Ever watched a movie with monks flying from one pole to the other while using deathly martial arts techniques to defeat their opponent? With impressive actors like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, martial arts movies have grown popular worldwide. However, it is important to understand that wuxia novels and films are more -if not different- than just martial arts or kung fu movies. In fact, the etymology of the word itself suggests something bigger than just people throwing fists.

It is impossible to translate the term wuxia in English as it derives from two words with different meanings. The first word, wu, "denot[es] militaristic or martial qualities", whereas xia is translated as the "qualities of knighthood and heroism" (2). In other words, wuxia suggests tales of grand knights who use fighting or warring methods to accomplish their noble deeds. Even explained like so, it is easy to understand why people mix up kung fu and wuxia, since both have a protagonist fighting for his goals. In his book Chinese Martial Arts Cinema : The Wuxia Tradition, Stephen Teo makes a distinction in which wuxia involves knights and, as a result, a "cult of swords" (4). The people in wuxia novels or movies tend to fight with swords, weapon, or other fantastic means, whereas kung fu movies involves mostly fist fighting. Also, heroes in both genre use different fighting techniques that come from different schools of thought: Wudang and Shaolin. Wudang, which is affiliated with wuxia, is concerned with the development of the inner self and the qigong, translated as spiritual energy. That's where wuxian films and movies stray from down to earth kung fu movies and start delving into fantasy. In wuxia, spiritual energy is used to lighten the soul and make incredible leaps or even fly.

In conclusion, through its etymology, wuxia describes a type of fantasy that involves cultivating the inner soul.

This E-book gives the history of Wuxia genre in Cinema. Its information about the etymology of the word is the most relevant to my research for now, but the full history might also serve to explain the origins of different expressions or words that appear in this genre.

Teo, Stephen. Chinese Martial Arts Cinema: The Wuxia Tradition. E-book, Edinburg UP, 2016.

Image taken by T Chu on November 1, 2015. CC BY 2.0. https://www.flickr.com/photos/spyderball/70525848.

My blog became an outlet for me to present to my classmates and readers an introduction to the Chinese Fantasy jargon. As such, my main goal with the blog was to present different words or expressions that are present in Chinese Fantasy, but that the general audience would have no knowledge about. I think I have achieved so, because I believe that I have condensed easy to digest information for people who have no clue where to start. As such, I would define my strength as being able to collect information and offer it in a way that’s presentable to my audience. However, I had a hard time updating daily, which can reflect how there might not be as much details on my blog than on my classmates’ blogs. If I had to redo, I think I would try to be more consistent in updating my blog by giving myself daily tasks. For example, I think I would have divided my time more efficiently if I had written an article about one source weekly.

Through this experience, I have learnt that an excellent and full research takes time and dedication. I think I have often misjudged the workload or amount of effort I should put in my work, and, seeing how others tackled their project, I think my grasp on the topic I have studied for the entirety of this semester is limited.

Finally, I would suggest students coming to this profile to organise a daily game plan. It’s a good thing to see further ahead and acknowledge that there is an essay due in months from now, but it is important to set personal deadlines to get this essay done when it is due. The Language profile may not look as demanding as the Health or Pure and Applied program, but I believe all fields of study are demanding in their own ways. I think that humanities, social sciences, or creative streams require autonomy, whereas science and math fields require discipline as there are daily homework that are planned ahead. Nobody is going to tell you when to write your essay, teachers just trust you to hand it in on the due date. A lot of students believe they can get away with assignments at the last minute, but this is how you accumulate stress (and a pile of essays to write all due on the same day) and become burn-out. Also, the results of procrastination will not miraculously get you a 100%. Surprise, you are in CEGEP now! You might get away with a barely passing grade if you continue to believe in magic fixes. That is why: organise yourself.

I am graduating this year and going to Concordia in Creative Writing next year. Believe it or not, I enrolled in Language at Dawson just because I was fascinated with the way language shapes thoughts and beliefs. I did not know what I was going to do with this diploma, but the two years at Dawson was an eye opener for me. Not because of my concentration classes, no. One English class I randomly took because it fitted my schedule made me fall in love with free verse poems and Gertrude Stein, and a Cinema class made me rekindle with my old passion for movies. I first came in the Language profile resigned to become a translator (I quickly learnt through extracurricular activities that I hate translating for the life of me), and now I have zero plans to pursue a career in that field. All this to say: if you have no dreams, worry not! Your experience in any program will teach you a lot about yourself and guide you on your designated path.