Introducing two very special and unique movements from Qigong and Kung Fu. Expect tremendous gains (power) in your shoulders.

Your shoulders are one of the most complex joints in your body. Your shoulders aren't only 3 dimensional but they are also connected to your scapula (shoulder girdle) which can also articulate 3 dimensionally in very versatile ways.

The basic method for the common man to develop his shoulders is as follows: pick a weight (usually too heavy for the person) and start swinging them around with lots of momentum and bad form. Or alternatively, people do a lot of military presses with a barbell or dumbbells.

What if we told you that shoulders are capable of much more than that? And that there is more to strong shoulders than just having one dimensional strength?

First, understand that there is no power without stability. This is true in all physics.

Imagine trying to produce power on slippery ice - you may be able to do something thanks to the rotation of your core but for the most part your power production will be more than halved.

In order to produce power, you need to have solid support and a stable base. In martial arts, this is called "grounding", in Athlete 20XX we call this just "stability".

However, it goes a lot deeper than that. Your joints can also produce support (stabilize) and thus increase your power production. The better stability you can produce with your hips, spine and even shoulders, the more power you can unleash.

We see this all the time in untrained individuals: knees, hips and spine lack stability and as a result not only the power production but the agility of the person is limited.

But stability is only one part of the equation. So is strength. Power is a lot more than this.

You also need relaxation and looseness because without this  your "Qi flow" is poor. In layman's terms, your kinetic chain doesn't transfer force and energy effectively from one link (spine and joints) to another.

For many sports and especially in martial arts, your scapula (shoulder girdle) and shoulders are the major links that will transfer the power you have generated with your hips and legs all the way from the ground.

If one link in the kinetic chain isn't working properly, your power production will be compromised.

Yet, how do people train their shoulders? Like said before, they use heavy lifts and external weights for this purpose only. Heavy lifts can actually make your shoulders stiffer and stiffness leads to less power ⎯ not more of it.

With these 2 special Qigong and Kung Fu exercises we show you that there is more to shoulder training than a lot of people think.

Using light resistance can be immensely helpful - we do train our shoulders using light weights but this is not the only form of training we do. We also do Qigong, animal movements and a lot more...

The first movement that is introduced in the video is a simple warm up exercise from The Grand Circle that is designed to loosen up the shoulders while building up your mobility and endurance. 

The Grand Circle has some of the best shoulder movements the ancient Qigong has to offer. You will heal your shoulders but also build tremendous power.

The second movement is more popular in Wushu and also one of the base skills of Skill Master (our newest program).

This movement is tough, requires coordination and is very challenging if you do it for longer periods of time. Moreover, like always, we have taken this skill to a whole another level with more unique variations.

We call this movement "Flying Daggers" and it's phenomenal for developing strength, mobility and explosiveness in your shoulders. 

However, there is more to this movement because you are also rotating your hips and core. This rotational movement is very similar to punching or throwing something, don't you think? This is not an accident.

You see, although Skill Master is skill training, these skills are not just for show - they also have amazing benefits regarding strength, mobility and even muscular size (practice Flying Daggers often and your shoulders can explode in size).

Everything we do is geared towards functional ability whether it's in sports or martial arts. It's important to have fun but training is even more fun when it has a purpose beyond having fun.

If you want to learn the secrets of ancient Qigong and Kung Fu (truly mind-blowing stuff from one of the highest-ranked grandmasters in the world) then visit WarriorNeigong.com to learn more. You can also find our Qigong archives from here.

To learn the Flying Daggers and new beautiful movements with functional benefits every month, see Skill Master.

Stay strong.