Level 1 — DBW

Summary

By the time a student is ready to attempt the L1 Form, they should be familiar with the Web site and in particular the articles relating to the schools protocols. L1 is the culmination of the students' first stage and the Form is a combination of spirit (obtained from adhering to the class protocols) and technique (derived from patterns and fundamentals). Initially, the main concerns are to get the student cognizant of the training itinerary which consists of having a firm understanding of all warm–ups, drills, and basic procedures. This Fundamental stage utilises the same Modus Operandi (MO) that will continue throughout the students training. With the Kung Fu's inherent multifaceted nature, the style quite deliberately devours memory and makes seemingly simple practices, very hard. A lot of teaching/learning methods utilise the 'sink or swim' method, however, this style practices a systematic approach or, in a more simplistic idiom, one thing at a time, e.g.:

• Learn the technique
• Write the technique to memory
• Standardise the technique
• Learning the first pattern (4-punch)
• Demonstrating the first patterns solo
• Recursively refine the techniques

Fundamentals

Most students that have studied anything academically realise that the learning process generally utilised relies on the rote system. Kung Fu though naturally implementing this system differs and ensures that the student fully understands every detail of the style thoroughly. In essence, it is more similar to the life of mind styles traditionally taught in the humanities and sciences years ago where time and money was not always the contributing factor. In short, a student training for 10 or 20 years is still going to be attempting the same fundamentals as a new student, however, with their newly formed skills continuously being honed and pushed further and as the psychological and physical becomes more capable of higher outputs, thus, the continuous improvement cycle is maintained.

Generally, a student will learn and practice 3 – 4 patterns and then learn the accompanying Form and ultimately be assessed and graded on that Form. The styles minimalist nature, doesn't allow for fancy names or for that matter belts, (White T–Shirt & black pants). With the different Chinese dialects, different wordings and terminologies, there seems to be at least two different versions of every term e.g. Beijing/Peking. As this school is based in Australia, we tend to use phonetics in regards to the names and whilst maintaining and teaching the traditions, feel it is respectful not to attempt the terms in Chinese. This is an important aspect of the style, it is very important to know the history and meanings of the style. However, it was always taught that though the "spelling" or the "pronunciation" wasn't paramount to a student's success, the spirit, application and the technique of the patterns and forms were and must be performed pedantically. L1 is the coded version for Level 1, there are 5* official levels that can be taught and another final level that selected students can attempt.

• L1 – DBW
• L2 – GKB
• L3 – TDDS
• L4 – Eagle Claw
• L5 – Tiger Claw