The ONLY way to get good at something is to practice, practice, practice. There are no shortcuts. There are no secrets.

Question: How does a beginner get good at kung fu?

Answer: Learning the ancient art of Shaolin Kung fu relies on the practitioner being willing to go through and overcome strenuous training. Learning the ancient art of Shaolin Kung fu relies on the practitioner being willing to go through and overcome strenuous training. The techniques of kung fu itself are not difficult to execute. If the movements were difficult they would not work in a real life self defense situation. However, what makes kung fu special is not the simplistic techniques, but rather the conditioning that is behind them. The simplest punch can be devastating when thrown with velocity. An example of this is seen in the cross punch of Western Boxing. The right cross is a very simple punch. Nothing complicated at all. However, it has knockout power. One of the goals of students training in Shaolin kung fu should be to practice a technique at a minimum of 10,000 times.

This is a concept known as “Repetition is the mother of skill.” Having a superficial understanding of movements is one thing while mastery is another.There is always room for improvement in any endeavor. Striving for perfection is something that people today no longer have the stomach, or patience for. When one enjoys the journey and commits themselves; both mentally and spiritually to learning kung fu in its entirety. One puts themselves on the PATH to mastery. Nothing is “boring” and then the real learning can take place.There are many student who often say “I know this already”. And they do know the technique being taught. But, the key to greatness is to practice, practice, and practice some more.

Shaolin kung fu is not about being good, but about learning to love the journey. Learning to love to idea of practicing the basics. Learning to instill ones own personality and creativity into the movements. Students who realize that success in the martial arts comes from knowing that their training will never be “ over”. To say the martial arts is a never ending journey is a cliché. But this cliché is true.

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