Why kung fu sucks

I am aware that this article ( like many of my articles before) will make a lot of people angry . On the other hand , facing the reality is never easy and often , when forced to face real facts , people react with anger , refusing to accept the truth . The truth in this case , Chinese Traditional Martial Arts , known as kung fu are a joke . Yes a joke . As a practitioner of traditional kung fu I am painfully aware of this. It is not once that people give me that “look” when I say I practice kung fu , especially people who practice boxing ,MMA , BJJ ,kick boxing … and I cannot say they are wrong , because ,for the most part , they are not .

While western boxing, Thai boxing , BJJ , wrestling proved them self in full contact competitions , Chinese kung fu failed tremendously to do the same . The question is why ? How systems advertised as the most effective fighting arts ever have no real fighting skills , at all. Even more , how systems which were used for real fighting in the past ,today fail to do the same ?

Well , it is all about the training , everything revolves around that . Just like there is only one way to learn how to swim , you have to actually enter into the water and …swim , same goes for fighting , if you want to learn how to fight , you have to fight , for real . Nothing can replace fighting , no drills , no sticky hands , no “internal” powers , nothing , fighting can be learned only through fighting , there is no other way . More you do it , better you become .

While each and every kung fu style is “the most effective martial style” , at least that is what everyone says , the sad truth is that maybe one Sifu in 1000 can actually fight . Even that one who can fight usually uses some kind of kick boxing which has nothing in common with a style he actually teaches. They use kick boxing because no one taught them how to use kung fu in a real fight .

I am a practitioner of Wing Chun and White Crane . Both are “internal “ styles . I have visited many schools and maybe one or two actually have sparring I their regular training schedule , the vast majority of schools do not spar , ever . Many believe that chi sao (sticky hands) practice is a replacement for sparring . Other styles have similar practice , they put accent on drills , “techniques “ and forms.  While there is nothing wrong in practicing drills , forms and “techniques “ , problems begin with a lack of sparring . Where there is no realistic training , drills and techniques become useless , self sufficient and goal to them self . They become more and more complicated , the accent is on visual effect , not on effectiveness . Now , if we have two or three generations of teachers who didn’t fight or spar , we have styles with a lot of theory , and a lot of “If he comes at you like this , you do this and this and this” . Kung fu stops to be a fighting art and becomes a performing art . People master forms drills and techniques , they are visually pleasing and look really attractive , sadly they have nothing in common  with real fighting . Drills are too precise , too complicated to be used in real fighting under the adrenalin rush , there too many steps , they are based on memorization , which has no sense in real fighting where everything is random . Techniques have too many steps , “opponent” is compliant and , of course , everything and anything can be done on such opponent , but in real fight ,if you try to do three blocks on one hit …well …  Of course , there is also a financial moment , where many teachers deliberately make their systems complicated in order to keep students as long as possible .

There is one more significant moment in this story and that is “internal” practice . More than often and from the side of many teachers deliberately misunderstood , internal practice promises great fighting powers without any real effort . Physical fitness is often despised by practitioners of “internal” arts , most of them cannot do even 10 pushups . It is like someone lifts 5 kg weights every day and that will is some amount of time make him so strong that he will be able to lift 100 kilos . That is not going to happen. If you practice without power , you will have no power , period . The truth is , there is no internal without external , relaxation and softness comes from experience and from the fact that there is something to be softened and relaxed . Like Mohamed Ali , probably the greatest “internal” master of all times . But his softness and relaxation came from hard training and everyday sparring , and of course , he was physically very strong . His softness and relaxation was very powerful , totally different form “softness” and “relaxation” in many kung fu schools , where people scream if you use even a little power .

The last thing is complete misunderstanding of principles and concepts , it is like my French , I can read French perfectly , but I don’t understand a word of it . Same goes with kung fu people and kung fu principles and concepts . Even if people learn proper structure , power generation , footwork ect , they practice it wrong ,because they do not fight , do not spar , so they have no sense how to use those things properly , which leads to the things I already described , too complicated and unrealistic drills and techniques .

The main ,and probably the only problem in kung fu is lack of sparring , if people fight , that resolves all other problems , like politics , lineage wars , “originality” , false histories , debate of which hand position is right or wrong and all other bullshit .

I practiced and believed , like so many others ,wrongly , for years , and wasted so much time ,but eventually I realized where is the problem and I changed my way of training . It is still the same wing chun and white crane I have learned from my teachers , I just put accent on different things , on basics , I train to hit stronger , to hit faster ,and don’t care how does it look like as long as I have results that can be really  measured .

  

Imperial military examination

Common believe is that Chinese martial arts were developed in Buddhist monasteries by monks who researched and experiment with combat systems and later spread it among common people. The story pf Shaolin monastery became so famous that eventually was accepted by many as rue history of Chinese martial arts. Martial arts are much older than Buddhism and for the most part of China’s history had no connection to Buddhism and were not practiced by common people until the end of XIX century . The most important and for the most part of China’s history , the only factor that drove development of martial arts was the army. One of the most important segments of martial development and a system of martial standards were Imperial military examination.

