Its the last few that bring out some pretty good conversation when you’re recharging at a hutong eatery over a plate of lamb sticks and soy beans. In fact, most of the first few are pretty widely agreed upon. Just wushu techniques.Ĭoming up with 2 or 3 techniques is pretty easy for most of the people I ask.

I don’t include conditioning exercises, such as wind sprints or plyometric jumping.

I don’t include jumping techniques nor Nan Du (难度 | “Difficulty Movements”).

(I’ll revisit this with the 5 basics for Nan Quan at another time)

I usually ask about techniques related to Chang Quan (长拳 | “Long Fist”) since (1) most coaches aren’t as familiar with basics from Nan Quan (南拳 | “Southern Fist”), and (2) most athletes start with Chang Quan basics regardless of what style they end up with.

In other words, “wu bu quan” (五步拳, or “Five Stance Form”) or Tan Tui (弹腿) doesn’t count because it is a combination of several basic techniques.

It is a single technique, not a combination of techniques.

Of course, I have to explain what “wushu basic techniques” are, since that will affect the answer. So this questions is a part of my search to find the highest return on your wushu training investment. Some of them have a bigger impact on your wushu than others. With wushu I realized that not all basic techniques are equal. I’m a big believer in the Pareto Principal - focusing on the 20% or work that gets you 80% of the results. “What are the 5 wushu basic techniques that have the greatest impact on improving one’s wushu skill?” Over the past decade I’ve been taking a poll.ĭuring my time in China, when I would spend time with an athlete or coach, I would inevitably ask them a specific question.

Wushu basic training pdf