Today’s class continues to increase the complexity of your training, bringing together the full range of basics which you’ve studied so far, including different hand shapes, stances, strikes and kicks.
The combination learnt in this class is known as Wǔbù Quán (五步拳) or Five Steps. Wǔbù Quán utilises all five basic stances and trains a range of fundamental Kung Fu skills, making it a common basic training combination which many Kung Fu styles utilise when building a foundation in students. The benefits of learning and training Wǔbù Quán include:
It contains a variety of directional changes and level changes, helping to build directional awareness as well as solid footwork and stability of the whole body during dynamic exercise.
It contains strikes executed from all five basic stances, training your stance transitions and ability to implement techniques from different positions.
The same movements are trained on the left and right sides, balancing the body and ensuring the combination’s techniques and characteristics are equally developed on both sides.
It acts as a bridge between basics training and forms training, helping to prepare you for learning your first form in the next class.
Today’s Class
You should be familiar with many of the movements and ideas in this combination from the previous classes, however, Wǔbù Quán will test you by adding in new directional changes and transitions. Ensure you study the combination carefully step-by-step at your own pace, learning the movements over the course of several training sessions if necessary. Once you’re comfortable performing the full combination on both sides, try filming yourself; the camera will help you to analyse areas where your technique or your posture require improvement. It may be beneficial to spend several training sessions working on Wǔbù Quán before moving onto the next class; the more time you spend working this combination, the stronger your foundation will be for future Kung Fu training.
