Vocabulary & Kung Fu

I’ve been thinking about vocabulary lately when it comes to our kung fu training. There are challenges we face both as instructors and as students in our effort to learn or teach when it comes to the complexities of movement.

Something as simple as being told to engage the hip or bigger circles can seem very basic and yet at times barely scratches the surface of what we are trying to communicate or even understand. This is often because we lack the complete understanding of how the body moves, and can take things too literally. Our understanding is usually at a surface level. We think we know the desired outcome and the basics of how to get there, but we're missing a key ingredient or two. 

The more I train the more I find that being a well-rounded martial artist requires expanding my bubble of knowledge and experience. My training needs to not be limited to the just the mats. For me I've found it beneficial to read articles about Tai Chi, educating myself about the Taijiquan system and exploring other practices like Qigong. From there, I’ve been able to pull pieces of the puzzle that all work together and gain a deeper and expanded understanding of things like hip engagement or bigger circles for example. And recently something as simple as a punch and how and when we engage the shoulder has created new avenues for me to explore.

The restrictions of the English language, and our lack of vocabulary at times, doesn’t need to hold us back. Instead it can actually push us to learn and grow. We all have the ability to explore and search out answers. This is how we evolve as martial artist and as human beings.