Slow Kicking

When practicing kicks, it is good to occasionally practice kicking slowly. Break down the kicks and make sure that you are executing the kick properly including proper foot position, hip position, body position, etc. Repeating your kicks slowly over and over will help you develop the proper positioning by getting your body used to the feel of the kick when in the proper position. Kicking slowly will also help with your balance. You need to practice at full speed and full power as well but I believe it is good to switch it up.

The Nervous Kick

I have been training people on their sparring techniques for over 20 years and have been able to get the students of our school to be focused on fighting in a manner that is representative of our style of Kung Fu, Fut Gar Kung Fu. As schools teach free fighting I have often noticed that there is a trend in beginners to kick. Nervous kicks that keep their opponent at a comfortable distance. This is something that is not always the correct way for students to fight as most styles to not focus completely on kicking. I would urge newer martial artists to monitor their fighting to see if they are falling into this habit. Although it feels better to have your opponent at a longer distance, this is not ideal for your future progression. You need to fight in the style that you are learning which probably means you will not throw kicks for your entire fight. Kicking has a purpose as I mentioned in a previous post but sparring in class is the controlled situation that allows you to do the things that are uncomfortable for you. Take advantage of the opportunity to work on perfecting your technique in these conditions.

Building Basics To Help Learn Advanced Techniques

James commented on a previous post about building into fancy techniques instead of trying to learn them upon starting your training. This is very much the case in good martial arts training. All techniques build from the basics and development usually happens in stages.

The Kung Fu practitioner always starts their training by building their stances. This is not done as a punishment, there is a point to it. Strong stances will allow the practitioner to maintain balance upon impact, drive from the legs to generate power and maneuver while staying solid on the ground. From solid stances, the practitioner is able to execute a powerful kick while someone with weak stances may lose balance when kicking because they are on one leg.

An example of the importance of stances came during a Kung Fu demo for the Hainan Association members. I was performing Black Dragon Sword when I stepped on a quarter of an orange that their lion dance team had left on the floor. Instead of slipping and falling, I slid across the floor standing on one leg as the technique required a crane stance. As I stopped sliding, I continued the form. The members of the Hainan Association did not realize anything had happened but one of the lion dance team members ran out and picked up the orange as I continued the form.

To continue on the along the road of progression mentioned earlier, once the person has learned how to kick properly and spent the appropriate time to be solid while kicking, they can easily move on to jumping kicks. The actual kicking technique is the same but the practitioner is now in the air. From here, the practitioner can build into spinning kicks, jumping spinning kicks and aerial kicking combinations. This is one example using kicking as the progression but the same can be done with hand techniques as well.

To illustrate how knowing basics can help with learning forms we can look at the components that make up the techniques. As a person learns a new form they will be entering into some unfamiliar ground. It is difficult enough to figure out how to move their hands without worrying if their feet are in the proper position in the stance. Add to that the proper speed of execution, transitioning between stances and intricate smaller motions to get to the next move and the forms can become very confusing. Knowing all the basics allows the practitioner to focus completely on transitions between the techniques and remembering the sequence of techniques.

5 Tips to Shoe Shopping

What kind of shoes should we wear during training? This is something I have discussed with some of the students in the past but probably not all. This is some general advice and is not necessarily only for Fut Gar Kung Fu students. This is probably not a discussion that even existed 20-30 years ago because athletic shoes were more generic but now that there is specialization in shoe types and so many choices of styles, it has become more important to choose the correct shoes for training. Here are the things to look for if you are choosing shoes that you will use specifically for training:

1. Do not buy shoes with a hard heel counter. A heel counter is that hard plastic support that wraps around your heel in many athletic shoes. If you throw a proper front kick wearing the wrong shoes, you will notice that the heel counter digs into your achilles tendon.
2. Choose shoes that are flat, not shoes that are higher at the heel so you tilt forward.
3. Gum rubber soles grip the best indoors...choose soft soled shoes. You will notice that shoes designed for martial arts have a soft sole. The soft soles have better grip than a hard sole....unfortunately, they also wear down faster if worn outside.
4. Flexible is good. Do not get shoes that are too stiff because they may restrict your ability to bend your ankle into a proper stance. Shoes that do not bend backwards will not allow your toes to curl backwards when executing a front kick.
   
5. The lighter the better. Whether you are in a kicking style or not, the lighter the shoe the better.

The proper shoes can greatly enhance your Kung Fu training experience.

Why Kick in Kung Fu?

Fut Gar Kung Fu is clearly not a kicking style. In case it is not clear in watching the forms, you definitely can take the hint from the name of the techniques. Within Fut Gar there are a bit over 100 techniques. Kicks in the form are all called Fei Geuk. What does that mean? Flying Foot...the last time I checked, none of the kicks in Fut Gar forms are jumping kicks. The best explanation I have ever gotten is that you foot flies off the ground.

Understanding that Fut Gar is not a kicking style of Kung Fu, we also need to understand why we learn to kick and practice to be proficient at kicking. Here is a list of reasons:

• You could be injured in a fight and lose the ability to use your arm but still need to continue fighting
• Your legs are another weapon that can be used...why not keep the option open?
  
• At certain times in a fight, your legs might be able to reach an open target area that your hands cannot reach
• Learning to kick also allows you to understand the legs as a weapon if you are against an opponent that likes to kick
• Legs are strong - if you train equally in kicking and punching, I believe your kicks would generate more power than your hand strikes
• Kicking training also helps improve your balance
  
• Kicking is cool...the fancier the kick, the cooler you look