These are not the only forms used within the Hung Gar system. It is my feeling that if you train only these three hands sets, your knowledge of Hung will only grow and grow. As stated above, there are other forms used within the system by different schools. There are many are more schools which do not see three forms as the core of the art, but rather four. The schools which hold to this view add the form Sup Ying Kuen, also known as Five Animals, Five Elements, or the Ten Form Fist. And still other schools feel that no one form is supplemental, and all are essential. Below I list all of the forms that I have been able to find practiced in various Hung Gar schools.

·        Gung Ji Fuk Fu Kuen: Literally, “Gung Character Subdue the Tiger Fist”. This form has its roots in the very beginning of Hung Gar, and further back still, in the Shaolin curriculum as well. This form has gone through many changes through the centuries. In its most common version in modern times, it is much longer than the traditional forms of many other systems. This set will really challenge the beginner and test their dedication and desire to learn Hung Gar. In some schools, this will be the first set taught, in others it is saved for some time beyond a few of the supplemental forms. The biggest point for the beginner to focus on when training this set is the heavy emphasis on stances. In sections of this from, the beginner is taught to measure off the stances properly. This set also trains both sides of the body.

·        Fu Hok Syong Ying Kuen. Literally “Tiger and Crane Two (or Twin) Shape Fist. Personally, this is my favorite form of all. It is also probably the most famous set from Hung Gar, even inspiring entire systems based solely on this set! Variations of this form appear in systems as diverse as Modern Wu Shu and Kenpo. As the name implies, the form has an emphasis on the techniques from the Tiger and Crane arts of Shaolin. The form is an amalgamation of these two Shaolin systems. Later still, the form was further modified by Wong Fei Hung. This form contains the Ten Killing Hands of Hung Gar.

·        Sup Ying Kuen. Literally, “Ten Shape Fist”. This form is believed to have been created by Wong Fei Hung. This set is so named because of teaching and training the Five Animals and Five Elements. The Five Animals are as follows: Dragon (Lung), Tiger (Fu), Leopard (Pao), Snake (Sare), and Crane (Hok). In Hung Gar, the Dragon movements do not resemble what one may imagine as a Dragon technique. The Dragon techniques are done with internal and external power, and are in Hung Gar’s classification of “internal training”. The Tiger techniques display external power. Performed with an open claw hand position, the Tiger techniques are used for grabbing, redirecting, locking and breaking. The Leopard techniques are fast. The quick techniques are combined with strong execution. The Snake techniques are performed with the fingertips, and are quick in execution. The Snake techniques also have built in deflection techniques, and this allows the practitioner to block and strike at the same time, with the same movement. The Crane techniques are performed with the hand forming a crane beak or crane wing position. The Crane uses little physical strength. In Hung Gar, the Five Elements are Gold (Gum), Wood (Mok), Water (Soy), Fire (Faw), and Earth (Tow). The gold element in hung gar involves strong and heavy hand and forearm movements where the whole arm is used as a one powerful unit to destroy any on coming attack and/or punish the attacker with strong and heavy blows. All the gold movements are done with the arm slightly bent at the elbow. Movements such as fun gum kiu (dividing gold bridge) are typical gold technique. The wood element generally involves short-medium range movements to simultaneously block and strike. Ghat mok choy (squeezing wood punch) is a typical example of the wood element where both arms are used simultaneously to block and attack and strike at the same time. The water element involves long, swinging movements of the arms which are powerful and destructive. A typical example of the water element is the soy long pow choy (water wave punch) which was also one of the favorite techniques of the famous Wong Fei Hung. The fire element is characterized by lightning-fast and rapid straight punches. It is used to rush an opponent with extremely fast and powerful punches until the attacker is knocked down. A good example for this would be the fire arrow punch (faw gin choy). The fifth and the last element earth are characterized by externally strong attacks coming from ground up.

·        Tit Sin Kuen. This form is regarded by many schools as the crown jewel of the Hung Gar system. This form is not about public display or tournament competition, it is solely for the development of internal strength. There are many rumors that improper training of this set will result in physical damage to the practitioner. I have my doubts about this, as I have personally seen people without root, and with extremely poor fundamentals practice this form with no damage to themselves. This form will also educate the practitioner in the Twelve Bridges.

·        Ng Ying Kuen. The Five Animals form.

·        Lau Gar Kuen. The Lau Family Fist.

·        Chin Cheung. War Palm/Arrow Hand/Heart Penetrating Palm/Heart Splitting Palm.

·        Mui Fa Kuen. Plum Blossom Fist.

·        Wu Dip Cheung. The Butterfly Palm.

These are not all of the forms practiced in every Hung Gar school. This is merely an overview of some of the forms which may be practiced in some of the Hung schools you may visit. Listed above are only the empty hand sets. You should also see weapons training as part of any Hung curriculum. Nearly every Hung Gar school teaches three basic weapons; staff, broadsword, and butterfly swords. Other weapons will differ from school to school and may include Gwan Dao, Chain Whip, Spear, Straight Sword, Wooden bench, and more. Having more or fewer weapons taught, just as in the case of empty hand forms, does not add to or take away from the legitimacy of any Hung Gar school.

