In this article, we are going to cover every aspect of being a martial art disciple. First, it’s important to understand that the idea of becoming a disciple of a martial system is a heavy thing.
Being a disciple is about carrying on and passing along your family’s martial art style.
In my case, you could say I am a Disciple of my martial art system Ngo Dac Na. I am more than that though, Ngo Dac Na comes from the principles and martial arts training he got from his birth family.
From the moment I started training with Sifu Phu I thought I was learning the typical Wing Chun, Chin Na, Tai Chi, and Shaolin animals that you would find at any kung fu school.
What I later realized is I am not only a disciple of Ngo Dac Na I am literally the first generation of it. I have been training with Sifu Phu for the past 27 years.
It wasn’t till I started reading books and watching videos on youtube did I realize what he was teaching me was a little different than what I was reading about and the videos I was watching.
I have dedicated my life to the study of martial arts and I have also dedicated myself to spreading Ngo Dac Na principles around the world. This is my way of passing along the knowledge Sifu Phu has taught me.
Should You Be A Martial Art Disciple?
Let’s start with the worst martial arts “No Touch Martial Arts” and other fantasy ideas. Don’t get caught up in these things. They are in no way shape or form grounded in any reality.
Unfortuitously, there are a great number of students trained in these various “martial arts.” They are doing an injustice to authentic forms of martial arts all over the world. And lastly, there is no such thing as cutting corners in martial arts.
There is a right way to train and a wrong way to train. I’ll save that conversation for another blog post
Are You Committed To Your Martial Art?
It is common knowledge that a high level of dedication is required to achieve any level of success in the practice of martial arts. I am ecstatic to tell you some wonderful news.
Because you are even reading this blog post tells me you are extremely committed to your own personal martial art journey. The stuff I am going to share with you next might be a hard pill to swallow.
However, if you are able to read the following section of this text, I will truly believe that you have what it takes to become a master of martial arts.
You Have To Be A Martial Art Disciple If You Want To Be Good
I am going to share with you the only two ways that you will ever be proficient in any type of martial art. When you do become aware of this, it is either going to be a really favorable development.
Either it’s going to be a really good thing for you, or it’s going to be a pretty horrible thing for you, but either way, it’s going to let you see what the best option is for you.
Actively Use Your Martial Art:
Perhaps you work as a bouncer, a security guard, or for the law enforcement agency. Or maybe you just enjoy the thrill of competition. Because you are forced to include your martial arts training in your everyday life, you will unavoidably improve your skill level to an extremely high level.
Become A Teacher:
Teaching your martial art to others is another approach to improving your own skills as a practitioner of that discipline. The act of teaching what you have learned to others helps you to solidify your own understanding of the material.
It also invites individuals into your life with whom you can train, ensuring that you will always have people with whom you can train.
I found that when I started teaching others I became aware of my own mistakes faster and was able to correct them more quickly myself because I saw the same mistake in others.
Becoming A Martial Art Disciple Is The Path Least Taken
Most people who train in martial arts don’t want to be an expert. I would argue the only way to get the benefits of martial art is to be an expert.
What I mean is that unless you eat, sleep, and breathe martial arts you simply won’t be good at it. When I say expert I simply mean a person who consistently trains in their martial art year after year for life.
I understand that some of you might be thinking I don’t want to use martial arts in my career and I don’t want to teach anyone else. I just want to train and enjoy myself.
And that’s okay if that’s all that you want. But I would be lying to you if I thought you would gain any valuable insight that way.
Martial Arts is not something a person should take lightly. Martial Arts teach a person how to disable another human being with bare hands. And it also teaches a person how to have lifelong good health.
If you approach your training as a martial art disciple one thing is for sure you will become the expert.
Sifu Phu Talks About His Transition From Student To Teacher
Great article. yes, to be a disciple of anything is commitment. Teaching the skill, is one way for me also, to perfect the moves and the art.
yet, practice, practice, practice and the goal to master the art and to be excellent in it
.
The mindset of the desire to master this art is necessary to progress and yes, its life long.
Being a disciple of Jesus is another area for me to grow and pass on to others the offer of salvation and pass on the training of the gifts of the spirit. So many levels, as with Kung fu. So many styles and I chose win chun because its the least physical for me at this time.
I enjoy the family concept of Kung fu and the heritage it has in the family I joined, the moy yat family line.
Anyway, I watched many videos’ and read many books too. I decided that only sh fu pho and sh fu James are the only ones now for foundations.
I am a teacher and I enjoy teaching history and this art form. Many times I have the chance to introduce this art to students that have a limited understanding of kung fu and its origins. I started because I wanted to gain more self control and confidence. Kung fu is very humbling and not an art that shows off or brags.
I never even knew who Bruce lee was until some students mentioned him. I researched his life and he was amazing for the wrong reasons. vengeance. It killed him. over exertion in my opinion. Yet, he made a great impact and went against the traditions to teach foreigners.
