KUNG FU: SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

The discussion about Kung Fu is a difficult one and brings up a myriad of possibilities and options, because the word Kung Fu itself doesn’t denote martial arts in general, but rather, acquiring a skill in any art form or endeavor.  Understanding that the literal translation of the word “Kung Fu” means, “a skill acquired through hard work and perseverance,” in this blog I will be strictly talking about Kung Fu as related to learning and practicing Chinese martial arts.

There are many types of Kung Fu.  Not all Kung Fu is created equal, but that doesn’t mean that one type is better than another.  Different kinds of Kung Fu are put together to do different jobs.  Kung Fu is a broad umbrella – covering everything from fighting to health to entertainment.  People all around the world believe that the term “Kung Fu” is exclusive to what they’ve witnessed in movies, social media and magazines. This isn’t so. Kung Fu is an extremely broad term that covers a huge spectrum of the Chinese martial arts. Over the thousands of years of the existence of Chinese martial arts, the nature of Kung Fu has been shaped and changed tremendously due to the needs and desires of the practitioners.

Kung Fu as an art form most likely started in its most practical form, for one individual to protect themselves or their family from harm. We’re talking about prehistoric times, when there was no real record, no system, no technique, just one guy picking up a rock or a stick to defend himself against another guy.  That’s the genesis of real Kung Fu.  But as the centuries passed it divided itself into more specialized types of Kung Fu or skill sets. This hearkens back to the real meaning of Kung Fu – an acquired skill.

The history and development of Kung Fu has been shaped by topography, the weather, the terrain, the social environment of that particular region, the mindset of the individuals, and the economic and social climate of a given area.  When looking at any particular style or system, you have to ask yourself, who was the guy that made it?  What was his purpose?  What was his background?  What was the philosophy and psychological makeup he used to create this particular system of Kung Fu?

If you’re talking about social and economic diversity, Kung Fu that was played by affluent people is going to vary a lot from Kung Fu played by those that were impoverished and downtrodden.  If you were rich and well taken care of, your need to protect yourself would be a much lower priority than it would be for someone who’s coming from a rough and tumble hand-to-mouth existence.  If you’re a farmer, your Kung Fu is going to be different than that of an aristocrat or a courtesan.  Even though these individuals are both practicing Kung Fu, they are practicing different styles with completely different mindsets.  One is going to be more esthetic and pleasing to the eye.  The other is going to be more rough around the edges and about getting the job done.  The philosophies of these two types of Kung Fu are already in stark contrast to one another just based on social economic ways and means.

Another difference would be the actual region where you come from – the weather, the topography. Different regions in China have different weather and different types of land.  In the south where it’s warm and humid, everything was farm land and a rice paddy.  Your Kung Fu is going to be different from a style practiced in the north where the weather is much colder and you have to wear heavier clothes.  Kung Fu is transformed and modified by those who practice and teach it. The art form changes and morphs depending on the needs, wants, desires and capabilities of its practitioners.

For example, the Chinese opera is famous for its acrobats and its martial artists.  The Kung Fu that is used in Chinese opera is theatrical and dramatized.  The same is true with martial arts in many movies today.  That’s entertainment Kung Fu.  It’s very pleasing to the eye, and is an amazing skill which not everyone can do, but it doesn’t necessarily equate itself to a fighting system.  That’s not to say you can’t modify it and use it, or that all the Kung Fu in the movies isn’t real. Many martial artists in the entertainment industry have backgrounds in opera Kung Fu as well as more traditional fighting based arts.  Some have been able to transition back and forth. That’s actually one of the beauties of Kung Fu itself.  Because of its broad spectrum, you can run the gambit from being visually pleasing and entertaining, to being down and dirty and fighting for your life.  I feel this is one of the most amazing things about Kung Fu; it’s not pigeon holed to only be one way.

That being said, if that’s the case, the skill of the practitioner to be able to transcend from one end of the spectrum to the other has to be of a much, much higher level. Just doing one thing right is not easy, let alone being able to display several different understandings of the same art form. All of the aspects of Kung Fu exist simultaneously.  It’s the choice of each individual practitioner what you want to accentuate.  The health, regenerative, energizing and medicinal aspect of Kung Fu exists.  At the very same time, the fighting aspect, techniques and theories exist.  And simultaneously, Kung Fu can be entertaining and pleasing to the eye. None of these aspects can be separated from Kung Fu. It’s just what the practitioner wants to portray and what’s important to him.

Kung Fu is a lot like life.  You can live your life any way you want, and you can play your Kung Fu any way you want.  If you’re not a street fighter, it doesn’t mean your Kung Fu is good or bad.  Because one practitioner may like the entertainment aspect, or another practitioner only practices for the health benefits, doesn’t mean he’s good or bad either.  It depends on what you want, on your purpose and your goals.  It is up to the individual practitioner to choose those goals and choose their focus.  It’s like in college when you choose your major; if you try to major in ten subjects, you won’t be able to master any of them.  If you choose one major subject, you are more likely to achieve some level of success.  The same is true in Kung Fu and all martial art training.