Hung Gar is known by its practitioners, as well as practitioners of other systems, as a complete martial art. Like many of the Southern Shaolin systems, it does not contain the fluff which is so common is many other systems of martial art. The fighting is real world fighting, and the health promoting benefits are readily seen in the many practitioners who live beyond age 90. The traditional training is very difficult. I underwent nearly traditional training, with my first six month spent solely on stance training. I was rehabbing from a severe knee injury, and would not have been able to train at all without the solid stance training which made my knee strong enough to handle the rest of the art.

Stance Training

Properly trained, Hung Gar should start with a heavy emphasis on building a stable foundation for your further training. Beginners should focus on the stance training and the practice of the fundamentals. Without this discipline in the initial stages of training, the student will never progress.

It should be clear that stance training is THE Fundamental of the system. Without this foundation, you will have no power. While stance training is boring, if the student overlooks this importance, the will be little real progress. There is no way to overstate the importance of this training.

In the times now past, it was easy for the traditionalist to force the student to train their stances for hours on end. But in the modern world, with the need to make a living paramount, the instructor must be realistic. Most people do not live for their training, and if they do live for kung fu, they are probably mentally unstable, and will not last in their training. In spite of the importance of stance training, and the large number of people who want to classify themselves as “old school”, most martial artists do not spend one minute each day on stance training.

There is no one reason which can stand alone as the reason that stance training is important. Of course, at the top of the list is to strengthen the leg muscles. But there is more than muscular strength. The tendon and ligament strength is also important. This training was also used to determine the dedication and discipline of the beginner student. Often overlooked is the strengthening of other parts of the body through stance training, such as the abdomen and spine. Traditional stance training will increase the student’s overall physical power to truly incredible levels. Perhaps the single factor missing most from the modern martial arts is the lack of true mental discipline. This is an area which stance training could correct, as easily testified by anyone who has ever attempted to hold Horse stance for five minutes. The oral tradition holds that the ancient practitioners were forced to hold Horse for three hours! If this is only partially true, the old masters were still much more disciplined than even the best of our current generation. Of course, in order to correct the problem and not drive our own schools out of business, a unified front would need to be presented, and this is not feasible with the massive egos and petty banter over the smallest details which is a constant in the Hung “Family”.

Since stances are an identifying characteristic of true Hung Gar, here we shall make a quick introduction of the basic stances. While to a Korean or Japanese stylist some of the stances may be strange, these stances are pretty common in the Chinese martial arts.

Sei Ping Ma: The most common translation I have for this is Horse stance. Literally it is “Four Level Horse”, which has to do with four check points to see if the stance is being performed correctly. Every style of martial art uses this stance in one form or another. This should be the first stance which is introduced to the beginner. Some factors which the beginner should keep in mind when training this stance are; the toes should point forward and not out, the knees should be pushed outward and not allowed to sink to the center (ride a fat horse and not a skinny horse), the ideal bend of the knee should have the thigh parallel to the floor, the back should be vertical (sink in the stance, do not hunch your back to fake the appearance of being lower – you will look like you are constipated if you hunch the back!), and keep the neck straight up. No other stance will challenge your leg strength to the degree that Sei Ping Ma will!

Ji Ng Ma: This stance is also called the Bow and Arrow stance. Most people say this term is from “front leg bent like a bow, back leg straight like an arrow”. When attacking or defending the front, this is the stance to use. Push the front knee out beyond your toes. In many styles it is said to not allow the knee to push beyond the toes, but this is part of the defensive posture. With the knee past the toes, an attack to the front knee can be absorbed without much damage other than bruising. To truly understand any stance, one must keep in mind that you cannot understand the behavior of a river by scooping out a bucket of its water. But when this stance is used in fighting, this pushing of the knee aids in the forward momentum of the attacking technique. A more shallow stance here would check that momentum and weaken the attack.

Dui Ma: This stance is literally the “hanging horse”, but is commonly referred to as the Cat Stance. All of your body weight should be on the back leg. Your body should be centered on its vertical axis, and the weight should sink straight down. Keep the spine straight; again do not allow yourself to hunch the spine to feel that you are lower. This stance is perfect for allowing a quick snap kick with the front leg at the opponent’s knee or groin. This stance also allows for a retreat without it turning into a steady retreat (back step after back step).

Gam Gai Duk Laap Ma:  Literally translated, this one is “The Golden Cock Stands on one leg”. Some styles call the stance “cold chicken stance”; based on how a chicken will stand on one leg when it is cold. I was taught that this is a Crane Stance. You will have 100% of your weight on one leg. Obviously, one should not assume this position for a long period of time, unless you enjoy being knocked down. The lifted knee should be held as high as possible.

Kei Lun Bo: This is commonly referred to as the Unicorn Step, the stance itself is Quai Ma. For many years I looked at this as something unique to Hung Gar, but over the years I have seen it turn up in other systems. I cannot say if they got it from Hung or the other way around. Done properly, the performer will take a step forward and across the other leg. The body turns and sinks. The front foot should end flat, and the rear heel will be raised off of the floor.

Nau Ma: This is a much lower version of the stance used in Kei Lun Bo. This stance has many uses in both offensive and defensive situations. It can be used as a false retreat, and converted quickly in to an attacking posture. One example of this would be in sinking underneath an attempted high kick (a very common attack in many styles), and attacking the exposed groin area.

