Kung fu is often described as a journey that lasts a lifetime. While it takes years to master this martial art, if not decades, it is possible to learn the basics in a relatively short period of time. With dedication, patience and preparation, you can master the simplest movements in no time.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Practicing the Movements and Basic Positions
Step 1. Create a safe environment for your workouts where you can observe your technique
Choose an area with a lot of free space, free of furniture and other obstacles. Place a floor mirror (or a long mirror hanging on the wall) so you can see your reflection as you exercise. If necessary, put your television or computer in a place where you can easily follow the video guides.
Step 2. Warm up
Run around the block for five minutes, do splay jumps, or any other light exercise to increase your heart rate. Afterward, stretch your muscles to make them more flexible. Finish with push-ups and sit-ups to awaken the body with more challenging movements.
Step 3. Assume the horse stance
Look at yourself in the mirror. Spread your feet 90-120cm apart. Lower yourself into a squat position until your hips are slightly above your knees. Straighten your spine by tilting your upper chest back slightly. Make sure you can see the part of the body from the hips to the head reflected in the mirror. Imagine that you are sitting in a chair, but without the chair under you.
- Use the Horse Pose to lower your center of gravity to make it more stable when you practice punching and punching with your arms. Keep your back straight to keep your body and muscles in proper alignment.
- It is not easy to maintain this position. In the beginning, practice staying in position for 30 seconds, resting for 1-2 minutes between attempts. Gradually try to hold the position for more and more time.
- By practicing the horse stance every day, you will quickly strengthen your core and leg muscles, improving stability and power.
Step 4. Practice the simplest strokes from the horse stance
To learn kung fu quickly, stick to the easier movements. When trying a move for the first time, do it in slow motion. Focus on the technique. When your gestures are more natural and require less mental effort, gradually accelerate the speed of execution, until you hit full force. As your stamina improves, increase the number of hits per series. Start with the straight punch, the simplest move par excellence:
- Close your hands into fists, with the thumb resting on the outside of the index finger. Keeping your arms close to your hips, bring your fists to hip height, with your thumbs pointing up. Pull your elbows back and stretch your chest muscles.
- Hit with a punch. Keep your elbow directly behind your hand as you extend your arm forward. During the stretch movement, rotate your fist so that your thumb is pointing downward. Pull your other shoulder back, rotating your chest. Upon contact with the target, the striking arm should form a straight line with the shoulders.
- Return to the starting position. Pull your arm back, turning your wrist up again and keeping your elbow directly behind your fist. As soon as the arm is back close to the body and the shoulders are aligned with the hips, strike with the other fist in the same way.
- Exhale as you strike. Breathing is an important component of kung fu and if you learn the correct techniques right away, you will be able to make faster progress.
- Use your chest to give strength to your punches. In kung fu, power comes from the chest and this exercise is designed to work the core muscles so that you can get stronger in a short time. Use the force generated by the backward movement of one punch to make the next one more effective.
Step 5. Take a simple fighting stance
Look at yourself in the mirror. Rotate your body to 45 degrees, with your left foot and left shoulder forward. You should have your right foot further back, to the right of your left. If you are right handed, this position should be natural for you. Get comfortable and don't spread your legs more than shoulder distance. Keep your hands high to protect your head and be ready to move your feet.
This position is similar to the position taken by Western boxers; it can also be used in reverse (right leg forward). It is used by many (but not all) styles of kung fu
Step 6. Learn basic punches
Close your hands into fists, then try to punch straight in front of you with your left hand. Rotate your body to the right as you move, straightening your arm and stretching your shoulder as much as possible. This punch is often referred to as a "jab". Focus on technique first, then develop speed and power. Next, try a right hand punch. This strike is often referred to as "direct" because the right fist moves directly towards the target. As you complete the movement, shift your weight onto your right toe.
- If you want to progress quickly, go slowly and make sure you learn the striking technique. Increasing speed and power is simple if the form adopted is the correct one. If you learned in the reverse order, you would be forced to significantly slow down your training in the future to correct your technical mistakes.
- In each repetition, practice the full movement. Make sure your arm is fully extended before returning it to your body. Each punch must begin and end with the elbow bent, with the hands protecting the head.
- Your strength always comes from the center of your body.
Step 7. Learn to parry
From the fighting stance, imagine that another tall person like you is trying to punch you. Extend your forearm and use the power of your core to move it left or right to deflect your opponent's imaginary punch. These techniques are called inside and outside parry.
- The internal parade starts from the outside of the body and proceeds inwards. The external one requires the opposite movement.
- Practice blocking with both arms. To learn kung fu quickly, you need to strengthen both sides of your body.
Step 8. Practice simple kicks
As in all other cases, first focus on learning the technique. Kicks may seem very challenging at first, but remember that they can be split into multiple movements, which you can train individually. The speed of your learning will depend on the effort you put into training and performing correctly. Begin practicing these techniques from the fighting stance.
- Each kick begins with the movement of the knee to the chest. Raise it as far as possible towards the shoulder. Practice to become more flexible and try to keep the knee above the hips to improve balance. In this position, your leg is "ready to strike".
- To perform a front kick, continue by extending your leg in front of you, thrusting with your hips and hitting your target with the sole of your foot.
- To perform a side kick, extend your leg forward using hip strength and rotate the foot on the ground 90 degrees. At the end of the movement, the foot will be horizontal.
- For a spin kick, imagine kicking your opponent's hip (or higher point) with the instep (the part that hits the soccer ball). The force will still be impressed from the hip, but instead of pushing forward, the impact will come from the right or left. To facilitate the execution, you will have to rotate the foot left on the ground 90 °.
