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Kung Fu for Kids

Term 1 ends Wednesday 13th April.

Training will resume on Wednesday 27th April.

Monday and Wednesday 4.45-5.45pm.

$12 per casual lesson/$75 for 8 lessons.

‘Every child should learn martial arts, any martial art – karate, judo, aikido, Chinese kung fu. If they do, they will respect themselves, their parents, and others. They will respect life, everything. You don’t learn that discipline, that self-respect, you could be just another wild kid on the streets, a bully.’ – Jackie Chan, 2010.

Our Young Mantis classes teach children from the age of 7 to 15 years the art of Southern Tong Long Kung Fu. The classes also include traditional Shaolin Kung Fu basics and drills. The format of the class is generally as follows :

1. Joint warm ups.

We want to strengthen and mobilise all the joints of the body. In Chinese philosophy, it is our joints that are prone to injury and deterioration with age because of their location close to the body surface. Therefore, we always warm them up before advancing to more active exercises.

2. Basic stretches, strength exercises, and technique drills.

We continue warming the body by streching the muscles of the arms, torso, and legs. Next comes basic strength building exercises such as various push ups, abdominal crunches, horse stance, single leg stances, push leg, push arm, and hand conditioning routines. The technique drills start to build heart and lung capacity and strength. Here the students are pushed harder and quicker through different drills. These include foot work, kicking, various circuit routines, and hitting hand pads.

3. Forms.

Each of our adult grades has been divided into 3 levels to make it achieveable for the children. This also means they can make easy transitions into the adult classes when they come of age. ( They start at the beginning again as their physical and mental development is then assessed through the grades at their new understanding ). Each grade teaches the student how to develop and generate a particular type of energy for their techniques. See our Tong Long Grades page for more information on this.

4. Single Hand Techniques.

These are the individual techniques taken from the student’s form. They learn to step and perform the technique equally with the left and right hands / feet. They will also hit hand pads to discover how it feels to use the technique with all their power.

5. Jongs.

These are not part of the student’s learning until White Level 2 ( the 3rd grade into the system ). Jongs are two person combinations of movements that teach the student how to apply their Single Hand Techniques in a “fighting” situation. These combinations are choreographed and monitored, so no unnecessary hitting or power is allowed. Bullying or intimidating other students is not tolerated! Control and accuracy is required to be allowed to grade and to move onto the next level of skill.

6. Games.

We will often utilise fun games to enhance camaraderie, hand eye co-ordination, fitness, etc. These include relays, ball games, reflex games,

7. Warm downs.

Classes finish with some gentle stretching and breathing exercises.

Who are Young Mantis Classes for?

We set the age limits at 7 to 15 years but each child is assessed by Sifu on their own merits. If your child is 5 and can keep focused and not disturb the other students, then they may be accepted into our training. If your child is 12 and disrupts the class then they will be asked not to return to training.

We only want students who are committed to their training. We are not a babysitting service. Our Tong Long Kung Fu system is not as easy as some other available martial arts, so please explore all avenues before committing to us. Sifu gladly invites anyone to come and have a try, but he will let you know if our system is not suitable for your child. We are passionate about our art and will give all serious students 100% attention to take them as far as they want to go in their training.

Gradings.

For a student to grade they are required to receive approval from their parents, their school teacher/s, and then from Sifu. This procedure was implemented so the students realise they need to perform and behave well not only in the Kung Fu classes, but also at home and at school. Grading dates are set throughout the year, but if a student is ready before this, a grading will be held. To be eligible for a grading students must be able to remember all of the required material, and to perform it with accuracy.

Young Mantis Training Guidelines.

Our school comes from a long tradition of etiquette and respect. We not only teach the physical side of Kung Fu, but also the mental and moral side of the art. Below are some of the basic guidelines required of our Young Mantis students.

• I WILL NOT RUN around and shout in the school hall.
• I WILL NOT TALK while training.
• I WILL TRY MY HARDEST at training.
• I WILL LISTEN to my Instructors.
  

  

• I WILL CONDUCT myself in a respectful manner.
• I WILL NOT TEACH other students.
• I WILL RETURN training equipment to its place.

There is a more comprehensive Code of Conduct in our archived newsletters – MARCH 2005.

If any students are caught using what they learn from training for the wrong reason they will be expelled from our school.

Fees.

Casual classes are $12.00 or $75.00 for 8 lessons.

Gradings are $30.00. School Shirt $30.00 Sash $20.00 Pants $40.00

Tong Long Kung Fu Training Manual $15.00 (includes history of our style, what is Kung Fu, what is Tai Chi, shows White and Yellow Belt forms, etc).

YOUNG MANTIS NEWSLETTER APRIL 2011

From Sifu – our training for the
start of the year has been well attended. We have had a good group of new students join our
classes, and I would like to welcome
Lauren, Joel, Josh, Jack Lewington, Jack Meehan, Jack Moore, and Lachie
to the school. Everyone is training hard to learn the first part of the Northern
Plum Blossom Preying Mantis form. If everyone can learn it very well,
and the group is moving as one, I would like to have it played at our demonstrations on stage at the Mudgeeraba Show
this year. So train hard, practice it at home. Don’t
forget to have Mum and Dad’s permission to bea part of our team on June the 25th
and 26th at the Mudgeeraba Show. We will also start
training up our tile breaking skills for these demos too.

I want to remind everyone that the more effort
you put into your training, the more results and improvements you will get out
of your training. So, when you come to class be positive, have a switched on
mind, be eager to learn and copy what your instructors are showing you. Do not
waste time looking out the window, yawning, or talking to each other. Remember close your mouth and open your eyes and ears. Don’t
be half asleep and show bad manners by yawning in the face of your instructors.
With the right effort before you know it you will be moving and thinking with a
Kung Fu attitude all of the time. If you are very tired, or you do want to be
outside, then don’t come to class and slow down other Young Mantis students
down. It is important to understand that you should put 100% into your warm
ups, forms, single hand techniques, circuits, handpads, jongs, and weapons. If
you train like this, then if you ever have a situation where you need to defend
yourself, you can rely on your training to kick in help you. If you train like
you are half asleep, using sloppy techniques, moving slowly, not producing any
power, and have a lack of fierce attitude, then that is probably what you will
get when you need to defend yourself the most. Your Sigung says “Train like you
fight, and fight like you train.” This means that you cannot tell the
difference in your techniques or attitude, whether you are in class training or
in trouble outside. So train hard and be very proud
of yourself for that effort.

Do you
know the Chinese words for these terms?

Push hand exercise? 

Gripping push hand exercise?

Concentration?

Energy?

Older Kung Fu Sister?

Older Kung Fu brother?

Remember Pupil Free school days and Public Holidays we have no Young Mantis training.

To learn more about your school, its etiquette, and your Sifu go look through our website at http://www.mckfa.com.au