POST #5: DISCLAIMER ADDENDUM

This should have been placed between Post 1 and Post 2, or perhaps even before Post 1. However, what is done is done, so bear in mind that this is not a CONCEPT or TEACHING post but a DISCLAIMER post.

Chinese Martial Arts has a rather deeply ingrained mystical component. You would be hard pressed to find true and diligent practitioners of the art who deny this component entirely. It is deeply involved in the culture as a whole, predominantly within Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and religious mystical practices. Small wonder that the martial arts developed would also place a heavy emphasis on this metaphysical force. I am, of course, talking about the concept of Qi (Mandarin), Hei (Cantonese), Ki (Japanese), Gi (Korean) and Khi (Vietnamese). The concept is distinctly Chinese but obviously evolved as it spread throughout East Asia, adapting and evolving accordingly throughout the times.

Let me first give you a brief run through as to what Qi is supposed to be. Qi is supposed to be the life breath, the inner energy that flows in all living things. The concept itself is immediately simply enough to grasp in order to gain a conversational level of familiarity. However, there are entire volumes devoted to the study of this presence. The complicated nature of this supposed energy is almost boundless. There is Heaven Qi and Earth Qi as well as Pre-Heaven Qi. Qi can be focused in certain points of the body, compressed, fostered, and guided for the purposes of health and longevity. There are movements which help regular the flow of this power to cure illnesses and to strengthen the physical durability of the human body, making it impervious to pain and injury. It can empower a practitioner to stand firmly planted in the face of a great weight charging against them, and this same force ben be applied to launch larger foes through the air. It is said that you can transfer this power into others to aid in their healing process, or to cause injury and havoc to the internal organs. Some are said to be able to project this power at inanimate objects, causing them to fly away as if thrown a great distance, or to shatter as if struck by a mighty blow. This force is governed by the foods we eat, the exercises we do, specific breathing patterns, the sounds make, the thoughts we think, the position of the planets and the stars along with an assortment of other variables which we must either gain control or or work compromises with. All things rely on this Qi to subsist, and it is through specific sounds, breaths, movements dietary habits that we are able to better channel and strengthen this invisible power within us for all sorts of semi-astounding feats of passive/aggressive interaction.

I want to make it very...VERY clear that I am DENYING the presence of this energy.

I am a sceptic at heart, but very open minded to having my opinions changed. In my years of training and traveling, I have personally seen and played participant to numerous demonstrations of remarkable feats attributed to Qi. I have seen people break bricks, concrete slabs, wooden poles and bend steel pipes with their hands, finger tips, head, feet, shoulder, arm, shin, back, stomach etc.

(I myself have broken no few bricks and concrete slabs in my earlier days but have since stopped training in that particular skill).

I have seen people throw needles through glass and frail balsa wood chopsticks (those cheap splintery ones in restaurants) into hard wooden boards. I have been physical struck (voluntarily mind you. Don't get the idea that I was assaulted) in ways which made me feel severely odd painful sensations; not the mundane pain of a bruise or a break, but sometimes a traveling pain, a distinct shock sensation or other such unpleasant sensations. I have also seen the more esoteric practices where people can sustain great blows to their testicles with ZERO effect. These same people demonstrate this ability by either tying massive weights, several hundred pounds worth, to their testicles via a piece of cloth, or tying their testicles to the cloth, and having it attached to a car/van/truck/etc and pulling said vehicle forward. I have also been privy to a more esoteric meditational exercise where a practitioner is able to RETRACT their testicles back into their abdomen, taking them out of harm's way entirely. These feats of martial ability range from the mundane to the ridiculous. However, though remarkable in appearance, they are very measurable and natural to explain without resorting to accusations of witchcraft, voodoo, magic potions, or the inclusion of a "Qi" premise (hint... lots and lots of training and hard work!!) And please don't give me the whole "Qi is a completely non-supernatural force" spiel. There is no established science to measure, gauge, or mark the pure effects of Qi.

