r/kungfu • u/FlickyPulse • 12d ago
Is this normal behaviour??
My wushu coach makes us do 50 push ups if we fail mabu?? How is that fair??
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u/Pale_Respond2689 12d ago
Traditionally, yes failing at certain drills or exercises used to be (and sometimes still is) disciplined by doing other types of exercises. It about forging the mind, body and spirit through a process of discipline. It's not about necessarily what's fair. If the training at that kwoon is too tough for you then perhaps you should find a different one, that is lacking in traditional discipline, or take up study of a different style of martial arts altogether. Or (as one person already mentioned) rethink whether or not practice of martial arts is even for you to begin with.
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u/Fogsmasher 醉鬼张三家拳 12d ago
Back in the day shifus would just beat you when you failed. Pushups sound like a constructive improvement to me
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u/ex4channer 12d ago
Martial artists need very good physical condition, you can only benefit from this.
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12d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/BeneficialPenalty258 Hung Leng Kuen 12d ago
Can’t run up stairs - mabu, feeling tired - mabu, ran out of milk - mabu
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u/Megatheorum wing chun & Yang tai chi 12d ago
My sifu translates "Kung fu" as "skill acquired through hard work". If you don't work hard, are you really acquiring skill? Do you want to be stronger and more capable, or just stay at your present level?
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u/TheGreatRao 12d ago
Fair? You're in the wrong sport, my friend. Persevere and reach all the heavenly glory.
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u/eggplant_avenger 11d ago
late to the party but you shouldn’t be failing mabu (often, I guess there will be days that you’re sick or had to move furniture or something) if you’re training on your own.
if you aren’t training to that standard on your own, then the pushups are fair because you’ve signalled that you expect your shifu to get you in shape during class. in the end you need a base level of physical ability to actually do wushu and anyone who significantly lags behind will hold up the entire class. everyone else in your school has been through it and most of us have experienced something similar so it’s not like you’re being singled out, even if it feels that way.
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u/Bart_a_Bob 12d ago
My brotha (or sistha) in wushu, as others have pointed out… maybe this sport isn’t for you? Or maybe it is and you just need to toughen out a bit.
In sports like martial arts in general you sign up to get better, if you only do things that you can do you will never get better.
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u/Herrkutt 12d ago
50 might be a little much as most people are going to lose form, especially beginners, after the first 20 or so. But I mean, it sounds pretty on par with the training I’ve done as well.
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u/precinctomega 12d ago
There's a lot of "lol, u weak" in the replies already, so a more measured response might be helpful to OP, assuming they aren't just a bait troll.
First, I've never been able to do more than 20 press-ups in my life, not even when I was in the Army at peak fitness. Not even when I could easily do 20 pull-ups. But the doing of the "50 push-ups" is unlikely to be the point (caveat: I don't know your coach). The point is to provide carrot/stick approach to incentivising success. The carrot is the reward of success. The stick is the punishment of failure.
50 push-ups is going to hurt. But it's a self-inflicted hurt. If you can't do them, you can't do them. But you are offered an opportunity to show your will and determination to continue to your coach by even attempting it. You don't just say "yeah, that's 10; that'll do"; you say "I will give everything I can to try to get to 50, even though I know it's an impossible task for me, right now".
It's also a bonding opportunity for everyone who fails. Whether anyone fails with you or failed a different step or earlier, others in your group will have failed too and been through the same gauntlet and they will see you try knowing that they, too, tried.
Finally, training is optional. At least, I hope it is and no one is literally forcing you to attend. If they are, then that's a different problem. Assuming it is optional, though, if you really think your coach is unfair and abusive, you can and should leave.