Use Evolution to Earn the Right to Train Hard.

 Feb 25th 2016    Training

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Beginners' training. 

Chief Instructor Dennis Ngo has seen many many people start their training and then falter, or take a break and then try to restart.  In this article he explores the mechanisms at work in those first few weeks, and the role of evolution in it all.  It’s a familiar scenario….you are in class – everyone is doing the same drill. The count goes on and on. How did you get here? Tried a class? Tick. Joined up? Tick. Set aside which day(s) for training? Tick. In uniform? Tick. Feel like you are about to die on the spot? Tick. Think that you would be grateful if you did? Hmmm.

“Your body is the current end point of millions of years of evolution plus a few decades of what you’ve done to it.  And of what you haven’t done.  Even of what you think you’ve done.  And now you’re in class because Evolution called out to you; “Those muscles and tendons and bones are there for a reason.  Get out of your head and into your body.”  You answered the call, rang up your local Fujian White Crane Kung Fu Instructor and here you are, wishing that Evolution had just left you alone.  If it’s a really tough class you’re making up sarcastic responses in case Evolution calls again. Read More

“I love Kung Fu. It’s awesome. I don’t want to go any more.”

 Feb 18th 2016    Training

FWC Instructor Richard Wagstaff teaching a children's Kung Fu class

Congratulations! Your child is training at the best Martial Arts classes on the planet, with the Fujian White Crane Kung Fu Club. Is that enough to keep them coming? Let’s ask Richard Wagstaff, FWC Instructor for London South. His very popular children’s classes include many in the 5-10 years age group and he knows what it is like when parents hear:

“I don’t want to go to Kung Fu today” “But I thought you loved it?” “I do, but I feel sick today, my tummy hurts” or “I’m tired, can’t I just miss this week?”

Are they coming down with something?  So you send a text to the Instructor explaining that they are not coming today and then the same thing happens next week. Do they love Kung Fu or is this just another activity they started and want to give up? Children don’t have as many excuses open to them as adults (“Sorry, working late to meet a deadline”) and they don’t always know why they want to give up.

Sometimes they don’t want to give up at all – they really want to know how to carry on.
But young children don’t know how to say that.

Let’s see if we can help them.

Read More

The Art of War meets The Tools of Peace

 Feb 11th 2016    News

Aspyre Africa 1st cohort of horticultural students with tools provided from a donation by FWC Kung Fu

It’s amazing what you can do with 2 shirts.  At the FWC Club Christmas Dinner we raffled a cycling shirt and a children’s funky t-shirt.  This raised £438 for Aspyre Africa.  Co-founder Savina Geerinckx who trains at FWC Covent Garden & West End with Chief Instructor Dennis Ngo has sent an update on how the organisation has used the funds to buy “The Tools of Peace”. Read More

“It’s not the winning, it’s the taking apart.”

 Jan 28th 2016    News, Training

Wise words from Chief Instructor, Dennis Ngo, on being ready for competition. Challenges come in all forms – standing up first in class after 100 sit-ups, making it to class at all on especially tough days, saying the name of your pattern during a grading (in Mandarin), folding your trousers properly, the list goes on and on. But, as Dennis says, “competitions are where the pressure is really on – a chance to find out what you are made of as you stand up alone in front of everyone to give it your best and submit to being judged.  The preparation is most important.  First you take yourself apart – then you train and train and train.  Then you go out and show what you are made of. Winning, not winning, that is merely a by-product of stepping on the mat.” So he didn’t mean taking your opponent apart then? Read More

“Beginners Welcome” – Really?

 Jan 21st 2016    Training

There are as many reasons for starting martial arts as there are people. If you are thinking of giving it a go then walking into that first class can be daunting. Courage my friend, take that first step and never look back – you have nothing to fear but fear itself. But isn’t the Instructor going to be scary /terrifying/ immortal?

Chief Instructor Dennis Ngo (6th Dan but still mortal) talks about why he takes on beginners in his classes. What’s in it for them? What’s in it for him?

“I have been teaching for more that 35 years.  Although I am approaching 65 I have no plans to stop teaching, and I certainly have no plans to stop training.  I am on a lifelong journey of learning and improvement – I may never achieve perfection but I’m going to die trying.  Given that some of my students have now been training for over 30 years themselves, why do I still say “Beginners Welcome”?  Do I really mean it? Read More

New Year’s Resolutions – how to keep at them

 Jan 06th 2016    Training

Phone text enquiring about kung fu class

This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series Seasonal Training. 

Ah, the double-edged sword of New Year’s Resolutions.  If you make a good one and stick to it, you’ll be jolly all year.  But make one and break it, and it casts you down into the pits of despair. Most people make resolutions to eat more healthily, do some exercise and lose some weight.  Guess what, training at our Club can help you do all three – a bargain New Year’s Resolution!  But you still have to keep at it. Fear not, we know just what it’s like trying to stay motivated, and we have the knowledge and support to get you past those bumps in the road.

For those of you who want to start something new this year, here is FWC Instructor for London South, Richard Wagstaff, to show you how.

“New Year’s Irresolution

You’ve finished ploughing through the turkey sandwiches, mince pies, and Christmas pudding and you’ve just got over the disappointment of another highly-anticipated yet distinctly average New Year’s Eve party.   You have the whole year stretching out ahead of you – exactly the same as last year.

“No, this year is going to be different” you say to yourself. Read More

Winter Training

 Dec 31st 2015    Training

Winter moon shining through bare branches

This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Seasonal Training. 

It’s late winter.  We’ve had the Solstice.  We’ve had Christmas.  We’ve had the mid-winter holidays. We have in fact had whichever marker it is when your culture turns from darkness and the old, to lightness and the new – if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere.

What does this have to do with training?  Well, we are primates.  Do primates hibernate?  Some ursines do.  Some rodents do.  Some reptiles do it.  Even butterflies do it.  But we do not (though I acknowledge that some historical anthropologists argue over this one).

But the real question is, how do you feel?   Read More