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At the base of ground fighting

In this chapter, we will start to work on the fundamental capabilities that any practitioner needs to possess to face ground fighting (read Ground fighting).

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).

We will talk about:

The connection with the ground
The basics of ground mobility
The rolls / somersaults

A note by Master Kongling – Before continuing it is important to say a few things. Most people think that Kung Fu has no ground fighting: this is false, it is simply a less known / diffused / used practice. The reason is that in the ancient duels, the fact of ending up on the ground often meant defeat (read Self defense, martial clash and war clash) and even in war battlefields, moving (more or less voluntarily) the fight on the ground was instead considered a serious mistake (read How to avoid the ground fighting); when there are in fact multiple opponents (read Forget everything you know about multiple opponents fighting) and weapons involved there is nothing more dangerous. However, all this does not mean that this has not been taken into consideration or that this part of the combat study is less effective / important (it is in fact an extremely common occurrence).

The first important notions about ground fighting

The first things you have to know:

To be a complete practitioner, you cannot avoid the study of this branch of fighting; the reason is that on the ground, without basic preparation (read Ground fighting basics: a secret treasure), even the best fighter will lose against a good grappler (it is like being a fish out of water)
Ground fighting is perfect in a fight 1 vs 1 but in self-defense scenarios, it is not so rare to be threatened by more than 1 potential aggressor (read also Ground fighting? Not good for self-defense)
If a good grappler wants to bring you on the ground, sooner or later he / she will succeed (just like a good striker, sooner or later he / she will hit you); we are bipeds and our body develops vertically, moving the fight to the ground is something that, for a beginner, it is often natural / involuntary (it occurs in most of the improvised combat scenarios)
On the ground, as we will see, many dynamics change but one of the most relevant is that the times (proportionally) slow down (this means that technique and tactics acquire greater importance)
If you know how to move, you will last long, if you don’t, you will lose all of your energies in a few seconds, no matter how strong you are
…

A note by Master Kongling – Do not trust those who say that it is always possible to maintain a standing confrontation, it is simply false but do not trust me: you can verify it by letting spar any kind of random people without martial preparation (in 90% of the cases they will end on the ground).

Final notes

Kung Fu (Gong Fu) is so vast and complex that there is no person in the world who knows it in its entirety; those who say that in this boundless martial universe (still evolving, more or less officially) there is no ground fighting, simply doesn’t know what they’re talking about
Even if, as we said, in Kung Fu there is a dedicated branch, 6 Dragons Kung Fu does not limit its ground fighting teachings to it (read 6 Dragons Kung Fu: what does it teach?); it would be foolish and limiting to ignore that there are martial arts that have evolved that field in a sublime way (like Ju-Jitsu, BJJ then, etc., read also Martial arts: all derive from Kung Fu?)
…

In the next lesson of this chapter, we will start to talk about the development of contact with the ground.

In-depth video courses

Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu exercises – A deep and visual explanation of the fundamental exercises (with variations, setting, examples, common mistakes, best practices, etc.)

In-depth articles

How to always have the possibility to prevail – The secret of 6 Dragons Kung Fu effectiveness
All the skills of 6 Dragons Kung Fu – What we aim to reach in terms of capabilities and performances

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

Have you ever faced a ground fighting expert?

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Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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