Lesson 3 – Physical and technical training
The characteristics of 6 Dragons Kung Fu training
To be able to build a good training plan it is first necessary to understand that:
- You have to train not only your body and your mind but also your mind in relation to your body
- In martial arts, there are endless varieties of possible workouts (and most of them have excellent reasons to exist) but your time is limited and you have to focus your efforts in the direction of a specific perspective
- To be able to excel, you must (gradually) learn to make choices and exclusions (based on your needs)
- Although 6 Dragons Kung Fu includes thousands of different exercises, the biggest part of them are “marginal” (weekly, monthly, etc.)
- The type and intensity of the psychophysical conditioning you will be subjected to, will be strictly related to the goals you have (self-defense, wellness, combat sports, etc.)
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).
In 6 Dragons Kung Fu’s basic formation, the core training is the same for everyone and is based on 2 exercise categories:
- Basic technical training
- Basic physical workouts
A note by Master Kongling – To have a reference, the majority of the activities included in these 2 groups should be executed every 1-5 days.
1. Basic technical training
These are the 5 core practices (with and without weapons) that distinguish 6 Dragons Kung Fu (read Lesson 2.1):
- Fabric Cloth Training (read Basic tools: the cloth)
- Hanging Speedballs Training (read Basic tools: the hanging speedball)
- Poles Training (read Basic tools: the pole)
- Conditioning (read Physical conditioning: how it works)
- Sparring (read How to do sparring)
Even without learning the fighting techniques of our style, these exercises (and their variants) are (almost) sufficient to create a decent fighter.
Of course, we will not stop here but the central idea of this passage is precisely that of inducing the autonomous development of your own “raw” combat system, leaned on solid bases of direct experience / experimentation (read Lesson 2.1).
A note by Master Kongling – Regarding sparring, we must stress that it is mandatory only for those who want to learn to fight and that it starts only after a specific mental and physical preparation.
2. Basic physical workouts
The physical workouts are much more common but not less important, let’s just mention a few of them:
- Running
- Jumping
- Crawl on the ground
- Push-ups
- Abs
- Stretching
- Regeneration exercises
- …
Complementary exercises
At the heart of the practice inevitably follows the multitude of:
- Secondary physical exercises
- Secondary technical exercises
- Psychological exercises
- Applications of the techniques
- Contextual simulations
- Variants / handicaps to be applied to the previous ones
In the next lesson, you will see how to prepare your training sessions and some practical examples.
In-depth articles
- How to train in 6DKF: specific exercises – A view of the next phase fundamental exercise categories
- The meaning of sparring fighting in martial arts – The various kinds of sparring of 6 Dragons Kung Fu
<< Lesson 2.2 – Index – Lesson 2.4 >>
Author: Master Kongling
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January 22, 2018 @ 6:38 am
Shifu, can you tell me an example of regeneration exercises?
January 22, 2018 @ 11:08 am
In 6DKF we have a lot of regeneration exercises, some example: self-massage, soft stretching, free soft Dragon Motion (no fa jing, etc.), Yoga relaxation, Qi flowing (for advanced practitioners), etc.
We will discuss this later, do not worry.
January 24, 2018 @ 1:40 am
Can you make a secondary exercise example? Thanks
January 24, 2018 @ 10:21 am
There are exercises that must be done every day, some other every 4 days, some other every week and so on.
Typically the full cycle of exercises is one month. in addition to these, there are also special practices that can be performed even only once (very specific simulations, collateral seminars, etc.) and / or in terms of knowledge.
To reply your question, it depends on you, on your skill level and on your present psychophysical conditions:
– A training less important for an advanced practitioner can be fundamental for a beginner to build his martial structure
– There are skills that, when acquired, hardly disappears and some other that need a continuous practice
January 26, 2018 @ 9:37 pm
Where can I buy these materials?
January 27, 2018 @ 4:37 pm
Do you mean speedballs?
To start you can build them by yourself at the beginning (with a fabric bag a ball and a rope) or, as an alternative, you can buy them online.
We will publish something about this argument.
January 26, 2018 @ 9:56 pm
When does sparring sessions start?
January 27, 2018 @ 4:43 pm
When you feel ready, when you understand:
– How to fall
– How to defend yourself basically
– That sparring does not mean “competition” but respectful group study
May 10, 2023 @ 2:42 am
Why do you always put the 3 points in the lists?