Why (and why not) to learn Kung Fu
We expose some of the reasons why we believe it is beneficial to learn Kung Fu and, also, some others that we do not consider valid.
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Modern Wushu and Exhibition Martial Arts
In the second half of the twentieth century, the so-called modern wǔ shù was officially established. Characterized by flashy and difficult-to-execute acrobatic movements, but devoid of any martial use, this new wǔ shù led to an era in which exhibition martial arts of would gain ground to the traditional ones. However, these exhibition arts had been present in China for several hundred years.
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Choy Li Fut Code of Conduct
When Chan Heung 陳享 founded the Choy Li Fut 蔡李佛 system, he also established ten rules of conduct to guide all practitioners of the style. These rules constitute the code of conduct (武德, wǔ dé/mou dak) of Choy Li Fut. The ten rules are the following.
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Gong’an and the Kanhua System of Meditation
A gōng’àn 公案 (“public case”; better known by its Japanese name, kōan) is a phrase, dialogue, or short story used in Chán 禪Buddhism to arouse doubts in the practitioner and test his understanding. In China, a Chán system of meditation was developed that based obtaining spiritual enlightenment on concentration on these phrases.
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The Eight Energies of Tai Ji Quan
According to the theory of Tài Jí Quán 太極拳, this martial arts system uses eight types of energy or strength (jìn 勁). This word refers to an energy cultivated by the practitioner in a specialized manner, that is, it is the result of a prolonged training, as well as the combination between physical energy, 力 lì, and internal energy, 氣 qì.
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The Eighteen Luohan Hands
The Sup Bot Law Hon Yik Gun Kuen 十八羅漢易筋 拳 is a form of Qi Gong 氣功 belonging to the Luohan system of Choy Li Fut. It is believed that the exercises contained in this form were taught by Bodhidharma to the monks of Shaolin temple to counteract the numbness of the body caused by long hours sitting in meditation.
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Choy Li Fut Spreads Abroad (Choy Li Fut History IX)
At the end of the decade of 1920, Choy Li Fut 蔡李佛 arrived at the American continent by the hand of Master Lau Bun 劉彬, who opened the first school in San Francisco.
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Dit Da Jow
Dit Da Jow 跌打 酒 (Mandarin Diē Dǎ Jiǔ) is the Cantonese name for a type of liniment commonly used in Chinese Martial Arts to treat bruises and sore muscles. Dit Da Jow could be translated as “fall and hit wine”, since the traditional one is prepared with rice wine.
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The Kung Fu Spear
The spear (枪, qiāng/choeng) is considered in China as the queen of long weapons. Possibly it is the oldest military weapon in China, and was originally used as a cavalry weapon. Formerly the infantry used a spear that could reach more than five meters in length, thus being able to face adversaries at a long distance.
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The Idea of Soul and the Veneration of Ancestors
According to the Chinese conception of human being, it is composed of ‘two souls’: Pò 魄, ‘corporeal’ or ‘terrestrial soul’, and Hún 魂, ‘ethereal soul’. This way of understanding the human being is closely related to the practice of veneration of ancestors.
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