About half the people who write to us are women. About a third of them come. The gap between those two numbers is made of concerns that arrive, almost always, in the same message.
This piece takes them in turn. No marketing language about empowerment - just how the training in Ljubljana actually works.
“I am not strong enough”
The most common concern, and it rests on a misconception about what Chinese martial arts are.
Traditional Chinese arts developed in a setting where you were frequently smaller and weaker than your opponent. So the entire logic of the technique is built around structure, distance, angle and timing - not around who can move whom by force. Every line about the soft overcoming the hard comes from this, and it is not poetry but a description of the method.
In practice: whoever is smaller and lighter is often faster and has a lower centre of gravity. Both are advantages, not shortcomings.
“I will be the only woman in the group”
Almost certainly not. Our groups are mixed and the ratio sits around half, often in favour of women in the Qi Gong classes.
More to the point: the training is not divided by gender and neither are the drills. Nobody gets an easier version, and nobody gets a harder one.
“I do not want to be thrown around”
And you will not be - not on your first day and not until you want to be.
Sanshou, the fighting side, is separate from the basics and arrives gradually: first technique with a cooperating partner, then with light resistance, only then free movement. Every stage is agreed in advance and anyone can say no today.
A good number of our students never take up the fighting side at all and train forms, Qi Gong and technique. That is a fully legitimate route through Kung Fu, not half of one.
The soft overcomes the hard. The gentle overcomes the rigid.
“I am not fit and I have no experience”
That is not an entry requirement but a consequence of training. The beginners’ group exists for exactly this - a slower pace, more explanation, and everyone in it walked in for the first time once.
The first month is not for proving anything. It is for letting the body adjust to the rhythm. If you need a break mid-session, take one; nobody is counting.
“What about self-defence - can it really be learned?”
The honest answer is: partly, and slowly.
Self-defence cannot be learned in six weeks, and anyone promising that is selling a feeling. What a year of regular training can build is something else, and more useful:
- A sense of distance. When someone is too close and when it is better to step back - before anything happens.
- Response under pressure. A body that has met pressure under controlled conditions does not freeze as quickly.
- A breath that stays open. The first thing lost in fear, and the one that decides everything after it.
- Voice and posture. Most situations end before they start, and how you stand decides them.
Where to start in Ljubljana
If what interests you is movement, breath and relief, start with Qi Gong - Monday or Wednesday at 17:30.
If technique and harder training interest you, start with Kung Fu at 18:30 on the same days. You are welcome at both hours.
We train at Ziherlova 44 in Ljubljana. A single visit is enough to see what the room feels like - the one thing no website can tell you.
