One of the many reasons we started Enter Shaolin was because there are many people around the world who wants to train in Kung Fu, but cannot find any good local instruction on how to do so. The problem is Kung Fu isn’t as mainstream as say Ultimate Fighting or other Mixed Martial Arts.
Not only that, Kung Fu has never been as organized as say Karate schools, which often have belt systems and kids programs. I think part of the reason most Kung Fu schools stray away from these things is because of the way it’s taught. Kung Fu in many cases has been passed down from family member to family member. Only in recent times has Kung Fu become more accessible to people in the West.
This is where learning kung fu online comes into the picture.
You Can’t Really Learn Kung Fu Online Can You?
This is one of those questions that gets asked all the time. So let’s break down what it actually takes to learn a martial art.
- You need to practice your forms
- You need to condition your body
- You need to work with a live training partner for sensitivity
Obviously if your going to train by yourself at home, you will need to find training partners at some point. With that said though, it’s not that difficult to find someone to train with assuming you are serious about your training. 🙂
You can learn forms from the internet, how to condition your body and even some techniques online solo. In short you can do two thirds of your training online without a training partner. It’s that one third part (sensitivity training) that you will need a training partner to work with.
So don’t be discouraged, there is much you can do in the meantime before you find a training partner. You can read how I found my training partners here.
If you have ever taken a public martial arts class before, then you know that the teacher maybe teaches for 15 to 20 minutes and the rest of the time you are working with your training partner who has relatively the same amount of skill you do.
To really take advantage of having a face to face teacher you would need to take private lessons which depending on where you live can be anywhere from $40 to $120 an hour. The difference between training one on one vs. with a whole class is astounding. And did I mention, that you should be taking those lessons at least twice a week? For most people that just isn’t in their budget.
But most people want to get good, so what is the solution if you cannot find a good Kung Fu instructor in your area or you cannot afford to take private lessons? The answer is learning Kung Fu online.
Advantages Of Learning Kung Fu Online
When I started learning Kung Fu from Sifu Phu Ngo, I would go to a private lesson and he would teach me a form or technique and then I would practice it. As soon as I got home and tried to practice what I learned, I realized I literally forgot what he taught except a few tidbits here and there. So, I was left trying to piece things together which eventually worked out.
This went on for years. It took me forever to memorize anything because I had no point of reference the moment I left our sessions. I didn’t have a video to go back to refer to like Enter Shaolin members do today. So the first advantage of taking lessons online is that you can watch and re-watch the videos as often as you want and need to.
I had to sacrifice a lot of time and money to learn Kung Fu. Sometimes I had to get my butt to Sifu’s school at 5:30 am before I had to go into work because it was the only time I could get a private lesson with him.
Would you have done the same or could you? That brings us to the second advantage of learning Kung Fu online is you get to learn at the times that work best for you at your convenience.
The third advantage is as far as cost goes it can cost as little as $1.22 a day (choose the Senior yearly option or the Abbot for even greater savings overtime) to train on the internet. When you take a step back and really look at the big picture, taking Kung Fu lessons online is an affordable and convenient way to increase your skill.
The fourth advantage is being able to train anywhere in the world that you have a decent internet connection. You won’t have to wait 28 years to start your training like Jamie did. No, instead you could get started right now just by signing up here and end the wait. You can also take the training with you on the go when you are traveling. Most people can’t get their Sifu to go on the road with them, but you can! 😉
Can I Use What I Learn Online, If I Go To A Local School?
This is another question we get asked all the time. Of course you can! We have many family members who are blessed with being able to find a good school locally that use the lessons here at Enter Shaolin to refine what they do. Some use it to help with memorization, like I said I didn’t have video lessons at my disposal when I was learning Kung Fu. The good news is you can have these lessons at your beckon call and unlike me because you will have access to them you can drastically cut down the time it takes to memorize and learn.
If you are blessed with a good school, we highly encourage you to use the knowledge you gain here to perfect what you are already doing regardless of style . Even some of Sifu Phu Ngo’s students who thought they didn’t need Enter Shaolin since they train with Sifu Phu in person have come to realize what a valuable asset these online lessons are to their offline training.
We hope you find the home you are looking for to learn or perfect your martial arts whether online, offline or a combo of both.
We would love to help you with your goals and endeavors. To learn more about what we have to offer you here at Enter Shaolin, just click here.
Happy Training,
Sifu Larry Rivera
& The Enter Shaolin Family
luis ayala says
thank you for what you are doing because where i live i dont have a kunfu school at all and you teaching are great and straitht forward and this technology make it eassy to get your lessons xiexie againg GOD bless you and every body in your team
Larry Rivera says
Your welcome Luis
Shi fu Angelo Alexander says
As a Kung Fu instructor with 27 years of experience, let me just say that it is impossible to get good at Kung Fu without having a good instructor.
Trying to teach yourself Kung Fu online is laughable to me. A novice simply could not grasp the detailed concepts of Kung Fu on his own.
Repeating forms is useless to you if you have no understanding of what their used for, when they should be used and where and what techniques are applicable in a real fight and under what circumstances.
Then there’s the lack of having a sparring partner to practice your techniques on.
In short, nothing beats having THE REAL THING!!
So if your serious about wanting to learn real Kung Fu, then do your homework and do some research to find a really good instructor.
I’m in Charlotte NC.
Here’s my facebook information for anyone reading this whose interested in learning REAL KUNG FU: Shi fu Angelo Alexander
Email me at: thechihsuanmenkungfuacademy@gmail.com
Larry Rivera says
Hi Shi Fu Angelo, I don’t think you actually read the article that we wrote. I am 40 and I started training with my father when I was 5.
Ideally it is best to learn martial arts face to face with an instructor. However, in many areas of the world it’s really hard to find a good teacher.
