Traditional Chinese Martial Arts are a set of very old combat and defense systems that have significantly influenced the rest of martial styles of the world. Formerly referred to as Wǔ Shù* 武術 (“martial arts”) or Guó Shù 國術 (“national arts”), today they are popularly known as Kung Fu 功夫**.
The difference between a martial art and a contact sport is that the martial arts, in addition to constituting a physical training as personal defense systems, also have a strong mental, philosophical and/or spiritual component, and a code of conduct or ethics. The student of martial arts not only learns defense techniques, but is also involved in a process of personal development that affects all areas of his life, making him grow and improve as a person.
Let’s not forget that the Shǎolín 少林 martial arts were means of achieving spiritual realization for the monks.
Notes:
* Nowadays the term Wǔ Shù usually refers to modern Wushu as a competitive sport, rather than as a martial art.
** Although the Chinese word 功夫 can be transcribed as Gōng Fū or as Kung Fu, we will refer with the first term to the skill or mastery that can be developed by both a martial artist and a potter, and with the second to the set of styles and systems of Chinese Martial Arts. Thus, Tài Jí Quán 太極拳 or Tai Chi is also a Kung Fu style.
In Chinese Martial Arts, the figure of the teacher is of vital importance, since anyone who wants to learn a martial art needs a teacher to transmit the teaching. In the West, many times the role of the teacher is misinterpreted; to understand it better, we must first examine the figure of the teacher in the religious tradition of China.
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Grand Master Wong Gong 黄江, current Guardian of the Hung Sing 雄勝 School of Jiāngmén, lives in Hong Kong, where he has continued teaching Choy Li Fut until today.
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Unlike most philosophical-religious traditions of the West, which emphasize eternal life and the immutable, in China and the rest of Asia, existence was understood as a constant change, expressed by the idea of impermanence. In Chinese martial arts this idea is applied by non-opposition of resistance.
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In Chinese culture, the concepts of Wǔ 武 and Wén 文, which represent the military and civil spheres in government, are considered opposite but complementary. At the individual level, these concepts find their best representation in two seemingly antithetical but very similar arts: swordsmanship (Dāo Fǎ 刀法) and calligraphy (Shū Fǎ 書法).
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Last January we were lucky enough to participate in an interview conducted by the newspaper Southern Metropolis Daily (南方都市报 Nánfāng Dūshì Bào) to our Sifu Poon Seon Seoi 潘顺遂, in which we recounted some experiences of our common story.
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According to legend, Bodhidharma transmitted Chán 禪 Buddhism to the Shàolín 少林 monks, and taught them some physical exercises that would later develop into Kung Fu. However, the available historical records are not exactly in line with this belief…
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Bodhidharma, known in China as Pútídámó 菩提達摩 or Dámó 達摩, was an Indian monk who came to China in the 6th century, and is usually considered as the founder of Kung Fu and Chán 禪 Buddhism.
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Yuèyá chǎn 月牙铲 (Crescent Moon Shovel) or “Monk Spade” is one of the classic Shaolin weapons which was later inherited by our style. Its origin is quite odd, for it is related to the funerary services performed by wandering monks.
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Emotions play an important role in our lives, to the point that they determine our character and what kind of person we become. However, we know little about them and we are not always aware of what we are feeling. Knowing our emotions means knowing ourselves better.
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Many legends attribute the origin of Kung Fu to the Shàolín monastery 少林寺. However, long before the construction of this temple, a long martial tradition already existed in China, which has been, in some way, obscured by the fame of the monks.
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