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Kungfu
training methods - traditional through to modern day
Liam Scully - Hung Kuen London
I am a lover of tradition and that is why I joined a Hung Kuen club
as it has such a deep rooted history, traceable back to some of the
most famous martial artists ever. At the London club I love to include
a variety of traditional methods that help us all keep fit and help
defend ourselves. I aim to show that fitness and strength are not
a by product of monthly gym memberships and expensive weight training
equipment. We can do it using our own body weight, or the body of
a training partner.
We regularly use deep rooted stance work and dynamic tension to build
strength in the places needed for our art. This enables us to kick
and punch with explosive power. It also means our forms are how they
are meant to be - low stances, strong strikes and the transition from
one move to the next flows.
Our
bodies can become fit and strong but we have to condition ourselves
to reduce the risk of injury from being hit. We do the regular sit
up and push up variations for the muscles and also partner drills
where we can strike forearms with each other, kick to the legs or
kick to the stomach. Don’t be put of by this though as it is
a very gradual process starting as a feather touch and advancing to
powerful strikes.
I
hope that a situation never arises where you have to rely on these
training methods on the street but if the worst happens we also train
to defend ourselves and not just stand there being able to take a
punch! We train to react to an attacker – again this is done
using a partner to drill technique. We start slow and look at how
our partner attacks: Do they drop their shoulder when they cross punch?
Do they shift their weight before they jab? Does their foot step to
the side if throwing a kick, or are they throwing their arms wildly
before the leg gets off the floor? This is how we learn to see an
attack before the person has committed to doing it – we can
then see how to react quickly. After much practice we can build up
the speed of the attacker as we need to know how to see these subtle
movements quickly.
Of
course not every fight is standing and it is said that most end up
on the floor. We train to get up from multiple attackers any way possible
but if it is a one on one situation we learn to defend and disable
an attacker from being on our back – although this can be quite
technical it is designed to use minimum strength so is particularly
useful if the attacker is bigger and I place emphasis on that fact
to women as a smaller woman can successfully disable a larger man
should the need arise.
Hopefully this short article will give you an insight into what we
do to meet the needs of today’s society, what we aim for and
how we try to achieve them!
Please
remember to only practice the techniques here under the supervision
of a qualified instructor and if you need any further information
just contact your local club.
Kindest
regards and enjoy your training,
Liam
Scully
London Hung Kuen Instructor.