 Military examination mirrored “civil service examinations” or “imperial examinations” in Chinese, known as keju 科舉, keju zhidu 科舉制度, gongju 貢舉, xuanju 選舉 or zhiju 制舉, The Imperial examinations were an essential part of the Chinese government administration and official method for recruiting bureaucrats. First imperial examination started during   Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E. to 220 C.E.) although the idea of imperial examination can be traced to even older , Zhou dynasty(c. 1046 BC–256 BC) .The examination system was systematized and adopted its classical form during the time of  Sui Dynasty (581–618) .Imperial examination  until 1905  , although the degree to which this process was utilized varied over time and i was even discontinued for periods of time . Last exam was held during Qing dynasty and was finally abandoned on 2 September 1905, when the emperor ordered that the old examination system be discontinued at all levels .

To obtain a civil service post, a candidate had to pass through several stages, starting with preliminary local exams, and progressing, if successful, through to district, provincial and palace examinations. Exams were held every three years. Tight quotas restricted the number of successful candidates at each level — for example, only three-hundred students could pass the metropolitan examinations. Students often took the examinations several times before earning a degree.

The  subjects of the examinations was limited to the Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism as well as  mathematics, law, calligraphy, and in early dynasties , poetry , which later was excluded from tests .

 The examinations lasted between 24 and 72 hours, and were conducted in spare, isolated examination rooms. In order to obtain objectivity in evaluation, candidates were identified by number rather than name, and examination answers were recopied by a third person before being evaluated to prevent the candidate's handwriting from being recognized.

Like it was said before . Military Imperial examination mirrored civil examination system . Candidates started with testing on local level and if successful they would gradually progress to the imperial palace level.

From candidates on Imperial Military exams were required the same knowledge as for the civil service , like Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism , mathematics ect. With addition of military tactics , strategy,  and of course high level of martial arts proficiency . Candidates for Imperial Military  exams usually came from military families and they were prepared for exams in military schools .

There is little evidence how military exams looked like before Ming dynasty , when they were finally formalized and even from that period we have little data . The best known ,with the largest amount of written documents , artifacts and other evidence were tests from Qing dynasty period .

Testing on provincial level was consisted of three parts . First part was horseback archery . Candidate had nine arrows   and he had to hit at least three targets on the course , he had three laps to ride.

Second part had two sections . First section was stationary archery , basically accuracy testing. Second part was strength testing and had three parts , bow drawing, sabre waving and stone lifting . The strength of the bow was 45 , 55 and 72 kilos . The weight of the sabre was 48, 60 and 72 kilos . The weight of the stones were 120 , 150 and 180 kilos .

The third part of testing was written test . While in previous dynasties this part of the test was quite demanding and probably harder than martial test and included strategy , tactical formations , astronomy, topography , pyrotechnics in Qing dynasty this part of test was just a formality because candidates could not to meet the standards of previous times . Also in Ming dynasty , physical testing included besides what was already named testing with spear , straight sword , sabre , unarmed combat , on the horse and on the ground .

Passing the test would secure the candidate a government appointment to official post with secured income , that goes for civil and military examination . 

Woman as a creator of Wing Chun \White Crane

Creation stories of White Crane and Wing Chun are probably the best known in kung fu world and probably the most romantic ones . There are several versions of each story but in essence story goes like this , a beautiful girl with no martial skills finds herself in trouble which cannot be resolved by any other means but fighting . By the act faith , girl crossed her path with a Buddhist nun who passes her a superior fighting system and the girl finally can win over her enemies . Later girl finds happiness and refine the art further , teaching her husband and other students . Both stories put girl’s life in an early Ching dynasty period , soon after they took over Chine from the Ming dynasty , somewhere in the middle of the 17^th century . 

While stores are quite interesting and beautiful they can hardly be seen as a historical facts. Not only that existence of Fang Qi Niang and later  Yim Wing Chun  as well as the existence of the nun , Ng Muy was proven false , there is the fact that woman in traditional Chinese society , especially in the period before the very end of the Ching dynasty could not practice martial arts . There are several reasons for this .

China is, and always has been, a patrilineal and patriarchal society. It is well known that Chinese society emphasis the importance of the family and the hierarchy within the family. Men's superiority and women's inferiority are deeply rooted in the 2,000-year-old Chinese culture and are reflected in many aspects of social life.Throughout the imperial period and into the beginning of the twentieth century, the relationship among family members was prescribed by Confucian teachings. The revered philosopher sought order in the ancient ties within a family and codified the position of the male patriarch as the sole arbiter for the family unit. All family members were subordinate to the eldest male,just as all loyal subjects were subservient to the Celestial Emperor. This hierarchy also dictated relationships between a husband and his wife and concubines, a father and his children, and an elder and younger sibling. Marriages, births, and deaths were all accompanied by rituals designed to reinforce these unequal  roles.

                                            Fang Qi Niang funder of White Crane 

Prejudice against woman had existed in China long before Confucianism , in China from very early times, men have been seen as the core of the family. The ancestors to whom a Shang or Zhou dynasty king made sacrifices were his patrilineal ancestors, that is, his ancestors linked exclusively through men (his father’s father, his father’s father’s father, and so on, but it was  Confucianism that cemented role of a woman in traditional society .It was during the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E. - 220 C.E.) that Confucianism was adopted as the government's state doctrine, with his thoughts becoming part of official education. In later dynasties, Neoconfucian interpretations further reinforced male authority and patrilineal customs. Women were at the bottom of the Confucian hierarchy. Exemplary behavior and uncomplaining obedience was expected of them. By custom, aristocratic men and women lived separately. Men had multiple wives and concubines, but women were not allowed to see men other than their close relatives, husbands, or masters, or the palace eunuchs. For Confucians, spiritual development begins at home, and the home traditionally has been seen by Confucians as the paradigmatic arena of social relations. Social relations, of course, are rarely exchanges between equals, in the Confucian view, but instead tend to be interactions between superiors and inferiors. The so-called "Five Relationships" described by Confucians as the complete range of human interaction include four that entail hierarchy (ruler/subject, parent/child, husband/wife, elder sibling/younger sibling) and only one that need not entail hierarchy (friend/friend). The ideal Confucian state, with its "natural" hierarchy of ruler and subject, mirrored the home, with its "natural" hierarchy of husband and wife, and older and younger children.

