Ch.4 What Kong Fu System Should I Choose?

Now you have made up your mind and prepared to launch yourself into the world of ancient Chinese martial arts, but what is the one true way for you? Just like purchasing your new MP3 player: Ask, compare and weigh your own needs.

When it comes to buy a MP3, you won’t miss too much if you just jump in an APPLE store or buy a SONY. But Kong Fu as a product is not a well evaluated and marketed commodity like the consumer electronics. You need to be a savvy buyer before you invest your time and money. Because in the Kong fu market, the brand name kong fu school can screw you up quite a bit and make you a total loser when you need it.

Ask questions to the master whose style that you are interested in, but please do not focus on the history and heritage stuff, I have to be honest with you, most of the amazing history and grand heritage you heard are pretty much as real as The Lord of The Rings. I too have an amazing one for you if you insist but this is the part I will explain more to you later but I need you to learn the right questions first.

First of all, ask (politely, or you will be deemed as a challenger…or if you want to challenge, you know what to do.) for a typical training sequence and wish to learn the ideas of:

1.     The desired effects of the moves.

2.     The right way of body movements for the moves to be effective.

3.     The logic and reasoning behind effective moves.

4.     The philosophy behind the design of the moves.

Yes, I mentioned them before, and now you need them for the baseline evaluation. And if you find the answers are clear and explain each other perfectly, you can move on.

Now, you have to learn the master’s attitude towards other styles. You see, a Ju-Do master will never dismiss a Karate master while a boxing instructor will not mock a fencing teacher because they have each of their own doctrine and profession. And among the Ju-Do or Karate masters, they don’t criticize each other as false or fake because they each have their own methods to build up the skills and they believe that who wins the competitions is a better fighter so there is no need to argue over the style, history and heritage.

So it is very important to know if your future master has an open heart and confidence to prepare his/her students for the real world where the real testing ground for a kong fu fighter.

Just like a Porsche or Ferrari salesman won’t sell his cars by dismissing the BMWs or Mercedes, the real master would willing to show you the essence of his/her style and be confident about it and willing to give you a test drive (demonstrations).

Compare the different kong fu styles you have encounter, and see which master communicates with you better and shows you clear ideas and solid training programs rather than showing off fancy, confusing stuffs. Remember, you want to be a student, not an audience. You want to do what your master can do one day, not watching him do it all day.

Finally, you need to make an honest self-evaluation and ask yourself again about why do you want to learn kong fu and what do you expect from studying it? Some systems are more into the routines, sequences and forms while some others are into the real applications and have a lot of harsh training and sparring sessions. Choosing the right kong fu system for you is like any other smart purchases in your life, ask, compare and weigh your own needs.

Coming up next: Ch5. Kong Fu Legends and The Grand Heritage.