LOOSENING THE JOINTS

Typically, we do these in repetitions of three times in either direction, but in your own practice, you may do as many as is comfortable.

NECK

Let the head feel heavy, like a bowling ball. Let it roll around very slowly because of its weight. Do not use the neck muscles here; just a slight bit of intention of movement. The goal is to loosenup the neck, not build muscle.

SHOULDERS

Plant your feet firmly at shoulder width apart. We use the shoulders to move the arms. Here, once again, the goal is to rotate the joint, not to increase musculature. As the arms go forward, the shoulders are pressed out & forward, with the chest caving in, as we exhale. The shoulders and arms move in a circular manner, going forward, up, then back and down. As they move back, expand the chest and inhale, filling and stretching the lung capacity. When we exhale, we root ourselves firmly and the knees bend slightly. In the opposite direction, the points are exactly the same, simply in reverse order.

WAIST

Legs shoulder-width apart & knees slightly bent. You may place your hands on your hips, palms on the kidneys, hands folded behind the back, or just hanging by your side. Rotate the waist in medium to large circles, getting in a good stretch and making sure that the movement is circular in nature. In your own practice, you may go from large to small ones. In doing small circles, make sure that your head does not bob around, but rather sits motionless, being kept aloft by thread from the crown to the sky.

NOTE: These are the "Three Joints." There are more that I will mention for the purposes of exercise, but these 3 are important, as they surround the 3 Tan T'ien. If you wish, in your own practice, you may place your attention lightly on the tan t'ien of that area, but only if you have the basics mentioned above down quite well.

ELBOWS

This exercise, if done to loosen the elbows must not be done with power! Open arms, swing both of them in towards the center. Left is palm, right is fist. The left stops the right at the inside of the right elbow. The left palm is in front of the right shoulder, on the right side of the chest. The right fist continues its motion, with the intent on the origin of the motion being in the elbow. (You should feel somthing in the small connector muscles of the triceps and elbow) Stay soft. Now reverse the motion so the arm opens back up. Next, with the motion originating at the elbow, the fist drops downward and into the body's centerline. Staying on the centerline, the fist goes inside and comes back up the centerline on the inside of the left forearm. The fist continues upward, then outwards and opens up so that the fingers of the fist face up. The fingers of the left hand stay at the right elbow and at this point should be underneath on the exterior of the elbow. Next, simply reverse the motion, staying on the centerline, so that the ending position will have the fingers of the fist facing down. Swing both arms back then forward to begin the other side.

WRISTS

Interlace the fingers, with elbows pointing down, and rotate the wrists in both directions.

KNEES

Place the feet together. Rub the palms until hot. Place the palms directly onto the kneecaps and rotate the palms in opposite directions, giving warmth to the knee joints. Switch directions. For your own practice, you may also rub in an up and down motion on the backs of the knees. The rubbing section may also be done anytime while sitting. Place the palms directly above the kneecaps. Bend the knees slightly and rotate them in a clockwise manner, keeping the feet firmly on the ground. Rotate in the opposite direction. Rotate them in opposing circles, or "In to Out," and "Out to In."

ANKLES

Slightly bend the left knee to support your weight. Raise the right foot up off the ground and rotate the ankle in both directions. Then shake out the foot and leg. Switch and repeat on the other side.

FOREARM STRETCH

Feet are shoulder-width apart. Move the right hand into the centerline. The left hand grasps the right in a qin na fashion. The left fingers lay across the right fingers and the left thumb presses into the back of the right palm. The left fingers pull down and the left thumb presses up and forward. At the same time, the left hand moves the right hand along the centerline up and forward, so that at the end, we should feel our right forearm muscles stretching. Do not do this motion carelessly! Repeat on the other side.

WRIST CIRCLES

Once again, the centerline. Tuck the right elbow in, so that it is basically touching the body on your centerline. You may use your left hand to hold your elbow in place. Your right palm is face up. Pull back and down with the fingers, toward your body, so that the palm is now facing forward. Keeping this constant pulling back, rotate the palm so that the fingers are now pointing up and the palm is still pointing forward. Now turn the palm towards you. Pull back the fingers. Continue the circular motion. Rotate in both directions and switch hands.

ELBOW CIRCLES

1. Tuck the right elbow... where? - That's right! - Into the centerline. The elbow can either be in the heart center or belly button. (Or the middle or lower Tan T'ien) The left hand can be palm on hip, or fist on hip, or willow palm in center of chest. The right palm faces forward and makes small circles. Sounds easy right? Yeah, ok. Keep the palm within the borders of the body; i.e. do not go outside. And keep the palm facing forward. Then reverse the motion. And then do the other side.
2. Begin as above. Only now, push the elbow forward, off of the body. Keep it in the centerline, and then draw the circles using the elbow.