Kung Fu is an amazing art form that everyone can partake in and learn from. This is why Kung Fu has existed for so many thousands of years and has continued to exist regardless of what trends are happening in the martial arts.  The educated individual that understands the broad spectrum of Kung Fu cannot stand by and say there’s nothing there for them.  If you want to fight all day and night, you can.  If you want to break bricks, you can.  If you just want to stretch and move and breathe, you can.  No one is stopping you; it’s all there for you. Chinese Kung Fu is an all encompassing system.  You can enjoy it because of its esthetic, because it gives you a means to defend yourself, or because it’s a physical and mental exercise.  This is why it has been around for so many thousands of years, and those who have the insight to see beneath the surface will understand that it has all of these benefits.  The broadness of the art of Kung Fu means that everyone, regardless of their status, their makeup, their ability, their capabilities, can come away with something by practicing Kung Fu.

CAUTION: “I KNOW” IS A DANGEROUS STATEMENT

知道不知道 只有天知道
“I know that I don't know… Only Heaven knows.”
-Old Chinese Saying

Inevitably when I’m teaching class, someone will say, “I know” to a technique, a movement, a comment or some bit of philosophy.  I feel that statement, “I know,” is extremely dangerous.  Not only is it dangerous, it’s incredibly naïve.  Many people will say, how do you see that?  Well, after almost 40 years of training martial arts and training with and under some of the pioneers and best Kung Fu masters on the east coast, I still question myself.  If I’m still questioning myself after 40 years, then a less experienced practitioner definitely shouldn’t say, “I know.”  It may be a slip of the tongue, but we have to be careful about that. This is not so much because of what other people might think, but what you actually might think when you say, “I know.”

The phrase, “I know,” limits the scope and breadth of the ability of the individual to learn.  Just by making that simple statement, you shut yourself down because you presume that your experience is more than adequate to flesh out the entire issue of what you’re learning.  Now, as I practice, decades into the art, I find myself learning more than I ever did before and actually practicing more and more in depth than I ever did before.  For example, I like to use the Tiger Crane Double Shadow form (虎鹤双形) as a basis for all my up and coming black belts.  Now, after teaching that form for so long, I still am able to glean more from it every time I teach it.  I don’t know how long I’ve known this form.  I don’t remember the first day that I learned it.  But somehow it always has more to give me.  Every time I teach it to a student, even though the student may not grasp what I’m teaching them, I’m able to derive more out of it.  And I think that’s primarily due to the mental state of not saying, “I know.”

Yesterday, I was training with my Sifu, and he was telling me to change things.  I’ve been training the weapon we were working on for at least a few decades, but I still will not say that I am a master of it.  I think that I am not a master of my art.  And many masters much, much higher in stature and ability than me would also say the same thing.  Other people call them a master of their art.  I look at all these weapons, forms and techniques that I’ve learned and I think to myself, “Still not good enough.  It could be so much better.”  This is not coming from a place of negativity, but from trying to critique myself and help myself gain insight and inspiration into becoming better.  There’s always more to learn.  As you go back and play your forms and weapons again, you need to revise everything.

This is the inspiration that I draw from my Sifu, whose experience is vastly larger and deeper than mine. He’s able to take the same old information and transform it, modify it and make it grow each and every time that I train with him.  It’s the same thing, but it’s never the same thing.  He has mastered the art of making it come alive by never pigeon holing himself into one way of perceiving.  Circumstances change, people change, ideas change, and the way you view things must change accordingly.  If you can do this, you can see so much more.  You have a limitless horizon.

Otherwise you will learn ABC, turn around and say, “what’s next”.  When you say this, you put parameters on yourself.  Everyone wants to feel good.  No one wants to feel bad or feel stupid.  No one wants to be perceived as lacking in knowledge or depth, but in order to truly learn something and know more of it, you have to come from a point of openness and, for lack of a better term, deficiency.  If you already know it so well, then you’re done.  Put your ego down and open yourself up to the learning.  Otherwise there’s no point.  This is all to do with the attitude of the individual.

The true knowing is in not knowing.  Your knowledge and experience may be very deep, but I think the source of that knowledge and experience is even deeper than you.  Why stifle yourself by uttering phrases like, “I know,” be they verbally said or mentally said?  It is a dangerous phrase that kills inspiration, knowledge and your ability to move forward.  The fastest way to start learning again is to adopt that attitude of, “I don’t know, and I’m open to the information.” When you take off the trappings of what you perceived before, you’ll be able to see more almost instantaneously.   

At the end of the day, it’s your state of mind that we’re talking about.  It’s putting your mind in the right gear to learn.  “I know” is like driving in reverse on the highway.  It’s dangerous.  Making that change in your mental state and perception will allow the flood gates to open.  Truly knowing anything begins and ends with understanding the self.  True knowledge can only be gained by first opening one’s mind and heart.