I've been thinking quite a bit about the power in slinging and ways to maintain and create more power.  I've been trying to come up with a sling work-out, a way to increase the muscular power for slinging specifically.  All bodyweight - I don't own any weights other than a couple of barbell plates and some wrist/ankle weights.  Basically, I came up with a very short list of things I think would be or are useful:
- Back Bridge.  You need a strong, flexible back if you want to be able to use the whole body in slinging without injuring yourself.  (At least, that is what it seems like to me).
- Wide Push Ups.  These develop upper back and shoulder muscles.  Basically a push up with your arms spread about two shoulder-widths or more.
- Explosive Regular Push Ups.  Like regular push ups, with hands the same distance apart, but pushing explosively so that you jump up with your hands.  Develops specifically explosive power in the triceps.
- Lunges.  Leg strength is always useful.
- Breathing exercises.  Just deep abdominal breathing, like trumpeters and yoga masters use.

  I expect most people do not practise slinging for the health benefits  but maybe this will help with slinging, and health too, of course.  And naturally, I'd love to hear some responses and suggestions about things to add.

That's true.  A balance perspective could be added by simply doing one hand back bridging and one leg back bridging, I suppose.  That wouldn't be too much.  And it would certainly help with the more powerful shots with jumps and spinning and whatnot.

It's also called a wrestler's bridge.  Basically, you bend over backwards, supporting yourself on your feet, and either you head or your hands.  It's a very cool exercise.  It's found everywhere across the world, and it strengthens the neck, back, legs and the arms if you use those to support yourself or even do back bridge push ups (or reverse push ups, as they are sometimes known.)  And your spine becomes nice and flexible.
Here's a strong and powerful wrestler and muscle man doing a bridge on his forehead: http://www.drdarden.com/forum_images/412117.1139170635924.mb-062.jpg  I wouldn't recommend just supporting yourself fully on your head with your arms folded like for the first few attempts.  But it's also possible to go all the way round to getting your nose on the floor, and your feet raised.  And using your hands to do a push up and holding it there will seriously stretch the back, but not so that it is dangerous.  Make sure you won't be disturbed when you put your head on the floor when you do it, because if you get startled and twist or get up too quickly, you could easily injure yourself.  Still, it's generally quite a safe exercise.

Yeah, I don't suggest just doing the exercises I listed without thinking.  If you want to do push ups, I suggest doing some wrist stretches first, for instance.  I don't like gyms - I prefer to exercise for free on my own terms, and I definitely prefer bodyweight to weights.  Weights make you look nice, bodyweight gives serious function.  And for wide push ups - start normally, and gradually get further apart, or do some flies with low weights to increase shoulder strength.
  "Tai chi" is, in Chinese, 太极拳，taijiquan.  It's a martial art, and it's difficult to learn.  However, the breathing I put down is essentially elementary qigong.  If you want to find out about qigong, it's pretty easy to find out about it on the net, but it's best to have a teacher.  It's good for soothing muscles, relaxation, and definitely balance (the reason is because you are relaxing all muscles, so that you are not contantly using mobilising muscles when you should be using stabilising muscles - your balance can actually, honestly, improve in a fortnight by quite a lot.  Also, you are concentrating on the nerves in the feet quite often, so they become more sensitive just by concious thought.)  Contrary to popular belief, qigong does not give you super powers.

[quote]Weights make you look nice, bodyweight gives serious function[/quote]

You do seem have some very polarised outlooks on things ;-)
I'll never look 'nice' I don't train to look nice, I train for strength and general fitness. It really doesn't matter whether you train in a gym or at home, you can train for any specific thing. What you are referring to is traditional body building or fitness training -  the vast majority of people in gyms are just there to get a bit healthier and fitter, only a tiny minority will ever be there to look like swimwear models (and I certainly ain't one of those lol). Again you can do this at home or in a gym. For a lot of us going to a gym means you are going to somewhere for a specific purpose. The odds of me ever bothering to work out seriously at home are very slim, and that does go for most people. I have a lot of demands on my time at home. I go to the gym for only one purpose, so that way it gets done :-)

And why couldn't you exercise on your own terms in a gym ?
Okay money might be an issue - for you
Try and think in the wider terms - ie: not just what works for you but what might work for everyone :-)

Body weight is all well and good, but for strength training it's next to useless if you regularly use weights greater than your own bodyweight :-)

[quote]Oh, and flexibility is something you gain, not something you are born with[/quote]
Another sweeping generality and wrong. In two ways actually. Most babies are born incredibly flexible, it decreases with age and lack of use - but we are all different (unless you're identical twins)
I have a disproportionately long back - ie: my verterbrae are proportionately longer than most peoples, this gives me considerably less flexibility in my back than the average.
WE are all born with our maximum flexibility and as we age and our joints and bones grow and firm and sinews get used to certain ranges of movement - we lose it. Unless you train for flexibility, which most dont. Sure you can regain a certain amount at any age but the older you get the harder it is to maintain without serious regular application.

Yes you can improve your flexibility, but it's plain fact that no matter how hard you try some people will never be able to stick their foot behind their ear without having an accident with a chainsaw first :-)

okay - tai chi is easy to learn, but it does require a bit of commitment as the various forms won't stick in your head overnight. Qiqong exercises are essentially very short tai chi exercises. Possibly less emphasis on combat moves but then the vast majority of people who learn tai chi in this country have no idea of the application of tai chi anyway.