As children, girls were required to obey their fathers; as wives, women were required to obey their husbands; and as widows, women were required to obey their grown-up sons. At no point in her life was a woman, according to the traditional Confucian view, expected to function as an autonomous being free of male control.

                                        Yim Wing Chun , creator of Wing Chun

In the centuries after Confucius, it became common for writers to discuss gender in terms of yin and yang. Women were yin, men were yang. Yin was soft, yielding, receptive, passive, reflective, and tranquil, whereas yang was hard, active, assertive, and dominating. Day and night, winter and summer, birth and death, indeed all natural processes occur though processes of interaction of yin and yang. Conceptualizing the differences between men and women in terms of yin and yang stresses that these differences are part of the natural order of the universe, not part of the social institutions artificially created by human beings. In yin yang theory the two forces complement each other but not in strictly equal ways. The natural relationship between yin and yang is the reason that men lead and women follow. If yin unnaturally gains the upper hand, order at both the cosmic and social level are endangered.

Maintaining a physical separation between the worlds of men and the worlds of women was viewed as an important first step toward assuring that yin would not dominate yang. The Confucian classic the Book of Rites stressed the value of segregation even within the home; houses should be divided into an inner and an outer section, with the women staying in the inner part. One poem in the Book of Poetry concluded: “Women should not take part in public affairs; they should devote themselves to tending silkworms and weaving.” A similar sentiment was expressed in the Book of Documents in proverbial form: “When the hen announces the dawn, it signals the demise of the family.”

Further  decline of women began  in the Song period, just when Neo-Confucianism was gaining sway. The two signs of this decline most frequently mentioned are the pressure on widows not to remarry and the practice of binding young girls’ feet to prevent them from growing more than a few inches long. 

Confucian sayings about woman 

1. The Mother of Mencius in Liu Hsiang, "Biographies of Admirable Women." (ca. 33 B.C.E.): "A woman's duties are to cook the five grains, heat the wine, look after her parents-in-law, make clothes, and that is all!." "It will be theirs neither to do wrong nor to do good. Only about the spirits and the food will they have to think." " A woman's duty is not to control or take charge."
2. The Book of Odes, no. 264. (ca. 781-771 B.C.E.): "Disorder is not sent down by Heaven, It is produced by women." "Those who cannot be taught, cannot be instructed. These are women and eunuchs."
3. Admonitions for Women, Madam Ban Zhao, Female Confucian philosopher and historian, (ca. 45-116 CE): "Let a woman modestly yield to others; let her respect others; let her put others first, herself. last." "Lay the (girl) baby (at birth) below the bed to plainly indicate that she is lowly and weak, and should regard it as her primary duty to humble herself before others." "A husband can marry twice, but his wife must never remarry. Just as Heaven cannot be disobeyed, so the wife cannot keep away from her husband." "As Yin and Yang are not the same nature, so man and woman have different characteristics....Man is honored for strength; a woman is beautiful on account of her gentleness."
4. Record of Ritual and Book of Rites (Han dynasty): "No daughter-in-law, without being told to go to her own apartment, should venture to withdraw from that of her parent-in-law. What ever she is about to do, she should first ask leave from them." "Women are to be led and to follow others."
5. Ban Gu, Han dynasty Philosopher: "Why is it that according to the rites the man take his wife, whereas the woman leaves her house? It is because the yin is lowly, and should not have the initiative; it proceeds to the yang in order to be completed."
6. Nu Lun U - Analects for Women (Tang dynasty): "Conjugality is made of husband's strength and wife's frailty...Accepting the blame and keeping quiet while he is in anger...Serving the husband around the clock when he is ill."
7. The Admonitions of the Instructions to the Court Ladies, quoted in Edward Schafer, "Ancient China," Great Ages of Man series, Time-Life Books, 1967. "A husband is Heaven, and Heaven cannot be shirked."
8. Confucian marriage manual, quoted in Nah Trang, "Traditional Roles of Women as Reflected in Oral and Written Vietnamese Literature," Berkeley: Asian Studies Ph.D. thesis, 1973: "Even though you sleep intimately on the same bed and use the same cover with him, you must treat your husband as if he were your king or your father."
9. Menciuss, a disciple of Confucianism, "There are three unfilial acts: the greatest of these is the failure to produce sons."
10. Greater Learning for Women, Neo-Confucian writer Kaibara Ekken (Togukawa period): "Women's nature is passive." "The foolishness of woman fails to understand the duties that lie before her very eyes."
11. Quotation attributed to Confucius, quoted in Denis Bloodworth, "The Chinese Looking Glass,, Farrar, Straus & C., ©1967: "The woman with no talent is the one who has merit."
12. Quotation attributed to Confucius, quoted in Alasdair Clayre, "The Heart of the Dragon," Houghton Mifflin, 1985:"We should not be too familiar with the lower orders or with women,"
13. Sayings based on Confucian ideals quoted in William Forbis, Japan Today:A People, Places, Powers, Harper & Row, 1975: "If you love your wife, you spoil your mother's servant." "Woman has no particular lord. She must look to her husband as her lord, and must serve him with all worship and reverence." "A woman should look on her husband as if her were Heaven itself, and never weary of thinking how she may yield to him."
14. Popular Saying quoted in, among others, Sharon Sievers, "Women in China, Japan, and Korea," Restoring to Women to History, OAH, 1988; Keith Taylor, "The Birth of Vietnam," University of California Press, 1983: "A woman ruler is like a hen crowing."
15. Xiao Ma, Asian Women's Studies Program, CUNY-Buffalo: "One of Women's Virtues lies in her ignorance." "Woman are as different from men as earth from heaven." "Women are a lower state from men."
As we can see , position of woman in traditional society prevented them from kung fu practice of any kind . Before late Ching dynasty period , martial arts were practiced exclusively by military and there was no place for a woman in the army .There was no way woman would be taught any kind of martial arts , her position was strictly regulated by traditional and state laws .  By the end of 19^th century  situation started change a little under the influence of the western religion ,philosophy and values that came with technological modernization . Of course , situation started to change only in the upper social classes , who had enough money , education and were in position to experience and stay in contact with the western influences , rural China is pretty much the same today as it was millennia ago . By the end of the 19^th century we have sporadic cases of woman practicing kung fu ,mostly daughters who were taught by their fathers . Still we have no record from that time that any woman was an official student in any martial school.
Republican period brought little changes to woman position in the society , woman were taught kung fu sporadically , only by their fathers or relatives and only in the upper social levels of society . Truth is , lower social casts never practiced martial arts in history of China . Number of woman taught kung fu before Second World War is extremely low . On the other hand , with this first appearance of woman in kung fu world we have first stories about woman ancestors and heroes of the past . Characters from the beginning of the article emerged for the first time in this period . Ng Mui was at beginning a negative character , a traitor who is responsible for the fall of the “Southern Shaolin”, later her role changed into a founder of white crane and wing chun. There are other characters , woman warriors that emerged in this period, their existence were put in a different periods of Chinese history , from Han dynasty to Ching dynasty period .
Real change for a role of a woman in Chinese society came after cultural revolution in China and strong western influence on Taiwan and Hong Kong in the same period. Although , situation was far from western standards of woman’s rights , today number of woman in kung fu is significantly higher than before .