(Note that I am saying PURE effects... like supposed projection and manipulation of Qi... not the PHYSICAL FEATS attributed to Qi)

The methods of measurements shift from discipline to discipline, and the results obtained are often times proven to be placebo effects. The few times things have come up inconclusive is because the rubric for judging was so vague that the results could not possibly be properly tabulated and explained.

All the amazing feats of strength, endurance and health attributed to the mystical energy is the by-product of regular, disciplined, rigorous, bloody, sweaty, painful training.

There is no magic.

Gung Fu, merit gained through hard work, is not simply an EMPTY TITLE for a set of activities. It is a description for HOW TO obtain the skills.

I will grant this much for Qi. It is a good visualization technique. The concept gives a certain illustrative element to explanations, and a point of focus for ruminations. When I give pointers or am asked to teach, depending on the circumstances, I sometimes sparingly use the term. I am always careful to say that I myself am not a proponent of the concept. I only use it to guide during certain exercises. TCMA, being such a culturally specific thing, sometimes requires culturally specific explanations as a short cut explanation. If it so happens that people DO believe the concept, then by all means go ahead. My purpose for spreading and teaching TCMA is as much to keep the culture alive as it is to open the eyes of people to the martial ability of TCMA.

There is no proper way to end this DISCLAIMER, so I will say this: As mentioned earlier, I am open to the possibility of being shown wrong. If science one day comes out conclusively

(by conclusive,I understand that there will always be individuals contrary to scientific facts i.e. moon landing disbelievers, creation 'scientists' etc)

saying that they have managed to markedly demonstrated the presence of Qi, then I of course will study the materials for myself and re-draw my conclusion then. But until that time,

I stand a firm and ardent sceptic of this culturally rich, but scientifically indefensible, phenomenon.

Train Hard. Talk Less.
~Thunder Palms

POST #3: Of MMA and TCMA PART 1

There is a lot of nonsense surrounding the whole phenomena of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). A lot of it is promoted by MMA establishments, possibly due to ignorance or possibly due to a particular redefining of the word ‘mixed’. There is also a lot of nonsense coming from the Traditional Chinese Martial Arts. People hide behind certain phrases like “our art is meant to kill” or “we don’t fight because it’s too deadly to use in competition” etc. This post will be one of several, and it will be tagged for easy search, dealing with the concept of Mixed Martial Arts and the concept of Traditional Chinese Martial Arts. To maintain a sincere air of balance, I will alternate between posts, critiquing both MMA and TCMA regarding their own specific issues. This particular post will focus primarily on the incorrect notion and definition of Mixed Martial Arts.

Mixed Martial Arts is a term applied to modern day fighters, in and out of the ring, who train in several distinct disciplines in order to become a well rounded fighting machine. Thus we have arts such as jiu-jitsu being utilized by an individual who also trains in Muay Thai, Shoot Wrestling, Western Boxing etc. That is what people consider to be Mixed Martial Arts today. Bruce Lee is considered, by a large majority, to be the father of Mixed Martial Arts because Lee, though trained mostly in a classical Chinese art, decided to broaden his horizons and would eventually add western fencing, western boxing, karate, tae kwon do etc to his training regiment, and create the now ever so popular martial philosophy of Jeet Kune Do. Though the recognizable core of his fight philosophy is heavily the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun, it was considered a milestone in the combat arts for championing the idea of learning from many different sources and taking the good while leaving what you consider personally unhelpful. The take home message I suppose is the idea of Mixed Martial Arts being a mix of different styles and forms of combat to make yourself more efficient at fighting. However, Lee certainly was the not first, nor the last, to have conceived of this notion. This has been done for thousands of years.

