Rising Crane

31/12/2025

Happy New Year!
I hope you had a lovely Holiday Break and will enjoy the New Year.

I wish you the best of health and happiness for 2026 :)😀


Here is a quick news update for what is Happening for Rising Crane in 2026:


NEW Online '12 weeks Foundation' courses:

These are taught exactly as my in person beginner classes:
Stream the course on your television and follow along:
Each course (Kung Fu and Tai Chi) has the complete 'Level 1 Curriculum', the 'lessons' are taught in a clear, follow along manner, then there are resources for your practise- diagrams, video, and audio with music.

There is over 30 hours of video per course, it is very comprehensive.

NEW YEAR SPECIAL: $97 for lifetime access. This is like $3 per hour of instruction :O

Please get these before the price increases after the New Year.

NOTE: If you are a member of my 'Online Academy', you do not need to purchase this, because all of the new material is available to you at no extra cost in your academy membership.

If you are not currently a member, and are interested in getting access to HUNDREDS of video lessons, an interactive community, and personal coaching via video for just $49 per month, why not join the online academy and make real progress in 2026?

If you enter the discount code: NY26 on checkout, you can get your first month for HALF PRICE. This code expires in one week.


INTENSIVE TRAINING CAMP 2026:
How about a week's intensive training somewhere nice? 6 hours per day training Tai Chi or Kung Fu with me. I am looking at residential locations in Europe- somewhere nice and warm by beach and possibly mountains.

If you are 'in principle' interested- COMMENT BELOW. If I get sufficient response, I will organise and fix prices, dates etc.

ONE TO ONE TRAINING:

This can be via Zoom or in person.
If you are local to me (Penarth), I have access to a beautiful Yoga studio where I can teach private lessons in Kung Fu or Tai Chi. Cost is £60 per hour. Message me for details.

If you are not local and you would like a one to one session via to review any material, check out anything, answer questions etc. you can book via this email. After the lesson, I will send you a recording for your reference.
You can can pay via Paypal (£60) and we can schedule a class.


YOUTUBE/FACEBOOK/INSTA/FREE STUFF:

My resolution is to do more public stuff- this year most of my work has been inside the online academy.

I have been doing A LOT of training since the summer- concentrating on streamlining my practise to enable me to continue to Improve, whilst requiring more recovery than 20 years ago.

I have taken a more 'scientific' approach regarding recovery, nutrition, scheduling sessions and cycling training. My own training currently looks like this:

Morning: Tai Chi Forms, Kung Fu Forms, Sitting meditation, Chi Kung, balance and coordination training.

Afternoon Alternate:
1) Power training (Kettlebells, weapons, sek yi pai) PLUS traditional conditioning exercises (Palm, bridge, iron shirt)
2) Cardio training and mobility/ Stretching.

6 days per week with one day rest.

Of course, I can do this as I am not currently doing acupuncture or teaching group classes, so I have the extra time. Most of you will likely only have say, one hour, three times per week- so if you speak with me, I can work out (depending on your goals and schedule) the best routine for you.

PLEASE COMMENT BELOW and let me know what Youtube or Instagram videos YOU would like to see, and what would help you the most!

Or if you prefer written content- any blog post on theory or practise you would like to see.

That way, I will only make the content that people will actually find helpful. Especially as my feed is currently a deluge of AI generated content that is fake and generally untrustworthy.

Again- feel free to reach out- I am happy to hear from you, and I am a real person, not AI :)

HERE ARE THE LINKS TO EVERYTHING:
https://linktr.ee/risingcrane

Sifu David.

24/12/2025

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas, and a healthy and Happy 2026.
I look forward to another year of practise and progress :)

18/12/2025

https://practicalhungkyun.com/2025/12/from-stone-locks-to-dumbbells-functional-strength-training-for-chinese-martial-arts/

Traditional martial arts have long used specialized tools to develop functional power and strength, such as wooden ear plates (木耳牌 muk yi paai) and stone ear plates (石耳牌 sek yi paai), stone locks (石鎖 sek so) and stone barbells (石擔 sek daam).

13/12/2025

I know how much time and research has gone into this. In a world of ‘fluff’ and superficiality- this is a gem. Recommended!!
[NEW ONLINE COURSE] Enter the Dumbbell!: Old-School Lifting for Modern Strength 👉 enterthedumbbell.com
Limited-time offer: only $99 (regularly $149) through Thursday, December 18.
Heavy dumbbells. A few carefully selected lifts with the biggest bang for your buck. The all-time greats didn’t “exercise” with dumbbells; they lifted them overhead. This course revives the all-around dumbbell lifting tradition and channels it through StrongFirst principles and strength skills.
Since Pavel Tsatsouline’s reintroduction of classic kettlebell lifts to the West, we’ve refined them to the nth degree. StrongFirst Certified Master Instructor Pavel Macek’s Enter the Dumbbell! distills that know-how into an inch-wide, mile-deep dumbbell lifting curriculum: the fewest moves that deliver the most strength—explosive and grinding—organized for real-world progress. Expect principle-driven instruction, purposeful variety, and field-tested plans you can run for months.
What you will learn:
👉 Kettlebells vs. dumbbells vs. barbells—similarities and differences, when to choose which
👉 Light dumbbell mobility sequence for healthy and resilient joints
👉 Heavy dumbbell lifting fundamentals: set-up, set-down, tension, alignment, breathing, strength skills
👉 Dumbbell clean—muscle, power, and split
👉 Dumbbell press—strict strength, old-school style
👉 Dumbbell overhead swing—ballistic power, the hard style way
👉 Program 1: Dumbbell Chain and its variations
👉 Program 2: Duplex—Dumbbell + Kettlebell Chain (same-but-different synergy)
👉 Program 3: Triplex—Dumbbells, Kettlebells, Barbells (the all-rounder)
👉 Program 4: Linking the Chain—ETD!’s “Rite of Passage”
👉 Dumbbell Challenge: Iron & Steel Chain—lift, test, and level up
Enter the Dumbbell! Old-School Lifting for Modern Strength
The limited-time offer of $99 (regularly $149) ends Thursday, December 18th

17/11/2025

Many combat sports athletes wrap their hands and wear gloves when they hit the bag or pads- so they may have a powerful punch, but would hurt their hands in a real self defence scenario. Many traditional martial artists have very conditioned hands but never put on the gloves and spar. They may have hard hands, but not the timing or combat experience to land a strike in a real fight. The answer? Put on gloves and get your rounds in- then take them off and do your conditioning. So simple! But how many people actually do it?

06/11/2025

My Kung Fu Brother's students in Guangzhou.

04/11/2025

Hap Ga Instructors Workshop 2025

04/11/2025

Instructor Workshop 2025 in the bag. Sifu was in fine form. Good to see the Hing-Dai. (Kung Fu Family)

23/10/2025

2020 Lockdown part 2: My son, Joseph spent the summer living with me in the gym- we trained every day :) If you want to learn kung fu or tai chi- check out my online courses (Including 3 free courses)