We can clearly see that creation stories of Wing Chun and its pre successor White Crane are just that, stories . Real creators of these arts stay hidden  on some other place and time .

Who is hiding behind "Leung Bik's" name

Story about Yip Man’s teachers  is probably the best known among wing chun practitioners  today. Written by Yip Man himself and later edited by his students it became a romantic story about learning and practicing one of the best known wing chun practitioners of all times . Like most of the other ‘histories’  this story may be loosely based on some facts , but most of it’s content is pure fabrication, hype and exaggeration.

It is true Yip Man learned from Chan Wah Shun , but careful exam of the time line and different sources shows that Yip Man spent only 6 to 8 month with his first teacher . After  famous master died , and I seriously doubt he mention young boy he knew only for short time on his death bed ( like Yip Man’s sons claim), Yip Man continued his study with Chan Wah Shun’s senior student , Ng Chun So. He spent with him around two years  before he went to Hong Kong to continue his education .  Could he complete the system in this two years we cannot say , neither we can know what he was practicing , today there is no pure Chan Wah Shun’s  style , nor Ng Chun So’ style .  That part of his training will remain a mystery .  Yes, it is possible to learn the system in two years , so he may learned quite a lot in that time .

Now we are coming to the interesting part . The part that includes Leung Bik , son of the famous master Dr. Leung Jan .  A part from the fact that there was no evidence to support existence of such a person (Leung Bik) , no documents, pictures , passports, grave site , tax records , nor such a person is ever mentioned in records of other people of the time , how much could young boy in his teens learn and understand . Again He stayed couple of years in Hong Kong and then he returned to Foshan . For years  Yip Man worked as a police officer, he didn’t teach wing chun , he didn’t have students , he only practiced  in his free time in his old teacher’s  Ng Chan So school  where  Yiu Choi  hold classes and his neighbor Yuen Kai San came sometimes  .  From Yip Man’s side ,stories told by his students leave impression that Yip Man and Yuen Kai San were good friends and equals but that is not truth . Yuen Kai San was Yip Man’s senior and at one point became his teacher .  Yip Man’s and Yuen Kai San’s fathers were friends and fellow merchants . Yip family traded opium while Yuen family traded fireworks .  At one point angry mob burnt Yip’s mansion and Yip family hid at their neighbor house , Yuen family saved their lives . Yip Man’s father used his friendship and asked Yuen Kai San’s father to convince his son to accept Yip Man as a student.  Reluctantly , Yuen Ki San accepted and taught Yip Man some chi sao and superficially ,empty hand forms . Yuen Kay San only taught Yip Man the fixed structure but the system of dynamic structure and its moving through space . Also he taught him only  front facing, linear vector rolling hands platform ( tan\ fook \bong  ) , which is beginners form of chi sao  , but not the other platforms found in YKS and other systems like big huen sao platform, small huen sao platform , free form of chi sao which includes all of the previous platforms with actual moving through space while maintaining the structure .  That is why Yip Man’s system today has only one single hand chi sao platform and one double hand chi sao platform , and that is why empty hand forms of Yip Man’s system  resemble  to forms from Yuen Kai San’s system . 

