Three names on the schedule, and new students often cannot tell them apart. Kung Fu, Qi Gong, Chan meditation - they sound like three different things done by three different kinds of people.
They are in fact three entrances to the same practice. Here is an honest overview - no mysticism, no overselling, and no promises we cannot keep.
Kung Fu 功夫
A traditional martial art. The practice stands on two legs.
Forms are precise sequences practised alone. They build structure, coordination, stamina and body memory. They are not a simulation of a fight - they are the vocabulary a fight later draws from.
Sanshou is the fighting side: strikes, kicks, throws, wrestling, self-defence. You enter it gradually - first technique with a cooperating partner, then with light resistance, only then freely.
Who it is for: anyone who wants a physically demanding practice with clear, measurable progress and technique you can actually use. No prior experience needed, and no starting fitness either - that arrives along the way.
What you will feel: your thighs, in the first week. Better balance and posture after a month. After six months, a confidence you did not expect - not the loud kind, the quiet kind that comes from knowing what your body can do.
Qi Gong 氣功
Meditation in movement. Slow, repeating sequences in which breath and movement are matched. Low load on the joints, high demand on attention - which surprises people who expect something easy.
A session begins with standing. That is often the hardest part: a few minutes of stillness with slightly bent knees, no music and no rushing. Then come simple sequences repeated many times. The teacher corrects your posture, not your pace.
Who it is for: everyone. Including people with injuries, in rehabilitation, with desk jobs, returning after a long break, or under chronic stress. Age is not an obstacle - our students range from their twenties to their seventies.
What you will feel: after the first hour, a warm and settled state and a noticeably deeper breath. In the first week, probably also the sense that “nothing is happening” - that is normal and usually passes in the third or fourth week, when you notice you have started breathing differently during the day. Over time, less tension in the shoulders and neck, and better sleep.
Chan meditation 禪
A seated practice, part of the Qi Gong tradition. Chan is the Chinese ancestor of what the West knows as zen. No music, no guided visualisations, no app - just breath, posture and attention to what is here.
An empty mind is not the goal. The goal is to notice you have drifted and to come back calmly. That is the whole exercise; everything else is a consequence.
Who it is for: those for whom movement alone is not enough, and anyone whose thoughts run faster than they would like.
What you will feel: restlessness and boredom, for the first few weeks. Then a gap between stimulus and reaction that was not there before - small, but big enough to change how you get through a day.
The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness.
How they fit together
Chan meditation is not a separate slot on the schedule - it is woven into the Qi Gong classes. The reason is simple: seated practice on its own, cut out of context, rarely takes root. Sitting down after an hour of movement, when the body has already settled and the breath is already deep, makes the entrance far easier.
The same holds for Qi Gong and Kung Fu. Qi Gong opens the body and settles the breath; Kung Fu tests that openness and gives it direction. Each of the three does something the other two cannot.
So - what should you pick?
- I want to get fit and learn something. Kung Fu. Afternoon or morning group.
- I want relief, but my body will not take intensity. Qi Gong. Beginners’ group, Monday or Wednesday at 17:30.
- I want both. The afternoon slot, where the two hours follow one another.
- I am an early riser and want to start the day moving. The morning class, 6:00-7:15, where all three practices are woven together.
- I have no idea. Come to one class and decide afterwards. That is what most people do - and they almost always decide differently from what they expected.
What all three ask of you
Nothing exotic, but three things all the same.
Showing up regularly. Twice a week for two months gives far more than four times a week for two weeks. The body learns through repetition, not intensity.
Patience with being clumsy at first. For the first few weeks you will not be able to follow the movements. That is not a sign of no talent - it is a description of everyone’s first few weeks.
Willingness to say what hurts. The practice adapts to you rather than the other way round, but only if the teacher knows what is going on.
You can join at any point in the year, mid-season included. The first visit is there so you can see whether the practice suits you - not so you can prove anything.
