This article first appeared in 1989, after Shane won his first Four Star International Grand Champion event. He continues to utilize many of these same training techniques and a balanced, specialized diet to maintain his conditioning.

The past several years have seen a new kind of martial art tournament devoted only to Chinese martial arts, and unlike competitions that pick separate forms and sparring champion’s, these choose one all-around champion who can do everything. Since the requirements are tough, the champions win big prizes donated by corporate sponsors.  

So far the leaders are located on the West Coast-San Francisco to be exact. Tat-Mau Wong's biannual International Chinese Martial Arts Championship chooses a "Four-Star champion "who must compete and win in hand forms, long and short weapons and sparring before he or she claims a trip to Hong Kong . Doc-Fai Wong's (the two Wong's are not related) International Chinese Internal Martial Arts Championship, devoted to tai chi and related arts, requires contestants to win or place in hand forms, internal weapons forms and push hands before they are even eligible for the tournament grand championship and free airline tickets to China.

The fact that both tournaments, with their demanding championship challenges, are sanctioned by the non-profit Amateur Athletic Union helps insure a better quality of athlete in AAU Chinese martial arts and even in possible future Olympic Chinese martial arts events.   

Training for these championships is no easy matter. Besides being versatile, to win you must be prepared to enter as many as seven or eight events in a single day. Howard Chuck, the 1991 instructor grand champion at Doc-Fai Wong's event, competed seven times, plus several push- hands matches. Luckily for next year's winner, this tournament will be a two-day event in 1992.  

Tat-Mau Wong's Four-Star champion contestants compete in their own division of three events and two sparring matches, equaling five competitions-all in one day. This event has been held three times and has been won all three times by one person-Shane Lacey of Newark , California .  

Lacey, the 22-year-old son of Choy Lay Fut instructor Vince Lacey has found that the increased competition of 15-plus competitors in the Four-Star championship requires him to train like an Olympic athlete. He's a new kind of tournament competitor-one who specializes in being the best of everything.  

Lacey is no stranger to hard workouts. He's been training under his father for the past 19 years. He also studies Wushu from top instructors like John Chuck and Anthony Chan.  

“Championships like Four-Star are designed to show a martial artist's overall ability," says Lacey. "You can't win by being just good at hand forms or weapons or sparring. You must be an all-around champion."  

Four-Star championship points are cumulative, with forms competition ranging from 0 to 20. Forms competition may be either traditional or Wushu and represent northern or southern Chinese styles.  

The sparring awards ten points’ maximum per fight. Contestants must fight twice. According to Lacey, the best way to win the championship is to be ahead in forms, then win both fights, achieving a perfect score. While it's best to win both fights, those who don't win their first match still get to fight a second match. All Four-Star divisions, including the sparring, are separate from regular tournament divisions. Sparring competitors fight opponents from their own weight divisions, who are chosen randomly; one from regular and one from the advanced tournament weight classes. Many tried this year, but again Lacey won the Four-Star championship. He attributes his winning streak to following a rigorous training schedule.  

Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Lacey starts at about eight in the morning, stretching for one-half hour. Then he cycles four miles, preferably over hills. After the bike ride comes four 1OO-meter sprints. Stamina and cardiovascular fitness are a must for all-around champions. His final morning workout on those days is 400 sit-ups, then its afternoon and weight-training time. Lacey's weight-training program has not diminished any of his speed or flexibility. It does, however, help his overall physique, a must in today's competitive tournaments where a competitor's form always looks better with a good looking body behind it.  

Any doubt about what this type of training regimen can do is apparent in 
this photo of Sifu Shane, several years after he retired from the Four Star series.

On Mondays Lacey works his back and biceps with three different exercises per muscle group. For his back, he does four sets of ten pull-ups, hanging from an over-head bar. He also does bent-over rolls, lifting upward with free weights. Lacey has been on this resistance training routine for over a year and has added 20 pounds to his previously spare frame. For his biceps, Lacey does barbell curl-ups with curl bars. He starts with ten repetitions, and then adds weight for six repetitions. After that, he adds more weight for four repetitions. The last set carries even more weight for two repetitions. Lacey also does seated dumbbell curls on an incline board, dropping his body weight downward for a full range of muscle motion. His last biceps exercise is a concentration curl that works his biceps to their maximum.  

Everyday weight-training exercises include calf and stomach muscle workouts. Lacey does 100 repetitions of calf raises, using barbells for weight. He gets his Wushu high jumping ability from calf lifts with weights, rising up on his toes with the toes turned outward, then inward. He also balances an 80-pound barbell on his thighs as he rises up on his toes. Besides high jumps, this exercise allows quick explosion off the ball of the foot when sparring.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday are sparring and heavy-bag days. He does four rounds of one minute each, with 30 seconds rest between rounds. Bag training includes basic Choy Lay Fut punches. Lacey also does some Wing Chun chi Sau (sticky-hand) practice with a partner, intending to incorporate as much as possible into sparring training.

