Solo Practice of Kungfu

Solo practice is the basis of Wushu. This includes exercises for basic movements and skills and various still standing exercises. Some are aimed at developing the physique of Wushu practitioners, while others are aimed at strengthening the circulation of air flow inside the body so as to keep the practitioners in good health. Still others stress improving their standard of fighting skills.

(1) Basic Exercises and Movements

Wushu basics include the movements of shoulder, arm, waist, leg and hand as well as footwork, jumps, leaps and balancing.

Both Wushu amateurs and professionals have sorted out many good methods of doing exercises and gradually formed a complete and systematic set of basic skills and techniques.

Through the exercises of Wushu basics, Wushu practitioners can have their entire bodies trained and improved to meet the demands of the special martial arts. The basic exercises help lay the foundation for learning and mastering the fighting skills and for improving their Wushu arts standard.

Doing the basic exercises in a regular way will enhance the pliability and suppleness of joints and ligaments of the body, and the control and increment of the necessary elasticity of the muscles, so as to enable Wushu practitioners to execute their acts with quality and to speed up their mastery of Wushu skills. These exercises can prevent and reduce injuries likely to occur during exercises.

(2) Still Standing Exercises

The standing exercises are the unique method of practising Wushu. It is an art of using stillness to control motions and movements. The muscles and nerve system are more coordinated and the power is more fully developed through the standing ex-ercises. While practising standstills, the practitioner is advised to dispel unrelated thoughts from his mind in order to concentrate, and keep his body in a fixed posture for a comparatively long time. By so doing the practitioner can better mobilize the inner circulation of air flow and guide it to reach out to all extremities in order to syn-thesize the external and internal forces. Standing exercises focus on exercising the mind, and call for natural breathing, high concentration, and proper posture of the body. Unadvisable or stiff movements should be avoided.

The standing exercises have health enhancing as well as fighting functions. Different standstills are done for different purposes.