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Basic tools: the cloth, the most unorthodox but effective training tool of our school

The most crucial technical practice of 6 Dragons Kung Fu (read /// Subscribe (it's free!) or Login to see this content ///) is one that we perform by throwing and hitting a cloth on the fly.

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

To execute this exercise, we can use any type of fabric as long as it is easily manageable: the only recommendation is that (for now) it must not be:

Too big
Too heavy
Too rigid

For example, we can use:

A T-Shirt
A rag
A balaclava
…

Why this exercise is so important in 6 Dragons Kung Fu

The fabric cloth is an incredible training tool that allows the development of many martial skills at the same time (read All the skills of 6 Dragons Kung Fu). Let’s see a small list:

Reflexes and coordination – Each time, it forces us to connect a precise mind activation with the right coordinated muscular response
Spatial memory and intelligence – It helps us to become more and more precise in terms of timing and spacing (sharpening our senses and the interpretation of the information they catch, read The most important skill in combat)
Power calibration – At an advanced level, we learn to measure each time the right amount of strength to release in relation to the type of result we need to reach
Quick reasoning – We learn to adapt our action of defense / attack in relation to a high-speed dynamic and unpredictable context
Tactical instinct – We learn to focus only on what is a real threat, gradually becoming, each time, less subject to the opponent’s deceptive actions (feints, etc.)
Stamina – This exercise adjusts itself based on our skill level and (if done correctly), it leads us to improve our performance at each single session
Unpredictability – Over time, the ability to adapt to something so fluid and “random”, like the flow of a flying cloth, educates our muscle memory (read The right way to develop muscle memory) to become equally unpredictable
Explosive power and speed – This exercise forces us to move in space and to attack / defend at the highest possible speed we can express, without loadings and contextually to a moving target (this naturally forces us to build explosive power)
Soft touch and the state changes – We become able to instantaneously adapt every single part of our body to the best level of tension / relaxation (solid, liquid, etc., read 6DKF’s interactions: from the strong blow to the light touch and How to acquire the Soft Touch skill)
Dynamic balance – It teaches us the most important type of equilibrium that in any fight scenario we must be able to master, the dynamic one (read The concept of Dynamic Equilibrium)
Reach – If done correctly, it constantly increases our reach, it extends the distance limit we can cover in attack and defense (an incredible advantage in combat terms)
Distances management – This practice teaches us to never give respite (space) to the adversary but at the same time to try to keep us always at an advantageous distance (to move, attack and defend, read also Ideal distance from the opponent during a fight)
Trapping and striking – Even if it is absolutely not a complete trapping (read Trapping) or striking training, it teaches us the right types of interactions in terms of time, speed, tension, elasticity, etc. (favoring the deflection capability, the parries, the search for openings, etc.)
…

A note by Master Kongling – The list could be longer but this should be enough to understand why we stress so much the practice of this type of combat training.

How to perform the fabric cloth training

The practice is very simple and the rules are few (but fundamental).

How to execute the exercise:

Let’s find a safe area to practice (read How to train without risks)
Let’s take a fabric cloth, an old T-Shirt for example (with time, we can vary the type, shape, weight and extent of the fabric, read Same exercises, different execution)
Let’s simply throw the cloth in the air (at the beginning not too far but not too close either)
The primary goal is to hit the cloth while it is in the air
We can hit as we want (kicks, elbows, punches, shoulders, knees, etc., read /// Subscribe (it's free!) or Login to see this content ///) but we must never grab the fabric
The more we can keep the cloth in the air the better it is but let’s not forget that the real goal is to hit effectively
We are not jugglers, we want to build combat skills and we must always imagine we are facing real opponents
Each time the cloth falls to the ground we have to rapidly and completely bend our knees to pick it up (let’s remember that we have to bend at 100%, it is part of the conditioning)
As soon as we can, we should try to rotate the fabric in the air but absolutely without holding it or letting it wrap around our limbs (let’s imagine that this means to be captured by an adversary)
The only thing we have to focus on is a good quality of movements and combat interactions (nothing more, nothing less)
…

What we must not do:

We must not favor us in any way; we should rather (reasonably) try to put us in the most difficult situations
We must not stand still, let’s move in all directions, let’s run and jump (trying to occupy all the space available to us)
We should strive to not repeat the way and at the point that we hit
We should not trivialize the exercise making it easy, static and / or slow, we must be constantly researching the limit of our capabilities
Let’s not focus on maintaining the fabric in the air; this is the typical attitude that beginners have (and it is normal but counterproductive)
We are not making a show in a circus, the fact that the cloth falls must be accepted and even it is not so beautiful to see, it is an integral part of the exercise (in fact, each time we collect it from the ground, we gain a kind of muscular agility that is crucial in combat)
Let’s also avoid stepping on the cloth when it is on the ground (it slows down the pace of the practice in fact, especially at the beginning, it is easy to slip and fall)
…

How to maximize the benefits of this exercise

Fundamental execution details:

When the cloth falls to the floor let’s bend our knees al 100%, let’s pick it up quickly and then let’s start again (let’s accelerate in this phase, never slow down)
We have to try to hit as much as possible with circular, precise and harmonious motions
Even if not with mathematical precision, we have to strike a balanced number of hits for each part of the body we want to get involved (knees, hands, feet, etc.)
We must strike quickly, free the power and instantaneously step back to a favorable position (without being “captured” by the cloth)
…

At an intermediate level:

We must ensure that the exercise is extremely intense and varied, we have to hit the cloth with the idea of sending it far away from us
We have to hit the cloth at all heights with all the possible parts of our body
Let’s try to send the cloth behind us to force our spatial intelligence to growth
The exercise can (and must) be performed, as well as with bare hands, also with any type of weapon (see for example 6 Dragons Kung Fu’s Fabric Cloth training with a Ninjato, with the rigid ones is easier, with the flexible ones is for experts only)
…

Final notes

A few thoughts and tips:

The first few times this practice may seem too hard or even too easy, it is simply because we need time to calibrate it and understand it (let’s be patient)
The use of the fabric cloth is absolutely fundamental in 6 Dragons Kung Fu and it is good to devote a lot of time to this type of workout
After the first few weeks, we will realize how much speed / precision / etc. we can acquire and we will never abandon this practice
This exercise, as all the other teachings of our style, is for everyone but if you decide to implement it in your training sessions (lessons, course, school, etc.), please, be honest and say to your students / friends that this stuff comes from 6 Dragons Kung Fu, thanks
…

In the next article of this series, we will deepen the training method (read The cloth training: deepening).

In-depth video courses

Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu Exercises – A visual and deep explanation of the core exercises of 6 Dragons Kung Fu (fabric cloth, etc.)
Advanced speed and reflexes training – How to optimize some of the most important skills of a fighter
Basic free hand fighting techniques – The fundamental combat techniques of 6 Dragons Kung Fu

In-depth articles

Basic tools: the pole – Another fundamental technical exercise of 6 Dragons Kung Fu (based on the hitting of static hard surfaces)
Basic tools: the Hanging Speedball – Another fundamental technical exercise of 6 Dragons Kung Fu (based on hanging moving targets)

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

Are you able to manage the flow of the fabric cloth?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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