Along the sparring line, Lacey finds time to do focus-pad workouts and floor-to-ceiling bag workouts. Then comes the actual sparring practice-six rounds of one minute each, with no break between rounds, alternating different partners. Sparring is full contact at full speed. Then he finishes the day with a 15-to-20 minute cool down stretch.  

Tuesday and Thursday, after Lacey's 30-minute stretch, four-mile run, and sprints, he does five sets of 20 push-ups. Tuesday and Thursday weight training is for the chest, triceps and stomach.  

For his chest, Lacey flat bench presses his own weight plus a little more. He also does incline and decline bench presses, flies with dumbbells-four sets of each gradually adding more weight.  

Triceps exercises include dips done by supporting his body between two chairs and French curls on an incline bench. When he starts to tire he brings the weight to the middle of his chest and pushes straight outward.  

Stomach exercises include about 100 twisting crunch sit-ups for lateral stomach muscles. Lacey doesn't do full sit-ups. They aren't good for the back. Instead he does only upper body curl-ups or crunches. From curl-ups, he moves right into leg raises until he's fatigued. Even then he doesn't put his legs down, but goes straight into air cycling movements with his head off the ground for about 30 seconds. If that isn't enough, Lacey then brings his legs down to barely off the ground, stretching from side to side. He works his obliques with side curl-ups on each side.  

Everyone needs occasional days off. Lacey listens to his body. When he feels he's starting to burn out, getting dehydrated and tired, he takes the entire day off. Otherwise, he trains Monday through Sunday routinely. He feels that taking a specific day off may make him miss a valuable training peak.  

Tuesday and Thursday are horse stance and traditional forms training days. Lacey does about 15 minutes of horse-stance training with the Choy Lay Fut basic seven-wheel stance form, carrying a weighted barbell on his back. Since he doesn't put collars on the bar-bell, he must move slow and smooth, especially when he moves into twist stances, to keep the bar even and the weights from slipping off.  

Next are forms, done the first time through at full speed, as in competition. Then each form is broken into four sections, two at a time, and practiced in great detail. The third time is again full speed for stamina and balance. He practices hand, short weapon and long weapon forms, in that order. All weapon forms are practiced with heavy weapons for strength and power. When he competes, Lacey uses light weapons for speed and dynamic action.  

Wednesday's weight routine is for Lacey's shoulder’s, neck and calves. While the calf exercises are the same as previous days, the neck exercise includes shrugs with a barbell. For his shoulders he does military presses with one leg back, lifting straight up, working the upper chest and trapezes. He also does bent over flies with dumbbells and alternate dumbbell rises to a full range of motion.  

Thursday weight training involves only the legs. Lacey does full motion squats, with lightweights, for calf and ankle flexibility. He does more seven-wheel stance training with the 125-pound barbell weight on his back and leg extension with weights.  

Not one to take much time off, Lacey's Saturday and Sunday practices are for contemporary wushu basics and jump kicks with his current Wushu teacher, Anthony Chan. He spends approximately three hours each weekend day working on Wushu basics and forms.  

Lacey also alternates every other week with a special circuit training routine, as well as his other training. The circuit training is a combination of 15 circuit course exercises-one minute at each station, with no rest between each change.  

The first station is medicine-ball tossing between Lacey and a partner. They bounce sideways across the room on their toes, while passing the ball back and forth. Station two is for sit-ups done on a sit-up bench. Station three has straight punches against a wall bag. At station four, Lacey kicks a heavy bag with roundhouse, side and front-thrust kicks with both legs. Station five involves stepping up and down on a step or bleacher. Station six is jumping rope. Station seven is seven-star stances with barbell weights on back. Station eight is three-star blocking to condition fore- arms. Station nine is body and thigh kicking combinations with a partner-once to the thigh, then to body from a bow-and- arrow stance. Station ten is stomach punching to learn to take blows. Station 11 is stick conditioning on the shins. Station 12 is hand forms. Station 13 is short weapon forms, followed by long weapon forms at station 14. Finally, station 15 is heavy-bag punching and kicking.  

Besides his training, Shane Lacey teaches Choy Lay Fut group classes five days a week at his father's school. In case you're wondering, he does take a few months off work to fit everything in when he trains for Four-Star. However, the rewards must be worth the hard work. Some Hollywood film makers who know of his abilities have shown interest in Lacey for action films. And when he takes his free trip to Hong Kong , he will also be auditioning for movie roles there. 

Shane winning his first of four 'International Four Star Grand Champion'
tournaments in 1988 in san Francisco, California