KFIntro



Introduction to Kung Fu Silent Dragon School of Kung Fu and Tai Chi The primary goal of this program is to provide a complete Chinese physical fitness experience for children. Secondary goals are to spark enthusiasm for martial arts, develop transferable leadership skills through partnered training and student teaching, and teach an in depth curriculum of Safety Skills. Dragon style Kung Fu* is a fast-track, centuries old method of fitness development, self-defense, and cardiovascular health improvement. Our Kung Fu develops self-confidence, mental focus, teamwork skills, respect, physical strength, and flexibility. Martial arts are often very effective in developing these skills in children who have failed in other athletic endeavors. It is particularly instructive to note that the skills attained through the study of Kung Fu transfer to all other physical activities and hence become building blocks for a child's continued growth. The curriculum will include Kung Fu fundamentals, Chinese exercise sets, structured movement, supervised interaction, and fun. Each hour long class is comprised of four segments. Each class begins with warm ups and a supervised stretching and calisthenics program. The second and more intense portion is a combination of isometrics, Cardio-Fitness, and Shaolin Exercise and Power Development Forms. The third portion of each class, which varies with each class to ensure enthusiasm, is comprised of practical training and development of basic skills. The final section includes a discussion session, Q&A, and directed relaxation.

	* The term ?kung fu? (aka Gongfu) is often taken to refer to ?Chinese Martial Arts?. In some cases (far too many) you?ll see places talking about ?kung fu and Tai Chi? as though ?kung fu? specifically means all Chinese martial arts except Tai Chi Chuan. This is nothing more, really, than a compounding of errors. The hanzi (Chinese characters) read as ?kung fu? translate directly as ?skill time?. The most appropriate translation for the term really becomes ?a high level of skill developed over a long time?. This is by no means a term exlusively relating to the martial arts, Chinese or otherwise. You can have kung fu in hairdressing, cooking, painting, writing, or any other area of endeavour that requires developed skill. It just happens that martial arts cinema has resulted in most people only recognising the term as referring to the fighting arts of China. Shaw Bros. and Golden Harvest had a large impact here. The more correct term (in Mandarin) for ?martial arts? is in fact ?wu shu?. There have been a number of other terms used at various times to refer to the martial arts, but wu shu means ?martial arts?. The difficulty arises here in that the term has been adopted to refer most often to the performance/demonstration-based methods seen at many modern competitions. This group of activities exists as it does today because of the Chinese government?s influence, an interference often blamed for ?the death of real Wu Shu in China?. Quite aside from that, there are and have been a tremendous number of systems of martial arts training extant in China. Someone saying ?I train in kung fu? or even ?I train in wu shu? is being, at best, vague. At worst, they?re missing some crucial information. Even when you get more specific, it is often not specific enough to identify a particular system. Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan, or Supreme Ultimate Fist) is a name that can refer to several different systems. There are Yang style, Chen style, Wu style, Wang style, and several others. Whilst they all ultimately spring from the same root, they are very much individual systems. Tai Chi might be the most obvious example of this phenomenon, but there are many others. Preying Mantis could mean any of at least four systems, all different to each other. Even Choy Lay Fut has two very distinct branches (Bak Sing and Hung Sing). Kung fu, or wu shu, as definite terms, don?t really serve very well. And this phenomenon is by no means restricted to the Chinese systems.

		Quote of the Week: Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all. - Sam Ewing

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