There are many reasons why people may be looking to learn kung fu at home without the aid of a teachers. For starters, people may be based too far away from a physical training venue, making conventional classes or one-to-one training impractical. Others may find it difficult to make room for classes due to a busy schedule. Affordability is another concern for those with little cash to spare. Provided you are prepared to put in considerable effort at home, kung fu can be self taught to a point.
Can Kung Fu Be Self Taught?
Essential Resources for Learning Kung Fu
If you’re serious about teaching yourself some kung fu basics, you’ll need some essential training basics at your disposal before you begin. Firstly, you’ll need to establish a dedicated training space in your home. You don’t necessarily need a spare room you can transform into a full-time training space, but you should certainly have enough clearance for carrying out kicks, punches and jumps. You should also think about investing in some training equipment. Punching bags are particularly useful to have to hand when undertaking kung fu training. If your space won’t accommodate a hanging bag, think about investing in a free-standing model that can be stored away when not in use. Finally, you need to track down some quality instructional material. In lieu of a teacher, you’ll need instructional videos you can refer to. These can be found easily enough online. If your location is making it impractical to attend kung fu training in person, it is also worth investigating remote learning opportunities.
Conditioning & Fitness Training
One area that you can focus on effectively at home is body conditioning and improving your overall health and fitness. Ideally, your workouts should focus on the entire body. Intense cardio is particularly effective, although you should also look to incorporate some degree of aerobic exercise and resistance training. It is also a good idea to undertake some weight training, as this will help you improve your overall strength levels, without you needing to add too much muscle mass.
Solo Drills
You can also undertake some solo training drills yourself at home. Footwork and grappling techniques can both be practised to a certain degree without a partner, as can some grappling techniques. However, for the latter, you will at the very least need to have a heavy bag to hand. A throwing dummy is also a useful stand-in for a physical partner. Ultimately however, you will need to train with a proper partner in order to master advanced techniques. You will also need to eventually train under the direction of an experienced instructor to ensure you are not developing poor techniques.