BUTTERFLY PALMS

This exercise may be done from any stance that you choose, or simply stand with knees bent and shoulder-width apart.
1. Put the hands in front of the body, in the centerline, with the right wrist resting on top of the left (so that the right is on the left and vice versa) and the palms are relaxed, with fingers hanging down. Now, pull back the fingers (as in wrist circles), and keeping while constantly maintaining contact, rotate the palms at the wrists all the way around so that the hands have now switched sides (left is on top) and then relax the fingers. Repeat once. *Both hands stay in the same spatial area* Now make the contact point a little higher up onto the forearms. Repeat the above exercise, only the spatial area is also now higher, yet still on the centerline. Continue raising the contact point and spatial area, until you are doing the butterfly palms at head-height and with the elbows. Then reverse the cycle, lowering the contact point and spatial area.
2. Another way to do butterfly palms is to do everything as above, but instead of constantly keeping contact, there is a bit of a break when the palms are rotating. When the palms hit position, then the contact points hit. With time and practice, you will get the feel to this, and it will naturally come out as not only butterly palms, but also conditioning.

KNEE-UPS (stretch & march)

Stretch - Bend the left knee as you put your body weight onto it. Raise your right knee into a crane stance. Take your left hand and grasp your right ankle. Take your right hand and grasp your right knee. Pull your knee up and inwards as much as possible, touching the chest (the thigh too), keeping the toes pointed down and the ankle is pulled in too. At this point, you may switch hands and try at another little stretch. Then set down the right leg and repeat on the opposite side.
March - With a springy motion, quickly raise your left knee up to touch your chest, with the toes pointing down, like a very high and very fast crane stance(do not let yourself bend forward at the waist to help the chest meet the knee; the knee has to make this trip alone). Let the foot fall to the ground, and repeat on the other side. Continue this motion of "Marching in Place."

KNUCKLES DOWN

Stand with the feet shoulder-width apart. Inhaling, take your lightly clenched fists and lightly hit your chest or abdomen (your choice). Exhaling, bend at the waist and let all of your weight carry your top side down. You may bend the knees slightly, but do not cheat, lest you cheat yourself. Hit the ground with the fists. Inhaling, raise up and hit your area of choice (chest or abdomen). This exercise is down quite quickly and usually in sets of ten.

PALMS DOWN

This exercise is done exactly the same as knuckles down, only you hit the body and the ground with the palms.

SIDE 2 SIDE

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and hands hanging loosely at your sides. Now bend down and to your right, as your right hand stretches down your pants leg and your left hand pulls up on the other side, ending just about at the waist. Make sure that you are not bending either forward or backwards at the waist, but only to the side. Then return the body back to the center and the hands to the sides. This is also done in a quick manner (but not as crazy as the downs), with a feeling of elasticity, like a rubber band. Do all repetitions on one side(usually 10 or 20) and then do the other side, and your last repetition should have you reaching much further down your leg than on your first.

STRETCH BACK & 2 SIDES

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Interlace fingers in front of the body. Inhale with the palms up and to the heart center (middle Tan T'ien). Exhale while turning the palms over, pressing down and bending at the waist backwards (do not hold the breath). Inhale, straighten up, pull up the palms and do the same motion back 45 degrees to the right and then 45 degrees to the left.

NOTE: Usually the above few exercises are done in this manner: Knuckles Down, Side 2 Side, Stretch Back & 2 Sides, Palms Down, Side 2 Side (again), and then Stretch Back & 2 Sides (again).

BRUSH THE FLOOR

Step forward with the right foot into a very long (but very strong) right bow stance. Once you've gotten this long, strong, and low stance, do not move the stance. Do not move the legs. Only bend from the waist and hips. Bending forward at the waist, straighten your arms down by your sides. Keep bending forward until your chest touches your right knee. Then let the backs of the fingers or fingernails scrape the ground in a forward manner. Keep moving the hands forward and up, as they stretch forward. Straighten back up (from the waist) and the arms continue thier circle from front to up, then back, and down as the body bends forward to touch the knee again. This exercise should be done rapidly, so that the force of you rocking forward and back in your solid bow stance is enough to swing your arms around; not you moving the arms with their muscles so much. (Usually done in sets of 5 slow & 10 fast) Then repeat in the other side's bow stance.