Traditional Chinese Martial Arts has a history spanning thousands of years. It goes past the popular Shaolin Temple and has its roots in the most basic of martial combat employed during warfare. Thus it can be said that any country that has ever waged war has a type of martial art. From how a shield should be worn and used, to where a bayonet should be aimed, these are all forms of martial combat. TCMA is essentially a slow crystallization of knowledge, passed through generations, being added and subtracted from, in order to arrive at what we have in the modern day. Any two TCMA styles are no more than half alike in either fight philosophy or fight techniques employed. I say half because, when all is said and done, barring accidents and mutations, we all have the exact number of limbs, joints and digits. Someone, somewhere, is going to arrive at the conclusion that a certain way of punching is ideal for a certain situation and, without consultation, someone else will arrive at the same conclusion, though perhaps through a different process. Thus, as I said, half alike due to the limitation and semi-uniformity of the human body, but so very different in other aspects.

Unless we travel back to the very Genesis of martial combat, all modern forms of fighting, even what we consider to be classical styles such as Japanese Karate, TCMA etc are mixed martial arts. Karate is both indigenous to Okinawa as much as it is heavily influenced by Chinese Martial Arts. The foundation of Okinawan unarmed combat, as well as weapons combat, can all be traced back to the Mainland. However, the past masters took what they thought relevant to their situation, made it distinctly Okinawan, and trained with the express purpose in mind of making it their tradition, their lore, their form of combat. And it is true. Under the eyes of a casual observer, Karate and certain styles of Gung Fu are very different. Outside of the occasional punch and kick, the structure, stepping, breathing, tempo etc are all very different. But those that have made it even a casual open-minded study will note the many similarities in the movements, techniques employed etc. How can Karate NOW not be considered a mixed martial arts system when already, many hundreds of years ago, Karate THEN was already a rich container of different philosophies, foreign as well as indigenous techniques, and a separate mindset which allowed the art to evolve in a very different manner than its sibling/cousin arts elsewhere in Asia?

When asked what makes MMA MMA, many fighters will point that they incorporate striking and grappling into their fighting styles. Thus they have a good “stand up” as well as “ground fight” game, two crucial elements which they say are ‘mixed‘ into a single training mindset. If we were to break it down to just bare bones elements, then any style of TCMA would have to be considered an MMA. At the very least, all TCMA styles have a stand up striking plan. In fact, this is a major criticism most classical arts must suffer from the more modern fighters; that the focus is too narrow on only a stand up game and there is no alternative fight plan. TCMA also have distinct joint and limb locking techniques; techniques that do not revolve around striking at all, but on subduing an individual through a very dynamic movement followed by a firm static force. They also have a plethora of weapons (ranging from the typical sword, spear and staff, to the less typical chain whip, rope dart, cane, needles etc) that are wielded differently and, though usable in all situations, have certain cases where they would be more effective than others.

(A well made spear is almost categorically better than an equally well made staff if only in the fact that the spear can be used as a staff while also as a stabbing implement).

Ground fighting… I will address that in a separate post; not because I have nothing to say, but because I have something inflammatory to say which will tie in better with a separate theme. But nixing the ground fighting, TCMA has three elements to “MMA’s” two.

Why is TCMA not considered a mixed martial arts? A possible argument would be that Modern MMA is a mixture of very distinct styles of combat from various regions around the world that focus on different strategies and techniques. This I call bullshit for two reasons, and I will include a short and a long explanation. The first short reason is that any person who watches any MMA competition will see that it almost always boils down to a semi-homoerotic punch and grapple fest (let the author now note that he has no issue with homosexuality. It is perfectly natural in my opinion and is nothing to be negatively excited about). To aid in this terse description, allow me to link you over to the web comic “Penny-Arcade” which, though simplifying to a degree… isn’t actually that far off:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/7/15/

The second short reason is that TCMA has been combining distinct styles of combat to form new theories, techniques and schools for centuries.

