Kung Fu School

Kung Fu School

When we come across the word “kung fu” our minds point us to martial arts.  We think of spectacular moves, spinning kicks and powerful strikes in hand to hand combat.  Actually, this is a misconception.  The term “kung fu” means hard work, a path to follow.  Chinese martial arts, therefore, is just one of the many applications of Kung Fu.  For convention’s sake, we will associate “kung fu” with Chinese martial arts.

Chinese martial arts originated in a place called the Shaolin Temple where monks practiced kung fu for health and self-defense during their quest for enlightenment.  Historically, Kung Fu was an integral part of the education of scholars and the leaders of government.  Great value was placed upon kung fu for it taught the citizens respect, patience, humility and morality.

One common misconception of Kung Fu is that it is believed to describe a single martial art like TaeKwonDo, Judo or Aikido.  This is not so.  Kung Fu is a general term that refers to hundreds of Chinese martial arts.  Popular traditional martial art styles follow an animal’s movement.  Examples are the Tiger, Monkey, Snake, Eagle, Crane and the Praying Mantis styles.  Another misconception is that Kung Fu is “soft” compared to karate.  Again, this is not so.  Each Kung Fu style contains both hard and soft techniques.

To better understand these terms, “hard” techniques refer to the physical aspect of martial arts which is striking and blocking.  The term “soft” refers to the development of the mind.  Focus, balance and concentration are the main objectives.  Kung Fu places equal importance to the two for it emphasis the union of mind and body.  It continuously stresses the importance of harmony and balance.

In a Kung Fu school, should you be interested in studying this art, you will face a great deal of new information in your first class.  You will be doing exercise for stretching, muscle power and vital energy.  These exercises are essential once a student begins to learn the basic movements of a particular style.  These movements have an underlying mental concept. It has a specific purpose and the teacher needs to develop each student’s understanding of that purpose so the student can extract maximum benefit from practice and learn how to apply it in real-life situations.

One of the differences in Kung Fu school as compared to others is that you are taught to understand the underlying purpose of each movement, not just letting you follow them.  Without this understanding, a student will be left to follow a series of movements that don’t have meaning to him or her.  Understanding the purpose of each movement enables the student to adapt these movements to his or her advantage during any fighting situation he or she may be in.

Learning Kung Fu or Chinese martial arts has the following benefits:  health and fitness, character training and self-defense.  You will gain self confidence, courage, tolerance and reverence for life.  Aside from these, you will also develop wholesome qualities like endurance, perseverance, discipline, loyalty and a calm disposition.