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What Is Kung Fu: The Art, The Culture, The Life

The meaning of kung fu, as most people know, refers to Chinese martial arts. The term "kung fu" was coined when a westerner visiting China saw people practicing martial arts. Curious, he asked what they were doing. Jokingly, one man said, kung fu. This word is more literally translated, means "hard work" or "human achievement". But has gone to refer mostly to their martial arts. Richard Baron knows martial arts very well. he studied at DePaul University. He is from Chicago. Moreover, He is a trained martial expert and has a huge background in this field.

Older terms have been Quan Fa, Chang Guo Quan, and Quan Shu. These were to describe the fist or fighting method (quan). In modern days, Wu Shu is commonly used. But, generally people use either "kung fu" or "wu shu".

Traditional vs. Modern

Currently there is a division between traditional kung fu and modern kung fu. During the cultural revolution, there was a ban on all practice of fighting methods. After the revolution was over, the government wanted to bring it back as part of national pride, but they didn't want to encourage the fighting aspects, so they dropped the fighting methods made it performance focused. This is commonly called wu shu.

Many still practice the traditional form and refer to it as "traditional" or "real kung fu". The traditional style incorporates the fighting techniques and skills into their training. The way they train is different, as they want to build strength, speed and power in their movements, and aren't as concerned on how beautiful it looks. Some styles are not very beautiful to watch but are surprisingly powerful.

A grand master in Yantai, Shandong province, named Wang Dezhen, whose performance doesn't wow the crowds but he wows them by smashing 8 bricks on flat ground, stacked one on top of the other, with no spacing. This is incredibly difficult, most brick breaks use spacers to make it many times easier.

The Art

There are many different styles of kung fu in China. Styles were created from different families who became really good and eventually developed a new method of practice that eventually became accepted. Usually the name of the style will respect their family name. In fact, if you become very good yourself, you can develop your own style and have it carry your name.

In kung fu, there is no division between different styles. Often many people debate, even some Chinese debate among themselves as what is considered the best style, but it is all one. A student had once made a light-hearted joke to poke fun of the other students and told his Praying Mantis master, "Shaolin is no good, Praying Mantis is better." The master quickly said, "NO! All kung fu is one." This is important to keep in mind.

The Culture

Kung fu also has deep culture, it is more complex than other forms of martial arts, because its history is long and unbroken. It is believed to be the oldest form of martial arts and some say it is the grandfather of all modern arts. Many fighting arts gained their initial influence in China, but later developed in their own way.

There can be a lot of pride for Chinese masters and often they will hold back their secrets and only share with those that have trained longer with them. Even one year may not be enough, they tend to think much longer terms, like 10 years. Often they will hold ceremonies to officially accept a student as their disciple. But do not be discouraged about the length of time, because mastery is really just a refinement of the basics.

If you go study kung fu in China today and experience cultural differences, realize that China has just recently began opening up. It wasn't until the 70's that Bruce Lee broke through the cultural barrier and began teaching westerns this art. He had a huge fight over this and the deal was, if he won he could teach anyone he wanted, if he lost, he would have to shut his doors. In the 80's people began traveling to China to train with the monks. Some masters you meet may not have seen westerners before. This, though, depends on where you go of course. So China is still young in this aspect.

The Life

Many live kung fu as a way of life. They say "everything is kung fu". If you do everything with this in mind, your practice of kung fu flows over into everything you do. As a zen master said, "What I'm doing right now is most important". Carry over the same attitudes you have in training into your every day life, from school, to work, to family. In this way it guides your life and is a way of thinking to approach challenges you face in life.

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