I'm creating an upcoming Jow Ga Kung Fu Lesson

[JowGaWolf]

I'm putting together a free Jow Ga lesson where I will cover part of the beginner form. It won't be the complete form and I haven't decided just how much I will cover. I'll create the first video tonight and I'll include some of the fitness training that I do. The first part of the form covers the following techniques.

1. Single punch from horse stance
2. Double punch from horse stance
3. Double punch from bow stance
4. Escape from wrist grab with backfist
5. Straight punch to backfist combo
6. Bow stance footwork
7. Shuffle footwork
8. Shuffle workout basics
9. Low elbow strike
10. Low elbow guard.

I'll see how entertaining and informative I can make it. Let me know if there is anything that you think should be included in these 10 areas and as it may be something I haven't thought of.

 

[Flying Crane]

I'm putting together a free Jow Ga lesson where I will cover part of the beginner form. It won't be the complete form and I haven't decided just how much I will cover. I'll create the first video tonight and I'll include some of the fitness training that I do. The first part of the form covers the following techniques.

1. Single punch from horse stance
2. Double punch from horse stance
3. Double punch from bow stance
4. Escape from wrist grab with backfist
5. Straight punch to backfist combo
6. Bow stance footwork
7. Shuffle footwork
8. Shuffle workout basics
9. Low elbow strike
10. Low elbow guard.

I'll see how entertaining and informative I can make it. Let me know if there is anything that you think should be included in these 10 areas and as it may be something I haven't thought of.

Is this a lesson you plan to use with a new student? How long will the lesson be?

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Let me know if there is anything that you think should be included in these 10 areas and as it may be something I haven't thought of.

I'll teach my 1st Chinese wrestling class differently from yours. Next week I'll have a new student for his 1st 2 hours class.

I'll teach him how to obtain "single leg" by using:

1. arm jamming.
2. arm pulling.
3. circular running.
4. inner leg hooking.
5. outer leg hooking.
6. knee striking.

I'll then teach the solo drills which is partner drills without partner. I will then ask him to link those solo drills, he will have a solo form.

Not saying which method is better. Different method can be used for comparison.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Is this a lesson you plan to use with a new student? How long will the lesson be?

I'm thinking about it, but I'm not sure. It just depends on if I bore you guys with the details. As for the length of the video, I'm going to start short and then build out to what is needed.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

1. Single punch from horse stance
2. ...
3. Shuffle footwork
4. ...

Here is the difference between your approach and my approach.

I don't teach stance or foot work. When I teach application (partner drill), it contains stance and footwork.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I'll teach my 1st Chinese wrestling class differently from yours. Next week I'll have a new student for his 1st 2 hours class.

I'll teach him how to obtain "single leg" by using:

1. arm jamming.
2. arm pulling.
3. circular running.
4. inner leg hooking.
5. outer leg hooking.
6. knee striking.

I'll then teach the solo drills which is partner drills without partner. I will then ask him to link those solo drills, he will have a solo form.

Not saying which method is better. Different method can be used for comparison.

I'm going to try to change things up a little. The application will inform the student on how the form should be done. I also want to make the form and drill closer together as one thing instead of 2 separate things.

I plan on showing the application which shows the movement and informs the drill/form. Basically the viewer who watches the video will have to first know what they are trying to do then learn how to train the technique so that they can be better at the application. This is different from most kung fu schools where the student learns the movement without understanding the application. As a result the technique is often done incorrectly for applications purposes.

I've been training my son this way for the 2 weeks now and I can see him using the technique when we do our forms and not just going through the motion. The same part that I'm teaching him is the same part that I'm showing here.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Here is the difference between your approach and my approach.

I don't teach stance or foot work. When I teach application (partner drill), it contains stance and footwork.

This is fine when there's a partner, but when there's no partner, the person will still need an effective way to train without a partner. The lesson I will teach won't be grappling heavy.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

student learns the movement without understanding the application.

I hate that kind of teaching method. After these many years, I still cannot figure out the application of this move.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

The lesson I will teach won't be grappling heavy.

Do you think the striking art teaching can be different from a grappling art teaching?

 

[JowGaWolf]

I hate that kind of teaching method. After these many years, I still cannot figure out the application of this move.

Same here. I'm not a fan of it just from personal experience of having to figure some stuff out on my own. It made the learning process very long and once I learned the application, I saw that I was doing the form movement incorrectly. I was stabilizing myself incorrectly for the movement I was doing or I wasn't shifting my body correctly. In the form I would be walking into a lot of punches. I was talking to my son about this last night during training. We were exploring differences between Form and Application. I wanted him to see some of the issues that come up.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Do you think the striking art teaching can be different from a grappling art teaching?

yes but only because a lot of it doesn't require a partner. things like moving, striking, building up strength and power can be done without a partner. But a partner is needed for application training.

 

[Flying Crane]

I'm thinking about it, but I'm not sure. It just depends on if I bore you guys with the details. As for the length of the video, I'm going to start short and then build out to what is needed.

We’re you thinking of using the video itself to instruct the beginner? Or is the video kind of a test run of what an actual class would contain?

