How to Learn Kung Fu Fast
Create a safe training space where you can observe your form., Warm up., Assume the Horse Stance., Practice basic strikes from the Horse Stance., Assume a basic Fighting Stance., Learn basic punching., Learn blocking., Practice basic kicks...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Create a safe training space where you can observe your form.
Choose an area with plenty of clearance from furniture and other obstructions.
Place a standing mirror (or, failing that, a long mirror propped against a wall) where you can see yourself as you practice.
If needed, place your computer or TV where you can easily see it so you can refer to video tutorials. -
Step 2: Warm up.
Go for a quick five-minute jog around the block, do some jumping jacks, or any other light exercise to get the blood flowing.
Then do some stretching to limber up so your body is nice and flexible.
Finish with some push-ups and sit-ups to wake your body up for some serious action. , Face the mirror.
Spread your feet so they’re three to four feet apart.
Sink into a squat until your hips are only a little bit higher than your knees.
Straighten your spine by leaning your upper torso slightly backward.
Make sure you can see from your hips up to your head in the mirror.
It's like sitting in a chair without the chair.
Use the Horse Stance to lower and stabilize your center of gravity when practicing strikes and punches with your arms.
Keep your posture straight in order to keep your body and muscles properly aligned.
This stance is intended to be difficult to hold.
Practice it in 30 second increments at first with 1-2 minutes rest in between, then try to hold the position for longer and longer.
Practicing your Horse Stance every day will help you quickly strengthen your core and leg muscles and will make you more a powerful and stable martial artist. , To learn kung fu quickly, stick with the simplest moves.
When you first attempt a new strike, move in slow-motion.
Concentrate on form.
As the movement becomes more natural, requiring less thought on your part, gradually speed up the action from rep to rep until you’re striking with full force.
As your endurance builds, increase the number of strikes per rep.
Start off with the Straight Punch, one of the most basic moves, if not THE most basic move:
With each hand, form a fist with your thumb closed over the outside of your index finger.
With your arms close to your sides, draw your fists back alongside your hips with your thumbs facing up.
Pull your elbows back and open up your chest.
Strike with one fist.
Keep your elbow directly behind it as your arm extends forward.
As your elbow straightens out, rotate your fist so its thumb faces down.
Leading with that shoulder, draw your other shoulder behind you, twisting from your waist, as you strike.
Your shoulders and striking arm should form a straight line aimed at your target upon contact.
Reverse the action.
Draw your arm back in, rotating your fist so the thumb faces up again, with your elbow directly behind it as you pull it back.
As your first arm draws in and your shoulders realign above your hips, strike with your second arm in the same manner.
Breathe out as your strike.
Breathing is an important part of learning kung fu and learning proper breathing technique first will help you advance more quickly through your training.
Use your body's trunk to power your punches.
Your power comes from your torso in kung fu and this strike is meant to work these muscles and get you stronger faster.
Use the torque gained from pulling back one punch to help fuel the next. , Face the mirror.
Turn your body at a 45 degree angle with left foot and left shoulder forward.
Your right foot should behind and to the right of your left.
If you're right-handed, this should feel like your natural stance.
Get comfortable and don't have your legs more than shoulder length apart.
Keep your hands up to protect your head but stay light on your feet.
This stance is akin to a western boxing stance and should also be practiced in reverse (right leg forward).
Many (but not all) kung fu styles incorporate this stance. , With fists closed, try punching straight out with your left hand.
Turn your body to the right as you do, stretching your arm and making your shoulders as straight as possible.
This punch is often called a "jab".
Focus on form first, then develop speed and power.
Next try a punch from your right.
This is often called a "cross" because your right fist must "cross" your body.
Allow yourself to shift on the ball of your right foot as you complete this punch.
If you want to learn fast
- go slow and teach your body the form of the movements first.
Adding power and speed is easy if you have the form correct.
If not, you will be slowing down your progress quite a bit by having to later re-learn correct form.
Practice the full movement each time.
Make sure your arm completely straightens out and then resets.
Each punch begins and ends with your elbow bent and your hand protecting your head.
Your strength always comes from the center of your body. , From your fighting stance, imagine another person the same height as you standing directly in front of you is throwing a punch.
With your forearm extended use power from your core to move it left or right and connect with the imaginary arm of the punching opponent and move the punch off course.
These are called inner and outer blocks.
Inner blocks start at the outside of your body and move inward.
Outer blocks do the opposite.
Practice blocking with both arms.
Learning kung fu fast is about getting stronger with your dominant and non-dominant sides. , As with everything else, you'll need to focus first on your body learning the correct form.