In later years , Yip Man accepted several students but what he taught was  visually different from Yuen Ki San’s system but in essence that was an incomplete system without knives form(at least that is what Lun Gai , Yip Man’s student from that period said , Yip Man never taught him knives) and besides visual difference it is actually the same system Yip Man taught later in Hong Kong .

From this we can see that “Leung Bik” was most probably Yuen Kai San , bit Yip Man never used his name because he was never a disciple of Yuen Kai San and he had no permission to teach his system . There is one other important thing, legendary ancestor like Leung Bik , which gives direct connection to the most famous wing chun master of all times Leung Jan gives much more ‘face”, prestige that quiet and Yuen Kai san who lived far from public eye and had only couple of students . 

Story  is even more interesting if we consider what some of the Yip Man’s students said about Leung Bik. According to Moy Yat , Yip Man’s student and relative ‘Leung Bik “ was actually Fung Wah a student of Leung Jan.  Yip Man’s sons and Moy Yat officiated on Fung Wah’s funeral  and continue to pay their respect.  Whether Yop Man really learned from Fing Wah or nor ( we will probably never know) , this gives the story an interesting twist .

The question still remains , who is hiding behind “Leung Bik’s” name ? Fung Wah , Yuen Kai San , Leung Bik himself or maybe someone else ? Future research may shed some new light on this subject …

A gift of insult

 The gift of insults

Near Tokyo lived a great Samurai warrior, now old, who decided to teach Zen Buddhism to young people. In spite of his age, the legend was that he could defeat any adversary.
     One afternoon, a warrior - known for his complete lack of scruples - arrived there. He was famous for using techniques of provocation: he waited until his adversary made the first move and, being gifted with an enviable intelligence in order to repair any mistakes made, he counterattacked with fulminating speed.
     The young and impatient warrior had never lost a fight. Hearing of the Samurai's reputation, he had come to defeat him, and increase his fame.
     All the students were against the idea, but the old man accepted the challenge. 
     All gathered on the town square, and the young man started insulting the old master. He threw a few rocks in his direction, spat in his face, shouted every insult under the sun - he even insulted his ancestors. For hours, he did everything to provoke him, but the old man remained impassive. At the end of the afternoon, by now feeling exhausted and humiliated, the impetuous warrior left.
     Disappointed by the fact that the master had received so many insults and provocations, the students asked: 
     - How could you bear such indignity? Why didn't you use your sword, even knowing you might lose the fight, instead of displaying your cowardice in front of us all?
     - If someone comes to you with a gift, and you do not accept it, who does the gift belong to? - asked the Samurai.
     - He who tried to deliver it - replied one of his disciples.
     - The same goes for envy, anger and insults - said the master. - When they are not accepted, they continue to belong to the one who carried them.

Term “Self defense”  is well known to all martial arts practitioners , and not only to them and its meaning is clear . While the meaning of the term is clear ,  a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm.  there is a lot of confusion and debating about what self defense really is or is not . the most common is an opinion that it is an effective way to physically incapacitate the attacker, and there are situations when it is really unavoidable   , but what is more than often forgotten is the fact that self defense is much wider area and physical confrontation is the last resort . The  most important aspect of self defense is a prevention , the best solution to every attack is prevent it to happen . Again , prevention is often not fully understood and often is incomplete because  it lacks very important part . Awareness is extremely  important as well as  all those measures that help us to even come to the situation of becoming a victim of criminal assault . But this is not what I want to talk about in this article . I want to talk about street fights . It very rare situation where someone just attack other person without any reason , these kind of assaults are very rare . Street fight always has a “reason”. Either someone says something , give a “look” or act offensive somehow . People got pulled into a fight because they react on these kind of things ,they got offended or scared or both and they react  instinctively , without thinking. Truth is,  almost all street fights can be avoided. We have to understand what kind of people provoke others to fight. It is clear that normal person have no desire to hurt others , not physically nor emotionally. Only disturb people have urges to hurt others . These urges might be caused by mental illness but in most cases cause is  inferiority complex (an unrealistic feeling of general inadequacy caused by actual or supposed inferiority in one sphere,.). More than often these people were abused somehow as children . There are many reasons that cause people feel this way , usually they have no accomplishments of any kind , they lack education and intelligence ,sometimes they are physically inadequate (at last that is what they are thinking ) more than often belong to lower levels of society , or simply put , their life suck in some way and they have no mental and emotional capabilities to deal with that like a normal person .Strong feeling of inadequacy ,helplessness and fear these people try to compensate through violence . Often they try to provoke people who they envy , who have something they don’t . And this brings us to the story from the beginning . When someone tries to offend me or challenge me I do not give any response to that , I am aware what kind of person can behave in such a manner and I simply do not give them control over my emotion , because that is what they are trying to do . If you got offended by someone who doesn’t know anything about you and your life you gave up control to that person and you already lost , regardless of the outcome of the fight .If you show you care about what they say you just give them reason to continue and they will not stop because they feed on negative emotions of other people . But if you stay calm and refuse to participate in their game , all these negativity will stay with them .And the most important question is why would anyone care about what some random  people talk about them. Personally , I feel sorry for them , because only they know what is the burden they have to carry .