Tau Ma: Tau Ma (Stealing Horse) looks a lot like Quai Ma, but the difference is in usage. Tau Ma is used exclusively as a retreat step. In using this as your retreat step, you create distance (read opportunities). Your vital areas are well protected, and you afford yourself the time and space needed to turn and attack without any loss of balance.  The retreating step is commonly taken whit Tiger or Dragon claws for protection, and followed with a twisting or unwinding movement which facilitates the follow up attack. In Hung, we are taught to protect and clear as we come out of the unwinding motion.

Lok Quei Ma: Lok Quei Ma means kneeling horse. This stance increases power through sinking, and with proper training, it is easy to rise out of this stance to continue the fight. The entire body is well protected when sinking into this posture, as typically you will be dragging your opponent down with you. It is also used against attacks to the lower gates.

Yi Ji Kim Yeung Ma: Literally “Yi Character Catch the Goat Stance”. Yi is the character for the number two (which is pronounced Yi in Cantonese and Er in Mandarin).

In my school, the knees are pushed inward, creating something of an hourglass shape with the lower half of the body. This stance creates tremendous stress on the ligaments in the knees, and produces incredible strength if trained regularly and properly.

It is never too late for a martial artist to begin including regular stance training in their daily schedule. All practitioners of Hung Gar should train their stances every day if we are ever to regain our notoriety. True Hung devotees should be hard to knock down. Sadly, this is not so in our modern world. Even people who have been training in Hung Gar for years can be seen in improper stance, and with poor balance.

The People

Hung Gar is a system of Chinese Kung Fu which was developed prior to the destruction of the Southern Shaolin Temple. As a system, it can be said to have been founded by Hung Hei Guen. Hung’s real family name is said to be Zhu. Tradition states that Hung made his living as a Tea Merchant. Hung trained under the legendary Gee Sin Sim See. Gee Sin’s main area of study was the Tiger System. Unlike modern martial arts practice, it was common then for the devoted student to specialize in one form, not in collecting and amassing more and more forms. Hung was trained by Gee Sin for quite some time, and helped Hung to earn a real depth of knowledge about the Tiger System. There are those who believe that Gee Sin was the creator of Hung Gar. However, there were many changes prior to the actual birth of Hung Gar.

Hung trained hard in order to better himself. He trained at the southern Shaolin temple until it was attacked by the Qing Imperial forces. Gee Sin and Hung Hei Guen were among those who managed to escape (there are conflicting reports from other sources which state that Gee Sin was killed in the destruction of the southern temple). It was after the destruction of the temple that Zhu changed his name to Hung. The family name Hung means “to stand tall, with integrity”. Hung then dedicated his life and work to the overthrow of the Qing, and to restore the Ming.

Some sources point to the selection of the name Hung being based on the first Ming Emperor. Remember, the Ming dynasty was looked upon as a real “Golden Age” in China. The country was prosperous for most of the Ming era.

Hung worked for a living as a traveling tea merchant. It must be assumed that in addition to earning a living this way, he was also able to be on the move so much that it would be difficult for the Qing to track him down. At some point, he met and married Fong Wing Chun, who was either the daughter or niece of Fong Sai Yuk (there are differing accounts on this point). In most accounts, Fong Wing Chun learned the Crane system from Fong Sai Yuk. Fong was busy trying to avenge the loss of her family to Bak Mei and his group. Hung Hei Guen was involved in her revenge mission. Fong Sai Yuk was not only a fellow rebel, he was a fellow Shaolin.

After marriage to Fong, Hung continued to fine tune his system. He combined his wife’s White Crane system with his Tiger system. Later still, Hung added movements from the Dragon, Snake, and Leopard to bring his system into a “five animals” category. However, many modern practitioners believe Hung Gar is truly a “two animals” system.

There are some sources which state the Hung lived well into his 90’s. Other sources claim he was killed by Bak Mei at a much younger age. This is where some feel that the Hong Kong movies have done a disservice to Hung Gar. The author disagrees. The Hong Kong movies are entertainment, not history. Those who do the disservice to Hung Gar are those who learn form a book or video, and make up a lineage and history based on what they saw in a movie. One example of this is the claimed son of Hung Hei Guen, Hung Man Ting. He didn’t exist. This was a character created by the Hong Kong movie industry. And yet, there are Hung Gar schools which include his name on their lineage. The most reliable source I have found states that Hung was killed young, by Bak Mei. And this source also credits Luk Ah Choi as the real creator of Hung Gar.

In the southern Chinese kung fu systems, it is commonly stated that there are five “fighting family styles”; Hung, Lau, Choy, Li and Mok.

The next person of interest in the History of Hung Gar will be Luk Ah Choy. Luk was reportedly a Manchurian, whose father had been sent to Guangdong. Reportedly orphaned while still very young, and mistreated throughout his childhood, he left home at age twelve. At some point he met a Shaolin student who brought him to his instructor (some accounts say this instructor was Gee Sin Sim See, other sources state Luk’s first instructor was Li Baifu, and later Gee Sin). His only known student was Wong Kei Ying.

While little reliable information is available on Wong Kei Ying, there is some that is known, and most of the further “information” can be traced directly to movies. He was reportedly born in Xiqiao, Nahai, Guangdong. Some resources state that he worked from a young age as a street performer. The stories state that he was noticed by Luk Ah Choy, who took him in and began teaching him kung fu. He is said to have trained with Luk for as much as ten years, and reportedly gained tremendous skill levels. It is reported from some sources that he also opened an herbal medicine shop to support his family. Wong Kei Ying was the father of one of the most famous martial artists in history, Wong Fei Hung.