Kicks may seem intimidating at first but they can be broken down into parts and practiced separately.
Learning quickly will depend on how diligent you are about getting your form correct early on and practicing consistently.
Begin by practicing these techniques from the fighting stance.The beginning of every kick is to raise your knee to your chest.
Bring it as high up towards your shoulder as you can.
Practice this movement to become more flexible and practice holding your knee above your hips to gain better balance.
At this point, your leg is "ready to strike"
very similar to having your elbow bent and your fist protecting your head.
For a front kick, the next action is to extend your leg straight forward, pushing from your hip and making sure that the bottom of your foot is striking your intended target and pushing it away from you.
For a side kick, your leg extends forward using power from your hip and your foot still on the ground shifts 90 degrees to accommodate the movement.
With this kick, your foot will end horizontal (instead or vertical as with the front kick).
For a roundhouse kick, imagine kicking the hip (or higher up) of your opponent with the top of your foot (the same place you make contact with a soccer ball).
You hip still supplies the power but instead of pushing forward the force of the strike will be either left or right (depending on the kicking foot).
Your foot still on the ground will shift on its ball 90 degrees to facilitate this striking motion.
With every kick make sure to bring your knee back to your chest after the strike before lowering it.
Dropping your leg after a kick is very bad form and will not help you get better faster.
Practice slowly and with good form.
Try holding each individual position in the kick (knee up, kick out, reset the knee to your chest) for multiple seconds to imprint the proper movements on your brain.
If you practice this way soon it will become second nature to you and your kicks will feel (and appear) as one smooth motion. , Once you’ve mastered individual moves, practice moving from stance to stance with a strike.
Dropping from fighting stance into horse stance can lend extra power to your strikes.To adopt Horse Stance quickly, draw your left knee up to a 90º angle, turning your knee out to your left side, with your left foot drawn in and grazing your right knee.
Quickly plant your left foot three to four feet away from your right foot and drop into Horse Stance with both feet pointing forward. , Once you've got the basic stances and forms down what you need to get better quickly is lots of practice.
Staying light on the balls and move around as you punch, kick and block either the air or the punching bag.
To build stamina consider practicing in rounds as if you were competing in a tournament (for instance 3 minute round of intense movement followed by a 3 minute break and then repeat). -
Step 3: Assume the Horse Stance.
-
Step 4: Practice basic strikes from the Horse Stance.
-
Step 5: Assume a basic Fighting Stance.
-
Step 6: Learn basic punching.
-
Step 7: Learn blocking.
-
Step 8: Practice basic kicks.
-
Step 9: Practice changing stances.
-
Step 10: Practice shadowboxing or use a punching bag.
Detailed Guide
Choose an area with plenty of clearance from furniture and other obstructions.
Place a standing mirror (or, failing that, a long mirror propped against a wall) where you can see yourself as you practice.
If needed, place your computer or TV where you can easily see it so you can refer to video tutorials.
Go for a quick five-minute jog around the block, do some jumping jacks, or any other light exercise to get the blood flowing.
Then do some stretching to limber up so your body is nice and flexible.
Finish with some push-ups and sit-ups to wake your body up for some serious action. , Face the mirror.
Spread your feet so they’re three to four feet apart.
Sink into a squat until your hips are only a little bit higher than your knees.
Straighten your spine by leaning your upper torso slightly backward.
Make sure you can see from your hips up to your head in the mirror.
It's like sitting in a chair without the chair.
Use the Horse Stance to lower and stabilize your center of gravity when practicing strikes and punches with your arms.
Keep your posture straight in order to keep your body and muscles properly aligned.
This stance is intended to be difficult to hold.
Practice it in 30 second increments at first with 1-2 minutes rest in between, then try to hold the position for longer and longer.
Practicing your Horse Stance every day will help you quickly strengthen your core and leg muscles and will make you more a powerful and stable martial artist. , To learn kung fu quickly, stick with the simplest moves.
When you first attempt a new strike, move in slow-motion.
Concentrate on form.
As the movement becomes more natural, requiring less thought on your part, gradually speed up the action from rep to rep until you’re striking with full force.
As your endurance builds, increase the number of strikes per rep.
Start off with the Straight Punch, one of the most basic moves, if not THE most basic move:
With each hand, form a fist with your thumb closed over the outside of your index finger.
With your arms close to your sides, draw your fists back alongside your hips with your thumbs facing up.
Pull your elbows back and open up your chest.
Strike with one fist.
Keep your elbow directly behind it as your arm extends forward.
As your elbow straightens out, rotate your fist so its thumb faces down.
Leading with that shoulder, draw your other shoulder behind you, twisting from your waist, as you strike.