CRANE TWISTS BODY

Stand with feet about 1 1/2 - 2x that of shoulder-width. Bend the left knee forward as you add the majority of your weight into that leg. With your left hand, grasp the area just above the left knee cap. With your right hand, grasp the back of the left ankle, so that the thumb is on the right side of the ankle, palm is directly behind, and fingers rest on the left side of ankle. Inhale while going into this position. Now, as you exhale, sink all of your weight back onto the right leg, as you straighten out the left one, and sink back to the right side. The right knee is now bending quite a bit. In the scheme of things here, do not let your weight fall forward, i.e. towards the area your toes are pointing, but rather try to drop your butt straight down and put your weight there as you go. Keep both feet flat on the floor and do not let the heels come up off the ground. Keeping ahold of this position, twist your waist to the left and look back and up over your left shoulder towards the ceiling (or sky). Then untwist, and go back to the left side. Then repeat on the opposite side. (1x or 2x each side is good enough)

STRETCHING SNAKE

Squat down on the ground, and place your right knee forward. Fold your shin tucked under you, so that the area from your right knee to your right toes are flat on the ground, underneath its thigh, the toes pointed, and the bridge of the foot is also on the ground. Your right butt-cheek should be touching your right heel. The left leg is stretched away back behind you, so that the thigh, knee, shin, bridge and toes are all flat on the ground, with the heel pointing up. Inhale and stretch down and forward, with your nose touching your right knee and your hands are at your sides, palms on the ground. Exhale, and push up and back, so that you stretch your lower back. Imagine that you are going to touch your left heel with the crown of your head. Repeat a few times and then do the other side.

ELBOW / FOREARM BOUNCE BACK

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Raise fists so that forearms are parallel to the ground. The tops of the forearms are facing up and the elbows are pointing back. Swing the elbows back to the back as far as possible, though keeping loose. Bring the arms back to the front. Turn fists over so that the tops of forearms face out to sides and elbows point down. Now, swing the forearms back, so that the elbows open up a bit, still keeping loose. Bring them back to the front and do the elbows... This is done on a 1, 2 count.

SNAPPING BOW

This one is a bit more rough & rugged, so we do not do it often, but it is fun and beneficial if you do it correctly. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Put both hands in front of your abdomen, with the fingers pointing down and the backs of the hands touching each other. Inhale as you pull the hands up along the centerline, all the way above the crown of your head. Begin to exhale as you separate the hands and bend backwards at the waist. Let the separate and fall back naturally. This is done nice and slow and soft. Now for the yang to its yin...Inhale sharply as you quickly pull the abdomen backwards. Straightening up as you jump into the air, you should also pull your hands up and forward. At the zenith or top or height of your leap, your hands should clap. As you come down, begin to bend forward at the waist and do a "Palms Down." Then begin your inhale, with the backs of the hands together and continue the exercise repeating.

SEAGULLS

Begin in a horse stance. Put the hands together in front of the chest, so that the thumbs and index fingers are touching, making a triangle area in between the two. Gaze through this open "triangle." Bend the waist to the right side and move the arms and hands in sync with this movement, so that your gaze through the opening is not disturbed. If you are indoors, you should be looking at the wall on your right. *Throughout this exercise, do not move the horse stance. Keep the foundation solid and just roll around on top of it.* Continue this circle and rotate all the way around to the back, so that you are bending backwards at the waist, and looking at the wall directly behind you (though it looks upside down). Continue around so that now you are looking at the wall on your left. And then down to the floor. Repeat & then do in the opposite direction.

TOP WINDMILLS

Stand with legs spread quite a bit, perhaps two times shoulder-width. Bend forward at the waist apporximately 45 degrees. You simply roll the arms in a forward motion, as though you are swimming, but the key here is not to use the shoulder muscles to generate the movement, but rather a turning of the waist. I.E. - as I torque my waist to the left, my right hand comes flying overhead and to the front; as I torque my waist to the right, my left hand comes flying overhead and to the front. Repeat for awhile and then do in the opposite direction (the back stroke).

MIDDLE WINDMILLS

Stand in a left bow stance with your right arm sticking straight ahead, but turned so that the pinky is on bottom and the index finger or thumb is on top - fingers pointing straight ahead. The left fingers touch the inside of the right elbow. Use the waist to pivot around to a right bow. As you begin to turn, separate the hands so that the right goes up and the left goes down. With the power generated from this turn, the right hand should fly backwards and overhead. When you are in the right bow, the right hand is now in front of you falling down, and the left hand is in back, coming up to come from overhead. The right hand continues its cycle, falling down along the right side and going back behind you as the left hand is now coming from overhead and down in front along the left side. The right hand still continues all the way back, to come from overhead to front and down. As the right is coming down, the left is going back and up. At this point, sink all your weight back to your back foot (the left) in sort of reverse bow. Keep sinking down until a nice "Tiger Down." As you go down, the right hand is falling down and slaps the ground, with the fingers pointing in towards the right foot. The left hand is back to the left and behind, in a straight line with the bottom hand, up 45 degrees. This is the ending posture. Now, to begin the next one, Rock forward and to the right foot (adding your weight) as the left, or back, hand comes from over head down in front to stop at shoulder height and the right fingers go up to touch the inside of the left elbow. You're now ready to begin on the opposite side. Contine.