The Chinese are very strict about their art, traditions and etiquette .
I have been studying the history of shaolin kung fu and its foundations. Amazing. So many styles.
Will I be a disciple of this art? I am considering it. Finding partners to practice is very difficult and I probably will have to get the wooden dummy and in our school its introduced in the third form Bil Sao.
Once again thank you for keeping in touch. I am at 2 years in this art. Just a drop of water in the great ocean so much to learn and so little time. I am still on si lim tao, don chi sao and lux sao, to hands now i have to stand on one leg on each side. I average 3 times per week at 1.5 hour per session in the gym. my goal would be 4 times a week and ballroom once a week. I have been ballroom dancing for 16 years.
Nice to meet you, Margaret! It sounds like you are off to a good start 🙂
Sparring or push hands is a must to be on point.
I have learned 5 styles. Remembered 4 at same time…but after being illuminated by NGO DAC NA, I just focus on which ever form i want to practice, accomplish small goals to be self-assured and improving. It is a life style so practice with each step and breath, then after a while second nature.
Hi Bob, you are correct sparring, push hands , chi sao, and rolling around on the ground are all-important sensitivity training. I love to hear that you are incorporating Ngo Dac Na into your personal training routine.
Hi Sifu Larry,
Thanks for sharing your insights. They are hard truths which if honoured will give rise to abundant fulfilment. Well worth passing along – thanks again.
Hi Mark, Thanks for reading and commenting.
Body mind and soul
For what I understand
About any martial art especially kung fu ninjutsu genjutsu
You need to be confined and train everyday confined with training partners as soon as you wake up you drink water and wash not allowed eating you must train before you eat great dedication is is a must in the society we live in makes us all lazy and more ungrateful than the poor a poor man is more likely to help someone more than a rich person the universe is about giving and take yes when you train you have to train a 110% however you could train maybe 125 percent depending on your experience you’re all better than me in Kung Fu and martial arts for sure I’m very good at medicines and philosophy the only way I can learn your martial arts is if I have a real teacher I can’t learn on my own even a kung fu animal couldn’t help me learn kung fu the wing chun dummy for some reason I’m attracted to the wing chun dummy I’m very keen to learn I want to train everyday I want to not just gane my technique I want to gain my ability
Years ago Sifu Phu suggested to me that I should train before eating because I burn up calories from the previous day. I did notice this works best in an intermittent fasting scenario. I noticed if you eat too late when you wake up you are hungry. If you have enough hours of a fast you won’t wake up hungry and your sugar levels won’t spike as much while you are working out.
The Wing Chun wooden dummy is another great aid. And you can also learn a lot about sensitivity training with pets.
I see this as pure truth. But all I ever wanted was to be an expert. So this is everthing I’ve already been feeling. I’m so happy to be this close to a new born martial art.
Thanks, we are glad you are here also!
Well to be honest I am still practising my Kungfu and tai chi taught by my Sifu. My journey has been a very inconsistent one having issues with my health, collapsed arches in my feet , ankle mobility ,arthritis in my fingers , prostate cancer over the last 12yrs. I am still at a low level and have been overcoming transformation of my body from being muscle bound for most of my life and gradually learning how to free up those muscles to have more freedom which has only really ocurred from doing martial arts doing a Taichi form. I always felt mentally tired doing Taichi until just recently . I am feeling more freedom in my body and I enjoy it more now. I will keep practising and make progress and also work on completing the ngo dac na course within the next few years. Martial arts has been great for me and to finally be able to overcome some health issues. I would want to become an expert in martials arts. It would be something I would be very interested in achieving, as is developing the mind, body and spirit,
That’s interesting, it took me several years to wrap my head around doing Taichi. Once I felt the energy though, I became addicted to it.
Also I believe Kung fu has also helped free up my muscles immensely more than the Tai chi I would say but both are awesome
Excellent keep up the good work!
In terms of serving in an occupation where hand to hand combat or law enforcement/security duties apply.
There is definitely a fundamental difference in understanding where and/or how techniques or actual application of tactics occur in a real fight.
I was at an instructor seminar with the 2nd highest ranking black belt in the United States for a foreign combative system.
I got to stand by and observed as a basic-techniques instructor in that same system argued with him on how a standing professional choke escape functioned.
(NOTE: An “instructor” attends some quick week long course and gets a computer generated certificate to teach basic principles; the Black belt has a Black belt that took him ten years to earn along with earned it from the host nation and holds 2 others in rom other disciplines).
She was only a self-defense teacher with no actual operational experience, no competitive background, and no grasp on how quickly a professional choke sets in.
She had no understanding of how little margin for error there is in defeating a professional choke from the rear. There was no getting through to her.