Wong Fei Hung was born in 1847, in Guangdong. He died in 1924, aged 77 years. In his lifetime (and much more so after his death) he became one of the most famous martial artists in history. It is a common popularly held misconception that Wong Fei Hung was one of the famous “Ten Tigers of Canton”, but that was his father in that illustrious group. Much of what people think they know about Wong Fei Hung is false. After his death, many books were published telling fantastic tales of his skills, and the movie industry took things even further. While there is a wealth of written information on his life, none of it is reliable. Often, it is reported that one of his sons dies when shot by gangsters, but the more reliable sources state that his son was hit by a car. There is the much disputed report that he was the head of, or taught martial arts to, the Guangdong army, but more reliable accounts suggest that he taught to a civilian militia, and other reports that he did neither. Wong Fei Hung was married more than once. Some accounts say three times, and others suggest five or more.

Wong had a martial arts school called Po Chi Lum. He is reported to have had a huge following of students, but the two most famous are Lam Sai Wing and Tang Fong.

Lam Sai Wing was born in Guangdong in 1860. He is reported to have been an exceptionally bright child. He died in 1943. No records indicate exactly when he began his study of the martial arts. He is, however, said to have been an accomplished martial artists prior to meeting Wong Fei Hung. Even though the stories about Wong Fei Hung are mostly fiction, he must have been incredible in the flesh for the legends to have any point of departure. Lam Sai Wing studied under him, and worked hard to try to comprehend the essence of the martial arts.

This was the time when the Qing was collapsing, and the People’s Republic was rising. As stated in the previous section, this was a very chaotic time. Being a time of transition, there were crimes of many natures, and danger to one’s personal well being were everywhere.

While there are stories floating around about martial arts teachers in China of this time needing to seek out students, these stories are false. The people who promote such fiction are falsely basing their ideas on how martial arts school operate in the modern time in the U.S. Traditionally, martial arts instructors did not seek students, as they do now. For a start, the training of martial skills was secondary to making a living. A master of martial arts usually had another job which provided his living. When someone wanted instruction in kung fu, they first had to be accepted. In and of itself, this was a tedious process. The prospective student had to first prove their sincerity. This process could take anywhere from weeks to years. If accepted, the next stage was to be handed to a very junior instructor. If the student was persistent, and stayed with the training long enough, he may end up receiving instruction from the head instructor.

This gives lie to the many stories floating around that Lam Sai wing wandered throughout the country looking for martial arts students. Most reports state that his students numbered around 10,000. Master Lam also was known to be kind hearted. In 1921 there was a collection for the Guangzhou Orphanage.
Lam Sai Wing demonstrated his skills and got the attention of president Sun Yat Sen, who praised his martial prowess. Sun Yat Sen handed Lam a medal for his good work for the society.

Many Hung Gar practitioners, especially those of the Lam Sai Wing lineage, feel that Master Lam is one of, if not the most important people in the history of Hung Gar. Some factors pointed out are Master Lam’s membership in both the Southern Kuoshu (National Arts) Institute, and his association with the Jingwu martial club. There are three books printed with line drawings of Lam Sai Wing performing Gung Ki Fuk Fu, Fu Hok Syong Ying, and Tit Sin Kuen. People tend to view these books as Lam breaking the silence of the martial arts. Others state that the books were published after Lam’s death. However, with a little research, one will find that one book was published while Master Lam was alive, and the rest were published well after his death. Regardless, the books have had a powerful influence on modern Hung Gar within the Lam Sai Wing lineage. The author has witnessed people argue hand position based on the Lam line drawings from the books, and has personally witnessed some schools following the books so closely that in one position (which is shown in the books in a reversed image) is done backwards, exactly as pictured in the books! Among Master Lam’s many students were Lau Jaam, Chiu Kao, and his own nephew, Lam Jo. These three men were to hold a heavy influence on Hung Gar for many years to come.

It should be known that prior to Wong Fei Hung and Lam Sai Wing, Hung Gar looked very different from what is commonly seen today. In the current world, there is a wide range of Hung Gar practiced. The Wong Fei Hung lineage is not the only one out there, in spite of being the most widely practiced. Even within the Wong Fei Hung lineage, there are multiple branches. The lineage tracing through Lam Sai Wing is only one of many. There are many non-Lam Sai Wing Lineages. Tang Fung is one of the more famous of these. There is also Ha Say Fu (Four Lower Tigers), and other village Hung systems.

But there are those martial artists who claim master rank in two or three or even more styles. This is impossible.

For you to legitimately be considered a master of a system, I would think it necessary to be a true in your heart follower of the core beliefs of that system. If I believe that Hung Gar is the ultimate martial arts system (which I do) I could not also think that taekwondo is the ultimate martial arts system. The core beliefs are completely different. Hung Gar sinks energy and roots into a solid “immovable” stance. Taekwondo takes to the air with a kicking assault. The philosophies cannot co-exist.

Now, there may be those who are quick to point out that I teach both systems, and they would be undeniably correct.

But – I do not claim mastery of both systems.

