r/kungfu

Hi! I have about a month free and I’m thinking of going to China to train in kung fu. I’ve seen the Shaolin Temple mentioned a lot, but I’d really love to hear from anyone who’s actually done something like this.

I have no prior experience with kung fu, but I’ve always been pretty sporty and active. I know some people might say that, as a complete beginner, I wouldn’t gain much from just one month of training. But honestly, I don’t know if I’ll ever get another chance to have a whole month completely free like this, and budget isn’t really an issue for me, so I’d love to make the most of the opportunity.
I’m not expecting to become good at kung fu in a month. I’m more interested in the overall experience, pushing myself physically and mentally, and building some resilience.

Has anyone here done a month long kung fu training program in China? I’d love to hear about your experience, where you trained, and whether you’d recommend it to a complete beginner.

This footage was taken in 2017 following a large demo put on by the greater Tiantan Gungfu community. Uncle Cao, the Shirfu I am sparring, was pretty happy with how his day had gone and decided to top it off with a friendly round. He was unbothered by the fact that this I was 22 days into my training trip with no days off :)

Hey everyone!

I’m a complete beginner when it comes to martial arts. I did a bit of Taekwondo when I was 6, but nothing since. I’m 20 now and have been lifting heavy weights since I was 14, so even though I’m a petite woman (5'1"), I have a solid strength and fitness base from the gym.

I've always been drawn to martial arts, especially Kung Fu, but I couldn't train because there were no gyms in my hometown. Now that I’m moving to a bigger city, I finally have the chance, but I’m a bit anxious about starting "late." Seeing kids who have been training since childhood makes me wonder: is 20 a realistic age to start and actually get good at it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, tips for beginners, or anything I should know beforehand. Thanks!

EDIT: thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart for the encouragement, wisdom and support coming from your comments. I feel truly inspired and motivated to begin my journey. If you are reading this right now and have my same doubt about yourself, listen to my past self by reading this post, learn from my fears and do it! This is the perfect time to begin your own journey. ❤️

This has more explanation rather than just the highlights from the previous video

I recently was asked what is chi and the best I could come up with was "like a sixth sense regarding 'feeling' your body 's bioelectricity and how to direct the energy" I would think to describe it similar to a sense of balance where you can 'feel' how you're oriented.

I don't think it's 100% right.

How would y'all explain or describe chi?

Ive begun training feeding crane, and I am very interested in the conditioning, and by extension Ive been interested in Dit Da Jow to help the process.

My questions are

Does it work, and how has it worked for you?

How can I tell good quality Jow from bad quality Jow?

What are some recvomendations for good quality dit da jow?

And are there any alternatives that can be baught at a drug store that will have the same or similar function?

Also are there any other chinese medicinal practices I should research to help along my journey?

Hi, so I've started training in San Da and the first few lessons went really well, definitely want to keep going.

Now on Friday, I did this high-kick excersize where you "high-five" your hand with your foot after kicking upwards.

First round no problem, but then suddenly, a sharp, electrical pain started shooting through my right leg any time I tried to "high five" it.

It works completely fine with the left leg but I still do have the same issues when I try it with the right one.

Does anyone have experiences with sth like that or any tips? Highly appreciated.

Tai Chi Walking is suddenly everywhere—but is it actually a traditional Tai Chi practice? In this video, I explain the difference between Tai Chi stepping and Bagua walking, then teach you a traditional internal martial arts practice specifically built around walking: Bagua Circle Walking.

Circle walking may look simple, but slowing down each step while continuously turning around a circle challenges your balance, stability, coordination, mobility, and whole-body awareness in a completely different way from ordinary walking.

You’ll learn how to coordinate the lifting and landing of each foot, keep the legs connected, press downward through the palms, elongate and twist the spine, and gradually make the circle smaller as your practice develops.

As you become more comfortable, the practice goes beyond simply walking in a circle. You can slow everything down, reduce unnecessary tension, deepen your awareness, and begin exploring stillness within motion—one of the internal qualities developed through Bagua practice.

