September 12, 2002

• no, don't call me bruce lee or make those stupid waaa! wooo! noises.
  
  in the now famous words of neo (keanu reeves in the matrix):
  "i know kung fu".
  which, in reality, i do. i've been training since december 1998.
  as sort of an introduction into what will probably be a series of entries, i'll explain what kung fu is and what kung fu isn't.
  
  kung fu is not kung fu.
  the literal translation of "kung fu" is "skill acquired through time and effort". you can have kung fu in anything - i would say that some xangaist's have kung fu writing. a master chef has culinary skills that are kung fu. it can be anything, as long as it's a skill attained through practice over time and effort put into it. what we know as kung fu is really kuo shu (national art), wu shu (spear art -
  spear being representative of war/soldier/martial) or chuan fa (fighting principle).
  
  when wushu isn't kung fu.
  in china during the cultural revolution, maoist communism dictated that anything pertaining to culture or cultural history was wrong, and attempted to eradicate it. many artifacts (buddhist sutras, statues, even temples) were destroyed in the name of communism. practicing martial arts was outlawed unless you were in the military. after the reign of chairman mao, government sanctioned martial arts found their way back into the mainstream culture, modified and watered down. they became an art based on performance and agility, not unlike gymnastics. this art became associated with the moniker of "wushu" under government influence. although they look similar and both require great skill and effort, kung fu and (modern) wushu have little left in common.
  
  who would win in a fight, jackie chan or bruce lee?
  the advent of modern wushu brings me to another aspect of the modernization of martial arts - hollywood kung fu. like modern wushu, this is based on classical or traditional kung fu, but is not the real thing. what you see in movies has more in common with modern wushu. factually, most kung fu movie stars are gold medal wushu performers (jet li), peking opera performers or are taught enough wushu to do the movie. the best displays of traditional kung fu i've seen in movies weren't in the matrix or jackie chan movies - they were in the movies the gladiator and last of the mohecians.
  the techniques are often taken out of context and used for something flashy or nicer looking, rather than the true applications. and lastly, traditional kung fu doesn't teach you to fly or run up bamboo trees, ala crouching tiger, hidden dragon.

  • 7:41 pm
  • 22 Comments