There are many masters who make claims of such mastery. There is a guy in my area claims to have combined such diverse arts as Taiji and Muay Thai.

It can’t be done. The most basic fundamentals behind the basics of these two arts are polar opposites! It simply cannot be done.

Yes her training is starting young!

She has the bone structure and Qi flow of a Gung Fu Master!

Personally, I make my students earn their rank, and the test is simply the last stage of the earning process. I do not respect those instructors and “accrediting bodies” which simply promote those who are current on their tuition. It takes something more than payments, and in my school, payments do not matter at all. You pay, you get to train. If you have learned the rank requirements, then you may test at the next rank testing. If you pass the test, you move up to the next rank. None of this needs to be muddied by money or promoting for the sake of promoting. That is just fatuous.

The student has a degree of responsibility. The student must pay attention, work in class, and practice on their own. Modern martial arts students should also realize that they are training under a martial arts instructor. The martial arts instructors who have received training in teaching, training and/or coaching are few and far between. As such, the instructor is unlikely to have taken steps to bring the student into a position where they will stand a better chance of passing a real martial arts rank test.

But I would like to propose the question to any martial arts instructors out there – are you doing all you can to effectively prepare your students to face the test? Would you be willing to allow another person or a testing board to conduct the test of your students to gain an impartial evaluation of your own effectiveness?

Anyone can bark orders.

The typical action which is identified by most martial arts instructors as “teaching” consists of little more than demonstrating a technique once or twice, counting loudly while the students mimic said technique, and then telling the students that they performed it wrong.

This is not teaching.

The above outlined formula for so called “teaching” is really doing as little as possible while telling yourself that you are a martial arts instructor. If you spent some time looking around, then you would see that many martial arts instructors actually do very little. This has very little to do with teaching. And teaching is exactly what you will have to do to effectively prepare your students for rank testing. And when I use the term teaching, I am using in the term it is meant to be used.

As I stated in an earlier post, if you want to be an effective teacher, find out what makes great teachers great and do what they do. There are so many books on how to be an effective teacher that you almost can’t go wrong. Do not waste your time on the “How to be a great martial arts instructor” type of books. They are nearly all the same, and have little to do with really effective teaching.

If I may be so bold as to add to what you will find from the professional educators, I would sum most of it up into one word – communication. Without a real and ongoing communication between you and each individual student you have, you will never be as effective as you could be. It drives me batty that this one point is so simple, yet overlooked by a percentage of martial arts professionals which have to number in the 90% range!

To speak specifically on communication which will best prepare your student for what is in front of them at testing, I would break it down like this;

• Talk to your students regularly on what they hope to gain from their training in the martial arts. This has to be an ongoing process. It cannot be the simple “Why do you want to learn martial arts” question which they nervously answer when they first visit your school. We all know that when we are asking that to someone on their first visit that we are only making conversation. The answers on the first day are only rarely insightful. You will need to continually talk to your students to assess and reassess where they hope to be next month, next year and so on.
• Help the student to place their goals within their physical potential. No one likes to be told that there is no way they can reach their goals. But when a forty-five year old brick layer with a wrecked back and a heart condition thinks he will be competing in the next UFC event, you need to guide his thinking back into the realm of reality.
• Give positive, but still honest feedback to the student. This would be done on an ongoing basis as well.
• Listen to your students. It is always easy to assume that you know what someone wants or is about to say, but you need to have the more important skill of listening to the student. Hear them out! If you learn to listen to them you will become a unique person – a martial arts instructor who listens to his students!

Eventually, there is going to be a test. You must honestly watch your student’s performance. Try to remember that the entire idea of testing is for the student to show you your skill as an instructor. We all love to think that we know what we are doing, but it is the student performance which is the one true indicator of our effectiveness as an instructor.

There are organizations which promote everyone regardless of whether or not they have learned anything. These are of the “feel good” group. They maintain low “standards” and have poorly performing student, but wow do they have a lot of them.

There are also groups which have almost no black belts at all. These are the tough guy schools which have an unreachable standard. It is funny that most of the black belts that you find on the testing boards of these groups couldn’t pass the test that they themselves routinely fail so many potential black belts on.

If you are going to have a standard, as the instructor, should, at the very least meet that standard!

So, if you have sat down with each and every student, and discussed their goals, and were hopefully taking notes, and you have created a level playing field where even your least favorite student has the same chance of passing their rank test as does your most favored, you must conduct your test.

I will not tell you how to do your test. It would be a huge waste of my time, as many organizations tell you how to do your test their way, so we jump to the next stage of the process.

Sit down with each student again.

Unlike the last time you sat down with them, instead of discussing their goals, you are going to give them your assessment of how close they are to those goals. I cannot stress enough what a powerful tool this is for the martial arts instructor. As stated in a previous article, there you have to develop a personal relationship with all of your students. This is the ideal of the student/teacher relationship. Once you know their goals, you watch them in class, and on testing, and then sit down – now it is your moment to shine in their eyes. You do this by giving an authentic assessment of how they are doing and what the next step will be for them. This shows in an instant that you were paying attention to them. Of course the catch is that you really do have to pay attention to them, but that is part of your job! And you will suddenly be miles ahead of your competition if you keep things positive. Anyone can buy a book and a video and tell other people that they are doing it wrong. What you can do, with nothing more than a few changes in your vocabulary, is tell the student the same information but in a way which builds them up instead of tearing them down. On top of this, positive communication is effective communication. How many times in your life have you had another person unfairly ripping you to shreds to the point where you are no longer hearing a word they are saying? If you stay positive, the student will listen, and more importantly – remember!