Just because someone says they have been doing martial arts for 10, 20, 30, 40 + years doesn’t mean they know what they are talking about.
I tell my students all the time. You can walk into 5 different schools in your local area. Most likely all 5 instructors will be able to school you.
This doesn’t mean all 5 instructors are right for you or that all 5 instructors are really good. What that really means is you are really that bad.
Because of this truth. There are so many people learning from people aren’t necessarily good teachers, simply because they themselves can not prove them wrong.
For example there is one gentlemen I train that has been training longer than I have been alive. I am 40. He learns from me because what we teach he has never been exposed to.
I have to totally disagree with you when you say “trying to teach yourself is laughable”.
How do you think people learned “Martial Arts” originally? That’s right, they taught themselves. Then they tested it and refined it.
I would like to quote you again: “Repeating forms is useless to you if you have no understanding of what their used for, when they should be used and where and what techniques are applicable in a real fight and under what circumstances.”
I agree with you to a point. Repeating forms is useless except forms like the tai chi forms, because the act of doing the forms themselves is the point. You don’t need to know why, you just need to do them. The health benefits are there regardless if you know why you are doing it or not.
Also you are assuming that everyone learning martial arts are doing it because they want to go fight people. You are also assuming that everyone who joins our site are beginners.
Are you telling me that someone like yourself with 27 years of experience can’t learn anything by watching a video from say Bruce Lee or Ip Man Or And Or And… ?
If your answer is you can’t learn anything by watching a video, I will assume that you have mastered all there is to know about martial arts and you can no longer learn anything because you know everything…
Anyhow thanks for stopping by and trashing what we do without actually reading what we said or researching what we do. Appreciate the love brother.
P.S. Despite this we decided to let you self-promote… Enjoy the traffic sent your way. 🙂
Jamie Pelaez says
Hey brother Shi Fu Angelo. Did you actually read the post or do any real homework on Enter Shaolin or Sifu Phu Ngo as a whole?
I only ask, because it seems you missed some key elements of the post and why we do what we do.
Congrats on teaching for 27 years, Sifu Phu has been teaching for 24 years and Sifu Larry who has been training with Sifu Phu for 22 years and teaching for 15 years.
In this post we are speaking to the person that can’t find what they are looking for locally. We also specify numerous times the benefit and need for a training partner when learning online eventually. The sooner the better of course. 🙂
Obviously, in the most ideal situation you would train locally. But sometimes life isn’t ideal… As I found out numerous times. 😉
We have many family member’s that train offline at a school and use our site as supplemental training, we also have teacher’s utilizing our site and training too. All levels from beginner to advanced and people that have been training for even longer than Sifu Phu has been alive! The stories we get in are awe-inspiring to say the least!
We have family members from a wide variety of martial arts utilizing Ngo Dac Na to refine what they already love doing. To say that is awesome, is an understatement. We feel extremely blessed to be able to help people perfect what they love.
There is a reason for all of this. It’s because we teach the why and why not (a concern of yours and rightfully so). Our people don’t learn forms without understanding the intricate details of the why and why not’s.
From there, we have techniques for each part of the form, solo and partner drills, application and much more. We leave no stone unturned, which is why we have such a variety of practitioners and teachers enjoying our training.
We have had the pleasure of meeting and training with some of our online students at seminars and others have came to visit us here in NJ too!
So we definitely encourage face-to-face training as well. For those that can’t we have video critiques to help bridge the gap and help a practitioner get the corrections needed to perfect what they learn. We also encourage our family to ask questions and many times answer back with a video response to aide in learning.
By the way, I was that person who couldn’t find what I was looking for locally. Back in 2009 when I first learned of Sifu Phu from Sifu Larry, I was in Benson, NC at that time and they were both in NJ. While there were some people teaching similar styles within an hour or so away from me, they sadly were not truly teaching the energy and physics principles like Sifu Phu. I also moved to Columbus, OH and encountered the same dilemma. For me personally, that was a deal breaker.
From 2009 on, I was persistent on asking them to create an online learning platform, one I would gladly help build and manage and pay for just so I could learn right! To me personally, learning properly online is better than not learning at all or worse yet learning wrong locally.
They, like you at the time thought the same thing, that one can’t learn Kung Fu online. Thankfully our subscribers on YouTube on our sister channel Enter Tai Chi proved them wrong! 🙂
I knew I wasn’t alone in this dilemma of not finding what I wanted locally. I am happy to say since May 1st, 2014 not only did my persistence finally pay off, (which meant my training began), it also meant we had the the ability to help others around the world with the same problem.
Yes, you can find a school around every corner in many places (especially here in the U.S.), but that doesn’t mean you are going to learn right or the why’s and why not’s, sadly.
I’m happy you have found a place to learn and grow offline, consider yourself blessed brother!
We go to the E.U.S.A.I.M.A.A. conference in Pittsburgh in the fall, if you are on our email list you will get info soon on the dates, etc. We would love to have you come and check out what we do in person, so you can see Sifu Phu’s teachings first-hand. But if not, feel free to get a taste on our youtube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/EnterTaiChi or enjoy our 5 day free series that is an intro to NDN here: http://www.entershaolin.com/ebook.
Blessings!
Larry says
I am 69 years old man with a balance problem. I would like to start a self pace course of martial arts at home. I need something to do with my time and try to improve my balance. And physical being. Is there a art I can work at?
Thanks,
Larry
Sifu Larry Rivera says
Hi Larry, I am Larry too! 🙂
I recommend taking our Tai Chi and Qigong courses… You can access those courses at Junior level and above.
Tai Chi will greatly enhance your balance among many other amazing benefits.
https://entershaolin.com/join/