[quote]Contrary to popular belief, qigong does not give you super powers.
[/quote]
Maybe not at your level or mine - but yes it can give true masters what you might call super powers and what I would call mastery over their bodies own electrical field (chi).
It is possible to ignite paper and boil water by concentrating chi, documented fact. Not a super power just a very high degree of skill.
A true master can also disrupt someone elses chi quite easily. When you've been practicing an art for 50 odd years, it's surprising what can be accomplished.

Just try thinking beyond your own world once in a while :-)
It's difficult when your young, as you get older it's surprising how many of the things you knew for certain in your teens and twenties start to become  just a small part of the whole and how much you realise you have no idea about.

I'm talking about trying to go for some ludicrous aim of being able to bench 300 pounds, that kind of thing.  I used to like weight training - serious endorphin rush - but building your biceps with curls and that kind of thing is anathema to functional striking power.  Low weights and high repetitions are the way to get both cardio and strength benefits from a single exercise.  Bodyweight, therefore, is perfect.  And by "on my own terms", I meant at any time I want, when I wake up, when I feel like it, with music that I want to listen to, outside, indoors, with people, with no people, at night.    And for exercising, I like Nine Inch Nails.  Not a common choice in your average gym.  Anyway, in gyms I tend to feel more self-concious, and less likely to try out more obscure exercises, and I don't like being around people when I'm imagining myself as a Spartan. 

Flexibility can be gained once lost, though.  Of course there is a maximum, but you can still learn to do the side splits when you are 40.  And anyway, you're the one saying to think outside oneself, correct?  Anyway, flexibility should always be a part of a workout, I think.  And everyone - every single person - who does the wrestler's bridge is crap at it first time around.  You have a handicap with your back, of course, and that shouldn't be ignored, but you can still work on it, I'd say.  Feel free to ignore this advice from me though.

  As for "chi" - it's best transliterated as "qi", but no worries.  It just means breath.  When you fart, you expel qi as well.  And I've been practising qigong for a long time, since I was 9.  I've seen a lot of interesting demonstrations.  I've also seen Penn and Teller, and I've also seen that video which seems to be everywhere on youtube of a "kiai master" challenging an MMA fighter and trying to use his no touch KO skill, before being taken down by the man's knees, kicks and series of punches.  Sometimes it helps to think extremely critically and not get too caught up with the idea of having a super power ability just from breathing.  And maybe you can get super powers - but it's not a reason to practise qigong, that's just a silly and unnecessary side effect.  The main reasons are to prolong life and make the life that you are prolonging as healthy and happy as possible.
  Oh, and I don't believe 气 exists as some kind of esoteric energy.  It's just breath.  This is also backed up by the wonderful Xingyiquan master and creator of Yiquan, Wang Xiangzhai, who back in the 30s came out with the decision that qi doesn't exist.  It didn't stop him from being an internal master.

  I have no idea what taijiquan you learn, but taijiquan as I've learnt it is very difficult.  Low stances, long duration of time in stance or slow movement, total relaxation to concentrate on, plus perfect body mechanics - the entire purpose of practising the form slowly - with the neck vertically aligned, the back straight, the knees and ankles in perfect alignment, chest rounded, shoulders relaxed and down, elbows in and heavy.... Lots to think about, and that's before you've even learn how to move, how to apply a technique, how to move in perfect co-ordination, or learnt about taijiquan theories of combat, footwork, etc.  And then there are the qi crowd who think that taijiquan doesn't take effort, and that practising fajing automatically means you can blast someone five miles from the spot.  And that in push hands, muscles should be illegalised.  But whatever floats their boat, I suppose.

  Qigong isn't taijiquan but isolated.  Taijiqigong is, because that is how it was designed, but taijiquan is a really modern martial art (about 200 years old, really), and qigong is really, really ancient, from at least the Han dynasty, when it was known as daoyin.  And qigong has no martial use whatsoever beyond conditioning.  My personal favourite qigong posture is the santi shi, 三体式， a posture from xingyi, which has an enormous amount of visualisation to practise with, no movement, and a massive amount of informaton about posture as well.  It's called a zhan zhuang pose.  Zhan zhuang is popular in internal martial arts.  It just means "post standing."  You stand still, and of course, there's a lot more to it than standing still.

I don't want to insult anyone with talking about exercise.  I don't mind weights, or people using weights. I don't even mind those wacky chi cults like Yellow Bamboo.  They're funny.  I just think that for slinging, for people who are practising using a primitive weapon, who are attracted to the weapon due to its simple character, lack of complex equipment, etc, bodyweight makes perfect sense.  No equipment.  Very primitive, spread throughout the world.  Very easy to do.  No gym, just some room and your body.  Perfect.  And that's just how I see it.  And not everyone owns weights, or lives near a gym.

About the back/wrestlers bridge, I tried to do it with my hands on the ground first. My elbows where above my head and my arms where bent around my head. It felt like I was bending my arms much more than my back. I guess that was not correct. At least I could not do push-ups that way.

Then I tried it by supporting it with the head like shown in the picture. It did make itself felt in the neck muscles. But the pressure on my head was a bit too much for my liking. In the back I did not feel anything significant.

I really need a digital camera to see what I am doing. The mirror isn't much help when your head is locked to the ground.
I think I can do the bridge with the head on the ground ok, but I don't manage to stretch my arms yet. But well, I need to see pictures of myself.