If you make these small but significant adjustments, you are going to draw and keep many students. It is no sign of great teaching to say that your “standards” are so high that one out of one hundred students passes their black belt test (I have heard one organization proudly boast to this distinction). For this to be a fact for any martial arts organization shows, not high standards, but poor teaching. You are the one responsible for making the students ready for the test. If they fail the test, the largest share of the blame rests squarely on your shoulders. If you have a “standard” which allows you to give authentic tests (a test which students actually can fail, but can equally pass), the you should be proud of preparing them and helping them to succeed. If you are proud that you fail a large percentage of students, you are proud of your own shortcomings.

I cannot help but post more and more photos of this little angel!

It shames an industry which is supposed to be built upon integrity and other like values that there are so many who are shamelessly promoting themselves beyond all credibility. As a small word of advice, I recommend that you do not put too much faith in the claims of most martial artists. Inflated rank, false histories, fake lineage, fake martial arts, the list of problems goes on and on.

There was a martial arts instructor in central Texas who asked me to certify him at a higher rank than he was worth, I refused. He went to my instructor, who also turned him down. Eventually he found someone who would do him the favor he was asking. I sometimes shiver when I think about the amount of money I turned down when I refused his offer, but I did the right thing and kept my integrity intact.

In the words of Goethe “I wish that the stage was as high and narrow as a tightrope, that way no incompetent would dare step upon it.”

I wish as much for martial arts, but sadly, it is not. For most martial arts instructors, when you look at their bios, it is little more than garbage. Mostly it is exaggeration, and a lot of it is outright lie.

Among the fraudulent martial arts “masters”, there is a common practice of backing up the outlandish claims with fake science. It is important to learn how to identify these frauds in order to avoid becoming a victim. As much as I love to tell people that all martial arts have value, it is not really true. Fighting itself is a low art. There are really only a very limited number of ways to hit and kick someone. One thing that constantly baffles me is the ways in which arts which are proven beyond all reasonable doubt to be pure frauds still have people who follow blindly and swear by it as if their very life depends upon your opinion. There is nothing new under the sun. There is definitely nothing new in fighting. The so called “new arts” are really nothing more than repackaged old stuff.

Another favorite of mine is where the frauds try the claim of “I do not talk bad about your style, so you have no right to talk bad about mine”. This is preposterous. When they try this line I often think of Jack Nicholson telling Tom Cruise, “You can’t handle the truth!”

False logic is common among the frauds. Where a legitimate martial artist will provide evidence to show that they are right, the frauds simply question your right to think they are wrong. I have been called closed minded many times for refusing to believe the load of garbage handed to me by the fake “masters”. I don’t believe in ghosts either. Or the tooth fairy.

A student should support and defend the reputation of their instructor. I believe this, and did so for my instructors. But I have to say that you still must use your rational mind. If you are aware that your “master” has given his rank, titles and status to himself, or purchased them from a diploma mill, then you are a fool serving a fool. Earning rank and titles from a self appointed master makes you nothing more than the next in line of a fraud. It is still your choice, and you may do what you wish, but you should use your head for something aside form just a hat rack.

Let us take a look at the overused term “Soke” (pronounced ‘so key’). When the term is used correctly, it is applied only to those who have been appointed by their predecessor as such. In America, it is very common for people to call themselves “Soke” because they have “created” a “new” style. To become a Soke in America, all you have to do is call yourself one. It is not a big deal here. There are too many sokes and not enough students in this country. If you need the security blanket of having the title of Soke put upon you from another person or entity, there are many and more organizations which will be happy to give you the title for a small fee. The organizations which are outright frauds are nearly as numerous as fake masters. Sadly, almost every fake master has his own fake organization. I hate that some of these idiots claim shelter under the law which states that fraud is “the promotion, for profit, of something known to be false or unproven”. They claim they really believe their own B.S., and therefore it is not fraud as defines by law. As George Costanza said, “It’s not a lie if you believe it.”

The worst part about these people is that they are completely unconcerned with the fact that they teach all of this crap and then when one of their students ends up in a real life or death self defense situation, they will probably get killed which their Qi Blast doesn’t work.

Do not confuse belief with fact. Always treat the claims of any instructor with the scientific method – It must be observable, explainable, testable, and repeatable.  

I believe I first heard it described this way from Master Chief Hartman, AKA TKDTutor. Originally, the teaching of martial arts was an avocation. This means that it was not done as a way to make a living. It was done out of love of the art. In modern times, the teaching of martial arts is done as a vocation. Meaning; that people do this as a way to earn a living. In earlier times, martial arts instructors did not expect to make their living from teaching martial arts. To the people of the older traditions, the martial arts were a way of life. When I say that I practice martial arts, I do not mean to use the word practice in the same way that a person may practice archery (doing something in order to get better at it). Rather, I mean it in the same sense as when a doctor says that he practices medicine – it is something he does every day, it is his way of life, as martial arts are for me. True, I make my living through the teaching of martial arts, but this does not lessen my feelings for what I am doing. There are only a few of us left in the world who approach martial arts this way, but at least there are that many!