BOTTOM WINDMILLS

Lie down on your back. Outstretch your arms to the sides (90 degrees from the body), with the palms facing down. Take your right leg and place it 90 degrees across your left leg. This will pull your right hip up off of the ground and be a stretch in itself. Now you simply switch legs. Swing the right in a clockwise direction until you set it back down on the ground where it was. As the right leg is going down, the left leg comes and crosses the right leg at 90 degrees. Do repititions. Begin slowly, just getting a good stretch. Then move a bit faster, and not allowing the foot on top to touch the ground when it crosses at 90.

TIGER DOWNS (toe down / toe up)

Stand with feet spread apart quite apart, as in Top Windmills. Swing both hands down and back, slapping the upper thighs as they go by. As the hands are swinging back, shift all of your weight over to your right leg, as the right knee bends. Keep the hands moving back and up behind as you continue to sink down lower and lower on the right side. As your hands come from overhead down in front, your butt drops right on down low, keeping both feet flat on the ground (especially the right heel). As you go down, try not to bend forward, but drop straight down. As you go down as low as you can, both palms hit the ground. Then the hands go through the same motion again, slapping the thighs as you stand up and shift the weight on over to the left side. Repeat these a while. Now - the toe up thing is such that when you go down on a side, roll the leg over that you do not have your weight on, so that the heel touches the ground, but the toes point up to the sky. This is sometimes referred to as "The Lying Leg Stance," because the leg sometimes lies flat on the ground.

ARCHES

Lie on your back. Bring your feet up so that they are close behind your back, but still flat on the ground. Place your palms up behind the shoulders, so that your elbows are pointing up and the palms are on the ground. Now, push up, arching the back. Stretch the abdomen up to the sky. Try to keep the elbows in a straight line with the rest of the arm. Rise up on the balls of your feet. Look behind you. You may do "push-ups" from this position - i.e. the down position would simply to lower your head to touch the ground and then push up, etc. You may also hold this position for a time.

2 FEET, 1 HAND ARCH

Squat, with feet shoulder-width apart. Put both palms facing out in front like a baseball catcher, only the right fingers are pointing up, and right underneath it, is the left hand, with the fingers pointing down. You will basically be `lurching' back to your right side, so give a couple of practice lurches to your right. Press down with your feet, and arch back over your right shoulder, taking your right hand up, and over your right shoulder, as your waist pushes up into the sky. The left hand follows the right. The right hand goes back and down to place behind you, on your right side behind your right heel about 2 feet, with the fingers pointing away from the body, to the back. The waist turns to the right a little bit and the left stretches up over the left side of the head and over so that the fingers point to the right fingers. Arch. Let the feet roll up on the balls. Make sure that the right elbow is bent. You might feel your left foot wanting to slide forward and out; do not let it. Feel this stretch and repeat this a couple of times, and then do the other side.

BUTTERFLYS

Begin sitting down. Bring both of the feet in close to the body, so that the bottoms of the feet are touching each other. With both hands grab the toes of both feet (your knees should be sticking out to the sides). Straighten the back. Now, flap your `wings.' Then, grab each ankle and put your elbows on the inside of the knees, so that they rest on them. Inhale. Exhale as you pull your flat & straight torso down, and at the same time pushing down on your knees with your elbows. Come up, inhale. Exhale - go down. Then up, grab toes, and flap.

90's

Again from sitting down. Outstretch your left leg straight in front of you. The right leg, you pull back behind you & underneath itself, so that you create a 90 degree angle between your right and left legs. Inhale. Exhale and stretch your straightened torso down the left leg, touching the nose to the knee. Inhale & come up. Exhale & go down on the right knee. Then back up and inhale, etc.

SITTING LEG STRETCHES

And again, from the sitting position. Bend the leg so that the right foot touches left inner thigh, and breath and stretch as before. Do the same on the other side, and then repeat with both legs outstretch before you.

SIDE-LEG RAISES

Get back up on your feet now, standing with feet shoulder-width apart. You may place your fists on your hips, put hands on hips, do buddha's merciful palm (one fist hip one willow palm heart center), or put palms to the side that you will not be kicking. Keeping your hips and waist facing forward, swing one leg out and up along your side; first repititions with the toes down (pointing to the front) and second repititions with the toes pointing up.

