Kung fu has endured a long history, evolving into over 400 subclasses. Kids’ kung fu classes find their place in that rich martial arts history. There are martial arts classes for children as young as four years old. The different types of kids’ kung fu classes ensure every trainee receives appropriate training depending on ability, interests, and needs.
Starting in Kung Fu with Kids Classes
Kung Fu is a famous martial art in China. Its synonyms are wu gong and wushu. The different types of Kung Fu originated from Shaolin Kung Fu. People choose Kung Fu for their children for self-defence, character development, and to enhance stamina. Kids’ kung Fu tactics are beginner skills in martial arts training.
The following is a guide to introducing children to Kung Fu classes. The steps involved depend on the child’s age.
Learning Kung Fu History
Beginner classes initially focus on developing an appreciation of the culture that is the foundation of the martial art. The children understand what kung fu means and the characteristics of the main styles.
Basic Physical Training
Martial arts involve intense physical moves, which prove strenuous for a trainee with a poorly trained body. The student takes basic physical exercises to improve the body’s condition and agility.
In this stage, the trainees build stamina and learn basic moving principles to execute the Kung Fu forms correctly. To avoid injuries, a session can begin with warm-up and stretching exercises under instruction from the washi.
Picking a Kung Fu Form
Beginner classes focus on basic techniques such as punches, kicks, stances, essential styles, and stretching. In this art, practice makes perfect is not a cliché. The students learn the compulsory forms of Kung Fu, which form its foundation.
The beginner forms include the variations of fist Kung Fu and forms that use weapons. Other primary training forms include chi gong, ba duan jin, and Yi jin jing. The basic kung fu form comprises stances meant for combat.
The horse stance involves bending the knees at about 30 degrees with the feet apart and the fists clenched at the students’ sides. Then, the student keeps the palms up and the back straight in a posture like riding a horse. That is one stance for a beginner. Other options are the cat stance, the fighting stance, and the front stance.
The student also learns defence blocks that protect from an opponent’s blows and neutralise attacks. The kid knows how to use one arm to block jabs, punches, hooks and both arms to block elbows and kicks.
Kung fu arms a student with attacking skills, such as solid kicks. To achieve that, count on the execution of the stomp kick, the step kick, and the side kick. The trainee gradually progresses to advanced forms, which are the traditional forms of kung fu. They are a combination of stances, kicks, blocks, and other advanced moves like squats and hand forms.
For instance, the dragon form combines the horse stance pose. The fingers are folded in a claw shape, and the wrist is snapped out to take a jab at an opponent. The dragon movement aims at the opponent’s belly, which the attacker reaches by coming out of the horse stance squat with a side kick. Other intriguing moves, like the snake move, crane, leopard, and tiger tactics, keep the student hooked on this spellbinding martial art.
Conclusion
Kung Fu is a demanding art that requires discipline and commitment. Through kung fu, kids learn these aspects of character development in addition to enhancing their physical strength and learning tactical combat. Other factors to consider when introducing kung fu to children are the trainer’s ability to work with children and the dojo’s safety and child-friendly aspects.