Today in the martial arts, you see many individuals chasing after the so-called rainbow. Many people try to acquire as much knowledge and techniques as possible. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but we all have to be weary of becoming greedy. What I mean is, how many shoes can you wear at one time or cars can you drive? If you find yourself wanting to chase that so-called rainbow, ask yourself: Have you truly exhausted the full scope of understanding within your originally chosen discipline?
The breadth and depth of Kung Fu knowledge is as wide as the Grand Canyon and as deep as a crater. It is totally unnecessary for someone to be greedy in terms of technique. Most if not all systems of Chinese martial arts and Kung Fu are already so broad in spectrum and nature that everything is already incorporated within. If you strip back the fine veneer that covers everything and wraps it up in beauty and grace, most systems are just made up of several techniques. These several basic techniques — and I use the term basic to mean essential or elemental — are what incorporates the system and makes it what it is. It’s four legs to the table, four legs to a chair. Without these four legs, the table or the chair could not stand. The four “legs” of any martial arts system are:
• Stance (stability and mobility)
• Hand Strikes (fist, palm, fingers, claw, edge, etc.)
• Kicking (all manner of kicks, knee strikes, sweeps, etc.)
• Grappling (throws, locks, standing or on ground)
If one takes the time to examine a single technique or two or three, they can see that all these four essential items have already been interwoven into the fabric of the movement. The ability to see these essential items within any one technique is dependent on the perception of the individual, not determined by the system itself. Demonstrated within any one given technique and/or position or posture, elements of these four essential qualities exist. Just like options in a stock purchase, these options can be exercised at any one given point in time when the situation arises, therefore giving the individual fighter a wide range of techniques. He is thereby not limited by the movements of his system, but only limited by his own personal ability to access these options and exercise them appropriately. It is up to the individual to be able to recognize what is available in one given position and/or selected number of techniques and to be able to recognize these options. It’s the ingenuity and the innovativeness of the practitioner that allows the movement to flower into its entirety. And when we fall short, this is when the techniques just become what we see on the obvious surface. Therefore, no one system is more or less than another; rather it is we, the individual practitioners, who are able to take what is present, derive its essence and make it more than what it is.
The issue is that you have practitioners of particular systems always looking at the other side, at their neighbor, and saying, wow, look at what they got. It’s not wrong necessarily to look, but look with the intent of trying to find that which already exists within your own system. It’s not that it doesn’t. Maybe the information wasn’t passed down to you or you didn’t make a keen enough observation. All these systems have these movements already built in. We can’t misconstrue the specialization of a particular system or style to be the only thing that they do. This is just like when you go into a restaurant and they have a chef’s tasting menu. That’s their specialty, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a cheeseburger on the menu. Every system has a specialization. That doesn’t mean that the broader aspects of Kung Fu fighting are not contained within. It’s not necessary for the practitioner to acquire something different, but rather be inspired to find that which exists within what they’re already learning.
I have a good friend, Sifu Vangelis Tampouratzis, that teaches southern style Chinese Kung Fu and has incorporated his Kung Fu techniques into the world of kickboxing. He has taken his traditional Choy Lee Fut training and has successfully converted it into kickboxing. He is able to make an easy translation from the strikes, kicks, takedowns, locks and throws from his traditional format into the kickboxing arena. This should not be a problem for those that have a well-rounded understanding and are able to view the martial aspect of the techniques that they have learned. What is essential is that we understand that we need to have the key — that is the mindset — to be able to open and utilize the movements that are contained within the form. We must study hard to try to grasp these keys. Without these keys to open the doors of knowledge, the knowledge is encased within the form or technique, and we will never have access to it.
A great example of this outside the martial arts could be that of a race car driver. All the cars that are on the track are high-powered, awesome machines of speed, but in the end, it truly boils down to the driver. Is the driver capable? Does he have the skill and the knowledge to take that high-powered machine to the heights of its performance and make it work? Regardless of whether you have a Porsche or a Ferrari, if you don’t have the skill and the knowledge of how to drive properly, you will end up being roadkill. The true point of the matter is to understand what you have learned, not necessarily to go looking beyond your own doorstep. Rather, seek the treasures that are hidden within the knowledge that has already been given to you and bring them forward.