My opinion: this is a lot for one session for someone who is a beginner, especially first class. I think overload can be a reason people get onto the wrong track from the beginning, it is just too much for them to make sense of. They try to keep absorbing new material, but they don’t know what to do with it and before you know it, they are lost. Then the only way to fix that is to go back and redo everything, instead of doing it right the first time. Which often is never done.

By way of example, the first lesson that I give a new student is a couple of simple stance and stepping exercises to get them started on understanding how to root and use that root to power a technique, then our fundamental exercise for developing that ability, then one, maybe two types of punches delivered on top of that exercise. No application yet. Just understand some movement and rooting concepts.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

But a partner is needed for application training.

This is true for both the striking art and the grappling art.

- You like to start from the foundation training.
- I like to start from the application training.

I will teach striking art the same as I teach the grappling art. I will use one technique as the root of the tree. The tree will grow depend on how many combos it can generate. When I teach that tree, stance training, footwork training, ... will be included "along the way". I like the "along the way" method. It's more fun that way.

I'm the rebellion type. I hate "form first application later" approach. I went through that training method myself. I refuse to repeat that mistake to the future generation.

 

[JowGaWolf]

We’re you thinking of using the video itself to instruct the beginner? Or is the video kind of a test run of what an actual class would contain?

This is more of a planning run for video classes for beginners the way that I will teach it will be different from what I've done in the past. It will be closer to how I'm teaching my son. I'm hoping it increases the interaction I have with those who I train .

 

[JowGaWolf]

This is true for both the striking art and the grappling art.

- You like to start from the foundation training.
- I like to start from the application training.

I will teach striking art the same as I teach the grappling art. I will use one technique as the root of the tree. The tree will grow depend on how many combos it can generate. When I teach that tree, stance training, footwork training, ... will be included "along the way". I like the "along the way" method. It's more fun that way.

I'm the rebellion type. I hate "form first application later" approach. I went through that training method myself. I refuse to repeat that mistake to the future generation.

I played a lot of sports in my life and the only way anyone became good at them was to do foundation first. I can teach how to play basketball and eventually the student will learn how to dribble and shoot the ball. But their skill level and quality of training will be far below those who train the foundation. In basketball there is a lot of foundational stuff done outside of the game.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I played a lot of sports in my life and the only way anyone became good at them was to do foundation first. I can teach how to play basketball and eventually the student will learn how to dribble and shoot the ball. But their skill level and quality of training will be far below those who train the foundation. In basketball there is a lot of foundational stuff done outside of the game.

In English, you learn a sentence fist (such as: This is a book.) In that sentence, you then learn 4 words

- this
- is
- a
- book

You then learn the grammar

- subject
- verb
- article
- object

Why can't we learn MA the same way as we learn English, sentence (application) first, word (stance) and grammar (footwork) "along with" it?

I have never learned how to swim (I have 0 swimming lesson). I just jump into water and learn how to float first. By reading some books, I learned how to move my arms and legs "while I was in the water" (not on dry land). I learn how to swim by jumping into water.

I was a baseball pitcher in junior high. I had 0 lesson in baseball. I learned how to throw a ball by throwing a ball.

 

[JowGaWolf]

In English, you learn a sentence fist (such as: This is a book.) In that sentence, you then learn 4 words

- this
- is
- a
- book

You then learn the grammar

- subject
- verb
- article
- object

Why can't we learn MA the same way as we learn English, sentence (application) first, word (stance) and grammar (footwork) "along with" it?

I don't think this is accurate to what you are describing. The foundation is to learn the word first. Book, Dog, Cat, Mom, Dad, boy, girl etc. Kids are actually taught nouns before verbs. Kids can see nouns. This is what it sounds like and looks like when there is no foundation. What you are describing is the naming of what you do. For example, I can speak a language without knowing what a subject verb, article, or object is. Lots of people already do this with English. Ask them what those things are and they won't be able to tell you, but they speak English.


First learn words, then learn sentences. Learn the foundation which = What we call things and people. Then learn application = How we put the foundation together and apply it.

This is martial arts without the foundation and just the "said application" This is also how I would sound if you told me to talk like Germans and after the first 5 failures to sound like Germans, I would probably just sound like a jerk.

The part that you are talking about would come after the learning of words.

Words -> sentences -> Grammar if you feel like it lol.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Words -> sentences -> Grammar if you feel like it lol.

That was not how I learned the English language. The 1st chapter of my English book was:

"This is a book. What do I do with a book?"

After 3 weeks of my 1st English lesson, I still didn't know that I supposed to remember the spelling of those words. I thought if I could read it and understand it, that should be enough.

So my English learning process was:

Sentences -> words -> grammar

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Here is the difference between your approach and my approach.

I don't teach stance or foot work. When I teach application (partner drill), it contains stance and footwork.

I like a mix of these. I find a lot of students struggle to pay attention to both upper and lower bodies at once, so drills that focus on just the footwork/stance let them build the muscle memory for those when they're not thinking about their arms and other objectives.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

To teach a new student, you can have

- depth first,
- breadth first.

Which approach do you think is better?