My Training Begins

Hi everyone, I'm just starting Kung Fu this summer at a nearby school in Mississauga (Canada), and I just have a few questions.

First of all, I'm 17. Is it too late for me to be starting MA? I see some videos of kids doing insane stuff at the age of 8, i'm so far behind it's ridiculous.

I'm very athletic, I do rugby, hockey and cross-country running, so i have strong muscles and i'm fast and i have good cardio. Edit: I also swim a lot, I'm a lifeguard :cool: But my flexibility is very poor, i can't even touch my toes standing up (pathetic i know)... How can i maximize my flexibility? (im assuming the answer is STRETCH REGULARILY)


I've heard alot about Kung Fu. I like the fact that it's more about inner development than winning trophies at tournaments, and apparently it's very diverse. Can you guys give me some information about Kung Fu training, how long it takes to get reasonable skill in it, and general information for someone as new as me?

Thanks alot!

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Can you guys give me some information about Kung Fu training, how long it takes to get reasonable skill in it?

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There are many styles of kung fu, most with their own specific training regiments and techniques. What style are you going to be studying?

Developing reasonable skill depends more on your teacher, and the way he trains you, than on the style, though.

17 is a good age. You'll be fine.

well congrats man. good luck.no you're not too old to start training. i started at 19. and i am doing fine. you will be behind and there might be things you will have a harder time doing. like splits and some of the more flexible stuff.

my only advice is to pracitce your basics and get a really strong foundation. then work on combining basics. forms that show a lot of basic stuff and then more advanced stuff later. and you dont need to learn all 20 forms from a style to understand its effectiveness. once you have a strong foundation, from there you can learn anything, you will start recognizing stuff. you'll be watching another style and be like "hey, i know that or can do that." and pick up stuff real easily.

Congratulations on starting up MA. What style of kung fu do you study? What would you say your main focus or goal(s) would be in joining kung fu?
Welcome to the forums btw.

Actually, the style si called Chung Wah, a combination of many styles (it was a style created by the founder, a 31st generation shaolin warrior monk). Basically they told me it's much more specific than other types of kung fu, teaches the basics liek crazy, so that once i'm done with this i'll be far better off going into something more specific, like Tiger or Mantis or whatever.

Through Kung Fu, I really want to learn how to fully control my body, be able to jump high, and basiclaly do some cool acrobatics. I also want to see how far i can go with it, and i hope it helps me towards my spiritual goals. I also want to learn how to fight well, but that's not the main reason i'm doing this. I was told that if it WAS my #1 reason, i should go for TaeKwonDo.

This is the website of the school i'm going to: http://www.chungwahkungfu.com/

My training begins tomorrow night :D I'm excited!

-Jeff

"I also want to learn how to fight well"

Acrobatics and high jumping kicks do not work well for fighting, although they look cool. Tae Kwan Do doesnt work well for fighting either.
If you want to learn high flying kicks and acrobatics, look for a competition wushu school. I havent read through your site yet... Ill give a review shortly.

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Originally posted by - Human
I also want to learn how to fight well, but that's not the main reason i'm doing this. I was told that if it WAS my #1 reason, i should go for TaeKwonDo.

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Uh........

Looks a little modern, which should be fine for what you want...


lol at the tkd comment.


Feel free to ask questions around here, some people have been doing this for a grip.

For a "Songshan" guy, he teaches an awful lot from the Chin Woo curriculum:

http://www.chungwahkungfu.com/curriculum-adult.pdf

I'd ask Gene Ching about this:
http://www.chungwahkungfu.com/martialarts-shaolin.php

what's so funny about the TaeKwonDo thing? I heard it's a great martial art, lots of powerful kicks that can knock you out.

Yeah the Shaolin program looks cool, i'm thinking of doing that after I finish the Chung Wah program.

Edit: Who's Gene Ching, and what exactly should I ask him?

Gene Ching is one of the editors from kung fu qigong magazine, and has been to shaolin on several occasions.

The TKD comment is funny because tae kwan do is not a good style. I have a blackbelt in ITF TKD.... I guess its better than nothing, but if you are paying to learn something, you should learn something worth while.

Kicks can knock you out period. If your in it for the kicks, your best bet is Muai Thai. It isn't that flashy but it'll teach you how smash face.

BTW, welcome to the Forums.

well, what IS a MA that teaches actual ass-kicking?

How useful do you think Kung Fu is, as far as being applicable to real fighting?

Always smile at the people that say:
"Style Y sucks for fighting rather take style X".

The style does not do the fighting it is YOU the FIGHTER who does.

A Fighter will be a Fighter regardless of WHAT he studies, that is if he even studies any style.
Studying a fighting art does not make you a fighter, it is something that you either have or you don't.

Now returning you to your normal schedule. :D

Part II.

Choosing a style.
Best look for a style that suits your physical and mental attributes.

Example:
If you are not very flexible choosing a style that requires great flexibility might not be the best option as you will need to spend lots of work maintaining that flexibility.
Also think ahead of the years to come when your physical attributes start to drop.

Seen many teens do amazing things than they hit Uni, work, family, etc and all that skill went down quickly.

When you need the skill you will need to be able to use it when you are "cold", thus your training should reflect that too.
Being able to do high-kicks without a warmup requires a slightly different training regime.

Anyhow all the best on your journey.

How useful do you think Kung Fu is, as far as being applicable to real fighting?

Welcome to the forums. For a very unbiased opinion of the above question I suggest you ask the experts over at http://bullshido.com/

Oh, and don't forget to mention how great TaeKwonDo is.





:D

Despite what some folks may say, they style is a factor. Seeing how most TKD is watered down sh!t, I'd say that the style does matter.

The practioner is a bigger variable, but don't think you take an absolute sh!t style and make it work...

Can somebody tell me what's so crappy about TKD?

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Originally posted by - Human
Can somebody tell me what's so crappy about TKD?

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There are a lot of frauds and fake teachers in TKD, that solely teach rubbish to enrich themselves.
:D

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Originally posted by - Human
Can somebody tell me what's so crappy about TKD?

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There is nothing wrong with TKD per se. The problem is that many schools teach bad habits in the interest of pursuing the competition format of TKD and fail to consider the real world applicability of what they teach.

Having said that, I am sure there are good and bad TKD schools out there. Just like there are good and bad Kung Fu schools.

It seems that the real good TKD schools are extremely hard to find.

Usually what you get is XMA crap or point sparring B.S. So what you get is two cats hopping around on one leg trying to tap each other in the chest with their foot. You will not learn how to kick ass doing sh!t like this.

its much easier to find a good MMA school (shut up!I respect TMA.) than trying to find legit Kung Fu/Karate/TKD.

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Can somebody tell me what's so crappy about TKD?

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Depends on what you want to get out of it. Olympic TKD is fine as a sport, some kwan are great for self defense, most kwan though are neither sport or fighting art, more of a combination baby sitting service and aerobics studio.