In truth, when it comes to the art of fighting, less is more. When you are actually in a situation where you need to fight, not in a sporting event or organized match, quickness and surprise are the elements best suited to the situation. Speed, power and simple, direct technique is most appropriate. Directness in your attack, ferocity and power are essential to get the job done. Everything that is inessential should be stripped away, and the technique should be as effective as possible. Therefor, in the art of fighting, one should concentrate on a few techniques that truly work. You want to be able to have something in your hands that is instinctive and can be repeated again and again. That is to say, you have several techniques in your pocket and you can make them work every single time. Every good system is built upon several well-founded techniques and practical movements that can then be applied over and over again without fail in multiple configurations. When one student or practitioner has too much to work on or too much to worry about, then the true essence of the martial technique is lost. The true essence of understanding is that the few make the many. The one technique can flow out or branch out to become multiple techniques. This is why I say it’s unnecessary to be greedy if you’re capable of understanding what is possible with one said movement.
I just want to make a qualifying statement about what Kung Fu is. The true art of Kung Fu is a skill that can be taught, a skill that can be passed on, a skill that can be brought forward from teacher to student and utilized. This doesn’t mean that it can be mass produced by any stretch of the imagination. If you claim to have Kung Fu but it cannot be taught or shown to someone or be duplicated again to a certain level of proficiency, then it is not Kung Fu, it is rather a god-given gift, a talent of that individual. Simply said, if an individual can fly, that’s a god-given talent. If he can teach you how to fly, then there might be some Kung Fu there. If a skill cannot be passed on or shown to somebody and duplicated, then there is no Kung Fu. Kung Fu is an acquired skill that you get through diligent practice and being taught by someone who has already acquired the skill. Therefor it should be able to be duplicated again and again. Experience over time with practical training will give you the best results and make you understand the essential ingredients that are part of your training. That will make you understand you don’t always have to have more. Sometimes more makes less. Sometimes less makes more. What is essential is the practical experience that you gain from training consistently in your chosen system. This training should lead you to an epiphany, an awakening, an enlightenment and lead you to the proper concept of Kung Fu.
Many individuals feel that more is more, but this is not always the case. When you eat at a buffet and try to consume as much as possible within a short period of time, you usually end up feeling sick to your stomach or throwing up, thereby defeating the purpose of it all. This is no different than training in Kung Fu. In general, Kung Fu systems are broad in their scope of knowledge and have been embellished over the centuries. There still remains a core within each system to allow the practitioner full access to the knowledge within the system without looking for too much external augmentation. As taught to me by my teacher, in Fu Jow Pai, we have ten essential movements of the tiger. Choy Lee Fut has ten essential seeds. Hung Gar has twelve bridge hand techniques. Each system is built on classical conceptual movements that branch out to all the other movements. It’s no different than painting. If you have the primary colors, you can make a multitude of colors, but if you’re not a master of those primary colors, there’s no art. In Chinese cooking there are only a few ingredients that create the taste. Once you’re missing those essential ingredients, you’re chasing that rainbow that leads to nowhere. Because that’s where rainbows lead– nowhere. There’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow… you’re sitting on the gold, fool!
We all go through this. This is a process of maturation within your system. One must begin to look at the structure of one’s system and slowly digest its “optional” techniques that are almost hidden in plain sight. By looking around at everything else, you get distracted and may even lose your original motivation and understanding of your chosen system. In the end, let’s step back and take a good look at what we have in our system with a discerning eye to detect the possible options available. Master the few, and they will become many, if not even unlimited… If you keep looking at what everyone else has, you will eventually lose what you have. Work your Kung Fu to flesh out everything that is already there. No need to be greedy.
- Sifu Paul Koh 高寶羅
