Frequently Asked Questions
1.) Is there any ideology or philosophy at the Kungfu Academy? What are martial arts?
Of course there is, but the change of the way of thinking, a higher understanding and acceptance does not come in the form of an external teaching, but rather by the insights of the individual. We wish not give even more factual information, but aiming to assist the practicioners to gain experience. To live the reality of the present moment is not easy at all. People spend a lot of time in the future or the past, the present is not easy to grasp for them. However, the only possibility to act or intervene in our lives is in the hear and now. Tomorrow never actually arrives...
If you whish to spend more time in the present moment, the Kungfu Academy can help you to do so.
MARTIAL? ARTS? SCHOOL?
In order to understand martial arts, we need to know the kind of forces that shape and maintaint the warrior. As the small nut, you find and entire growing tree, so the entire essence of our lives is condensed into the moment of our conception. Anybody can become a soldier. A warrior is born.
Identifying the warrior is simple, all the founders of the different martial arts styles carry within him the characteristics of the warrior archetype. We might think that the outstanding physique is the birthright gift of this group, but it is not so. Many of the great masters had been weak as a child, and we can state the contrary as well. In general we can say that they all had the essence of the warrior existance within their soul. This quality is older than mankind. Its sharp appearance has a certain style, and it attracts the similar characters like the light of a lamp attracts the flying insects. I have seen many small birds coming of age. All of them had the innate knowledge that they can fly even without trying. They were born with wings and the ability to eventually use them. They became birds for real by the practical experience of flying.
I was born a warrior and I am convinced that in order to filfill my calling the only thing I need to do is to practice. I also know that only death will keep me from this. The main controversies that arise in martial arts schools are due to the fact that among their members, there are warriors and non-warriors. As the warrior can be identified, so can the non-warrior. They are the ones that arrive somewhere. For them reaching a certain level is important and the external recognition of the status gained. If they hav this, they have no more motivation to strive. If a non-warrior and a warrior gets hurt, they both feel pain. The difference is that while the first suffers, the second does not. Practice can be suffering in only one way for a warrior. If it is cancelled. If the majority of the members of a marital arts school are non-warriors, the situation will still be managable. However, if only one of them becomes part of the leadership, the trouble starts by their attempt to pull the steering wheel. If their numbers grow, the train will outslide. It is the right of every person to practice any style. There is no question in a warrior whether to share his or her knowledge. But to let the leadership get to inadaquate hands, that is a huge mistake.
It is a grave hazard for martial arts schools to allow the membership to grow more rapidly than the pace of instilling the spiritual aspects of the teachings to the students. In the great rush, there is time only for learning the right techniques, if anything. In the worst case scenario, even that becomes impossible. While everyone is concerned with the betterment of the quality of the movements, spirituality gets sidelined. That is the way of relevant martial arts schools to become sport associations. When this happens, the warriors mourn, while the non-warriors are relieved. I don’t see any reasons why an organisation should not grow large, but this needs to be gradual. The pace of the growth is characterised not by its speed, but the fact that we do not make mistakes. All the mistakes need to be corrected and that takes a lot of time. The best way to correct mistakes is not to commit them at all. If we go slow, there are no mistakes, so we can be very fast in reality.
A warrior is a part of a martial arts school because that is where he seeks answers to the great questions of life.
A non-warrior is a member of a martial arts school, because that is where he took refuge from the great questions of life.
A master is a master for the fact that he precisely sees both.
The master who cannot carry out the technique correctly is lame.
The master who does not possess spirituality is blind.
Most of the students are to choose between these two types of masters, because of the rivalry of organisations and the drive to fulfill personal career goals created such a speed that does not allow for the rise of a sufficient amount of sound masters. The few excellent warriors who raise their voice of concern, are left marginalized by being considered conservative or perfectionist. From this adverse situation some rush towards a sports mentality, shaking of the even the last remnants of any lingering traditions the carried with them along the way. As they were unable to acquire them fully, these traditions became like hindarance for them in their advancement. Others go towards sectarianism and lose their touch with reality towards the other extreme end of the scale. A real martial arts school is the home of the warrior archetype. This caste is threatened by nothing less than to become homeless with the fall of the martial arts schools. The house, and even the street might have been taken away from us, but there is something we would always possess.
The WAY will always be ours.
Lajos Kassai
Kaposmérő, Hungary, 2 March 2010.
2.) How long does it take me to become able to defend myself? What is the secret of self-defense?
First we overcome our own self as we tame our thoughts, we subdue our body to do as we will, and if we succeeded with all of these, than we test ourselves on the „battlefield”.
While practicing combat excercises, the attention is directed towards the external world, the opponent becomes important, or the aim of defeating him. We may become forgetful of ourselves. Whoever is capable of remaining at his own centre, he has reached the source and has become a veritable master.
HOW TO GRASP THE CONCEPT OF SELF-DEFENSE?
By self-defense we mean such a physical act, that is capable of succesfully divert the attacks aimed at us from one or multiple directions, possibly without any harm on our side, and to definitively resolve the situation by efficient counterattack or by quiting it.
Some of the martial arts school offer the curriculum of their self-defense courses based on this real and rightful claim, and they gice different advice and situation solving techniques to their students. We can add, that unfortunately almost each of these „effective” techniques, however convincing in the practice hall and however well they worked against our practice partner, fail to be of worth in real life situations.
SELF DEFENSE AT THE KUNGFU ACADEMY
Effective self-defense is not only physical but also mental and energetic.
Physical self-defense
Strength – Swiftness – Technique – Tactics training altogether.
