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How a beginner can improve fast and build real martial skills

Step 1: the focus

We were inspired by friends, acquaintances, travels, martial arts movies, competitions, internet videos (etc.) and we decided to give it a try: perfect but before embarking on the wrong course, we must understand that not all the paths are the same.

If we do not focus on what we are specifically searching for, we risk wasting years and years uselessly.

A note by Master Kongling – It is not rare to see people with even 10-20 years of “practice”, totally unable to fight: we do not want to be like them. The 2 biggest errors in choosing a martial path are: first, to think that all the courses are the same, false; second, to get easily deceived by the tricks of the crafty instructor on duty who, in predetermined contexts (where he basically cannot fail), shows us apparently extraordinary capabilities (read Recognize a good / bad master: 5 characteristics and Is it legit?).

How to choose the right path

In realtion to Kung Fu, the first questions we have to ask ourselves are:

Why have I decided to study martial arts?
What is my goal?

A note by Master Kongling – I know, it is not easy to reply at the beginning but the faster we find these answers, the faster we will improve. Otherwise, the risk is to remain imprisoned in a limbo from which, with time, we will no longer be able to get out.

Legit and not legit motivations

To help understand our direction, let’s start listing some of the most common motivations that, in the years, we have heard from our new students:

The legit ones
The wrong ones

Legit motivations (the ones related to ourselves)

The most common replies are:

To learn self-defense (to protect me and the people I care about)
To improve my health and wellness (mental and physical)
To take control over me (to build self-discipline, self-confidence and self-esteem)
To participate in sports fights (because we feel that power inside our hearts)
To become an instructor (to make a life choice and to transform a passion into a job)

All of these motivations are noble, positive and above all sustainable over time.

Wrong motivations (the ones related to the others)

The most common replies are:

To become better than the others (pride, etc.)
To demonstrate something to someone (frustration, etc.)
To be prepared to do something wrong (revenge, etc.)
To be admired / feared by the others (vanity, etc.)
To subdue others (selfishness, etc.)
…

The first 2 reasons may partially appear “acceptable” to someone but they are not and the reason is very simple: if we choose Kung Fu solely in relation to others (things or people, it doesn’t matter) and not for ourselves, it is very likely that we will fail.

The point is that, if done seriously, the path is too long, hard and complex to be completed with so poor motivations: we will abandon it at the first difficulties.

If we do not possess the necessary motivation, we cannot access passion, which is the trigger for self-discipline (read Motivation: from passion to self-discipline).

A note by Master Kongling – Even in the case we do not fail, the problem remains we are pushed by negative causes towards even more negative goals: we will not derive any benefit from the study of Kung Fu, on the contrary, our life risks taking very negative paths.

2. The right training focus for each martial goal

Now that we have made a bit of clarity on what our martial path could be (or should be), let’s see what types of training it is useful to focus on in the various cases.

Learn Kung Fu for self-defense

To study a martial art for self-defense is possible but only with the right understanding of the fundamental premises:

90% of martial arts do not include self-defense (read Self-defense: why 90% of martial arts does not work)
Self-defense does not mean street fighting; it is, first of all, self-preservation (read Best martial arts for self-defense)
Self-defense includes the deep study of combat but it is only a part of the path and certainly not the most effective
…

Said this, let’ see how to rapidly be (basically) ready for self-defense.

Mental and physical preparation

We need to focus our preparation on:

Daily training at intermediate intensity (read also The constant training in everyday life)
Periodical sparring (even with training weapons, read The meaning of sparring fighting in martial arts)
Realistic scenarios simulations (read How to simulate realistic self-defense scenarios)
Building scenarios’ awareness (we must always train our mind, instinctively, even and especially in daily life, read for example Constant attention: what is and how it works)
Mental development (self-control, prevention, planning, negotiation, deception, strategy, body language, legal aspects, etc., read Personal defense: the S.A.F.E. method)
Technical development (combat techniques, muscle memory, improvised weapons, etc.)

Without even one of these tassels, our attitude for self-defense will be equal to zero.

