Introduction

Whether you’d like to learn how to throw crescent punches or kicks, like martial arts movie stars, or get in touch with your spiritual side and energy, Kung Fu might just be the right thing for you. This ancient Chinese martial art has become tremendously popular in the last couple of decades, and with good reason. Not only can it make someone capable of successfully defend himself/herself, in dangerous situations, but also substantially impact their physical and mental health, in a positive way.

Although most people associate Kung Fu, with the general phrase “Chinese Martial Arts”, it is the term “Wushu”, that would be more appropriate to use because it specifically refers to the combat aspect. Kung Fu presents a combination of Ancient Chinese philosophy teachings and centuries of various Oriental Martial Arts traditions. The combat aspect of Kung Fu involves both armed and unarmed techniques. However, the bulk of the teachings is aimed towards enhancing one’s spiritual strength and energy and spreading non-violent philosophy.

Learning this ancient art requires a lot of devotion, patience, and dedication. If you would like to learn this martial art and its centuries-old secrets, the following tips on how to learn Kung Fu, will most certainly come in handy.

Learn through play

A lot of people who train Kung Fu, tend to focus exclusively on rigid techniques and forms of practice, or sparring, and very little in between. Although there is nothing wrong with this, with the introduction of open-ended flow drills in between, or “playful sparring, one can feel significantly less pressure, and as a result, be willing to try out various new ideas. It is precisely through these new ideas, where one can indeed gain new knowledge and skills.

Practice diversification

Another useful tip would be to diversify the training regimes, as well as avoid approaching sessions with a competitive mindset. By treating the practice as some experiment, one will be more willing to try unknown things, that may or may not work. As in science experiments, the best way of learning Kung Fu is to learn from one’s mistakes. It is always easier to learn when things don’t work as intended. An important aspect of this approach is to avoid judging the value of the principle or technique, that turned out wrong, or too complicated at the moment. It would be much better to try to see a bigger picture, by attempting to figure out why a certain principle or technique did not work as planned. It is through failure, and subsequent study of that failure, that one can truly learn and develop a more solid and complete understanding.

Acquire knowledge from other martial arts

The process of learning Kung Fu can be substantially enriched, by practicing with people, who come from different martial arts backgrounds. One can learn a lot more about Kung Fu, and his/her abilities, by sparring with people who study different principles and systems. It can also be useful to train with people who barely have any experience with martial arts or none at all. This method can be helpful, because these people will probably use unknown and strange techniques, and will react in different ways, which will catch one off guard. By learning to adapt to new situations and combat scenarios, one can learn from other techniques, and incorporate that knowledge into his/her training.…

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