If you’ve been seeing “Tai Chi Walking” all over social media, try this traditional Bagua walking practice and experience the difference for yourself.

00:00 Introduction
00:40 Is Tai Chi Walking Real?
01:38 What Is Bagua Circle Walking?
03:47 Bagua Circle Walking Basics
08:41 Spinal Twisting & Mobility
12:37 Breathing & Important Details
15:23 From the Circle to Your Center
17:17 Finding Stillness in Motion

#Bagua #Baguazhang #TaiChi #TaiChiWalking #Qigong #CircleWalking #BalanceTraining #MobilityTraining #MindBody #ChiBody

Rare Chinese internal art, one of the old treasures of Shaolin. A few highlights from a recent retreat.

Okay so basically practicing some iron body iron Palm iron finger whatever you want to call it. And so what I'm doing is I'm kind of folding my fingers in half and hitting a telephone pole power pole it's a giant piece of wood that holds cables of some variety in my street. And I'm hitting that and I've done this several times and I can only get to about somewhere between 65 and 77 hits somewhere between that before the skin over my pip joint on my middle finger the proximal interphalangeal. Before the skin over that kind of starts tearing. Does anyone have any advice on how not to have that happen? I'm really only focusing on my middle finger. If you want to see a picture feel free to PM me. I'm not sure what the rule is on that. I mean I thought I was hitting soft enough but I mean as I got more hits I was hitting harder. And basically I was doing 11 hits with my middle finger and then punching 11 times and then doing that and I was going to do that for 10 times so I'd get in 100 but I wasn't able to make it.

Hello friends,

I have some questions for those who've achieved a high level of internal skill/physical transformation and/or a certain level of mastery in internal martial arts.

(And I would define internal skill as a level of power, vitality, security, and fluidity of movement with a relaxed nervous system... and I would define physical transformation as transformation of your posture and internal structure - "correct alignment"... though feel free to interpret physical transformation however you will - though I am not referring to "woo" levels of physical transformation. Obviously strength and endurance are valuable too.)

Namely... how did you do it?

It may sound like a silly question. But its not. I know what I want, I know that its an ongoing process of refinement that lasts a lifetime - perhaps lifetimes. I'm already a couple years into it without much formal, in-person training in this one.

And I don't know what I don't know.

And there are a lot of stories out there.

There are a lot of fantasies, and narratives about what you need - especially with the internal arts... like one year of solely rebuilding your inner structure.

And my exposure to martial arts in the US has been combat sports and McDojos. Both have their place... neither offered what I am after.

EDIT: To provide some further context for my question, I am about two years into my own journey without a teacher, and will be going abroad to a Gong Fu Academy as the next step in January.

EDIT2: I amended the body of my post a little because I think some people think I am asking how to become immortal or a no-touch master or something. Two years ago I had the posture of a velociraptor, a very screwed up nervous system from trauma and poor lifestyle choices that allowed me to avoid processing the trauma, and was extremely stiff with limited range of movement.

I am now at a level from my own informal, but part-time job level of training in calisthenics, yoga, qigong/breathwork/standing meditation, and flow arts (primarily steel mace and rope dart but others as well) where friends have noticed significant postural transformation, change in muscle mass, to ease of movement and strangers compliment my mobility and ability to move. (I train a lot in public.)

I want to go deeper and will be attending a full-time academy next year. My interest in Daoist martial arts specifically comes partly from my interest in the religion and philosophy which aided me in my transformation thus far as well as living life and partially because it has a focus specifically on posture, the nervous system as the Chinese understood it, and rebuilding the body. My understanding is that historically all Chinese martial arts had these qualities but in the modern era your mileage may vary and the external arts may or may not have a focus on them. (My experience in combat sports and other non-Chinese martial arts is there is very little.)

My question was motivated by the fact that I initially came here to ask a different question born from insecurity - what schools/teachers to people recommend as though I hadn't already found a school, made the plans, and secured the initial funding (I have) or as if there was some magical formula or mountain training fantasy that I am missing and need in order to reach my goals.

Thank you.