Even worse, she was going to double down on her technique and teach it to her students, who may actually need a technique one day in a real world scenario. I have been in choke holds more times than I can count.
I’ve lost my voice for days, had difficulty swallowing food for extended periods, had neck injuries that lasted from mere weeks to permanent damage, blacked out, etc.
But through thes experiences learned how to keep my cool and think through the problem.
I knew the consequences of poorly executed tactics. I absolutely agree, if you want to be the real deal, you have to take it to the mat where there’s something at stake.
Serve in an operational capacity (Military combat arms, Police, Security, Corrections, Professional fighting, Boxing, BJJ, Somewhere you can get choked out and/or knocked out etc.).
Also heavily agree, Teaching is the best road to learning to pay attention to the details and learning how different people move and understand fighting.
You have to teach it. Teaching is a forcing function to make sure that you are paying attention to all the details.
You learn a lot by learning to correct others mistakes. You increase your own proficiency by helping others with their complications.
Complications that are unique from your own. But, before you teach, I recommend getting validated by your mentors (at least in the early stages).
Read all the literature not just looking at the pictures. Be able to perform it at 100%. Have all the answers to the questions you or your students would or could ask.
When you don’t know, don’t pretend. Go find the answer and bring it back.
Don’t cook up some “hocus-pocus” for your class because you didn’t want to look less then knowledgeable in the moment.
Next thing you know someone dies on your bad advice. I wish you good luck with your conscience.
Be open to constructive criticism from your peers and mentors, KEEP YOUR EGO out of the game.
Make it your hobby, if you are operating under the title of educator you should have an obsession with that which you teach.
Challenge your own philosophy and physical/metal approach constantly in order to seek improvement and refinement.
Remember that your students can always surprise you and teach you a thing or to in return.
If you are a part-time practitioner, that’s great. Living an active life is important and fun is also important.
Just understand the principle difference between “practicing” martial arts and being a martial artist.
As a part-timer however, don’t have and expectation that the one move you learned, to defeat that one strike coming your way, from that one angle, is the end-all be-all solution.
Every time you think you have your opponent figured out, they’ll be somewhere else a split second later creating a new series of issues for you to solve.
Proficiency and mastery takes constant training and visualization.
Always keep in mind that the professional bad guy is always training harder than you are and never takes days of from being a criminal and a predator.
I edited your comment. I didn’t take anything out, I just formatted it a bit better so it was easier to read.
To what you are saying: I see that happen a lot where someone who knows very little insists on arguing with someone who knows more.
I feel bad for them because they are so consumed with their own opinions, they miss the big picture and it effectively stunts their personal growth.
The real irony is that she was paying that guy good money to point her in the right direction…ego is the number one progression destroyer for sure lol
Yep! Ego and Pride will get ya every time.
What I truly appreciate about NDN is the way fundamental principles of energy are broken down and explained, whether they are expressed through martial application or otherwise. One can be an NDN practitioner and not be a martial artist at all – NDN is true Kung Fu in the broadest sense! But to be an NDN disciple, I don’t think fighting skills can be omitted.
I am a Master level educator and teach Health Qigong practices to high school students for stress management and enhanced mindfulness – NDN provides a very necessary lens to impart the structural considerations necessary to focus and enhance the flow of energy. I even use very basic pressure tests to check for forward projection of energy through the hands and wrists, and proper rooting – and yes I give credit to Sifu Phu, though we are not practicing fighting skills……that would be frowned upon in the school setting 😉
I hope this article is a preview/teaser for a renewed Enter Shaolin teaching path! I have a feeling it is.
Blessings!
Hi Greg, it’s good to hear from you. First and foremost, congratulations on becoming a Master level educator. I’m also delighted you’re able to use NDN ideas in your classroom.
I like how you’re picking up on the tone of the piece. I’m completely focused on getting Enter Shaolin to the next level. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
To me Martial Arts is not about fighting. It’s a way of life. You live it every day. It’s how you solve problems in life like fighting. It’s about how you interact with other people within the community in which you live and outside of it. It’s about control, control of your mind body and spirit. The spirit is the energy that drives you to succeed in what ever it is you are training for in life. It’s a journey that we have decided to take. To be a disciple of Martial Arts, You have to have what I call the COT technique, which is Consistency Of Training and develop the right kind of mind set, discipline, dedication and focus. You must have a passion for what you do in life. You must also have an open mind and a child like eagerness to want to keep learning and perfecting and fine tuning your Martial Arts techniques by solo training and training with other people who also want to perfect their skills and become experts. Once you study The Martial Arts, it’s for life and I, will always be a student, because there will always be something new to learn in life/Martial Arts, even if you are already an expert in Martial Arts.
I’ve always been interested in how the human body moves and the science behind it and the fact that no two people move in quite the same way. The NDN System makes this possible. Respect.
Great perspective Errol! Thanks for commenting and sharing 🙂