The request has been made time and time again, your voices have been heard! In this thread, let's get well-written answers to these questions (as well as additional questions if you think of any). These questions have been sourced from these to threads: here and here.

I apologize in advanced for any duplicate questions. I'm doing this during mandatory training so I can't proofread a ton haha.

For the format of your post, please quote the question using the ">" symbol at the beginning of the line, then answer in the line below. I will post an example in the comments.

• What's northern vs southern? Internal vs external? Shaolin vs wutang? Buddhist vs Taoist?

• Can I learn kung fu from DVDs/youtube?

• Is kung fu good/better for self defense?

• What makes an art "traditional"?

• Should I learn religion/spirituality from my kung fu instructor?

• What's the connection between competitive wushu, Sanda and traditional Chinese martial arts?

• What is lineage?

• What is quality control?

• How old are these arts anyways?

• Why sparring don't look like forms？

• Why don't I see kung fu style X in MMA?

• I heard about dim mak or other "deadly" techniques, like pressure points. Are these for real?

• What's the deal with chi?

• I want to become a Shaolin monk. How do I do this?

• I want to get in great shape. Can kung fu help?

• I want to learn how to beat people up bare-handed. Can kung fu help?

• Was Bruce Lee great at kung fu?

• Am I training at a McDojo?

• When is someone a "master" of a style?

• Does all kung fu come from Shaolin?

• Do all martial arts come from Shaolin?

• Is modern Shaolin authentic?

• What is the difference between Northern/Southern styles?

• What is the difference between hard/soft styles?

• What is the difference between internal/external styles?

• Is Qi real?

• Is Qi Gong/Chi Kung kung fu?

• Can I use qigong to fight?

• Do I have to fight?

• Do Dim Mak/No-Touch Knockouts Exit?

• Where do I find a teacher?

• How do I know if a teacher is good? (Should include forms awards not being the same as martial qualification, and lineage not being end all!)

• What is the difference between Sifu/Shifu?

• What is the difference between forms, taolu and kata?

• Why do you practice forms?

• How do weapons help you with empty handed fighting?

• Is chisao/tuishou etc the same as sparring?

• Why do many schools not spar/compete? (Please let's make sure we explain this!)

• Can you spar with weapons? (We should mention HEMA and Dog Brothers)

• Can I do weights when training Kung Fu?

• Will gaining muscle make my Kung Fu worse?

• Can I cross train more than one Kung Fu style?

• Can I cross train with other non-Kung Fu styles?