6 Dragons Kung Fu: what does it teach?

The 6 Dragons Kung Fu method and goals

The goal of our school is to create a bridge between:

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

The reason for this multidisciplinary approach is that where others see dispersion, 6 Dragons Kung Fu identifies connections.

Let’s see a few counterintuitive examples:

  • Why study the ancient weapons? – The weapon educates the arm, the arm becomes one with the weapon then the arm becomes a weapon (read also Learning the use of weapons)
  • Why practice meditation? – The mind manages the moods, the emotions do not control the body then the body is free to express its maximum potential (read Become the absolute zero)
  • Why use softness? – Softness gives (for example) speed, rigidity offers impact power but their continuous exchange ensures combat unpredictability (read The path to the soft movements)

Why a holistic approach

It is not a question of randomly mixing different things but of correctly positioning the tiles of a wider mosaic:

  • What can be superimposed is fused
  • What is incompatible is simply flanked

What is excellence in martial arts?

  • The real excellence lies not in possessing a single capability at the highest possible levels since none of them is so incisive to replacing all the others (even the most important one, read The most important skill in combat)
  • Excellence consists of always having an advantage over our opponents and only a multidisciplinary approach (combined with serious and daily training) can guarantee it

A note by Master Kongling – In our school, only near the end of the martial path we choose a specific skill to develop at the highest level: after years and years of consistent preparation.

Let’s reflect for a moment:

  • What is the use of having a powerful body if our mind is more fragile and manipulable than a child’s?
  • What sense does it have to concentrate on a single method of fighting (or training) if it has evident disadvantages that could be easily filled by other types of approaches?
  • Why strive to be rigid if this makes us controllable, slow and exposes us to unnecessary risks?
  • What is the point in mastering myriads of personal defense or fighting techniques if we do not even know the legal and tactical contexts in which to apply them (read Best martial arts for self-defense)?

The sources of 6 Dragons Kung Fu

6 Dragons Kung Fu is based on Chinese Kung Fu and in particular, it is strictly related to the ancient methods of Shaolin Temple (many of which are rarely taught).

The roots from where we start must not be misleading: our core inspiration does not prevent us from collecting the best settings, exercises, techniques and methods from other oriental / occidental, past / present martial arts.

Starting from the discipline antically imposed at Shaolin Temple (read Ancient Shaolin monks vs modern ones), we abandon all prejudice and sterile rivalries to teach for example:

  • Concepts inspired by Japanese culture like Ninjutsu (the Sanshin practices), Taijutsu (from the various ryuha), etc.
  • Concepts inspired by Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do (read also The real Bruce Lee’s legacy)
  • Modern MMA’s training methods and fighting tactics
  • Principles from Wing Chun, Silat, Systema, Yoga and many more

A note by Master Kongling – Kung Fu is not a tradition and it has never been (contrary to what a lot of people think, read The disadvantages of “traditional” Kung Fu). Kung Fu is something that constantly needs to evolve; if we do not want it to be surpassed in effectiveness (read MMA vs Tai Chi 10 seconds knock out: an explanation). The time to be mind-closed is ended. To reach real results, it is fundamental to: maintain what is good, leave what is not useful and absorb what is functional, no matter from where the experience comes (as the ancient masters have always done after each confrontation).

The teaching of 6 Dragons Kung Fu

Is our school just a container of others’ notions? No, we are simply inspired by the other martial arts (and we do not hide in admitting it) but there is much more than this (new exercises, techniques, focal points, etc.).

6 Dragons Kung Fu teaches:

  • Fight with bare hands (striking, ground fighting, levers, throws, etc.)
  • Use of martial weapons (practical use of proper / improper weapons, the throwing ones, the cutting ones, the rigid / flexible ones, etc.)
  • Body conditioning (impact resistance, stamina, speed, power, etc., inspired for example by the 72 Shaolin skills, by the Karate’s Hojo Undo, by the best MMA trainers, etc.)
  • Self-defense and self-preservation (prevention, practical application of fight techniques in real contexts, the debated topic of disarmament, the correct attitudes, stress management, group combat, how to escape, etc.)
  • Use of psychology and deception techniques (NLP, persuasion, body language, lie detection, etc.)
  • Invisibility / stealth techniques (how to not be seen, how to go unnoticed, camouflage, prestidigitation hints, etc.)
  • Advanced combat techniques (whose learning requires years of practice, like the advanced muscle chain mastering, the TCM’s pressure points, some combat-practical acrobatics, etc.)
  • The development of the core martial skills (attitudes related to power, speed, balance, endurance, reflexes, spatial intelligence, etc.)
  • Personal growth, control of our mind (self-esteem, self mental conditioning, how to exploit emotions to our advantage, removing fears, etc.)
  • Advanced management of our body and mind (through meditation, breathing, development of the senses, flexibility, etc.)
  • Tactics and strategies of struggle (advanced methodologies to prevail over our opponents, bodily resource management, mobility, feints, etc.)
  • Individual and group training (design of daily sessions, adaptation to the practitioners’ level, recovery practices / times, performance control, etc.)
  • Training exercises (based on the principle of “constant change”, an always “different” approach to the same practices, read Same exercises, different execution)
  • Specific sequences (dynamic drills, forms, fundamental movements / interactions, body adaptation, muscle memory, etc.)
  • Sparring (controlled fighting, with different types and levels of intensity)
  • The creation of a personal style (combining techniques and skills to create a personal resource fully bonded to the practitioner, made of body mechanics, management of personal attitudes / limits, etc.)
  • General martial culture (introducing, as much as possible, the other martial arts, we offer to the practitioner an occasion to understand how to address them, implement their strengths, exploit their weaknesses, etc.)

Final notes

With this article, we wanted to give a general (non-exhaustive) overview of what 6 Dragons Kung Fu aims to convey to its practitioners:

  • They may appear to be too many types of knowledge but they are not, due to the connections they have in relation to each other
  • Naturally, this is not a short way; Kung Fu is a life path, if we think to absorb this theory (and especially the involved practice) in 1-2 years, we are completely out of range  (read /// Subscribe (it's free!) or Login to see this content ///)
  • To start to understand if 6 Dragons Kung Fu truly deepens these topics and if is this what we are searching for, we can simply visit this website and read some of the hundreds of free articles / tutorials that day by day we write, share and update for free

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Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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