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How to exploit every occasion to improve our martial skills

Beyond the time we can directly devote to training (read Practical examples of daily training time subdivision), the best way to excel in 6 Dragons Kung Fu is to bring it into our daily lives.

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 order to be a true practitioner we must take every opportunity to maintain, increase and implement what we have acquired (both in practical terms of aspects and in the more abstract ones).

A note by Master Kongling – Be wary of anyone who tells you that martial arts begin and end in specific times or spaces (read Is your instructor harming your martial growth?). Kung Fu in particular (but not only) permeates every aspect of a practitioner’s existence: it is not a sport, much less a hobby, it is a real lifestyle: only after understanding this, we can really aspire to serious and effective preparation (read Why martial arts do not work: 5 reasons).

Constant training: how to insert the martial practice within our daily life

In the beginning, it may not be easy to understand how to bring Kung Fu into our daily routine, let’s therefore start with some practical tips.

Let’s see some simple ideas about what we mean by “constant training”:

If we want to sharpen our spatial intelligence and memory (read The most important skill in combat), we must seize every opportunity to move without lights or with closed eyes (whenever it is reasonable); in a few months we will learn to move nimbly in the darkness
If we want our legs to bend fast, naturally and without effort, we have to flex our knees to the floor (and get back up quickly) whenever we have to take something that is located below our abdomen (eg. instead of bending our back)
If we want to control and improve the potential of our body, we have to start to pay attention to its activation and test, each time, better ways to exploit it (eg. when we drive, while during an effort, etc.); let’s focus on how and when we contract / relax its compositive parts, when we connect them and when we don’t but we could (etc., read also The Muscle Chain (for martial arts) [MINI-GUIDE] and Mastering soft & hard Kung Fu [MINI-GUIDE])
If we want to develop a good balance, in moments of waiting we can stand, for example, on one leg instead of two and or focus on where our center of gravity is positioned (read How to improve balance: tricks and exercises)
If we want our body to gain strength, stamina (etc.), we need to start (each time is possible) to avoid shortcuts (eg. a shorter road), technological aids (eg. using the elevator) and actually search always for the higher (reasonable) effort; for example, if we want to have breath we have to run every time we normally just walk
If we really want to master the use of a weapon we must carry it with us wherever it is permitted, evaluate its weight, find its perfect center of gravity, own its essence, etc. (read also Learning the use of real weapons)
If we want to have good coordination we must learn to perform at least the simplest actions simultaneously (read Multitasking: how to develop it and why); we can start with small and simple things (eg. grab a cup of tea and close a door), to gradually move then toward more complex tasks, the important thing is to remain always in the field of functional effectiveness (doing things beyond our reach becomes “negative conditioning” that harms us, read Training in negative)
If we want our combat flow to be fluid and precise, we can test advanced type of movements in everyday moments (eg. grabbing shoes, taking a falling bottle of water, etc.); instead of a normal casual movement let’s search for clean and precise trajectories (straight, curvilinear, in acceleration, deceleration, fast, etc., read also Pro combat mobility: Dragon Motion [MINI-GUIDE])
If we want to understand and to dose our energy with precision (eg. how much strength we need for our combat moves), we have to familiarize ourselves with things like inertia, weight, structure, materials (etc.) of what is around us (human body first and foremost); let’s push, pull, turn (etc.) any kind of object calibrating the minimum necessary strength we need to correct its direction, resist its push (etc., a simple example is the calibration of the closure of a door)
If we want to be more flexible or train better after a heavy session (maybe the day before, read for example 5 hours individual training session sample 3) and we have to stay still (eg. waiting for the bus), why not do some stretching (read 18 easy stretching exercises for martial arts)?
…

Final notes

A few conclusive thoughts:

The ones we listed are naturally just examples that must be adapted / calibrated to our current martial goals and level of preparation; the general idea is to transfer a simplified version of the specific training in our dead times (read also How to acquire special abilities)
Let’s be clear, bringing Kung Fu into our daily lives does not mean transforming us into fanatical training machines but simply to fill and give meaning to all the myriad of insignificant actions that occupy most of our time; we are talking about something that, as martial artists, will make us more happier and satisfied, never frustrated or dead tired (read also Daily training: the right psychophysical effort)
As Bruce Lee said, every moment of our life is a big opportunity for martial growth (to train and to progress physically / mentally); the point is that we are not forced to exploit any situation, this is just an option that, if we love martial arts, we will certainly consider positively; in our vision, there is nothing more fantastic than turning a bland boring, empty effort into something useful and interesting
…

In the next article of this series, we will see what it means and how we can bring 6 Dragons Kung Fu into our lives from a mental point of view (in terms of behaviors, situational awareness, deception, ways of being, etc., read Martial arts: mental training in everyday life).

In-depth video courses

Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu exercises – The core training exercises to build real combat capabilities
Full body stretching exercises – How to work with precise areas of our body in terms of elongation

In-depth articles

All the skills of 6 Dragons Kung Fu – All the capabilities that 6 Dragons Kung Fu aims to develop
Motivation: from passion to self-discipline – The path from amateurs to real practitioners

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

Are you starting to exploit any kind of training occasion?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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