Practicing Beginner Stances
Learn the horse stance to develop core strength and balance. The horse stance is the most common stance in Kung Fu for balance and mind-body connection. To achieve the horse stance, spread your feet apart to be just beyond your shoulders, then deeply squat so your thighs are parallel with your knees. Then, straighten your back and lean slightly forward with your arms outstretched with bent elbows. This stance is mainly used to develop core strength, as you will sink into the squat and maintain your footing.
Practice the forward stance, also called the fighting stance. Place your left foot forward and your right foot behind you at a 45 degree angle to where you are facing. Your right foot should be stretched and straightened, while your left foot should be bent at the knee (similar to a lunge). Make a fist with both hands and tuck them into your sides bent at the elbow. From this position, it is much easier to make a controlled punch or jab and quickly return to a defensive posture with both hands by your sides, ready to block incoming hits.
Practice mobility and kicks with the cat stance. Put all of your weight on your back leg, and let your front leg rest on the ball of your foot or toe. Keep your back leg bent slightly to maintain your balance, but don't put any weight on your front leg at all. Your back leg provides stability, while your front leg is used for kicks or to step into another stance. This stance gets its name from the way cats walk — your front leg resembles a cat taking a careful step, keeping its balance on its other legs while it feels the ground with its front paw.
Develop a stronger sense of balance with the crane stance. Achieve the crane stance, a great one for developing balance. Stand on one leg, and raise your other leg a little higher than your hip, bending the knee with your toe pointed towards the floor. Your hands will traditionally be placed above your head, but at first, focus on maintaining your balance for a short period of time. This stance is traditionally used to kick, much like the cat stance, but is also good for evading attacks and to transition into another stance.
Learning Basic Techniques
Practice the straight punch with a punching bag or by shadowboxing. Form a fist and draw your arms close to your sides, bending at the elbow. Keep your elbow directly behind your fist as you slowly punch forward, and twist your waist slightly as you do the motion. Practice this movement slowly a few times before you speed up your punches. Breathe out when you strike, and breathe in as you bring your fist back to your body. Getting the motion down is more important than punching quickly. Be sure to get the movement right before you make speed up.
Practice a front kick by raising your knee to your chest and kicking forward. Start your kick by standing upright and raising your knee to your chest as best as you can. Extend your leg straight forward so that the bottom of your foot is facing forward with your toes pointing up. All kicks are done with the bottom of the foot or the side of the foot in kung fu, so don't try to kick with your toes. You will have to balance on one leg while you kick, so do some balancing exercises before you continue to the kick or you may fall over.
Practice a side kick by twisting your body slightly and kicking sideways. Start the kick by raising your knee to your chest once again and balance on your other leg. Twist your body in the opposite direction of your raised leg, and kick from the knee sideways. Your foot should end up with the toes pointed towards a wall but with the bottom of your foot still facing forward. Bring your knee back to your chest and try to stay balanced on one foot the entire time — do not let your kicking foot touch the ground until you have finished the motion.
Train your breathing to be in time with your punches and kicks. When punching, breathe in before you strike, then breathe out as you extend your arm. With kicks, breathe in as you raise your knee, then breathe out when you kick. Breathing correctly is essential in conserving your energy during Kung Fu, and you will not get tired nearly as easily during practice if you follow the proper technique. The main thing to keep in mind is to control your breathing as best as you can, and don't hyperventilate or avoid breathing at all. Be aware of how you breathe, and even if you are tired, try to take deep, controlled breaths during your practice.
Taking Courses and Training Further
Educate yourself on the various styles of kung fu and choose one to train in. There are dozens of styles of kung fu, even some that haven't been developed until the modern day, including the well-known Shaolin style, Tai Chi style, Wing Chun style, and Praying Mantis style. Each has its own particular set of poses and techniques, so choose one that suits your skill level and fitness level. Shaolin and Tai Chi are the most famous styles, and are relatively easy to get into and find an instructor for. Shaolin focuses on dexterity with jumping, rolling, and tumbling, while Tai Chi is a slow but purposeful form of Kung Fu. Wing Chun is known for its simplicity, and is focused on combat and dueling. It was famously used by Bruce Lee and his enigmatic teacher Yip Man. Praying Mantis, as the name suggests, imitates the movements of a praying mantis, treating your hands as "hooks" and incorporating agile yet precise movements. This is a style you should attempt after getting familiar with other more direct styles.