Many people got involved in street fights because they think they are cowards if they do not give a response to challenge , but they everything but right . That is exactly what attacker wants . Sometimes they can be persistent and it is really hard to stay calm , but every time I find myself in that situation I think about my family and what is more important , to prove an idiot I am not a coward or to go back to my family instead to go to jail .My family depends on me and I won’t  allow myself to end up in jail and spend time in a court because some idiot’s inferiority complex. I have got a lot of challenges over time I never responded to any , simply I have better things to do than fight with people who actually need professional medical help . Does that mean I cannot fight? Of course not , I practice Chinese boxing hard , every day , for years  and I am more than capable to defend my family and myself , that is the thing everyone will find out if comes to physical engagement and I won’t lose ,because I know what am I fighting for .Knowing what am I capable of, it is easy to just walk away . 

The hardest fight is with yourself , to control your emotions , to keep the inner beast dormant , to allow reason and logic to stay in control . It is very hard to achieve that , very , very hard . Person must be emotionally mature and stabile on the first place but when certain level of emotional maturity is reached it is easy to truly understand people and circumstances we are in and to give proper response to that .Martial arts training can help a lot , but it is not crucial , what is important is how we perceive things and whether or not we put them in the correct context . If someone says something bad to me I can react like a child and hit him or understand that normal person would never do such a thing and just let it go. And if we let go , we win , because we know what did and why as well as the other guy , he will be aware of the fact that he lost not because we are afraid but because we know who he is , that he is not worth of our time nor our attention . All that negative emotion, insults , rage , fear , all that will stay with him to eat his poor soul like worm . 

Future of kung fu

 History in the last 400 years was not kind to kung fu , although there were two  short periods of wide spreading and flourishing ,or it is appear so , in general kung fu stated to slowly disappear and that trend is continue today . While forbidden and persecuted in the past by the third party ,today’s declining interest is no one else’s fault , the only blame goes to kung fu its self .

 From the down of history people everywhere had some form of fighting arts . While these arts were mainly weapon arts , there were some bare hands fighting systems for entertainment purpose and competition . First of these systems is found in the oldest human civilization ,Summer . We have these systems throughout history everywhere on the world , Europe , Asia , Africa , South America . Usually these systems were some sort of boxing of wrestling or mixture of these two .

  For the most part of its history , kung fu was , as all martial systems everywhere else o the world , concentrated on weapon training for military purposes. Only a small portion of kung fu , in any , paid any attention on empty hand fighting . After fall of the Ming dynasty , situation changed and Han people could not have military format weapons so kung fu put focus on small , hidden weapons , agricultural tools and empty hands techniques . Introducing the fire arms made old systems of fighting absolute . In second half of 1800”s kung fu stopped to be a fighting art and was adopted from upper social level of society as a sign of their wealth and position. Kung fu grew theoretically , technically but not in the terms of efficiency and effectiveness , actually the opposite happened . Systems were overwhelmed with enormous amount of forms , drills and other exercises which became purpose to its self . Mastering such amount of forms and drills required great amount of time , 20 years or more . Despite all that training , kung fu practitioners seldom fought . Without real experience people theorized what can happen in the fight and made a full systems of “techniques” practiced instead of sparring or competitive fighting , these techniques became too complicated in time and totally lost any base in real fighting . Of course , we all know stories about great master from the past who never lost a fight and won hundreds of fights . The truth is , that never happened , maybe they had a fight or two , but that amount of fights has every man on the world.  Kung fu practitioners believed that drills ,”techniques” training and forms can replace fighting . Today we have several generations of masters\teachers without fighting experience . Take an example of the most famous Wing Chun lineage ,Yip Man’s.  Yip Man never fought , despite of the legends , he never had any fights ,and even if he had , even if those stories are true , he had only 3 or fights . Now compare that to a boxer who have maybe a 100 fights in his career . We also know , from the testimony of his students , Yip Man rarely even touched hands with his students , there was no sparring of any kind . Again , compare that to a boxer who spar on almost every training . As we can see the gap in real fighting experience is enormous , and only real fighting experience can develop real fighting skills , just like the only way to learn how to swim is to go into the water .We know Yip Man had coupe of fights (actually we don’t , we have no record , just unproven stories) , Yip Man’s sons never fought , as well as most of his students , and there are great amount of third generation who never fought . In three generation without fighting , Wing Chun system changed a lot . There are too many drills , too many “sections” and form “applications” , emphasis is on chi sao but without any real force , because it is an “internal” art , ect . This is just an example , we have this happen in almost all kung fu styles . That is why we have no fighters in MMA or any other world recognized full contact competition with kung fu background , where top level fighters participate . And  this is a problem , most kung fu teachers refuse to realize some things . First , the amount of time required for training . In month in a boxing club someone can gain fair fighting skills , enough for basic selfdefense , on the other hand , in kung fu club in 6 month time student will still work very basic things without any fighting training . In several years of boxing training everyone can become descent fighter , probably not good enough for professional fighting , but to be able to deal with most  self defense situations , yes . In the modern world , where people have very little time for additional activities , expecting that someone spend 20 years in learning the system is ridiculous .People have very little free time and if someone even shows interest in kung fu he should be able to learn the system in a fair amount of time and to be able to see results soon after the training started , just like in boxing , muai thai , kick boxing … that is why people do not have interest in kung fu any more , especially young people , their world is fast , they expect fast results and there are arts that actually give fast results with a fair quality ,and that is the truth no matter how unpleasant it is .

