INTRODUCTION

MY APPROACH TO KUNG FU

Kung Fu, at the most fundamental level, is the study of life, the study of energy. It is difficult to conceive of all the things that we learn in here.

The question while training is this: what do you want to develop within yourself? Do you want to develop: (some, out of this small list, are more helpful than others)

Self defense ability

Aggression

A “don’t mess with me” attitude

Good technique in the art

Straight fighting ability

Mindfulness

Awareness of your environment and your relationship to it

A peaceful and harmonious presence

A healthy love & respect for yourself and respect for life

Bodily power

Balance and coordination

Strength, flexibility, etc.

A quick mind

Personal confidence

Personal excellence in everything you put your mind to

Fun and release from worries

Exercise

Healing

Chi movement

Breath development

Subduing people without physical violence

Other higher level capabilities

Kung Fu is very big, and you can develop a lot of qualities and abilities. There are as many as thoughts you can think; intentions you can have. So ask yourself what kinds of qualities you want to develop within yourself as you train, as you do your forms and your workouts. This is the training ground for it; for you. And what you work on in here is reflected out there, sometimes very strongly. We could go on for a while about this, but I want to make this brief.

The reason I’m expressing this is that in order to bring our Kung Fu abilities up to a good level, we need to focus more on our own personal growth as practitioners in Kung Fu. The focus needs to be on ourselves and our own personal progress, nothing else.

For me, the main purpose of Kung Fu is to understand myself and the world around me at deeper levels. Self-defense ability and physical and mental well-being are only side benefits. They are important, but are more short term goals.

I encourage you to look within yourself and find a compelling reason, or 15 or 20, for your being here. Take an honest look, and choose what you most need to work on, yourself, to become a better practitioner, and a better person, at whatever level you are on. This mindset will serve you for the rest of your life.

So, we’re going to try this class out for a while, see how we all like it, and hopefully our Kung Fu will improve across the board. Form practice is and has always been the quickest way to advance in Kung Fu, in every way. It has also been the most neglected. If I play my part well and you play yours, hopefully we’ll all like it, and we can make this a truly great class.

You might want to come back to this a few times…at first glance it seems vague, but there’s a lot here.

Post Script…

In case you’re wondering where the inspiration for being a “better person” comes from in Kung Fu, there’s a famous quote by the Grandmaster Jimmy Woo, who said,

"Success in Kung Fu lies not in victory or defeat, but in the building of human character."

I feel the essence of this should be kept alive in our practice. Now let’s train!

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