Fu Books For Kung Fu Animal Power
One of my favorite parts of the Kung Fu Animal power Program is our Fu Books. Each Animal In the Kung Fu Animal Power program has its own Fu Book. Each Fu book is designed to support learning the lessons of that animal. They are like workbooks but more fun. At first I thought about calling them Fun Books, but Fu books sounds better. One of the reasons we like the name Fu Books is because Fu also means good luck. So a lucky fun book that helps you learn Kung Fu is what they all about.
So what’s in a Fu Book?
Each Fu Book has the following parts:
A general introduction to each animal and its lessons.
A brief biology lesson about the animal, including fun facts and interesting qualities that relate to the lessons.
Virtue
A detailed look at the Virtue each animal teaches. Virtues are good moral qualities or character lessons. The Virtue lessons are designed to help children learn timeless values of good character and behavior. Included int his section are discussion questions that we talk about during our circle time during each class.
Learn Chinese
Next is a Chinese lesson that teaches you how to write each animal’s name and virtue in Chinese. How to pronounce the name of the animal and its virtue in Chinese. Learning to write the animal has lessons specially created by Rachel Jensen. Rachel is a Taiwanese native who holds a masters degree in translation and interpretation form Bath University in the UK. for both the animal name and virtue Rachel shows you the different strokes what order to write them and includes practice boxes to practice writing them. No one needs to know how to pronounce or write the animal or virtue to master Kung Fu, but it is fun and adds a cross cultural element to class. Since China is a important world power understanding Chinese language and thought a little helps prepare people for a world in which china is an important player.
Body Mechanic
Body Mechanic lessons are an important part of the Kung Fu Animal power program. The body mechanics lessons train people how to use their body correctly and improve their posture, balance coordination and ability. In the body mechanic lesson we clearly explain that animals Body mechanic. Having these explanations and illustrations helps everyone to learn. After one month on each lesson your child will definitely make progress in learning how to move and use their body. The body mechanic lessons help kids become far more athletic.
Animal Drills
After getting a grasp on the body mechanic lesson we move on the Animal Drills. The Animal Drills are exercises designed to train the body mechanic in a practical way and build up the strength flexinliy and coordination of each child systematically. the Animal Drills are drawn from the traditional styles of Kung Fu and in some cases were considered secret teaching because they were helpful in training excellent athletes. Each exercise is illustrated and explained.
Animal Moves
Animal Moves follow the animal Drills. The Animal Moves are the fighting techniques of the Kung Fu animal. These moves were drawn form the fighting techniques of traditional Kung fu and they are both really cool and practical for self defense. Again every exercise is illustrated. This makes it much easy for your child to learn and remember the moves of each animal they are practicing during class.
Fun Stuff
More Fun stuff finishes off the Fu Book. This includes games puzzles, drawings to color and stories or thoughts about each animal. Some of the animals or virtue have classic stories or lessons from Chinese History, culture or folk tales that help teach the lessons of the animal.
Kung Fu Bound
Previous editions of the Fu Books were printed locally. The new versions will be printed and bound by Amazon. The books are going to be longer to a full 24 pages and having a full color cover.
Of Course the Jaguar will Be First!
The first book to come out this fall will be the Jaguar, followed by a new version of the bear and then the Rabbit. Keeps your eyes open as they are released in the Fall. If your child is our program they will automatically get each book as they begin that animal!
For more information about our children’s martial arts classes and lessons in San Rafael, San Anselmo, San Geronimo, Lagunitas, and San Francisco you can visit this page. For class locations and times you can visit this page.
To learn about and purchase our Kung Fu Animal Power Student Guide that includes the everything you need to know to get started and a great introduction to the lessons of each animal you can visit this page.
Animal Power
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