Dean Chin's Jow Ga Kung Fu Federation

No long article today. Just some quick tips for my Kung Fu brothers and sisters, that if you incorporate them, will help you on your martial arts journey towards self-defense and combat dominance:

• Train your skills and techniques in sets of 50 if you are a beginner, 100 if an intermediate, and 500 if you are advanced enough to teach classes. Far too often, Kung Fu practitioners are not familiar enough with their systems that when called to do anything outside a form or choreographed, prearranged demonstration–they fumble. I see it all the time on YouTube and in demonstrations. Martial arts should be second nature, skills should flow from the hands as easily as a well-rehearsed, memorized song. When an opponent strikes at you, your response should be immediate, automatic, and without thought
• Train invidual techniques with resistance. That means make the use of bicycle innertubes, small hand weights, weighted wrist weights and ankle weights, iron rings
• Break your form down into specific techniques and applications. You should know exactly what is in your forms, rather than only knowing the routine and “knowing what each move is for”. “Each move” is something you should train individually and be able to execute when needed–not demonstrate, execute. For example, in my system, our first form Siu Fook Fu–I have 55 techniques and applications I have extracted from this form. Those 55 techniques make up the curriculum I teach my students stretched over 3 beginner levels. They fight with these techniques in sparring, we use them for self-defense, and even have techniques to be used against weapons attacks and multiple opponents. Gain more value from the art you have dedicated your study to by reinvestigating and reverse engineering your Kung fu
• Identify all moves for your system into “Attacks”, “Counterattacks”, and “Self defense”. Very few of us actually do this. We practice forms, we practice some skills, we exercise, we might even do choreographed techniques–but when we spar, we often limit ourselves to kickboxing-like practice. If you assign everything in your arsenal a specific use, your practice and training can be more directed and efficient. Attend any tournament and watch Kung Fu students in action. Everyone will use the same Jab/Cross/Roundhouse/Side kick/Backfist/Spin kick set of skills to spar with. But look in their forms, you’ll find that most of the techniques in the form are not used in sparring at all, and most of what they do in sparring is NOT in the forms!
• Rather than see your form’s techniques as “defense from a punch/defense from a grab”, why not look at actual self-defense needs? Take a look at mugging and attacks caught on video, and see how your system can be applied in those situations? Check out this video. How would your forms handle such an attack? And trust me, although your Sifu may not have taught you specifically a defense for it, I’m willing to bet your forms have some techniques that are perfect to be used against it. You just have to dig a little deeper, young Jedi.

• Here is a revolutionary idea that should be common sense:  Practice your techniques out of sequence. If you break down each technique into mini techniques, small, movable parts–you can mix and match blocks, grabs, twists, strikes, kicks, gouges–whatever–with those from other techniques or even forms, and create whole new uses. My Sifu did this, and I believe this made his Kung Fu more useful for those of use who studied with him. Although you have the freedom to add boxing, karate, etc., to your styles, simply by rearranging techniques, you can give your techniques a whole new life…
• Finally, rather than cross-train, cross-fight. It’s no secret that I studied other arts besides Jow Ga. I’ve also boxed, competed in point karate, Olympic style Tae Kwon Do, and study Judo. However, most of my experience is used to make my Jow Ga more capable of fighting a Karate fighter or grappler or boxer. Each art you experience has a rhythm and a mindset. It’s almost like learning the habits and mannerisms of someone who speaks another language. Once you pick up how a boxer moves or how a Tae Kwon Do competitor fights, you don’t need to learn how to box to apply your art against him. You simply learn enough about him that you can figure a way to use your Kung fu to beat him. Going to point karate tournaments only hurts your Kung Fu if you drop your Kung Fu to start point fighting. Bring all experience and learning back to your art, and this strengthens your art. There is no need to mix, just understand.

Hopefully, you will find some usefulness in today’s article. This was originally going to be several articles, but I decided to just lay it all down (however simplified I made it) here. Perhaps at a later time, we can explore each tip further.

Thank you for visiting the DC Jow Ga Federation.