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.

5 Tips to Learning Kung Fu

As students join Kung Fu and begin their training they will find the amount of information that needs to be picked up to be overwhelming. Not only is there a huge amount of information to remember, there is also a correct way to perform everything. Here are a few pointers to help in your training.

1. Practice, practice, practice. The only way to get better at your techniques is to repeat them until they are natural body movements for you. Not only do you need to practice, you need to practice correctly. Yes, you will often be doing something wrong without realizing it until an instructor corrects you but try your best to do it as you feel is correct. Remember that practice does not have to take place in class.
   
2. Learn the corrections. You will be corrected by instructors. When this happens make sure you execute the corrections as soon as possible and find a way to maintain the corrections moving forward. By not keeping the corrections, you are choosing to waste your time because you will be corrected again in the future.
3. Don't get caught up in the little details....yet. You are just learning a technique and are probably not performing it perfectly yet. Why question the use of the technique or debate the different ways to defend against the technique? Get it down first....ask questions later if needed. Often an answer becomes clear when you move further in your training.
4. Basics such as stances, blocks and strikes need constant work. Don't forget about your basic forms just because you have learned your newer, cooler techniques. Everything begins with strong basics and builds from there.
5. Be patient. Working on a single form or technique even after you have become comfortable with it is a good thing. When you are bored of them, you will probably be able to mentally discover alternate uses for the techniques. The instructors want you to progress just as much as you do but you need to be ready. Resist the urge to ask any question that starts with "When do I get to..."

As you can see, all of these things are within the control of the individual student. The student must find the self discipline to execute.

Leung Tin Chiu in Competition

If you try to find out about Leung Tin Chiu (Chee) you will find a variety of stories about his technique, fighting, form and how good he was. A common story is about his participation in a national Martial Arts tournament set up by the Chinese government. The tournament was set up with the best Kung Fu practitioners from across China competing. There were supposedly over 2000 competitors at the tournament. Competitors were ranked on a variety of categories including fighting, forms, technique and weapons. It is clear that Leung Tin Chiu did very well in the tournament but the final results have been reported in several ways. My understanding of the final results is that the overall winner was not clearly identified (possibly due to political reasons) but that Leung Tin Chiu was one of the top three. Other stories have him listed as 3rd overall, 1st overall, 1st in fighting, etc. What is clear is no matter where he finished, it was a great accomplishment in a tournament of this stature.

Our school is proud to be teaching Leung Tin Chiu's style as taught to his disciple, Chen Rong En. I am one of the original 9 disciples of Chen Rong En and unfortunately the only one of the original disciples that is still teaching Fut Gar Kung Fu. We have a sister school in China now which has been in operation for about 3 years.

The 5 Methods of Fut Gar Kung Fu

In Siu Lum (Shaolin) Fut Gar Kung Fu the practitioner is guided by a set of theories on the way to be most successful in combat situations. It is important over time to ensure that these theories become automatic in the practioner's way of practice and eventually automatic in fighting situations.

These guiding principles are known as the 5 Methods of Fut Gar Kung Fu:

1. Keep your heart open
2. Ensure your eyes are clear
3. Hand movements are quick
4. Body movements are quick
5. Keep your foundation moving

Students of The National Fut Gar Kung Fu Training Centre are taught the indepth meaning of the 5 methods over time, the 5 consequences of not integrating the methods into their fighting as well as how these are tied together by 5 theories of engagement. As these are the basic principles behind Fut Gar's fighting theory, all Fut Gar schools in the Leung Tin Chiu Fut Gar system incorporate these into their training.