Progression in Wushu Training Techniques

"I want to be able to do this"
"I want to learn that routine"
"How do I do that new aerial thing everyone is doing".

As a wushu coach or sifu these are a few of the barrage of questions that you are asked by students.
More often than not they are disapointed with the simpistic answers given.
These answers will be typically

"You need to stretch more"
"You need to improve your jumping"
"You need to practise your basic routines before attempting to learn Ditan Sword"
"You need to practise that kick on the ground more before taking to the air with it"
"You're not going to improve by sitting on your arse"

Train Smart & Train Honest
As a student I want to progress quickly I want to wield the stick like my senior with the whoosing sounds included and I can't see myself doing that by practising Wu Bu Quan.

How can I progress?
Well again that can be met with a simplistic answer Train, Train and Train some more.

"Yeah, but I have to work/study and take the dogs for their walk, I dont have any time.
The answer lies in training smart we don't have the time like the pro's to work one technnique all day long. Being totally honest with yourself, you can waste a lot of training time work on useless techniques.

"Huh", what do you mean useless techniques?
Well to me practising whirwind kick is a useless technique if your Li He Tui (Inner Crescent) is not even above chest level and is not being delivered with a smooth action.

So in this case to train smart you will need to work your streching and practise your li he tui.

Yeah but this will take me years and I like to practise whirlwinds cos they are cool
Not true if you target your weakness and stop wasting training time on techniques you are physical not capable of yet, you will make rapid progress. Also by practising techniques you are not ready for you are renforcing bad habits which are a nightmare to get rid of in the future.

OK, OK, I believe you what else can I do?
Talk to seniors in the class, obviously don;t barrage them with questions during the class. As the you may be told to shut up by the sifu or have a shoe thrown at your head, try and find a moment before or after the class. Most people are pretty helpful and don't mind to answer your questions.

How Long have they been with the club?
Have they had prior training before joining the club?
Do they do their own training and if so how often and for how long?
Have they competed in any competitions or performed in shows? if so has this helped with their progression?

Mirroring
During my time I have used a technique that I call mirroring.
Basically what it involves is picking out who is the best at doing a specific technique in the class.

For example if I notice that Joe has a really good Whirlwind, then I will try to make mine faster, higher and with more rotation than his or I will land in a split instead of a horse stance.
In the right enviroment this really gets the class buzzing as everyone is putting in a 100%.

Of course to do this you have to have some ability in the first place to do this otherwise you are gone end up despondent if you are being totally unrealistic.

If you are a beginner you could pick out someone who is slightly better than you then try to surpass them in that technique.
When you have improved and are better than the choosen person, choose another person and repeat the process untill you get to the top.

Thats all for now folks
Remember Keep it Real, Keep it Wushu
Vincent Hopkins
Yi Dao
www.liondance.co.uk