- After each kick, be sure to bring your knee back to your chest before lowering it. Lowering the leg after a kick is a rather serious technical error.
- Practice slowly, performing the strokes with perfect technique. Try to hold every single position of the kick (knee up, kick forward, knee back to chest) for a few seconds to impress the movement in the brain. By training this way, the form will soon become natural to you and your kicks will be smooth.
Step 9. Practice changing positions
Once you have mastered the execution of the individual moves, learn how to move from position to position. By switching from the fighting stance to that of the horse you can give more strength to your blows.
To quickly assume the horse stance, bring your knee to a 90 ° angle, turning it to the left side. Keep your left foot close to your body, touching your right knee. Quickly plant your left foot 90-120cm away from your right and lower yourself down with both feet facing forward
Step 10. Practice hitting an imaginary opponent or use a punching bag
When you have mastered the basic stances and techniques, you need a lot of practice to improve. Stay light on your toes, move as you hit with kicks, punches and parries. To improve endurance, consider practicing simulating a racing situation (for example, a 3-minute round of intense training followed by a 3-minute break, and so on).
Part 2 of 3: Improving Your Kung Fu Skills
Step 1. Find a training partner
To improve quickly and to challenge yourself, you need to practice with another person. You will be more motivated during training.
- A training partner will help you improve by holding padded targets for you and you can do the same for him. By kicking and punching targets, you will develop strength and stamina much faster than if you hit the air or a punching bag.
- Holding targets for a partner is a great way to develop footwork and arm speed. It is important to learn different combinations of punches and kicks in both attack and defense. Plus, by keeping the pads padded, you will learn to stay loose until the moment of impact.
Step 2. Become more resilient
There are many ways to strengthen your fists, forearms and feet. Understand that in addition to improving your technique, speed and strength, you will also need to get your body used to hitting and being hit.
- On your own, you can simply hit a punching bag, especially with wheel kicks brought with the instep. Start with light strokes and focus on technique, increasing the power only when your foot has become more resistant.
- With a partner, try to strengthen your forearms with a simple blocking exercise. Stand facing the other person, then extend your right arm with the hand pointing down to perform an inside block. Your partner will do the same and your forearms will make contact (don't use too much force in the beginning). Continue by rotating your right arm 180 degrees clockwise. Your mate will do the same and your forearms will meet again. Bring your forearms back to the starting position to hit yourself a third time. Repeat the exercise with the left arm. Be sure to generate the force from the chest rotation.
- The push-ups on the fists (or on the knuckles, which are even more challenging) are a great exercise for strengthening fists.
Step 3. Strengthen the core
Improve the ability to transfer energy from the ground to your shots. Increase the strength you put into your kicks. Don't just focus on your abs (which are only part of your core), but also on your hips and the back of your waist. Core strengthening exercises include:
- Planks
- Traditional and inverted abs
- Raise with your knees to your chest during a pull or push-up position
Step 4. Develop your arm muscles
Wear weighted wrist bands when training kung fu. Train your arms every day with traditional exercises. Do push-ups, pull-ups, curls, etc. Pay particular attention to the forearms, which will allow you to better grab your opponents.
The "easiest" way to strengthen your forearms is to open and close your hands into fists with your arms stretched out in front of you
Step 5. Work on your legs
A firm grip on the ground and strong legs are very important in all martial arts, so make sure you build muscle mass in your lower limbs. Wear weighted anklets when training kung fu. Follow a daily schedule of squats, jump squats, and step exercises.
Other useful leg exercises include: tiptoe jumps, frog jumps, Cossack jumps, one-legged jumps, goose step, and sprints
Part 3 of 3: Studying Kung Fu
Step 1. Research the different styles of kung fu
Compare and compare the precepts and philosophies of each discipline. To achieve long-term goals, consider which fighting style emphasizes the areas you want to develop physically and mentally. If, on the other hand, you want to learn kung fu as quickly as possible, choose a style that harnesses your strengths.
- The two best known schools are Wu Dong and Shaolin. In Wu Dong, the emphasis is on developing your chi, or your "internal" life force. The Shaolin style instead focuses on "external" strength and exercises that strengthen your body.
- The styles of kung fu are further distinguished according to their geographical origin. Northern styles often integrate many leg strikes and acrobatic movements. Those from the south, on the other hand, emphasize excellent balance and the use of the arms.
- Styles can also be hard or soft. Hard styles teach you to counter your opponent with equal or greater strength, while soft styles primarily seek to use the inertia of the opponent's movements to your advantage.
Step 2. Consult guides on the internet
Learn to perfection how you should move and orient your body to perform the moves and positions correctly. Start with basic movements, such as kicks and punches, then notice how these individual techniques are integrated into longer kata (choreographed exercises that combine several different movements).
- Rewatch each video multiple times. On each occasion, pay particular attention to only one area of the instructor's body. Start by focusing on your feet. Then look at the hips, the waist and so on. This way, when you train alone, you will know exactly how to move each part of the body, in order to deliver the blows as effectively as possible.
- To further expand your understanding of kung fu, watch footage of other martial arts and look for the differences. You will notice how kung fu shows smoother movements, using more rounded techniques than those that can be recognized in other martial arts, such as karate, which are more direct and linear.
Step 3. Adopt the kung fu mentality
Even if you want to learn this martial art in a short time, resist the temptation to train too hard before you are ready. Kung fu aims to develop discipline in those who practice it, but that does not mean that full commitment is expected of you from day one. Pay no attention to those who say "no pain, no results". Plan a sensible training program that takes into account your abilities and general fitness to avoid injuries and excessive stress.
