Chinese Wu-Shu Kung-Fu Federation of India was established in 1999 by the well known martial artist and philanthropist Dr. Gajanand B. Rajput with a view to promote and support higher martial arts education in India.CWKFI is a Trust chaired by Dr. Gajanand B. Rajput. Mr. Varun Kapur, IPS, Director of Inspector General of Police, Govt. of India, is the Honorary President of the Trust.

Dr. Gajanand B. Rajput, Founder of the Martial Arts Authority of India, was born on November 28th 1978 in Sabarmati Area, in Ahmedabad City. He is a true Worrier By Cast ( Kahatriya). He is son of the Shri Bhagwat Mulchand Rajput & Shreemati Jankidevi. He is the second child of the Rajput Family. He has one brother and two sisters.

Dr.Gajanand B. Rajput married to Maharashtriyan Girl Kamini Rajput on 30th April 2005, a native of Jalgaon City, Maharashtra State, India.

LEARNING WUSHU KUNGFU STEP BY STEP

There is an increasing of number of Wushu Kung Fu enthusiasts in the world today. So far we have held many major International Wushu Invitational Tournaments and several seminars for coaches and umpires with big attendances and satisfactory results.

Many people have asked me how to start learning Wu-Shu Kung-Fu and whether there’s a short cut to it and what is required of a beginner. The first thing I tell them from my own experience is that they should go step by step.

Above all, a Wu-Shu Kung-Fu athlete should have good physical attributes, such as speed, stamina, flexibility and agility needed for general training of all sports. Wu-Shu Kung-Fu is a sport that calls for a considerable amount of physical exercise, a sport in which one with poor physical qualities can hardly bear all the stresses and strains of specific training in the leaping.



Secondly, a Wu-Shu Kung-Fu athlete should have a good command of the basic skills, which can only be acquired through many kinds of training, including the training of flexibility through leg-pressing, leg-splitting, shoulder-rotating and body turning, and the strengthening of muscles through running, jumping and tumbling drills. Basic skills fall into the following main categories:
1) Stances and steps: bow stance, horse-riding stance, empty stance, seated step, crouch step, beat step, etc.
2) Hand techniques: punch fist, push fist, snap fist, chop fist, uppercut, hammer; push palm, snap palm, flash palm, piercing palm, etc.
3) Leg techniques: heel kick, lower-leg kick, leg swing, leg sweep, slide tackling, etc.
4) Tumbling: Butterfly, somersault, fall on back, fall on belly, roll, handspring, etc.

Having gained proficiency in individual skills, one may do some combined exercises just like a boxer doing combinations, but in a more complex way to link up the numerous movements of the body and four limbs and even eye expressions. Then one may start with some fundamental routines, for instance, the first, second and third routes of the long-range boxing and taijiquan in 24, 48 and 88 forms, of which textbooks are available at home and abroad.

After barehanded exercises come exercises with weapons. One had better start with the mostly commonly used short weapons of sword or broadsword before taking up the long weapons of spear or cudgel- the former often wielded in straight lines and the latter covering a wider target area. One may also begin with the broadsword or cudgel before the cudgel or sword, which requires greater precision in handling them.

After learning combined barehanded exercises and routines with weapons, one may practice sparring exercises on fixed patterns, in order to obtain a better Understanding of the movements simulating attack and defense and to improve one’s responsiveness and agility in footwork and dodging. Rather than for the immediate purpose of honking one’s fighting skills. The exercises may be done in a gradually quickened tempo.

As to the recruitment of wushu athletes and the choice of special styles for them, we should take their body types and physical qualities into consideration. Generally speaking, a trainee with a fine figure, good agility and jumping ability and quick response may specialize in long range boxing and routines with sword or cudgel; one with a lighter body weight and good flexibility may specialize in taijiquan and swordplay; and one with a strong build, much courage and great physical strength may specialize in southern-style boxing and routines with broadsword and cudgel.

Here I’m talking about the regular training of high-level Wu-Shu Kung-Fu athletes. However, there are many people of delicate constitution who practice wushu merely for the purpose of improving their health, and many elderly people who practice wushu in order to prolong their life. Naturally, they are not necessarily required to go through the same stages and to reach the same technical standard as those receiving regular training.

Finally, I’d like to say a few words about San-Shou, or free-hand combat, which has developed rapidly in recent years as a favorite with Wu-Shu Kung-Fu enthusiasts.


As part of Chinese Martial Arts, it puts the same demands on the athletes concerning basic skills and standardized movements, except that more attention is paid to the practical side of Wu-Shu Kung-Fu on the one hand, the basic Movements used in fixed patterns are of great help for those used in Sanshou, as far as footwork, hand techniques, dodges, flexibility, resistance against hitting and exertion of force are concerned; and there are also straights, hooks and swings in fixed pattern exercises, though under different names punch fists, arc fists and horizontal fists. On the other hand, some of the “flowery” postures are of little use for Sanshou, such as seated step and flash palm, which can only make one vulnerable to attack. Some athletes with sufficient skills and strength may take part in sanshou training directly, without the necessity of first learning the bow and horse-riding steps.


Dr. Gajanand B. Rajput is the founder of San-Bu-Shu, Martial Arts Authority of India & Chinese Wu-Shu Kung-Fu Federation of India. He can be reach at Website: www.wushukungfu.cjb.net E-mail: wushukungfu@gmail.com, maainternational@gmail.com or webmaster@wushukungfu.zzn.com

COMBAT WARRIOR E-MAGAZINE July 2006 / CombatWarriorMag.net