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classes qigong tai chi kung fu about us reviews a-z
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3 kung fu approaches on offer
• Chin na (seizing)
•
Shuai jiao (take downs)
•
Tai chi chuan (dynamic balancing boxing)
Why don't we teach kung fu to kids or old people?
Classes geared at children and old people are not really authentic
kung fu. It's like a bell curve. Real kung fu takes place in the middle
part. People who want to start too young or too old can learn a tailored,
simplified, adapted syllabus. Yes, this is true. But we're not teaching
that.
We don't have the syllabus, qualification, insurance or inclination to
accommodate those approaches.
Cherry picking
Inexperienced students often have a wish list of things they want to learn. They will
even ask the instructor to teach them specific
skills i.e.
stick.
Similarly, the student may decline to do certain things because it may not
please or gratify them.
The problem with this approach is that the student has no idea what the
scope of the syllabus is.
They do not know what skills must be acquired, in what order, how and
why.
By seeking to focus only upon what they think is important robs the student
of the opportunity to learn from the only person who actually knows what
they are doing: the instructor.
Looking stupid
Cherry picking has serious drawbacks.
Our syllabus offers a balanced, step-by-step approach to gaining a
thorough
and comprehensive understanding of kung fu. Emphasising the parts that you like
best or omitting the aspects you do not care for is self-indulgent and will
lead to major gaps of knowledge and skill.
Ability
To a large extent, your grade determines what
you can study. Exploring chin na or shuai jiao at a
workshop or taster session is very different to
really training the art.
Without the requisite foundation skills, biting off
more than you can chew is simply greedy and pointless. At
best, it will be entertaining. At worst,
you'll get hurt.
e.g. if a tai chi student wants to study chin
na - as an extra - they'll need to demonstrate the ability to throw a
realistic punch and be capable of playing
the attacker without being awkward.
Attendance
Quite a few tai chi chuan students miss Monday night sessions with
frequency. Others don't sign-up for workshops. As a qigong & tai chi student this is unlikely to
cause any risk in class. However, if you miss lessons and want to study
kung fu, we must restrict you to
tai chi.
Fitness
In order to train chin na and shuai jiao, a student
needs to demonstrate a notable level of fitness. Working through the
fitness syllabus is advisable.
Chin na can be rough on the joints and
shuai jiao is extremely exertive. Kung fu assumes significant mobility,
coordination, mental focus and flexibility.
One is taught in accordance to one’s fitness to learn.
(The Silent Flute)
Don't ask for charity
Latitude with combat standards would result in the student getting
hurt.
We teach you what your attitude, attendance
and commitment allow us to.
Commitment
If you are keen to study other kung fu approaches, then
prove it... Show that you have a
strong mental attitude. A keen
student recognises that the only way to learn kung fu is to be taught kung
fu and to practice kung fu. How can you
cannot be taught kung fu if you don't actually attend the required lessons?
Monday night
In order to learn kung fu, you need to cultivate a kung fu
attitude. This can be demonstrated every Monday night by your sure
knowledge of the warm-up exercises, working
consistently and steadily through the
form, the fitness syllabus and showing aptitude and
familiarity with the partner work necessary
for your grade.
Workshops
The whole idea with workshops is to be
introduced to material from higher up the syllabus or to work on skills
immediately relevant to passing your belt.
Tai chi students must commit to attending the
minimum amount of workshops as standard.
If you can't even manage this, please don't ask for more.
A truly keen student doesn't need to
be persuaded, though. They treat the minimum amount as unimportant, and
attends as many additional sessions as they are able to. Now that is a
kung fu attitude.
Men argues. Nature acts.
(Voltaire)
Page created
18 March 1997
Last updated
14 February 2024
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