If you aren't willing to work, then you might just as well skip this article. Correction, if you don't absolutely love good, hard work, then move along. Real Kung Fu Training, you see, will raise the sweat, exhaust the muscles, and show you the bruises.
People want the quick fix, you see, and that is something that doesn't exist. There is no magic pill. To understand this you need merely look at what the word Kung Fu really means. A skill attained by hard work over time.
Now, when I learned kung fu I had to stand in the horse stance for an hour. The instructor had a stick of incense that took exactly an hour to burn. We were expected to sit in the horse stance and let the incense burn, and at the end of the hour training would commence.
After we made it through the first hour (it wasn't hard after you got used to it), we got to do basics training. We wouldn't do twenty or thirty kicks, we would do hundreds of them. And hundreds of another style kick, and hundreds of...you get the idea.
After practicing kicks and punches for an hour, we would finally get to do forms. This would consist of the old forms, Mok, and Choy & Lee, and the Tiger & Crane and so on. Interestingly, the teacher would let up on us then, and actually talk about some of the things we were doing.
He would tell us how to translate the moves into real self defense movements. We would learn every possible thing you could do in a real combat situation. Sometimes we would break into pairs and practice applications, but then we were returned to the forms.
Our real training was in the two man kung fu patterns. This was where we stood face to face and bashed arms until they were numb and desperately in need of some good, old Dit Dah Jow healing juice. We didn't get that martial arts herbal juice until after class though; we had to earn it first with our hard work and bruises.
To be honest, all through my training I wondered if what I was learning worked, then, one day I was jumped. I sunk my weight and raised my arm, and my attacker's arm collided with my arm, and a look of pain came across face. He actually turned around and walked away, bent over and holding his arm to his belly.
Now, having suffered through this kind of training, having endured the pain and the agony, would I recommend it? I would if you want real Shaolin Kung Fu. Remember this bit of writing when you decide you want, and when you go out and find some good, old fashioned Real Kung Fu Training.
People want the quick fix, you see, and that is something that doesn't exist. There is no magic pill. To understand this you need merely look at what the word Kung Fu really means. A skill attained by hard work over time.
Now, when I learned kung fu I had to stand in the horse stance for an hour. The instructor had a stick of incense that took exactly an hour to burn. We were expected to sit in the horse stance and let the incense burn, and at the end of the hour training would commence.
After we made it through the first hour (it wasn't hard after you got used to it), we got to do basics training. We wouldn't do twenty or thirty kicks, we would do hundreds of them. And hundreds of another style kick, and hundreds of...you get the idea.
After practicing kicks and punches for an hour, we would finally get to do forms. This would consist of the old forms, Mok, and Choy & Lee, and the Tiger & Crane and so on. Interestingly, the teacher would let up on us then, and actually talk about some of the things we were doing.
He would tell us how to translate the moves into real self defense movements. We would learn every possible thing you could do in a real combat situation. Sometimes we would break into pairs and practice applications, but then we were returned to the forms.
Our real training was in the two man kung fu patterns. This was where we stood face to face and bashed arms until they were numb and desperately in need of some good, old Dit Dah Jow healing juice. We didn't get that martial arts herbal juice until after class though; we had to earn it first with our hard work and bruises.
To be honest, all through my training I wondered if what I was learning worked, then, one day I was jumped. I sunk my weight and raised my arm, and my attacker's arm collided with my arm, and a look of pain came across face. He actually turned around and walked away, bent over and holding his arm to his belly.
Now, having suffered through this kind of training, having endured the pain and the agony, would I recommend it? I would if you want real Shaolin Kung Fu. Remember this bit of writing when you decide you want, and when you go out and find some good, old fashioned Real Kung Fu Training.
About the Author:
This story of Real Kung Fu Training was related to me by a fellow who taught me Shaolin. If you want to see what I did with this training, head on over over to Monster Martial Arts and take a look at the Shaolin Butterfly.