Beginners

Beginner Student Training: Bring awareness regarding the code of moral ethics (morality of deed and morality of the mind – Wude) through the physical, mental, and family aspects of Kung Fu to the student. Refine and instill the martial virtues to the students that has the willpower to start and complete their journey in the martial art. The emphasis of importance for each training method is provided from ascending order of emphasis, where the “Foundation/Fundamental Methods” are emphasized most, while the “Stretching” methods are emphasized less in the Ng Ga Kuen System during class time, but important for out-of-class practice. The following are goals for each of the main four areas of learning:

  • Foundation & Fundamental Methods … Horse(s) Stances; Proper Fist, Body, Feet positions
    • Body Awareness
    • Mind Awareness
    • Develop courage, discipline, will power, and respect.
    • Footwork, Punching, Blocking, Breathing
      • Body spatial awareness
        • Feet width
        • Legs (amount of bend)
        • Arm position (Centerline, arm-height, arm-distance from body, etc.)
        • Dead-hand? Hand-for-Protection/Blocking
        • Fist formation; Left-Hand Cover Right-Fist Salute.
      • Walking properly with correct body positions.
      • Alignment of the body parts
      • Alignment/synchronization of the action to the breath.
    • Correct Structure/Posture and Motion Pattern
      • Understanding the alignment and physical body structure
      • Understanding the posture/geometry of movement
  • Forms/Sets
    • Basic Lessons 1-4:
      • Fundamentals
    • Develop muscle memory.
    • Develop focus and balance from one posture to another.
    • Develop stamina and motion training.
    • Develop Eye, Hand, Body, Feet, Breath synchronization, coordination, and visualization.
    • Develop External and Internal Strength
      • Power & Chi (Exercise #1)
    • NGK Traditional Forms include:
    • Be able to identify the posture/movement associated to the family that contributed to the system.
  • Application of Posture/Movement
    • Understand the individual postures/movement with a form/set and how it can be applied.
    • Be able to understand and apply the individual technique(s) to combat-partner(s).
    • Be able to extract and decompose the essence of the movement to create a unique form/set without losing the essence of the style (5-Family style – Ng Ga Kuen) and foundation.
  • Conditioning Methods: condition muscles, bone, tendons, fascia, joints for intense impact and for health.
    • Build strength and establish muscle memory.
    • 3-stars & 5-start arm/shoulder conditioning
    • Pushups (fingertips, knuckles, palm, reverse palm, planks, bag work, etc.).
    • Leg conditioning (horse stances, kick from sifu, self-stick hitting, bag kicking)
    • Breathing exercises (see The Secret of Kung Fu by Ark Y. Wong).
    • Provide clarity and calmness to the Mind, Body and Spirit.
  • Stretching (Optional – Important, but less emphasized in Ng Ga Kuen teachings, however, Traditional Shaolin teachings emphasized Stretching):
    • Provide limberness, flexibility, posture improvement, and mobility.
    • Leg, shoulder, back, wrist, neck, and hip stretching.
    • Modern Stretching and Strengthening Techniques
      • Hamstrings – Thigh muscles between the hip and the knee.
      • Flexors – a muscle that serves to flex or bend a part of the body.
      • Split – provide flexibility to the large muscles.
      • T-Spine – Thoracic-Spine mobility… helps mobility in the neck, back, or shoulder and helps maximizes movement. Your T-spine is designed to open up or close your chest and allows your torso to twist and bend from side to side.
      • Back Bridge – strengthens core & butt.