which stance to perform and when. Cool huh?
I have not tried it very long so I will keep you up to date as to its usefulness. If you want to get the app from the App Store, feel free to see me in class and I can pass along the custom setup for the app. Try it about and let me know what you think. If you have any questions let me know. Happy training!!
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