gongfu

 Many people today in the Western World, think of all martial arts as one and the same thing. While it may be true, that a typical Western mindset includes lumping the unknown into a box with other, similar unknown things, it is not true that the various world martial arts are all the same thing. In reality, they may all have the same basic premise, to fight, but they are starkly different from one and other in contrast.

 When many people think kung fu, they think JeanClaude VanDam, Steven Segal, Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris. The only person in that group with any Gong Fu was Bruce Lee, and he never finished his training. Every now and then, I have the wonderful oppurtunity to run into a pretentious American karate or tae kwon do black belt, which is usually as delightful as scraping my fingernails along a chalkboard while eating paste. When martial arts enter the conversation, and people that do pretend martial arts, often enjoy bringing it up, I first cringe, then confess… I’m really not interested.

 It’s long been said, that all martial arts are equal. It is only a matter of who has learned them and what that individual has done with the information that they have aquired. I disagree. While I can respect anyone who works hard at anything, why waste your time collecting canine excrement for a tea party?

 Tae Kwon Do was not originally designed for fighting, it was invented in Korea for the sake of international competition.

 Here is the real root of Japanese Karate. When the Manchus were being trained to go to the north and fight the Mongol armies, they were taught basic empty hand Gong Fu. Low level punches, kicks and combinations. When they arrived at the border, some of them fled, and ended up on Japanese soil finding refuge with local people. They taught these local people their simple bare hand sequences which were retained, passed down and called “China Hand” or “Kara Te” which is one word “Karate”. What they didn’t get is any real teaching from a gong fu master or any of the many things that go along with training gong fu.

 Sadly, this is true, and it is a harsh and embaressing truth for many long term exponents of Japanese Karate. It is often mentioned in various publications but usually put too politely like this; ” Japanese martial arts stem from Shaolin ” or ” Kung Fu is at the root of all asian martial arts” even ” Kung Fu is called ‘Mother Fist of Asia’ “. Let’s be blunt, and clear.

 Just because someone “practices kung fu” doesn’t mean that what they are doing actually amounts to anything either. A person with a poor understanding of basic principles won’t get anywhere in kung fu, and “kung fu” takes on the same meaning as karate, and often has even less value. Karate, real, authentic Karate, is a formidable way of fighting. It included realistic weapons, real kung fu concepts inferred at a later point in history and some real kung fu training methods. Real Karate, is good basic Gong Fu. It’s also rarer than a three dollar foodstamp and sadly the same goes for real Kung Fu in America. Arrogance, and real skills, simply do not mesh. Arrogance, or more specificly false confidence, is a growing part of American culture.

 If you can’t accept Chinese culture, you can’t accept kung fu. Whether your a Japanese Scholar or an American College Student.

 The most basic idea, is that you start with a crude, rudimentary fighting concept. Lift your hand and smack the top of someones head, or reach out and grab a persons throat, lift your leg and step it down on a persons stomach, whatever. You then proceed to practice that crude fighting, over and over… and over… and over… and over… Eventually you can actually use it under stress. A good teacher will guide you, with the same information that they were guided in. Now you can move on to the next thing, built on this basic set of ideas, and new concepts might be introduced, all with the same basic idea… over… and over… and over. There is no other way.

 There is an infinitude of possible paths to pursue in gong fu. More than one person could ever actually attain results in. Regardless of what your practicing, the key is practice. Real concentrated practice, not vacant redundant repetition. This is the real meaning of Gong Fu. “The fruit of diligently and consciously practiced diliberate actions”.

 Hi, and thanks for stopping.

 This link that you have stumbled across is a new blog about Chinese Martial Gong Fu. I will be blogging here, on a daily basis for some time to come, various articles concerning the Chinese Martial Arts. My name is Dave, I’m a 26 year old Maine born American with a 10 year history of diligent study in the field. I completed training in a system of Gong Fu with Shaolin Longfist at it’s core in 2004. I currently study the three pillar styles of Wutang under Cheng Man Ching lineage, and other well known, authentic lineage. All of my gong fu, has always been taken with a grain of salt. I sincerely and deeply respect all practicioners of real gong fu, but to remain true to common sense, I have always maintained an objective view of any information that I have recieved. All of my gong fu is real. Most of it, I never paid a cent for. There is no final authority on Gong Fu, just those of us who are living, and keep the arts alive within our own lives.