CROSS KICKS

Begin in a left bow stance, with your right leg back. Both of your hands are hanging down on your left side. Swing your right leg up and across the body to the left side. As you do this, twist the waist and torso to the right. Also swing your arms laterally to the right, so that at the height of your kick, you are turned 180 degrees behind, with your hands directly behind you and looking at the `wall' behind you.

STRETCH KICKS

Begin in a left bow stance as above. Now, simply swing your right foot up & straight in front of you loosely, with the toes pointed up to the sky, in order to get a nice stretch - you should be able to kick higher & higher with time. The arms are stretched out to the sides, with the palms pointing up and at shoulder height. Do the other side. This exercise may be done in a walking fashion, or in a stationary standing position.

PARTNER KICK-UPS

Lie on your back and have your partner stand with his feet shoulder-width apart at your head. Reach back and grab your partner's ankles. With your feet together and your legs straight, swing both feet hard and fast up at your partner's chest. He will catch your feet and throw them back down towards the ground in any direction.
Do not let your feet touch the ground. Repeat about ten times and then switch.

KICK-UPS

Lie on your back. Keep your feet together and roll back so that your legs are over your head, and your palms are down on the ground behind your shoulders. (Here you might want to roll back and forth a couple of times to "Get Ready.") Using your abdomen, throw your legs up and forward, at the same time pushing up from your palms, to rocket yourself up into a standing position. Repeat at this try at least 5 times.

PALM PUSH-UPS

Turn over onto your stomach and get into your average push-up position, with the palms down, aligned with your shoulders. Fingers together. Body flat. Looking straight ahead. Inhale - bend elbows out to the sides and go down. Exhale - push up. Repeat in set. Then, these may also be done so that the elbows, go back by the sides, alongside the body.

KNUCKLE PUSH-UPS

Make "sun-fists," like the vertical fist, and place them aligned with shoulders. Inhale - lower down, bending the elbows alongside the body. Exhale - push up. Repeat in sets.

DIAMOND PUSH-UPS

Form a triangle or "Diamond" with the hands, as in Seagull exercises. Place them palm down on the ground (aligned either with the chest or the nose). Then proceed to do push-ups, with the elbows going out at 45 degrees.

DRAGON PUSH-UPS

Begin as a palm push-up, only now spread all the fingers apart, dig the fingers into the earth, and push up bending the fingers as in a Dragon Claw.Repeat in sets.

CAT PUSH-UPS

Spread you legs to that of double shoulder-width. Place your palms on the ground in front of you, aligned with the shoulders. "Nose" - Touch your nose to the ground, in between the hands. "Body" - Bending the elbows, move the body forward, so that the body is parallel to the ground, but not touching it. "Up" - Move further forward arching the back and pushing the groin down; elbows straighten out a bit. Then reverse the order - Body, Nose, Up (to the beginning posture).

PROSTRATION (TEMPLE) PUSH-UPS

Get on all fours, with your palms down aligned with shoulders, and legs bent at 90 degrees, and the balls of the feet down, heels up. Put the knees touching together. Lift the knees approximately 1 to 2 inches up off of the ground. Innhale, and bend the elbows alongside the body, yet the knees stay in the exact same position. Exhale - push up (keep the knees in the same spot). Repeat in sets.

CROSSED-LEG PUSH-UPS

Get into a "Crab-Walking" position, with your hands on the ground behind your rear, and your legs bent at the knees pointing up and feet on the ground. Lift your butt off of the ground, and bend your elbows. Place your right ankle above your left knee-cap, resting on the thigh. Inhale and bring in your left arm to your center. Exhale as you turn your waist to the right, straighten your right arm. Pivot on the left ball of the foot, so that it straightens. At the same time, raise the left arm so that it straightens out and up. Hold the posture for a moment. Then inhale and twist back to the beginning posture.Repeat. Then do twice on the other side. When your cross your legs, whichever direction the top knee is pointing - is the direction in which you will be turning.

ARCH PUSH-UPS

Lie down on your back. Pull feet in (flat on floor) close to buttocks. Put your hands palms down on the floor above your shoulders so that the fingers are pointing back towards the shoulders. Inhale. Exhale and push up wards with the legs and hands so that the abdomen goes up, and the head goes down. Here, only feet and hands touch the ground. Arch way up, extending up on the balls of the feet. Inhale and lower the heels and the top of the head to the ground. Then exhale and push up. Repeat in sets.

WALL PUSH-UPS

This one is a toughy! Get close to a strong wall and then do a handstand so that your feet are touching the wall - your back is to the wall, and your face is forward, away from the wall. Inhale and slowly lower yourself, using your hands for support, until the top of the head lightly touches the ground. Then exhale and push back up to the beginning position. Repeat in sets. If this is the first time that you are doing this exercise, place a pillow under the head.