   And here we come to another issue , tradition . If you are 40 years old , spending 4 years in learning something is great amount of time , it is 1\10^th of your current life time, same amount of time I have spent in University . Now imagine 20 years in learning …Simply , that will almost never happen , first ,it is too long and second , like it was said before , it is a very questionable skill you having there . Many teachers “waters down” the curriculum on purpose in order to keep student learning as long as possible , but less and less people are willing to accept that , especially because there is no system that cannot be learned in a fair amount of time . Holding to the tradition may be important to some people , but they have to realize that tradition can kill kung fu . I often hear something like “I spent 20 years with my teacher” , and that is ok , but your teacher was your or your family personal friend , didn’t charge for classes ,he was coming to your house as a friend , you had a friendship , not real student- teacher relationship . So , there is a difference .

   Tradition is not only related to amount of time needed for training but also about other things. Many teacher expect , actually require from all their students to follow Chinese tradition . And many of them agree . As for me , I will never bow to ancestor’s photo , never offer a tea or light an incense stick to the ancestor photo , or do any ceremony on ancestor’s grave .  I am Serbian Orthodox Christian and I have my own tradition which I follow , I simply cannot anything else . Does that mean I do not respect kung fu or Chinese tradition ? Of course not , I have deep respect to all traditions , I actually know Chinese history better than average Chinese , I research Chinese culture with great passion ,I even help to preserve traditional culture , but that  is far as I can go . I don’t want to become Chinese and I cannot follow any other tradition besides my own .  This is a thing that will make many people to simply go to some other art , tradition and most importantly , religion free.

Third thing connected to tradition is conservation of the art content and it is closely related to the first issue addressed it this article . Stuck in the 19 century , technical content of the arts simply do not follow modern way of fighting . Fighting arts developed and changed tremendously in past several decades  due to exchange the information through joined trainings and most importantly full contact competitions . Keeping stubbornly the art in an ”original” state because the ancestors made it like that way and they won every single fight will just result in system without answers for modern conditions . Maybe the system worked 150 years ago , but the  world changed enormously from that time as well as the way of fighting and training . If art is not capable to adapt, change and adjust its self to ever changing conditions of the world of fighting and the world in general it will simply disappear.

Last , teachers must realize that preserving the culture does not mean conservation , because culture change over time , as everything else. Social norms , behavioral patterns , believes , desires , goals , simply put , complete way of life along with culture is changing over time and it is completely different form the time of some kung fu style’s creation . Keeping and living the norms of that time today is …well , decide for your self .

Misunderstanding and superstition , there is no lack of it in kung fu . Believing supernatural powers gained through “Qigong” and “internal” training are the reason why kung fu became the laughing stock among full contact disciplines . Training without any serious physical engagement , without any power , believing that after time of practice “power” will come from “inside”  is really ridiculous . So what really internal means . When people ask me to give an example of internal fighter I say , Mohamed Ali . He was always relaxed , and he followed all the rules of internal arts . Was weak and without physical power ? No ! Was he practicing “internal” art? No!! So how come he gain internal skills? Simply , through enormous amount of hard training and fighting experience , he came to the point where his art became “internal” and he became probably the  best fighter of modern times . Internal does not mean there is no hard training , just the opposite , internal training , in order to “work” requires much more hard work that “external” training , anyone who says differently either never fought or does that on purpose .

There are two possible ways to the future for kung fu in general . Adaptation and returning to its roots or disappearing .  Unfortunately , I do not see any signs of improvement , actually situation became worse . Young people have other interests and seldom decide to practice kung fu .  What will future bring remains to be seen

Downfall of kung fu

First traces of kung fu were found  around 3000 years B.C . For almost 5 millenniums kung fu developed , grew and improved on  battlefields  all over Asia . Kung fu in all its aspects reached its peak during the Ming dynasty period after which the downfall of Chinese martial arts started and  unfortunately continues today .

For the most of the time of its existence , kung fu was primarily weapon fighting art . Empty hand techniques were rudimentary and considered not important . Despite of the common believe , kung fu was practiced exclusively by military and law enforcement , common people had no chance nor opportunity to practice martial arts . The way practicing was also completely different from today, common soldiers practiced fighting and maneuvering in large formations, weapon techniques were compatible with that kind of warfare and there were not many “solo” techniques . The complete systems of weapon fighting and some rudimentary empty hand techniques were reserved for officers and government officials . One more interesting thing , before the end of the Ming Dynasty , kung fu styles , in a sense we know and perceive them today , did not exist . People define their arts purely by teacher’s linage , so if asked , during the Ming dynasty what is his martial style , someone would say his teacher name and further lineage . Styles as we know them today were invented later ,in the second half of the Ching dynasty rule .

When Ching overthrew the Ming two things happened which caused start of the slow declining of kung fu . Main instructors , people who possessed the complete knowledge of fighting systems were military officers . Most of them were killed , some of them manage to escape and hide but most of the military knowledge ,including martial arts were lost forever . Some of the officer changed sides and got high positions in Manchu government , they passed down their arts, but unfortunately that was just a fraction of the previous amount knowledge . We know this is true according to the government military exames . These tests during Chig dynasty could never reach standards from the time of Ming , simply most of the instructors were killed and training systems were lost . Manchus simplified the exams and made them easier to pass.

Ching dynasty didn’t pay too much attention to modernization of the army and that is probably the reason why kung fu didn’t disappear completely . Fire arms were introduced to the Ching army pretty late , so the first two century of Ching;s rule their army still relied on the traditional , old weapons . On the other hand , common people could not own any weapons , especially long weapons like spears , swords ect. Therefore , kung fu started to develop in specific direction. Training was concentrated on small , hidden weapons and empty hand techniques , compatible with this kind of training started to develop. 