So, for me and many others, the martial arts are a vocation. In America, the teaching of martial arts has become a business. Anyone who has only the most superficial knowledge of the world of business knows full well that with business comes a host of good and bad things. The interest of the student will often take a back seat to the interest of the bottom line. Money. For a business to stay open it must make money. Not only that, but the business must make enough money to keep the interest of the business owner.

There is a common business practice in the martial arts industry of using contracts (some schools use a much less threatening term “agreement”). These contracts can lock a student into months or years of tuition fees, whether or not the student continues to train. Still others schools will increase the number of belt ranks to an absurd number (some schools have over 20 color belt ranks!!!).

To have a successful martial arts school, the school will need to

A.)  Attract new students

B.)   Keep the current group of trainees happy enough that they stay.

C.)   Develop new ways of getting current students to spend money.

As a martial arts school owner, one fact which haunts me is that every years scores of studios open up shop, and just as many close forever. This sad fact is what brings so many school owners to the point where they are more concerned with income than student (customer) satisfaction.

My school is located in my garage. This puts me in the category of instructors who are not going to make a ton of money. This also allows me to not care about making a ton of money. I have a day job with which I pay my mortgage. I do not have to worry about the things that a person who sets up his school in a strip center may have to worry about. I spoke with the owner of a TKD school in Highland Village (a suburb of Dallas), and he told me the lease on his location was $5,000.00 per month! I almost fell over dead on the spot. I cannot imagine the stress which comes with needing that much every month just to keep the doors open. When a student trains with me, they pay. When they do not train, they don not have to pay. And when someone earns a black belt though me, they have earned it.  

If you train with a person operating their school out of a storefront location, you will be paying more. Often there will be a requirement that you sign into a contract. If you are the type of person who needs outside motivation, a school contract may be just the thing for you. Knowing that you have to pay for the lessons may prove to be a good motivation to continue training.

Some schools are also a part of a franchise or a national or international organization. Money paid to the school will have a portion of which will go to the organization. I do not like a lot of the business practices of schools in this category. They are usually the schools which will nickel and dime you to death. Always another thing go on with another inflated fee attached.

The larger the school, the more likely they will be participating on one of the biggest scams in the martial arts world – free labor. There are a ton of schools which have adult classes for no other reason than to get free labor and help in controlling the children enrolled in the kid’s classes. You do not get a lot back out of your higher monetary investment.

Many of these organizations have lowered or eliminated the rank requirements. I was a part of a TKD organization which did not allow us to fail a student during rank testing, unless they were behind on their monthly fees. There were a lot of people wearing black belts, but there were only a few who were the real deal.  

In short, do not confuse commercial martial arts with traditional martial arts. This article should help you to understand which one is right for you.

We had family up for a visit this weekend, as my daughter turned one month old, she was passed around like a toy between my wife and I, my parents, my sisters, and my niece. Above are pictures.

Once a person has decided that they want to train in the martial arts, they must make a few choices. The first and most obvious choice would be, in what style to train.

There are many and more martial arts styles. There are sportive styles, and classical styles. Brutal styles and absurd styles. Styles which you can learn enough to honestly protect yourself in a short period of time, and other styles where you will need to work for years or possibly even decades before you will even come close to learning anything that may save your life.

The most two important things to consider are what art is going to fit you (mentally and physically), and can you personally respect the instructor. If you are suffering from arthritis, taekwondo would probably be ill advised. I had been suffering from chondromalacia patella for about ten years when I signed on in a taekwondo school, and I probably should not have, as I suffered several more knee injuries while training in that sport. Similarly, if you are under the age of 40, you will quickly lose interest in some of the softer styles like Taiji (there are exceptions to every rule, but this is a general guide). Select a style that suits you. Similarly, you must find an instructor that you can get along with. You must be able to have real and not feigned respect. There are many different styles of teaching, and you must e able to learn under the style of teaching your instructor uses, as very few instructors alter their teaching style to benefit individual students.  

Once the decision has been made on the art to study, next you need to figure out where to train. Now, there is a common misconception in the minds of many beginners that if they train under a champion, they too will be a champion, but this is simply not true. There are many fantastic martial arts performers and competitors who cannot pass on their skills even if their life depends on it.  You must find a good teacher. If they are also a skilled performer, so much the better, but they must be skilled in teaching or you will never reach your fullest potential. They must be able to organize their lessons, plan their classes, and execute their plan. They must have the ability to motivate you. If they do not have the ability to point out what you do well as easily as they point out what you do wrong, you will not last in their school. You must find a teacher that you not only respect, but also are able to get along with. If you are a complete beginner, you will not have much to go on in determining if the school is right for you, or where to begin in your search for the right instructor.

There is no national regulation of martial arts instructors. I am not 100% sure, but I do not believe there is any state that regulates the teaching of martial arts either. Most instructors are not really licensed, unless they are so through their organization or possibly self licensed. It is a sad fact that anyone at all may buy a black belt, rent a storefront, and hang a sign that says “martial arts taught here”. In my state, you don’t even need a business license. The only governmental oversight is if you plan on selling merchandise – then will cause you to need a sales tax permit. Other than that, Texas doesn’t care what you do or what you know. So, be careful in your search.

