Sadly, most kung fu schools today lack a systematic approach to sparring and therefore cannot apply their traditional techniques in sparring. If you watch their sparring, it is obvious that they are not using the techniques from their forms. The sparring looks like kickboxing, not Kung Fu. The same is true of many other traditional martial arts, like Karate.

I remember when I first started sparring in Karate. I was a Green Belt, and I was thrown into the mix against Black Belts. A soon as my Sensei said, "Hajimei" (Go!), I thought to myself, "Now what?" Needless to say, that Black Belt had his way with me that day.

Later, when I was a Black Belt sparring against Green Belts, I remember looking at their faces and thinking, "They have no idea what to do." (Of course, it was a lot more fun being on the other side.) Though I did eventually learn how to spar, my progress was slow and haphazard. And I never once managed to use a technique from my traditional Karate forms.

Kung Fu is not magic. It is scientific. You cannot expect sophisticated movements to magically work for you just because you practiced them alone on the top of a mountain for 10 years. If students follow a systematic methodology and practice sufficiently, they will find free sparring a natural progression. They will be able to apply their techniques spontaneously not because kung fu is magic, but because they have practiced according to a systematic method.

The Method

1. Learn and practice appropriate kungfu patterns and sets. (Many kungfu students never progress past this level.)
2. Understand and practice the combat application of each pattern individually.
3. Apply specific patterns to counter particular combat situations.
4. Link these individual combat situations into longer, flowing combat sequences.
5. Practice variations of these combat sequences.
6. Practice prearranged sparring sets (longer versions of the combat sequences)
7. Free sparring.

In our Shaolin Wahnam Institute, beginners are taught a series of combat sequences that cover all categories of attack and defense. There are 16 basic sequences, each of which consists of roughly 4-10 patterns. A single combat sequence practiced alone would look like a segment of a classical form. Linking four or more combat sequences together would look just like a classical form.

In practicing these combat sequences, there are important subsections of development:

1. Pre-Choice: both initiator and responder have decided on a pre-arranged sequence to practice.
2. Self-Choice: the initiator chooses a sequence without telling the responder.
3. Surprise Counter: the responder has the choice of responding with a counter outside of the prescribed sequence.
4. Continuation: either initiator or responder can choose to link the end of one sequence directly into another sequence without losing the flow.
5. External Change: allows either partner to branch out to another sequence at any logical point during the initial sequence.
6. Internal Change: allows either partner to make changes within the sequence (almost as if improvising on the prescribed sequence).

The main reason students today fail to apply their kungfu is because they lack the appropriate methods to train sparring. It is easy to see why trying to jump directly from Step 1 (forms) to Step 7 (free sparring) will result in failure every time. Jumping straight into free sparring is a guaranteed way to make your sophisticated kungfu techniques feel useless.

Skills

There are other reasons why few people can apply traditional Kung Fu patterns in sparring or combat. The most obvious is that they do not know, or only have a cursory understanding of the application. Some teachers even encourage students to figure out the application on their own, as if solving some puzzle. I can tell you from repeated experience that the application you may imagine or figure out on your own is, at best, only one of many applications. It will likely also be the most unsophisticated one.

Even if you personally witness the sophisticated application, you still may not "get" it. I witnessed, understood, and practiced the application to a particular pattern for over a year. I later felt the same pattern applied by my Sifu during sparring. What he did might have looked the same to others, but to me it was COMPLETELY different. It might as well have been a different technique. Don't get me wrong: I was not practicing the physical form of the move incorrectly. I just lacked the other skills required to make that physical form so effective.

The application of these patterns depends a great deal on these skills. Unfortunately, such skills are not easily seen. Many of these skills, even when felt directly from a master, still take years and years to perfect.

Force

This leads us to another reason why people fail to apply their techniques: lack of force. Force can be explained and applied in many ways. Internal force is not even necessary. A Tiger Claw will suffice here as an example of force.

Let's say you know a particular tiger pattern called “Fierce Tiger Descends Mountain.” You have learned the application and the necessary skills directly from the world's best master--Mr. Miyagi. Let's say you practice this move thousands of times. Mr. Miyagi is there every day to correct your mistakes. A year later, you are able to apply this pattern in sparring 80% of the time.

Even if you raise your percentage to 99.9%, you are still missing a key ingredient. If you have not trained the force for your Tiger Claw, your technique is worthless. Why? Because force is necessary to make this particular pattern effective. Though you may land the technique, you will only succeed in tickling your opponent's arm with your tiger claw. This is why force training has always been an essential ingredient in traditional Kung Fu.

I practiced a Kung Fu with another master for about 6 months. I once saw my master jab his left pinky finger into and through a thick, corrugated cardboard box lying on the street. He did it casually, almost jokingly, leaving a perfect hole through several layers of cardboard for us all to see. This guy trained force every day. It wasn't exactly the same as the internal force that I teach now, but trust me: you don't want this guy to grab you with any of his fingers.

Kung Fu Fighting?

Many people today, including masters, do not believe that Kung Fu can be used for sparring or fighting. Some argue that classical postures are only for training purposes. Others argue that stances don’t work in combat. Others argue that modern methods, like kickboxing and wrestling, are more effective.

If you train sparring systematically in a good school, you will learn, through direct personal experience, the inaccuracy of these claims. Once your elegant and sophisticated Kung Fu patterns begin to come alive, you will appreciate the incredible legacy that has been passed down from past masters. If you practice correctly and consistently, you will see that Kung Fu – including proper stances and elegant classical patterns – can certainly be used for sparring and for fighting.

Click here to see our sparring methodology in action.

TOP OF PAGE