Find a kung fu teacher or dojo near you to learn in person. You can learn a lot and develop your skills on your own, but to truly begin training purposefully and learn more specific techniques, find a teacher in your city or join a martial arts dojo with trainers. Most generalized martial arts studios offer courses in Kung Fu, but if you want to hone in on a particular style, you may need to find a personal trainer. It is generally expected that you go to a training session or class at least once a week, where you will develop technique as well as discipline, which is a major part of all martial arts.
Spar and work out with a partner to hone your techniques. When you can't be in a class learning from your teacher, find somebody to practice with from the class during the rest of the week. It is gratifying to have somebody else to work out with, and you will find practicing techniques and sparring moves much more effective with a real person in front of you. Be careful not to use your full strength on your sparring partner, unless you know they can take it! Focus on motions and stances rather than strength — save your energy for in-class sparring.
Educate yourself through online training and martial arts books. While you are not in class, take time to learn about the history of martial arts and kung fu, and learn more about your chosen style online. Many martial artists offer personal training online, and can help to guide you in the right direction even if you have a physical teacher. There's nothing wrong with learning as much as you can when you start, as you will be able to put it all together later on. Check out video tutorials online and try to follow along. Although you won't get any feedback, following videos can be useful for getting a basic understanding of new styles and motions.
Developing Your Fitness for Kung Fu
Train your stamina with short bursts of intense workouts. Stamina is a key component of Kung Fu — without it, you will not be able to use bursts of energy to do complicated moves later on and recover quickly after the routine. Train stamina by doing fast-paces, high intensity workouts such as jump rope, sprints, and lifting. Use the jump rope quickly for 30 seconds, take a 15 second rest, and then do another 30 seconds. Repeat this at least a dozen times, then take a longer rest before moving on to your next exercise. Run as fast as you can on the treadmill for 30 seconds, take a 30 second walking break, then spring for another 30 seconds. Do this for 20 minutes — if you can't do a full 20 minutes, then opt for a lower time limit and try to increase the number of sprints you do every time you work out. Find out the upper limit of your lifting ability, then use the weights one step lower to do a high-intensity session. One way to do this is to do 10 reps of military lifts (lifting the bar above your head with straight arms), then take a 20 second break before you do it again. If you start to hurt, stop your exercise and save your energy for another day.
Run for 30 minutes to build your endurance. Endurance is the ability to keep going after a long period of exercising and is key to training in Kung Fu, as training and practice sessions tend to go for a long time. Run for at least 30 minutes each day at a speed comfortable to you. Think about the difference between long distance runners and sprinters in the Olympics, for example. Sprinters are able to cover a short distance incredibly quickly, but long distance runners save their energy by running at a slower and comfortable pace. Find a pace that is somewhere between impossible and too easy for you to do.
Build strength by lifting and using strength training machines. While being strong is not necessary in martial arts (as it's more about using the correct motions and movements than power), building strength can help you pick up skills easier. Practice strength with daily lifting exercises, such as military lifts, dumbbell curls, and leg weights.
Train your flexibility with thigh stretches, hamstring stretches, and arm stretches. Flexibility is everything in Kung Fu, as it is a key part of dodging, blocking, and striking when the opportunity arises in a duel. Train your flexibility with a variety of leg and arm stretches. Arm stretches include a shoulder stretch, where you raise an arm across your body, a tricep stretch, where you bend your arm behind your back to feel a stretch in your upper arm, and the trapezius stretch, where you tilt your chin toward your chest and pull your head in both directions gently. Leg stretches include lunges, where you put one foot back to rest on your toes while the other rests at a right angle in front of you, hamstring stretches, where you bend your knee to raise your leg behind your back, and calf stretches, where you lean forward against a chair or wall and try to touch your heel to the ground. You may also find that regular yoga workouts improve your flexibility. Consider signing up for a yoga class to learn postures and stretches that work your whole body.
Alternate your workouts constantly, never do the same thing twice in one day. The key to developing your body, in all forms of exercise, is to alter your workouts constantly. One day, focus on strength and flexibility, the next focus on stamina and endurance, and so forth. Never do the same exercise twice in one day, or you will feel sore and not want to continue exercising the next day. It is fine to do multiple reps of the same exercise, but do them in quick succession rather than spreading it out for the most noticeable effect.
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