Your shoulders and striking arm should form a straight line aimed at your target upon contact.
Reverse the action.
Draw your arm back in, rotating your fist so the thumb faces up again, with your elbow directly behind it as you pull it back.
As your first arm draws in and your shoulders realign above your hips, strike with your second arm in the same manner.
Breathe out as your strike.
Breathing is an important part of learning kung fu and learning proper breathing technique first will help you advance more quickly through your training.
Use your body's trunk to power your punches.
Your power comes from your torso in kung fu and this strike is meant to work these muscles and get you stronger faster.
Use the torque gained from pulling back one punch to help fuel the next. , Face the mirror.
Turn your body at a 45 degree angle with left foot and left shoulder forward.
Your right foot should behind and to the right of your left.
If you're right-handed, this should feel like your natural stance.
Get comfortable and don't have your legs more than shoulder length apart.
Keep your hands up to protect your head but stay light on your feet.
This stance is akin to a western boxing stance and should also be practiced in reverse (right leg forward).
Many (but not all) kung fu styles incorporate this stance. , With fists closed, try punching straight out with your left hand.
Turn your body to the right as you do, stretching your arm and making your shoulders as straight as possible.
This punch is often called a "jab".
Focus on form first, then develop speed and power.
Next try a punch from your right.
This is often called a "cross" because your right fist must "cross" your body.
Allow yourself to shift on the ball of your right foot as you complete this punch.
If you want to learn fast
- go slow and teach your body the form of the movements first.
Adding power and speed is easy if you have the form correct.
If not, you will be slowing down your progress quite a bit by having to later re-learn correct form.
Practice the full movement each time.
Make sure your arm completely straightens out and then resets.
Each punch begins and ends with your elbow bent and your hand protecting your head.
Your strength always comes from the center of your body. , From your fighting stance, imagine another person the same height as you standing directly in front of you is throwing a punch.
With your forearm extended use power from your core to move it left or right and connect with the imaginary arm of the punching opponent and move the punch off course.
These are called inner and outer blocks.
Inner blocks start at the outside of your body and move inward.
Outer blocks do the opposite.
Practice blocking with both arms.
Learning kung fu fast is about getting stronger with your dominant and non-dominant sides. , As with everything else, you'll need to focus first on your body learning the correct form.
Kicks may seem intimidating at first but they can be broken down into parts and practiced separately.
Learning quickly will depend on how diligent you are about getting your form correct early on and practicing consistently.
Begin by practicing these techniques from the fighting stance.The beginning of every kick is to raise your knee to your chest.
Bring it as high up towards your shoulder as you can.
Practice this movement to become more flexible and practice holding your knee above your hips to gain better balance.
At this point, your leg is "ready to strike"
very similar to having your elbow bent and your fist protecting your head.
For a front kick, the next action is to extend your leg straight forward, pushing from your hip and making sure that the bottom of your foot is striking your intended target and pushing it away from you.
For a side kick, your leg extends forward using power from your hip and your foot still on the ground shifts 90 degrees to accommodate the movement.
With this kick, your foot will end horizontal (instead or vertical as with the front kick).
For a roundhouse kick, imagine kicking the hip (or higher up) of your opponent with the top of your foot (the same place you make contact with a soccer ball).
You hip still supplies the power but instead of pushing forward the force of the strike will be either left or right (depending on the kicking foot).
Your foot still on the ground will shift on its ball 90 degrees to facilitate this striking motion.
With every kick make sure to bring your knee back to your chest after the strike before lowering it.
Dropping your leg after a kick is very bad form and will not help you get better faster.
Practice slowly and with good form.
Try holding each individual position in the kick (knee up, kick out, reset the knee to your chest) for multiple seconds to imprint the proper movements on your brain.
If you practice this way soon it will become second nature to you and your kicks will feel (and appear) as one smooth motion. , Once you’ve mastered individual moves, practice moving from stance to stance with a strike.
Dropping from fighting stance into horse stance can lend extra power to your strikes.To adopt Horse Stance quickly, draw your left knee up to a 90º angle, turning your knee out to your left side, with your left foot drawn in and grazing your right knee.
Quickly plant your left foot three to four feet away from your right foot and drop into Horse Stance with both feet pointing forward. , Once you've got the basic stances and forms down what you need to get better quickly is lots of practice.
Staying light on the balls and move around as you punch, kick and block either the air or the punching bag.
To build stamina consider practicing in rounds as if you were competing in a tournament (for instance 3 minute round of intense movement followed by a 3 minute break and then repeat).
About the Author
Matthew Graham
Creates helpful guides on home improvement to inspire and educate readers.
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