Mental self-defense
This is the resistance of the nervous system against stress coming from the outside. The ability of perfect concentration.
Energetic self-defense
This is a kind of shield against any negative or destructive external effect. The basis of strong charisma.
Why?
It may happen to you, that in your entire life noone attacks you at all. So all the time, energy and financials invested in the preparation for the incident are lost in the end. Mental and energetic self-defense, however, serves you every day of your life, in nearly all areas, right after you first few steps. People who function on a lower energy level experiences even the smallest hardship as harsh tragedy, while ones with higher energy level are always optimistic, trust life, themselves and their destiny.
From the point of view of self-defense value, the rank of efficiency and difficulty of the different trainings offered by our school:
- Dragoncloud
- Wu Xing Quan
- Shaolin Duan Quan
- Xing Yi Quan
3.) Are there any rules of consuct or etiquette at the Kungfu Academy?
Of course the Kungfu Academy has such rules. At a traditional kungfu school, this is a basic requirement, and without such framework the ideology of the martial arts is lost, the tradition of the ancient masters drifts away to unreachable distance. A kungfu school is a special place, which does not know democracy. The rules were written hundreds of years ago, you are obliged to keep them, because they were created in order to ensure the right circumstances for passing down the teachings.
There are certain guidelines for you to follow:
- Your behaviour affects your development and creates an image about you in your peers as welll as your teachers!
- Concentrate ont he training, avoid joking around and conversation during practice. Don’t bother others in their practice!
- Be patient!
- Respect your teachers. Try to adopt a respectful and friendly way of conduct, this way your practice will be much more enjoyable.
- Be honest and straighforward in all circumstances.
4.) Do Chinese masters teach at the Kungfu Academy?
Yes, the Kungfu Academy is in contact with some outstanding masters, with whom there are regular exchanges and who offer teachings which create the conditions for ongoing learning. Everybody would like to learn form a Chinese master. This is natural, since the native country of kungfu is China. I suppose, however, that if you wish to install Windows on your computer, you don’t expect Mr. Bill Gates and his closest colleagues to do it for you.
Why? Because there are local engineers and users, who can help you to do just the same cheaper and more simply. In case you only trust a Chinese master, you can learn Taiji from master Han Kuiyan, who teaches at our Academy since 2000.From the very beginning, Andrea Franciskovics is translating him, who, herself has been practicing kungfu for over 16 years, reads and writes Chines, and has an interpreter certificate. Andrea has been translating innumerable seminars as an expert of the language of martial arts. We recommend Han Kuiyan, because we have learn to respect him as devoted teacher, and also because of the fact that he is assisted by Andrea.
In Budapest there are other Chinese teachers too, but we don’t know them personally. Nevertheless we give a few points for consideration.
First of all, not each of the Chinese people know kungfu, just like not all Hungarian people are good at horseriding and using the whip. If a Chinse person does know kungfu, that is excellent, but most of the case he can’t speak Hungarian. It is common, that his interpreter is another Chinese person, who does not speak our language very well. If the master communicates in English, that will be a second language for both parties.Is the Chinese teacher interested serious teaching? He might be teaching for money in a foreign country, so he might be less demanding in his expectations.
Some questions to those who have been learning from a Chinese master recently:
- How many times have you been corrected by the Chines master in the past year?
- Does the master give you feedback or he just observes you?
- Does he touch your hand (practice with you), can you feel his power or technique?
- Are you sure he is interested in your development?
- Can you converse with him about the know-how of practice?
The advice of the Kungfu Academy: We suggest for Hungarians to go from beginner to advanced level under the direction of well-trained and experienced Hungarian teachers. Think it over how much you can invest into your practice, measure your talent and decide if you need a Chinese master or not?
5.) At a certain age am I not too old to start kungfu?
The avarage age of the practicioners at the Kungfu Academy is around 25-35, but there are children and seniors as well (50-60 years of age). There is no age limit for pracitcing internal martial arts, although it does require some maturity. In general, people reach the necessary attitude at the age of 40, when they begin the have the motivation to explore their inner world.
For the above reasons, out of the three internal styles Xin Yi is recommended for the youngest students, because this is the most dynamic one. The more elderly practicioners may find Taiji appropriate, because it is less demandig physically, it is soft and slow in motion generally. Bagua is a great challenge for all.
6.) What is the difference between Taiji (Taichi) and kungfu?
This is a very common question. Kungfu is a kind of general term for the Chinese martial arts. Taiji is a soft, internal kungfu style, which means that Taiji is actually kungfu.
Out of the internal styles, Taiji has become the most popular, so it the best-known one. If we think about China, we can hardly find a documentary without footage of Chinese Taiji practicioners in the parks.
Taiji is a tourist attraction too, everyone can try it if they wish. In reality, it is physical excercise preferred by old people, as it is easy to carry out (physically) yet it is an excellent method for mainting health. As a martial arts style, it demands serious and devoted practice, rarely do people reach the level of effective application.
At the Kungfu Academy all the three different internal marital arts styles are available, and we attempt to give some advice or aspects for orientation about which one is recommended to whom.
Taiji is recommended to the elderly, or those who concentrate on health preservation.Xing Yi is the most ancient of the internal arts. It is dynamic and powerful as movement system. It is recommended for the younger generation, or those who prefer harder workout.
Bagua Zhan is the youngest and hardest of the three internal martial arts styles. It features loose, flexible and swift rotating movements. It is recommended for those who seek hard challenges and who possess the necessary patientce and determination.