PARTNER PUSH-UPS

Obviously, this one is done with a partner (or a 2 1/2 foot raise). One of you gets down on all fours and the other one places the bridge tops of his feet onto your back and does normal palm push-ups from this raised position. Repeat in sets and switch partners.

WHEEL-BARROWS

Once again - get a partner. One person is standing and holds the feet of the other, while the other has only his palms touching the ground and his feet are obviously suspended. The one in the down position begins to "walk" forward on his palms as the holder follows in step. The holder does not try to push nor pull back. Done for a set distance and then switch partners.

ALLIGATORS

Begin in a normal palm push-up position. Go to the down position. "Walk" forward, using palms and feet, constantly staying in the down position and not "pushing-up" i.e. - elbows extending. There are two ways that this may be done - either one is correct and will have no noticed difference unless you actually do this one a lot. While the palm "walks" forward, you may either "walk" forward with the leg that is on the same side or the opposite side. When the feet "walk," the knees do not bend and help to push forward, they simply go up and down like small heel kicks up in the air, landing on the balls of the feet.

ONE FOOT CIRCLES, 8's

Begin in a right bow stance. Go back to a right cat stance. Up to a crane. Then extend. Keep both knees bent, including the one that is raised, though it is bent less obviously. With the toes pointed downwards, draw an imaginary circle with the toes, but using the whole leg. Go both clock-wise and counter. Then switch sides. Then try drawing a figure 8 with the toes. The sizes may vary with practice.

SIT-UPS

Here you will find the usual type of sit-up that you may practice, though we will usually avoid these during training sessions in lieu of other abdominal exercises.

CRUNCHES

These are basically sets of abdominal exercises that appear to be easier sit-ups, but in fact they are more detail-oriented, and a bit more effective. Begin by lying on your back with your feet pulled in so that the bottoms of the feet rest flatly on the floor, and the knees point upward. Interlace the fingers behind the head so that the palms rest on the back of the head. You will then rise up with the strength of the abdomen, to ½ way between the ground, and your knees (basically 45 degrees). Then you will let yourself back down slowly.
Notes: Exhale going up - Inhale going down. Do them slowly and deep of breath - do not lurch forward. Feel the elbows pulling back, so that the back is flat. Also, very important - do not "curl" the body up, instead - raise the entirety of the torso off the floor as one flat object.
Yes - this is a difficult task.
Here you may do 3 or 5 repetitions. Then take your left leg, and raise it straight up so that your toes point behind your head, the heel points forward, and the flat of the foot points up to the sky. 3 or 5 Crunches. Switch Legs and repeat. Then raise both legs to the "up" position and do your repetitions. Then we finish by lowering the legs to the beginning posture and completing 3 or 5 repetitions.

ROWING SIT

Whether the floor is hard or wet or not should determine whether or not you do this abdominal exercise.
Begin by sitting on your bottom, with your feet pulled up close and flat on the floor. Keeping the shoulders relaxed, raise both arms so that the palms face down and are either dangling above the knees or to the sides of them at the same height. Rock back a bit on your tailbone and raise your feet off the floor approximately 2 - 3 inches. Breathe deeply and hold this posture anywhere from 15 - 30 seconds. Then we extend the body so that the torso and chest go back down to the ground (though not entirely letting it touch the ground), and the legs extend to shoot out straight and a few inches above the ground. We exhale while doing this, and keep the arms extended. We then inhale, and reverse the motion so that we snap back up and the knees come rushing toward the chest, and we are as in the beginning posture, but with the arms pulled in now, and only the buttocks touch the ground. Repeat for 10x, then hold the up posture for 15 - 30 seconds, 10x, hold, then 10 or 5 to finish up the exercise.

V - UPS

This one is a pretty difficult abdominal thing to master ;). Begin by lying flat on your back, with your arms extended, behind your head, with the tops lying on the ground. Take a few deep breaths to get ready. Then we will raise both the feet & legs, and arms & chest at the same time (trying to keep the arms, chest and back in alignment) so that the fingers meet the toes at the top of the arch, with the buttocks being the only body part touching the ground. Then reverse the movement to go back down. Repeat for 10x (or as close to it as you can).

6 INCHES

Begin by laying flat on your back with your arms either straight out at your sides (palms down), or with palms resting on your stomach. Take a few deep breaths to prepare, then a nice deep inhalation, followed by raising your feet six inches (thus the name) off the ground, yet keeping them touching each other. Hold for a good 15 seconds. Then lower them, breathe, and relax. Then raise them again, hold for 5, spread the legs as wide as possible (still up 6 inches) - hold for 5, bring them together - hold for 5, then down. Then repeat the first raising.

SQUATS + ?

