“I’m shaking under the bright lights. Sweat is pouring off me. My clumsy fingers fumble with the cellophane, tugging at the packaging, trying not to drop it but get it out and stab the box. In it goes and I take a long pull through the straw. Blessed relief as the sweet chocolate milk begins its journey through my exhausted body. It’s the end of two hours of intense training. You know what it feels like – squats, patterns, combinations, leg lifts, press-ups, patterns, two-person combinations, stance work watching the mirror to make sure your head isn’t higher than the person in front (why are the front row so short?). And at the end of it all (well, just before weapons and sparring get underway) I allow myself a carton of chocolate milk.” Instructor Sharon Ngo is here to tell you all about the latest in fitness addictions. Read More
Training
Were you on a beach in Crete on a Friday in July? Maybe you remember seeing this? And do you remember hearing, “Practice does not make perfect, practice makes permanent. Proper practice makes perfect.” Read More
“Could you write something about the health benefits of Tai Chi?” the Editor of Calibre Quarterly magazine asked Instructor Richard Wagstaff. “No problem”. And here it is: Fighting Spirit. Yes we all agree that 65-year old Chief Instructor Dennis Ngo looks “impressive” (in the words of the Calibre Editor). Whilst preparing the article, discussions turned to people’s perceptions of Tai Chi as for those who were not “up to” the hard style of Kung Fu. Why don’t I just come out with it and say “mature” or “older” or “middle-aged”? Because, leaving aside considerations of acceptable language and the implied stereotypes, these are labels that don’t provide any useful information. I like the word “grown-ups” – you are a grown-up when you think you are and remain so as long as you wish.
One of our Grown-Up Students, Jill Steen, did not start training with us until she had been a grown-up for quite some time. She is really making up for any lost time (if you call having a successful and interesting life “lost time”). Jill trains several times a week and has travelled with us to China, Egypt, and Crete. During training camps she gets up in the morning and goes on the dawn pre-breakfast runs. Jill has twice competed in China at International Martial Arts competitions (as in the photo above). In China competitors are grouped by age and there is no lack of competition in the older age categories.
Jill takes up her story here – and it all started with a leaflet coming through her front door…. Read More
Hurray! We’ve made it all the way to Summer. As we train all year round Summer training brings its own challenges. It is not in fact everyone’s favourite time for training. The heat gets to some, then there are the allergies, the quest for a tan, the food-filled lazy days of family holidays. Fear not, here’s how you can get the most out of our British Summer and max your Kung Fu and Tai Chi skills. Read More
“How hard can it be?” is one of our favourite questions. It prefixes many of the training challenges we have done, and is based on presumptions of strength and fitness that we (almost) take for granted. But physical condition should not be. After the vanities of testing VO2 max a couple of weeks ago, we spent some happy time at the next training camp testing all those who wanted to give it a go. Nobody beat Instructor Adam Prout’s score of 74 (with grumbles from the purists insisting it’s not a “proper” test) though the youngsters now have boasting rights about their “superior” scores. But “how hard can it be?” is a different question for people who are mostly glad to breathe without too much difficulty. And so here is Tim Rutherford-Johnson’s account of his Kung Fu journey with FWC London South.
“Breathing and eating. Maybe two of the most important principles behind Kung Fu. OK, sinking lower in your stance first, then breathing and eating. For most people it’s a simple place to begin: breathe deeply, eat well; learn to generate and direct your energy as a consequence. Everything else can be built on these basic foundations.
Not so much for me – I have cystic fibrosis. Read More
It’s been a mild Winter, but now it gives way to Spring. Time for a change in training. But why?
It’s a reasonable question. Most sports traditionally have an on-season and an off-season. Martial Arts don’t fit into that category. For a start Martial Arts are not sports*. And in the Good Old Days there wasn’t a league table for attackers and defenders, with a champion at the end of the season. In parts of the world which became impenetrable by snow and ice there may have been respite from attack, unless the hordes were already inside the gates. Further South there were the annual floods to keep invaders at bay (or trapped). There was never a reason to stop training.There still isn’t.
Given that Classical Chinese Martial Arts are trained all year round why do we change our training according to the seasons?
It’s about harmony
“That was almost average” comes the “praise” from Chief Instructor, Dennis Ngo. Hard to hear, but low expectations are the bane of progress. So what are Dennis’ views on averages?
“Until recently, I had two dogs. The combined weight of my dogs was 79kg, What is the average weight of my dogs? Answer: 79 / 2 = 39.5kg – 2 marks please (I showed my workings and included the units). What is wrong with this answer? Nothing, except that one dog weighed 77kg and the other weighed in at 2kg. That’s the problem with average. Read More
Chief Instructor Dennis Ngo has seen many many people start their training and then falter, or take a break and then try to restart. In this article he explores the mechanisms at work in those first few weeks, and the role of evolution in it all. It’s a familiar scenario….you are in class – everyone is doing the same drill. The count goes on and on. How did you get here? Tried a class? Tick. Joined up? Tick. Set aside which day(s) for training? Tick. In uniform? Tick. Feel like you are about to die on the spot? Tick. Think that you would be grateful if you did? Hmmm.
“Your body is the current end point of millions of years of evolution plus a few decades of what you’ve done to it. And of what you haven’t done. Even of what you think you’ve done. And now you’re in class because Evolution called out to you; “Those muscles and tendons and bones are there for a reason. Get out of your head and into your body.” You answered the call, rang up your local Fujian White Crane Kung Fu Instructor and here you are, wishing that Evolution had just left you alone. If it’s a really tough class you’re making up sarcastic responses in case Evolution calls again. Read More
Congratulations! Your child is training at the best Martial Arts classes on the planet, with the Fujian White Crane Kung Fu Club. Is that enough to keep them coming? Let’s ask Richard Wagstaff, FWC Instructor for London South. His very popular children’s classes include many in the 5-10 years age group and he knows what it is like when parents hear:
“I don’t want to go to Kung Fu today” “But I thought you loved it?” “I do, but I feel sick today, my tummy hurts” or “I’m tired, can’t I just miss this week?”
Are they coming down with something? So you send a text to the Instructor explaining that they are not coming today and then the same thing happens next week. Do they love Kung Fu or is this just another activity they started and want to give up? Children don’t have as many excuses open to them as adults (“Sorry, working late to meet a deadline”) and they don’t always know why they want to give up.
Sometimes they don’t want to give up at all – they really want to know how to carry on.
But young children don’t know how to say that.
Let’s see if we can help them.
Read More
Wise words from Chief Instructor, Dennis Ngo, on being ready for competition. Challenges come in all forms – standing up first in class after 100 sit-ups, making it to class at all on especially tough days, saying the name of your pattern during a grading (in Mandarin), folding your trousers properly, the list goes on and on. But, as Dennis says, “competitions are where the pressure is really on – a chance to find out what you are made of as you stand up alone in front of everyone to give it your best and submit to being judged. The preparation is most important. First you take yourself apart – then you train and train and train. Then you go out and show what you are made of. Winning, not winning, that is merely a by-product of stepping on the mat.” So he didn’t mean taking your opponent apart then? Read More