| Many Kung Fu students have knee problems later in | | | | stretching for a reason. While stretching may not be |
| life. This is not because the Kung Fu is poorly | | | | as fun or interesting as lifting weights or practicing |
| designed, or that Kung Fu should not be trained. This | | | | strikes it is an important part of training. Many Kung |
| is because many Kung Fu students jump around too | | | | Fu students do not stretch enough and this takes a |
| much, put too much stress on their knees, and do | | | | toll on their body when they train movements over |
| not use flowing footwork. Using flowing footwork | | | | and over for hours. |
| allows a Kung Fu student to move around quickly, | | | | Kung Fu also places a lot of importance on footwork. |
| but minimize the stress put on their knees. | | | | Fast footwork is very important to performing |
| Training in martial arts and self-defense is important | | | | moves and defending against attacks. But Kung Fu is |
| because it allows someone to defend themselves | | | | not about jumping around or trying to show off. |
| against an attacker. Martial arts are a matter of | | | | Kung Fu requires flowing footwork that allows for |
| self-preservation and self-protection. But to be able | | | | speed and change of direction to be accomplished |
| to defend yourself in a stressful real life self-defense | | | | without putting too much stress on the knees. Your |
| situation you have to train for many hours. Simply | | | | body should give to each step and react like a spring, |
| knowing the moves will not help in a real self-defense | | | | not a stuff board. This does not just help protect |
| situation because you will be very stressed out and | | | | your knees during hours of training, but actually helps |
| very excited. It is very easy to forget the things you | | | | you move faster and change direction sooner. |
| learned in such situations. This is why martial arts | | | | It is possible to learn Kung Fu by yourself, but getting |
| students train for so many hours and repeat each | | | | a teacher can be a great way to make sure you are |
| move and motion so many times. The goal is for the | | | | doing the movements correctly and that you will not |
| movements to be committed to muscle memory so | | | | end up hurting your joints in the long run. Sometimes |
| that the student can do the moves without having | | | | it takes another set of trained eyes to watch what |
| to think about them. | | | | you are doing and tell if you are doing the correct |
| The downside of all of this training is that it can take | | | | movements or not. It is a shame when a martial arts |
| a toll on a body. This is especially true if the moves | | | | student, who is seeking to defend their body and |
| are practiced wrong or performed without proper | | | | health, ends up hurting their body by training in |
| preparation. Kung Fu puts a lot of emphasis on | | | | self-defense incorrectly. |