Oooh, squats - my favorite!
Now, the title says "Squats + ?" because there are literally dozens of various exercises that can be done using the squats.
The basic squat is set up like this: Begin by standing with feet shoulder-width or a little wider apart. Now simply squat down as low as you can, but keep the feet flat on the floor (even the heels). If you have difficulty going all the way down, simply go as far as you can, without losing the integrity of the exercise. As a builder to this exercise - here is something you may try that was actually used in the U.S. Military when personnel were in much better shape, during the WW times. Stand as aforementioned, but with your back flat against a wall, with arms straight out in front of you. Keep the heels on the floor and the back flat, and slowly go down; the heels will be about 1 foot or so away from the wall. This will build strength, increase the necessary flexibility to one day go down all the way as the older generations of Chinese are seen doing when using pestle and stone, and it will also help improve posture. You may also try the above exercise without the aid of the wall. In either case (all the way down or not) you may also try to slowly rock back and forth on the feet, going up on the toes and all the way back on the heels. If you can go all the way down, bounce lightly while down there. These bouncing squats may be combined with many different exercises, such as Stretch Kicks - simply bounce all the way down in a flat-footed squat, then raise up as one leg swings up for a stretch kick. As it comes back down, go down into the squat, then up and kick with the other - you get the picture.

DUCK WALKS

This is a ferocious bad-boy, and must be taken very, very slow and in stages if you have weak knees. It may still be done, but just to a lesser degree and more intention on softness.
A natural progression from squats would be the famed Duck Walks. Start off in the above squat posture - if you cannot do a full squat, then simply go down all the way, and raise one of the heels up, as though you are going to walk. Place the hands behind the head with the fingers interlaced. Now we will begin to walk forward in this low posture, keeping sure to walk, and not waddle (even though ducks waddle). The knees should pump up and down directly in front of you and not be going out to the sides.
This is the walk.
In our exercise we will add something here - the jumps.
We take three steps - 1, 2, 3, then we press down with our feet and exhale out of our feet as a rocket taking off - jump up high as you can into the air (keeping the hands behind the head) and pull your knees up to you (the goal is to touch the knees to the elbows). We do not want to land in a standing posture and then drop back down into the squat, but rather we want to land in the squat posture. Then 1, 2, 3, and jump again. This is done walking around a large circle one time. This may also be done stationary, by simply exchanging 1, 2, 3, steps with bounces instead.

TWISTING HORSE

An all-around favorite.
The "horse" part naturally comes from the ma-bu, or horse stance, so that is where we should begin. Start with the feet together. Pivot on the heels and turn the toes 45 degrees outward. Then pivot on the balls of the feet, and turn the heels outward 45 degrees. Pivot on the heels again. Then pivot on balls again. You should make personal adjustments during this pivoting so that at this point, your feet should be a bit wider than shoulder-width apart. Then we will settle our weight down and bend the knees a bit, keeping the back straight and the fists on the hips. During a training session - we will normally do the first few slow, breaking down the steps - and there are many small ones - but then it is done quickly and all of the small steps seemingly disappear. We will go to the right first.
Concentrate all your weight on your right side, twist the waist to the right, lifting up the left toes a bit, and turn the left foot as far to the right as possible. Now shift all of your weight back onto the left foot. Lift up the right heel, pivoting on the ball of the foot, and turn the heel inwards so that the toes now point to the right; slide the right foot back about one foot closer in to you and to the left foot (now forming a "Cat Stance"). Now drop the right heel on the ground and lift up the toes. Pivoting on the heel, turn the waist and the right toes as far as you can around to the right (preferably all the way so that the toes are now pointing directly opposite the front position). Set down the toes, and switch all the weight now onto the right foot. Pick up the left heel, pivoting on the ball of the foot, and turn the foot so that the toes now also face the same direction as the right toes. You should be now facing the back. Now sink down and bend the knees (here's the semi-tough part, especially for males) so that the left knee goes behind and through the right knee, with the right knee in front, and the thighs now touching and pressing on one another, to give stability to the stance. Keep the fists on the hips, and the back straight. The buttocks should be resting on the left heel that is raised. To return, simply reverse the motion back to the horse stance and follow the above directions alternating the words "right" for "left," and vice versa to do the left Twisting Horse.
From this exercise also comes a vast number of others that we will be doing during training sessions, one of which would be switching from front horse to back twisted horse in the air while leaping.

CAT DANCE

Funny name and a hilarious sight, but absolute murder on those thighs.
Simply begin in a right cat stance. Then extend the right leg out a bit further than normal, and bend the knee a bit lower also. Keep the back straight. Let both of the arms hang loose on the right side of the body. Make sure that there is absolutely no weight on the extended right foot. Now - begin tapping the right toe - continuously lifting and setting them back down on the floor, very softly. At the same time, twist the waist a bit to the left, and swing the arms over to the left side, and then back to the right, and so on. This is The Cat Dance. Continue tapping and swinging for about one minute, and then switch sides.