Learn Kung Fu for combat sports

To study a martial art for sports combat is possible but again, only with the right understanding of the fundamental premises:

Only a small part of the technical knowledge can be applied in a regulated context (something is too dangerous, something is superfluous, something is simply unsuitable, read hat is the difference between real fights and combative sports?)
It is not a question of forcing the fighting methods of Kung Fu into a space that is not their own but of applying their principles by adapting its implementation
All the combat sports are different, if one does not study their methods of struggle, it is not easy to obtain good results; Kung Fu can be that physical and mental surplus that can make us excel
…

A note by Master Kongling – Many superficial people think that combat is always combat: it is not so; one excels only in what one does more: a basketball player is not a football player, just as a Kung Fu practitioner is not an MMA fighter. It is necessary to follow a path and learn completely different dynamics.

Said this, let’ see how to rapidly be (basically) ready for combat sports.

Mental and physical preparation

We need to focus our preparation on:

Daily training at a high intensity (precise conditioning calibrated to arrive at the day of the fight, in the best possible conditions)
Mental development (work on motivation, tactics, body language, etc.)
Technical development (combat techniques, countermoves, muscle memory, timing, etc.)
Study of the opponents (at each fight)
Periodical sparring (with partners that have similar skills to the opponent we will face)
A perfectly balanced diet (to help our body to recover and improve)
Performance planning (we must choose specific timed goals related to the programmed matches and check every small variation in positive and negative)
…

Without even one of these tassels, it is better if we stay far from combat sports.

Learn Kung Fu to become an instructor

If we truly want to follow this path, seriously (not as an amateur as 90% of the instructors), these are the fundamental premises:

Martial arts must be our daily life, made of study, experimentation and training
The more knowledge to learn, the less it is possible to excel in every aspect of the discipline; this means that the theoretical part must be known in-depth but that we will never master (at the highest level everything)
Becoming an instructor and then a teacher is an unequal struggle against the time of life; there are endless things to know, verify and train, this means that you need to spend as much time as possible to improve without stopping
Those who teach must, first of all, know how to answer the questions of their students; to do this, it is therefore necessary to know (at least) 10 times them and not so much in theory (a teacher is not a book) but rather in practical experience in the field
Whoever teaches is not necessarily neither the strongest nor the wisest but rather the wisest, the one who after endless mistakes has found a right way
…

Said this, let’ see how to rapidly be (basically) ready to teach.

Mental and physical preparation

We need to focus our preparation on:

Daily long training sessions (we search for experience, the longer we train the more we learn)
Mental development (work on self-discipline, study of the other martial arts, of the collateral disciplines, of the teaching methods, etc.)
Technical development (training methods, combat techniques in-depth, common errors / difficulties, etc.)
Periodical sparring (with opponents as different from each other as possible)
Management (organization, legal aspects, students safety, etc.)
…

Without even one of these tassels, we will remain amateurs, maybe good amateurs but always amateurs.

Learn Kung Fu for wellness and health

To gain real benefits from the practice, these are the fundamental premises:

We cannot train less than every 2-3 days (otherwise everything we have acquired start to disappear)
Practicing avoiding the fight does not mean training in a weak or in a superficial way, it is necessary to be constant and to try every time to do better than the previous one
…

Said this, let’ see how to rapidly improve our health.

Mental and physical preparation

We need to focus our preparation on:

Intermediate and low intensity training (if we search for invigoration, the idea is to always increase the intensity but very slowly, gradually)
Calibrated sessions (we need to balance our workload without ever forgetting, even short, high-intensity activities)
Cure of the body (self-massage, conditioning for flexibility, breathing, etc.; if we don’t sweat and move / stimulate our whole body, the results will inevitably be poor)
Mental development (work on self-knowledge, proprioception, relaxation, meditation, etc.)
Technical development (training methods, etc.)
….

Without even one of these tassels, we will not be able to improve the quality of our life as we could.

Final notes

In conclusion, it is important to stress that:

What we have listed for each goal are simply the main focus to improve fast, not the only aspects to cure
Kung Fu is an extremely wide ensemble of knowledge that does not limit itself to combat; potentially it is even possible to study it excluding the practical aspects of the fight but in this case, we must be aware that in a real critical context we will be totally unable to act
…

In-depth video courses

Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu Exercises – A video course about the exercises that make the difference in terms of martial skills
Advanced speed and reflexes training – An in-depth explanation about how to gain real combat speed

In-depth articles

Physical conditioning: how it works – The basics of conditioning in 6 Dragons Kung Fu
How to start practicing from scratch – A gradual path from zero to expert, the first steps

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

What is your martial goal?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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