Most beginners tend to look only at two things – price and convenience. The cheapest and the closest are the first considerations. This is criticized by some instructors, but usually only by the more remote or expensive. The truth is that you can find quality martial arts instruction in your local YMCA, and the prices are usually pretty low, and the instructor at the Y is usually teaching out of love of teaching and not out of needing the money or wanting to get rich through martial arts. While there should be other considerations, these two are justifiable.

There are those who will insist that you – as a complete beginner – have no basis for judging the skills and quality of an instructor. I tend to disagree. I think that if you just look for a few things, you should be able to get a fairly accurate judgment on the quality of the instructor. A few quick points to look for:

Does the skill performed by the students closely resemble the same skill when demonstrated by the instructor? If the Instructor is a high quality instructor, he or she will know already that the students are the product, to use business terms. It is very easy for any instructor to keep telling their students that they are doing great even when they are not. But, the high quality instructor will not let the student move on until each movement is perfect. 

Are the students respectful and attentive, or scared out of their wits? If the students are respectful and attentive, then they know that what the instructor is demonstrating or saying is of high value. If not, then the students may have reached a point where they understand that the instructor has a tendency to ramble on and on.

Does the instructor have a hands on approach, or does he sit in a chair or stand at the front barking orders? If they are not standing, they are not teaching.

How does the instructor correct students? Is it done with disgust, or handled in a positive manner? If the instructor becomes irritated easily, then your learning will be hindered, and you may even find yourself getting nervous as soon as he or she looks at you.

Are there many high ranking students? If not, and the school has been around a while, this could be a sign that students are either held back in rank or leaving before achieving high rank.

There are many things which could be added to a list like this, but you should be able to get the general idea from what I have just listed. Follow these pointers, and you can make an informed and probably correct choice.

Where do I start looking?

There are many ways to handle the question of where to train. For a good start, talk to people. You may have a friend or co-worker who trains in the martial arts and can give you a good idea of what their school is like. If your city has a martial arts supply store, they will have an area where local instructors are allowed to place business card or flyers. Check with community centers and YMCA/YWCA or your community college.

Make a list of the martial arts schools within your area that teach what you are looking for. Do not sign on anywhere until you have visited every one of the schools on your list. Call ahead to make sure that visitors are allowed during the time you plan on going and be sure to check if you are going to sit and watch or if you will be expected to participate. Many schools offer a free class, and hands on participation will tell you much more than sitting and observing.

What are the important points to think about?

One very important factor to consider is that there are many different types of martial arts training, even within the same style there can be several schools of thought as to what the proper focus of the training should be. For my school, our focus is on the actual ability to use the techniques we teach. But I teach in a manner where no one is going to lose an eye or a tooth in the training. There are schools with a much more brutal focus, and the students are fully prepared to lose a tooth if it means they got to do some rough and tumble martial arts. Other schools drill forms endlessly but never teach how to use them. And there are schools with a focus on fitness, competition, or simply “feel good martial arts experiences”. None of these varying focuses are wrong, but there will usually be only one focus to the training at a particular martial arts school, and you need to find a school that shares your outlook.

It is also important to consider the class schedule. You may love the style, instructor and focus of the training, but if the classes are inconvenient, you are not going to stick with it.

Just as important is the question of who teaches the classes. There are too many schools where the Instructor is an instructor in name only, and never teaches a class at all. The following is a list of questions that is passed around so much that I am unable to track down the original author, and so cannot give proper credit, but will tell you it is a good list, but the words that follow are not mine.  

School

Is the head instructor a full-time or part-time instructor/owner?

How long has the school been open?

Do you use no-contact, light-contact, or full contact sparring? No sparring at all?

Do you teach sport oriented martial arts?

Do you teach practical self-defense techniques?

Do you teach ground fighting/grappling? What type?

Is the school matted for use in throws or falls?

Is board breaking required in training? For testing?

Is free-sparring required? If yes:

What is total cost of all required sparring equipment? 

Must all equipment be bought through the studio?

Is contact allowed in sparring? 

Is kicking to the head allowed, if so, is it mandatory? 

Is kicking to the head in tournaments allowed, if so, is it mandatory? 

What training equipment is required to be purchased, other than for sparring, such as target pads, re-breakable boards, etc.

Belts

Do you charge belt testing fees? What are they?

Do you have written requirements for each belt/stripe test?

How often are tests conducted?

Is free-sparring required for tests? 

Is board breaking required tests? 

Is tournament attendance required?

Do you award black belts to youths? If yes:

Starting at what age?

What is the average time for a youth to get a black belt?

Contracts

Must I sign a contract? (Beware of hidden costs, get full disclosure before you sign any contract)

May I have a copy to review before I sign it?

How long is the contract for?

How much is the contract for?

What do I get for the money?

Are payments made to a third party? 

What/who may cancel the contract?

What if I am sick or on vacation?

What if I am injured?

Classes

What are the class hours?

Are instructors nationally certified thru a recognized organization? What is the organization and its history?

Is the instruction by group or private?

Is private instruction available at an extra cost?

How many classes may I attend each week?

Do you use youth instructors?

Print a copy of the questions that seem important to you from this list, and ask them to each school you visit. The above list should not worry any legitimate martial arts school owner. And the questions will help you to determine if the school is really what you are looking for.