In the 1850’s , fire arms finally became the main type of weapons used by Ching army which made old weapons absolute . This was a final blow to the old weapon orientated kung fu systems. Many systems simply disappeared and many changed focus in training .  Empty hand practice became main focus in kung fu training and one other thing happened , a rich class of traders and merchants adopted this kind of practice as a status symbols which distinguish them from common people who couldn’t afford the tuition fees . Most , if not all kung fu styles we know today were created from the time of 1800 to 1930’s

Although this change of focus in training and change of the social position saved kung fu from disappearing , martial arts , not used on battlefields , practiced by people who actually despised violence and did not learn it for fighting purposes but as a sign of the social status , along with a specific culture of that period and secrecy and almost none interaction and exchange between styles , kung fu became more theoretical than practical . Occasional fist fights didn’t help much in efficiency  improving and development of kung fu .

In 1900 a Chinese secret group, the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists started boxer rebellion . Boxers believed their kung fu will protect them from firearms which led slaughter of the rebels. This event led many people to stop kung fu practice and many teachers simply closed their schools. Again a great deal of knowledge was lost forever .

In 1911 China finally became a republic , free of Ching rule and government started to promote and support kung fu practice . It was a golden age of kung fu , or it seems so . This is also a period when kung fu became more than a fighting art . Kung fu was mixed with religion ,philosophy , esotery … focus moved to health , self development , religious practice … all these things , not negative in  essence led to further complicating of the styles , inventing new forms , adding new religious and  philosophical    content , making them often too complicated . Many styles completely lost their fighting aspect .

In late 1930’s in China  got involved  Second World War . Most young man went to fight and kung fu schools stayed empty . Simply there was no students to whom old masters could pass their knowledge . A lucky few , who didn’t have to go to fight on the front ,stayed in schools yet to meet the worst time in kung fu history . For China second world war didn’t end in 1945 like it was for the rest of the world . Civil war continued for four more years , devastating the country in every possible way . People fought for their country on both side and simply , there was no time for kung fu practice . Many masters closed their schools because the lack of students and many were killed just because someone thought they support one or the other side in the war.

In 1949 civil war finally ended . Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan and communists who came to power isolated country from the rest of world . After 11 years of constant war and several crop failures which happened one after another the worst famines in history of the country hit China .  Hungry people ,looking more like skeletons that alive people , roamed around searching for anything that could be eaten. Talking about kung fu training in that conditions has no sense . People were preoccupied with bare survival , even a scraps of food could mean a difference between life and death . Many masters died at that time from hunger , many systems simply disappeared .

But the worst was yet to come .The most devastating blow to traditional kung fu came with cultural revolution which came as soon as the hunger stopped. In this anti traditional movement ,kung fu practice was seen as retrograde  remains of  Feudal China and was strongly forbidden . Many kung fu master were imprisoned , sent to a labor camps and those were the lucky ones , many were simply killed or crippled .

From 1936 till 1976 when ban on kung fu practice was finally lifted a great deal of traditional kung fu simply disappeared . Not only the technique but also the cultural and historical heritage were simply erased from existence . The only forms of kung fu practice allowed in communist China  were modern Wushu which is far from kung fu as much as watching TV is and Tai Chi for health purposes .

After  cultural revolution there was not much interest for kung fu practice , it was still considered retrograde , feudal practice and government  and society in general didn’t approve this practice, although not forbidden it was not socially accepted which led to the further loss of knowledge .

Kung fu movies from Hong Kong became very popular , especially in the west in the 70’s  and 80’s when” kung fu craze “ started after Bruce Lee’s death . These movies , on one hand popularized kung fu all over the world bit on the other , they were for decades only source of any kind of information about kung fu . People accepted information from these movies totally uncritically and believed everything was true.

These movies shaped the mind of people on west as well as on the east and kung fu adjusted to the public view and expectations of those who wanted to practice and expected to practice what they have seen in the movies . Many kung fu styles totally changed their conception and technical  content in order to look exactly as people expected , just like  kung fu looks like on the movie screen . Techniques are totally unrealistic but they look very attractive if performed in great speed and they leave an impression of great fighting skill . Popular movies not only shaped technical content and approach of kung fu , but also the culture , history , heritage … simply , whatever was said or done in the movies that became a standard in real life . Even  things like “drunken kung fu” which was invented by late movie director Lau Kar Leung for the purpose of the movie ,and he clearly stated tht he was the one who invented the story, people still believe and practice “drunken kung fu “ today .

Custom of hiding things from outsiders , not showing everything and keeping key elements for carefully chosen individuals also led to low quality of training .

‘Watering down” the style in order to keep students , especially foreign ones, as long as it is possible and taking their money also harmed kung fu immensely .

Last , but least , superstition , believe  in supernatural , keeping old senseless tradition , cult like behavior also damaged kung fu .

Future of kung fu is not bright . Not proven in a ring like MMA , Thai Boxing , Kyokushin ,BJJ , there is declining interest for kung fu . Majority of martial arts practitioners have only interest in effectiveness , proven effectiveness of the style and have no interest in culture, heritage , customs ect, which became main content of many styles . I hope, as a kung fu practitioner , Chinese martial arts will find a way to prove them self in full contact fighting and save them self from disappearing .