Chi Running

Ratbag

I'm just reading a book on Chi Running by Danny Dreyer and I'm thinking of giving it a go combined with base training.

It looks a little like pose running but there are some subtle differences.

I'm just wondering whether anyone has tried it and what they thought of it.

[Deleted User]

I started doing the drills and changing my style in the summer and have been injured since Sept.

To be fair it is an old groin injury that flaired up and probably not just down to the change in running style but it might well have aggrivated it. However I don't know if I'd remained a heel striker or if I'd had coaching, not just relying on the book, if it would have occured.

Ye Olde Dragon

I've been on a workshop recently on this. I'd read the book and watched the DVD but it's better if you can be coached by someone who can watch and advise and correct any positional problems.

It takes a while, but it's coming together for me now and my running is more relaxed and easier. There are some major differences between Chi and Pose running - mostly in the relaxed leg style I think, and perhaps in the emphasis on running from the core.

It's important to do the drills and body sensing exersizes, Catherina who did the workshop I attended kept emphasising - form first, then distance, then speed. It's hard to go right back to basics in that way but may well pay off in the long run.

Ratbag

It seems impossible to get coaching in this country. The nearest I can find is Ireland...

Sorry to hear of your injury though...hope you get back out there soon...

I haven't really got into the book yet but once I get to the instruction bit I'll give it a try...

Ratbag

GKW Sue Lass...I just cross posted...where did you get your workshop?

Ye Olde Dragon

I did it in North Wales - Catherina came over. She will travel for a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 15 paricipants. You could email her and ask. Alternatively, you could wait until June when I will be a UK based instructor willing to travel :0)))


<<<providing I pass the course>>>

Ratbag

Good on you for taking the instructor course...where is that? in Ireland?

I was thinking about doing it myself as I'm now a qualified PT but still working full time...I just thought it might be good to have someone UK based and you seem to have had the same thought...how much will you charge? ...and where are you based?

Ye Olde Dragon

I'm based in South Wales. Reading the contract that Danny wants signing before taking the course, I have a feeling that charges etc are pretty much prescriptive. I'm not much good at asking for money for my skills, so that may be a good thing!

Catherina charges £100 per person per one day workshop - to me that's a lot of money! Having said that, I feel that it was money well spent in my case, so maybe others would think the same????

[Deleted User]

GKWSL-I may well be interested in a workshop. I could probably negotiate it as a birthday pressie ;-). South Wales would not present a problem for me as brought up in Bridgend and lived in Cardiff before having to move with a job...

Ratbag

I'm sure you are right in that he would want to keep up a certain chrge for a workshop...a bit like a franchise arrangement...

I might well be interested in doing a workshop...South Wales is nearer than Ireland that's for sure!!!

Now we just need a few more and we can get on with it!!!

[Deleted User]

Just popping in to say I'm interested, looks like you'll be in great demand once you're qualified GKWSL!! I have 4 possibles plus myself that's 5!

[Deleted User]

So it's a commercial product rather than a scientific breakthrough?

Disappointing (

Ratbag

Vrap...I think you might need to read the book...

It's a proposed change in the way we run and it is supposed to help reduce / eliminate injuries and make running easier (I'm up for a bit of that!!!) In any case I'm interested enough to consider it...

So not necessarily a commercial product but I guess a lot of training methods cost money to learn...

Ye Olde Dragon

Vrap - I see your concerns, but how many coaches do you know operated a charitable free service?????

Ye Olde Dragon

...........besides, I'm not sure that it has a claim to a 'scientific breakthrough'.

Siv

No, I don't think anyone has claimed it's a scientific breakthrough. It's a bunch of recommendations on form, many of which are common sense (staying relaxed, keeping a strong core).

All the info is in the book but it must be beneficial to have the opinion of a third party.

Also the web site has a forum section where you can get free advice. I've found them very helpful.

GKWSL - let us know how you get on...

[Deleted User]

Pose and Chi both emphasize form first through the use of drills.
This is the key to running injury free and energy efficient but it doesn't have to be the sole property of specialist running methods. Why not add one drill session a week and see the improvements you can get.

Ratbag

As I go through the book, I'm going to start doing the drills at least once a week and see where it takes me. It is helpful though to have somone look at you and check that your form is good.

Chris.52

I've been reading the book since summer and have also done a one-day course. I'm learning very slowly. At one point the book suggests that learning the technique is like learning to drive: there are so many things to concentrate on at once. When I think that I took over 60 lessons to pass my driving test, and that I didn't feel like a competent driver till we'd got an automatic years later, I'm not surprised at how long I'm taking to learn. So I find the parts of the book that relate how people attended the course one day and improved their running significantly the next less than cheering.

But sometimes it all comes together for a good few seconds, and that is magnificent. It's the hope of injury-free running that keeps me trying to learn. I love running and I hate being prevented by injury.

SuperCaz

I do Tai Chi and my first instincts are that this could be another corruption of martial arts (for example, the martial art 'Self Defense' courses you can do which are completely useless). But I am willing to be proven wrong.

I find that some of the elements of Tai Chi, such as posture and inner strength, transfer to other parts of my life anyway so do I really need this?

I suppose what I am asking is how does Chi running overlap with Tai Chi or are they completely different disiplines?

Ratbag

As far as I can tell, there is no overlap as such but knowing Tai Chi could be helpful.

It was developed from a knowledge of Tai Chi.