Shaolin Wahnam Twin Cities recently finished up its Level One Kungfu Class and I’m pleased to say all participants did beautifully. From the perspective of the teacher, it was heartening to watch people go from day one to moving around the room skillfully. Students did a great job learning basic skills of stances, footwork, basic attack and defense techniques, as well as moving deftly in stances. Most of all, it was great to see how much fun people were having while doing it.
I tell everybody who is interested in learning this incredible and highly effective art that they should first truly consider if they are willing to put the time in to practice and learn at the beginning. This helps me weed out mild from serious interest, as well as to impress the point that as this is a foundational class, and requires regular practice time to build those foundations, especially at the beginning. I spent my early days of training standing in stances and drilling fundamental techniques over and over. Heck, I still do that some days. I don’t say these things to paint a picture of a young Jackie Chan suffering for hours in horse stance, but rather to point out the importance of dedicated practice at the beginning. It's hard work, AND an immense sense of fun, joy, and accomplishment comes along with it. It’s tough to describe the strength of character that these arts help to build, and yet that strength is so palpable.
For those who are interested, I will be offering this class again either very early next year or in the spring of next year. Details will be made available as next year’s schedule is set in place. If you’d like to be notified once registration is open, contact me here. It will be one of the best decisions you ever made.