I often get asked by other martial artists, “How long have you been training?” As the length of time training is commonly used as a measure of ability and understanding.

Length of time training is essential and a beginner can get to a satisfactory level by just putting in the hours consistently over a sustained period. But there will come a stage in one's training where more time training isn’t enough on its own. The quality of training is the most crucial factor.

Training Quality

Training quality consists of two things,

1. The quality of the instruction and the teacher's ability to explain this so that the student understands and can work on doing.
2. The ability of the student to follow the instruction and apply it to their practice, without adding anything or taking anything away.

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The quality of one’s training will help a student very quickly advance with their Martial Arts.

Here is my little equation for Kung Fu ability.

L (Kung Fu Level)
T (Time Spent Training)
Q (Quality of Training)

L = TQ²

Time spent is vital to one's level, but the real multiplier here is the quality of your training.

There are different ways to look at one's progression within the traditional Chinese martial arts. One way that I like looking at one's progression is based on our Tiger Crane Combination systems teaching on the three battles. I have discussed the three battles before but want to offer a slightly different perspective.

The three stages of development:

The first stage a student must go through is the stage of forms and shapes. A student must learn the specific shapes, movements and physical structures that the particular system they have chosen teaches. They must change the physical body so that the structures and shapes are not forced and can be settled into with ease. Taking them to a stage where the shapes and structures of the system become the intuitive way they move and stand. Thought is no longer needed to align correctly; it’s automatically correct. These shapes can be like external scaffolding that allows the student to now enter inside and do the next stage of work. - This stage can take between 5 to 10 years of training - this depends mainly on the quantity and quality of one's training.

With the body now aligned correctly and holding our structure in place correctly, we move inside and begin the long and challenging process of changing our inside. This process is not about adding anything - it is purely a process of letting go and abandoning all that is unnecessary. We build up a lifetime of bad habits, ways of thinking, emotional states and these all have a direct effect on how our body and energy move and react. The work at this stage is about letting go physically and mentally of all that offers resistance, our first 5 to 10 years of training has given us the scaffolding and structures physically and mentally so that we don't crumble during this process of abandoning the unnecessary. Most martial artists begin this stage but do not leave it. This stage can take between 20 years and a lifetime of training - Again, this depends on the quantity and more importantly here, the quality of your training. This part of training is also challenging to achieve without a good teacher who knows the path through experience, not intellectual understanding.

The third stage is about removing the scaffolding, the structures and shapes you have mastered no longer matter, you have changed your mind and your body to become Kung Fu completely so everything you do and don’t do, think and don’t think, say and don’t say is Kung Fu. Internal and external are no longer separated, and all things are united.

In essence, the journey is about learning how to to do so we can abandon doing.

Here is one of my favourite quotes from Chuang Tzu that embodies this process,

“Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.”

​We live in a society obsessed with instant gratification. People want results now; they don’t want to have to wait. How many times have you clicked on a web link and started feeling frustration arise in you if the link hasn’t loaded within 3 seconds? Or started a new diet and checked the scale the next day to see if you have lost any weight? As a society, we want things now, and we don’t want to work for it. We are bombarded daily by leaders in their fields who have the wealth we want or the skill we want or the figure we want. But we don’t see the years of struggle they have gone through to get there. 

As a martial artist, I have seen many students over the years begin training, wanting to transform into better versions of themselves through Kung Fu. I have also seen most of them give up because the reality has quickly set in about the hard work that is required and the life changes they must make to meet their goals. 

The secret to becoming adept at any skill is perseverance. There will be failures, there will be pain, there will be tears, and there will be obstacles. As you train the most significant obstacle you will face is yourself. Your need to feel comfortable, your need to feel in control and your need to feel skilled. The problem is, training in martial arts will continuously take you outside your comfort zone, you will feel you have no control, and you will feel you are not good enough. At this stage, you, the student have a choice, persevere and become better or give up.  In my own training, I choose to persevere.

Becoming a Kung Fu Master, or an adept at any discipline can be summed up in two simple steps. 

1. Begin
2. Don’t Give Up

Many people take the first step, but it is the second step where the vast majority of people falter. After taking the first step there will be many times when you fall on your journey, it is these falls that condition you and help you change. Just make sure when you fall, you don’t stay down. Get up and keep walking. 

​As the old saying goes,

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.”