One Year Kung Fu in Shengjing Shan

In April 2024, I traveled to China to learn mantis kung fu (Tanglangquan) at the Shengjing Shan Kung Fu School in Shandong. I stayed there for a year and was taught by Master Qu.
The school is located in the east of China in the province of Shandong, which borders the Yellow Sea. The coastal city of Weihai is an hour’s drive by car, on the other side of the Yellow Sea is Soeul, which is just over an hour away by plane. The school itself is located directly in the scenic area of Shenjing Shan, a tourist destination.

Basic kung fu techniques and forms are practiced for most of the training. The school offers various kung fu styles that can be learned here: My master teaches the praying mantis style, Xingyi and Bagua in particular. Tong Bei, Wing Chun and Shaolin Kung Fu are also offered. We also have lessons in Tai Chi, Qi Gong and Sanda.

In the following I would like to give you a brief overview of the contents of the lessons.

Form Training

Form training is the core of the Kung Fu training. A form is basically a series of movements imitating a fight against imaginary opponents. Form Training teaches you the techniques as well as accuracy and coordination. The techniques used vary from the style. Furthermore we practise the basics of the style we chosed and kicks.

Application classes

During the application classes, our master selects a technique from a form and teaches us how to use it in combat. In addition, we train basics such as grappling and pulling, self-defense techniques and techniques that bring the opponent down.

Taichi and Qi Gong

In the morning we practise Tai Chi and QiGong. Master Qu mainly teaches Chen style Taichi. The first form is the 24 Yang style Taichi.
At the end of the morning training, we meditate for about 20 minutes. We either practise standing meditation (Zhan Zhuang) or sitting meditation.

Qi Gong and Conditioning

The Qigong class begins with about 30 minutes of standing meditation. This is followed by Qigong in motion, such as Yijinjing.

After that we do conditioning which means we are hitting trees and our training partners to get used to that in a combat situation.

Sanda

Sanda can be translated as free fighting . It’s an unarmed combat sport including punching, kicking, throwing and wrestling. It developed from traditional wushu techniques. In this class we practice punches, hooks, different kicks or other related techniques as well as reaction, strength and endurance. It also includes sparring with a partner.

Power Training

The Power Training basically is a strength and endurance training. We run, crawl down the hill, do exercises with weights, carrying bricks or do bodyweight exercises. The goal is to increase the strength that is needed for Kung fu training.

Power Stretching

After warming up in this class we are mostly stretching. Stretching the legs and hips to increase the flexibility, but also arms and shoulders. We finish with a short core workout and kicks.

Mountain Run

We go running in the mountains. There is a round about 2 km that we can repeat as often as we want. Sometimes we also go hiking or running to the top of the holy mountain.

Massageclass

Master Qu is also a Tuina therapist. In the massage class we can learn basic techniques as well as practicing them on ourselves.