SERVING TEA

Begin in a horse stance. Place both palms up at the hips. Take the right palm facing up, and extend the arm so that there is a 45 degree bend in the elbow and the fingers pointing 45 degrees up. Then turn the wrist so that the fingers begin pointing to the left. Continue this circle, bringing the entire hand back to the waist, so that the fingers point at the hip. Trying not to let the elbow rise to high, continue the circular motion, so that the fingers now point to the right side, and under the forearm. Consciously bring down the right elbow low and at the same time, spin the wrist downward also, so that the fingers make a small circle. Try to keep the palm facing the heavens the entire time. You should now be back at the beginning 45 degree posture - this makes one cycle. Continue for a number of repetitions, and then do the other hand. This may also be done in the opposite direction of the cycle. Both hands may be done at the same time also in the same direction or in opposing direction. Experiment with small circles and with large ones. Experiment concentrating on one joint more than the other. Experiment using the waist as the movement generator and large, smooth, fast circles. There are definitely some hidden goodies in here.

SUPPORTING THE HEAVENS

When reading this one, it seems like a very complicated one, but in practice it does not.
We begin this exercise the same way that we began the last one - in a horse stance with palms upward at the hips. Keep note that the waist as the movement and power generator is most important in this exercise. Pivoting on the heels, turn the waist to the left, and switch to a Left Bow Stance. At the same time, extend the right arm to 45 degrees upward with a bend in the elbow, as before, only that we are now also 45 degrees between straight ahead, and to the left. Now lower the fingers, so that the palm is once again pretty flat facing the sky, but arm still bent in the 45 degree fashion. Using the waist, turn far to the right, all the way to a right bow stance, swinging the right arm in front and to the right, so that the right elbow is inches away from the right hip, and the right fingers are pointing to the right, with the palm still facing upward. Twisting the waist to the right a little further, swing the right palm back 45 degrees around to the far back right. Twist the waist back a bit to the left, so that we now switch back to a horse stance. Using this momentum let the right palm now come up the back and over the top of the head (palm still facing up). Once we reach the top of the head, switch the stance to a Left Bow Stance, and let the palm go to the left side, and is still palm up, but such that the arm is twisted, and the elbow semi-pointing up. Twist the waist to the right and into a Right Bow Stance, and swing the right palm diagonally down along the front of the body, then around the right. Once it is to the immediate right side of the body, let the elbow bend a great deal, and the arm wrap around the back, so that we are standing in a right bow stance, with the back of the right palm touching the lower left side of the back. Now we reverse - so turn the waist to the left all the way into a left bow stance again, and unwind the right arm, to the right, diagonally up along the front side of the body, over to the left side of the head, behind the head, elbow bends to the left, palm continues behind the head, around to the right again (this motion should "unwind" the arm), with the right elbow inches away from the right hip, in a right bow stance, and then the palm is back in front, in a horse stance. (The palm should have been facing upwards during the entire time of this exercise, thus "supporting the heavens") The right elbow is inches away from the right hip, though still in a horse stance. Now, take the left palm, and slide it under the right arm, so that the right forearm is on top of the left one. Pivot to a left bow stance and swing the left palm around to the left, as the right palm goes back to sit on the right hip. The left hand then does its thing, going around the head and so on. These are done in various repetitions.

PIERCING PALMS

Begin by standing with feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointing 45 degrees inward, and knees slightly bent and both palms facing up - one in front of the abdomen, with the pinky touching the stomach, and one in back, with the thumb touching the lower back.
We will start with the right hand being the one in front, and the fingers pointing to the left. Place all of your weight onto the right foot. Twist the waist to the left and extend both arms in the direction that the fingers were pointing (right goes left, and left goes back and right) - but do this at the same time as sliding the left foot out to the left a bit to form a left cat stance. Also, when shooting the palms out, do not let them turn over - yes the left arm should be wound. Make sure your back is straight, breathe deep a few times, sink into a nice cat stance, relax the shoulders, even though the left arm should be raised. Then, turn both of the palms over to face the ground at the same time. Next pivot on the left heel of the foot, turn the waist and foot to the right, so that we are back to the pigeon-toed stance. At the same time, the left palm now comes around to the front, palm up, with pinky touching stomach and fingers pointing right, and the right is now in back, pointing to the left. We then turn to the right cat and extend, hold, relax, and then turn the palms over. And come back to center. This is done in repetitions. You should be feeling the back shoulder roll when you turn the palms over.