The term “Gong Fu” is a better spelling of the term “Kung Fu” as it is known here in the West. The two words, Gong and Fu, imply the result of a diligently practiced skill. For example, a great chef can be said to posses culinary “Gong Fu”. There really is no English equivalent, we usually either retain the term “Gong Fu” or say “Chinese Martial Arts”. In China, martial Gong Fu is popularly called “Gong Fu” but is technically “Wu Gong” or martial skill. It gets even twistier, so we’ll stop there with the semantics.

 Within Gong Fu, there are various systems, styles and methods.  A system of gong fu might include several styles and numerous methods. The basic determining value of a style, is it’s choice of techniques. For example, a flat punch to the sternum, using a vertical fist position will exist in virtually every style of gong fu. The emphasis however on the various factors that make up proper technique will differ from style to style and system to system. That is to say that while this basic punch is executed over and over with both fists in rapid succesion in the Wing Chun style of gong fu, and launched from a high stance, in the Chang Quan, or longfist style of gong fu, the same technique is applied with a longer reach of the arm, a deep stance, and a full 45 degree twist of the hips and the waist. A complete system of gong fu with have all of the components of any other system of gong fu usually, but which methods, styles, techniques and principles are emphasised will make up the systems character.

 A style of gong fu existing within a system has a certain “flavour” which is derived from the system the style is being practiced in. For example, the tiger style, common in many systems, can be radically different in it’s techniques and flavour from system to system, however it still has the same character. The character of long fist gong fu is as the name implies (it was named after the “long” river) is a flowing style, that will have rapid, powerful jumps and kicks and also pauses and slow actions, followed by more rapid movement.

 The basic gong fu of any system is it’s fighting  methods. A method is just that. One method of kicking might be to allow a gap between yourself and the opponent, then skipping forward with a fake low kick immediatly followed by a high throat, chest or head kick. Another style may fake high and kick low, so there can be a huge contrast in fighting methods. The point is, these methods, along with the styles emphasis on techniques and the flavour of the system are what define that system of gong fu and set it apart from another system.

 The basic excersises of any system are what make up the skill building potential of the system. For example, to develop skill in the shaolin five animals system, a person would do well to train their body for strength, flexibility and endurance, and consistently repeat the core techniques hundreds of times everyday with each of  the five animal method flavours, rather than spending the larger part of training on complex techniques or methods hidden within the animal sets.

 To further complicate all of this, two practicioners of the same style with different teachers may do things quite differently, and have valid reasons for their choice of posture or technique. What is consistent, is the view that hard work is the only thing that will bring any real fruit, that patience, endurance and diligent practice are the defining points of Gong Fu, which is in a constant state of improvement and which we have a deep responsibility to cultivate and nourish.

 Within Gong Fu, there are two major schools. The internal school, and the external school. Shaolin Gong Fu, Hung Ga Kong Fu, Wing Chun and Choy Lay Fut are some examples of External styles. Tai Chi Quan, Bagua Zhang and Xing Yi Quan are the three pillar styles of internal Gong Fu. An external style is defined by it’s emphasis on conditioning the physical body, while an internal style is defined by it’s emphasis on breath work and relaxation to achieve mind states and “Qi” building. All real martial Gong Fu has elements of mind, body, spirit and energy training the only difference isin the emphasis put on what kinds of training.

 The Chinese idea of “Qi” is integral to all Chinese Gong Fu. It is a vital part of Chinese culture, and one of the most basic concepts forming the foundation of Chinese medicine. The Chinese traditionally believe that there is a basic form of energy in the universe, that condenses to form matter, or disperses to form the basic animating property of life and the mind. It could be equally used to describe  either “spiritual energy” or “kinnetic energy”, it is that diverse and generalized a concept of energy. Qi can have different manifestations, the purest form being “original Qi” or “the one Qi” also called “pre-heaven real sole Qi”. It is an important concept in Chinese Gong Fu, since it is believed that increasing your vitality, by enhancing the Qi flow already present within your body will make your Gong Fu only better and better as you increase in physical comfort and ability.

 Whether or not there is actually a substance the Chinese call “Qi” is not a matter of speculation. We know that energy forms the basis of both matter and motion. Whether however the Chinese view of this energy is to be taken literally is still however a matter of Western scientific skepticism. Either way, whatever Qi cultivation methods do, they do it well, as can be attested by a large amount of medical research and more convincingly thousands of years of continued practice and personal testimony. Either way, the matter is still a cultural clash for many people.

 In summary, Chinese Martial Gong Fu is a term that implies a wide variety of concepts not existent  within Western Civilization, and a history and diversity of sports unmatched in the Western World.