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A skill is acquired if we don’t realize to possess it

Each skill that we do not possess appears to us as special. However, what distinguishes a simple amateur from a real martial artist is being able to express one or more abilities:

That cannot be acquired in a short time (see The first martial skill to be acquired)
That usually can not be an innate talent (read Natural talent and martial arts)
That their mere theoretical knowledge is useless
That the fact of having a good physical shape or a reactive mind is not enough to rapidly learn them (read for example Speed and quickness)
Where the involvement of the mind is as important as the education of the body (read for example The most important skill in combat)
…

We’re talking about special abilities concerning things like:

Spatial intelligence (high precision hitting, etc.)
Conditioning (to impacts, etc.)
Body control (use of the muscle chain, etc.)
Body manipulations (bones breakings, etc.)
Agility (practical acrobatics, etc.)
Weapons (the flexible ones, etc.)
…

Why acquire advanced martial skills

This type of attitudes are important for a practitioner because:

If we learn them in the most realistic and concrete way, they can give us overwhelming advantages over our opponents
Both directly and indirectly, being able to do more complex things (eg. instead of simple kicks and punches inside a form) allows us to manage the most simple situations effortlessly (read Combat skills: what we will learn)
They prepare us mentally and physically to aim for higher goals than those that actually we need and this opens the doors to high-quality results (both in terms of martial growth, both in life)
…

A note by Master Kongling – The point is that if, for example, we have the mental toughness of dedicating 10000 hours to the development of a specific skill: almost no daily life task will scare us. This means to trace a route to real self-discipline (read Discipline is the key to freedom) and therefore to success (in any field).

What is the path to buld real martial skills?

Let’s see now what is the path to master this kind of capabilities in 6 Dragons Kung Fu:

Constancy – First of all, the exercise must be constant and daily (no interruptions, no excuses, read Practical examples of daily training time subdivision)
Focus – The practice must be follow the idea of improving each time (no listless performances, read How to train with perseverance)
Safety – In the correct practice there are no shortcuts, graduality and safety will speed up our path (avoiding us rest periods due to injury. etc., read How to train without risks)
Difficulty increase – The practice must be focused alway on the same things but with a steady increase in difficulty (we never do the same thing, read Same exercises, different execution)
Measurement – The effectiveness of the practice has to be evaluated and registered each time (we can not improve what we do not measure, read Analysis and improvement of performance)
Face the errors – To every mistake / step back must follow a question and an answer on how to improve (read Measure ourselves with errors)
Awareness – The practice must be at the same time humble, aware of our level and enthusiastic
No poor goals – Each time we need precise goals but there are no points of arrival, there is only the idea of improving
…

When can an ability be considered truly acquired?

Our special skills (and generally any kind of ability) can be said “acquired” only if (read All the skills of 6 Dragons Kung Fu):

We can make them working even in real situations (without preparation as it happpens in training, exhibitions, etc.)
We succeed in the 90% of the cases at the first try of execution
Sometimes we are able to practice it also at the 120-150% of its normal difficulty
…

Final notes

A few conclusive thoughts:

The idea is that each special ability must work properly and immediately as the simplest punch, as breathing, as walking
From this we can easily understand that without true preparation, discipline and concentration, it is impossible to gain any advanced skill
We must accept that if we are able to reach the goal of a skill 1-2 time on 10, we are not certainy at zero level but we are far away from the final result
A newborn who takes 1-2 steps and then falls, can be considered able to walk? The key is to do not settle easily
…

In the next article of this series, we will see some practical ideas to increment the difficulty of our practice, gradually but every day.

In-depth video courses

Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu Exercises – A course about the central part of our training system, the one that builds real martial attitude
Diamond Finger conditioning – How to become able to hit with the finger (exploit the power of its 20 times smaller impact surface)

In-depth articles

Tips on how to stretch our training times – A few tricks and ideas about how to increase the duration of our sessions
7 principles to become a better fighter – The secrets to reach the highest martial levels

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

What martial skill would you like to acquire?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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