There isn’t a very long explanation required for the first short reason. It is almost self-explanatory. But to elucidate briefly (I will be touching on this topic in a different post), what the hell is the point of learning such disparate forms of combat and discipline if, when utilized, it boils down to nearly identical tactics, techniques and counters? It is a game of rock, paper, scissors where everyone takes the rock from the same mountain, the paper from the same tree, and the scissors from the same store. The only difference is who has the bigger rock, the thicker sheet of paper, and the better brand of scissors. How they use the tools, however, are all the same. This only works in a game. I will leave off explaining THAT particularly inflammatory bit in another post as well.

Regarding the second short point, there are several hundred distinct, documented styles, of Chinese Martial Arts. The emphasis is on the word documented, as it is hypothesized that throughout history, there have been some which have died off for various reasons, or are simply undocumented due to continued secrecy in practice

(the latter is mostly due to family styles which are strictly within the family).

But there are very real examples of how classical mixings created the more contemporary arts.

(I use contemporary loosely, as something with a history of several thousand years can be said to be more contemporary when dealing only within the span of a 100 or so years).

A very real example would be the Northern Mantis style. The Northern Mantis style (and within this branch there are several distinct sub-branches as well which differ quite broadly regarding focus i.e. Eight Step Mantis [Baat Bo Tong Long], Seven Star Mantis [Chaat Sing Tong Long], Six Unity/Harmony Mantis [Lok Hap Tong Long] etc) was created by a Buddhist martial monk who, after being incapable of defeating his older martial brother, went off to the forest to train. He gained deep insight after seeing a mantis kill and devour a larger insect. He spent months prodding the mantis with bits of straw to see how it would react to aggression from different angles and speeds. From that he developed particular hand techniques he found impressive. Thus we already have a mixture of two distinct styles. One is the core knowledge of the traditional Shaolin Buddhist martial arts. The second is the distinct handwork of the Mantis (and if you have ever seen Northern Mantis, you will agree that it is very distinct in handwork). And the third is the footwork; the method of advancing, retreating, side stepping, jumping, kicking, and blocking with legs. Those elements were borrowed, and of course slightly modified, from the Monkey style. Three distinct elements, borrowed from three distinct arts, were combined to create a new fight philosophy, new techniques, and new training schemes intentionally to develop a different type of fighting style and fighter. How is this not mixed martial arts?

After such a drawn out exposition, what is the take home message? As I said, under the headline “Of MMA and TCMA”, I plan to write several posts directly addressing the interaction of these two. Each post will have its own point. This one was geared at expressing my opinion that the scoffing and low opinion of TCMA by MMA practitioners is not one properly fueled by a definitional difference. For in truth, I think I have made it at least 80% clear that, by definition, TCMA should be considered MMA in both a classical as well as modern light. The conflict comes from somewhere else, and that will be addressed in a different post.

Train Hard. Talk Less.
~Thunder Palms

POST #2: Of History and Lineage

I will take this occasion to mount a defense of my character and 'mission'. For the casual reader, they will perhaps be confused as to why such a defense is necessary. For the veteran traditionalist, even the ones who claim to rise about conventions, they will understand why a defense might be required, though I am prepared for criticisms despite my defense. Every post I make will be geared toward dissemination of some aspect of the art, and this post will be no different. However, at the same time, this is to be a defense of my actions; my Apologia for those that are students of philosophy and familiar with Plato.

History is very important to Traditional Chinese Martial Arts. It was popularly believed that since Traditional Chinese Martial Arts (henceforth abbreviated as TCMA) is so enmeshed with the cultural history of the country and its people, only the Chinese could possibly learn it properly; "the spirit of gung fu", as my uncle said, "lies intrinsically within every Chinese person." Just as how it is very hard for deep seated foreigners to learn and care about the history of distant countries, their goals, values, habits etc... so it is the same with TCMA which, until the present, was very localized in development and practice, and therefore possessing a very strong ethnic flavour. This is quite evident in many of the naming schemes utilized for certain patterns, forms, and various martial theories. Examples would be martial philosophies based on Yin and Yang, forms of combat and exercises focusing on particular animals, and names for certain movements like the posture "One Finger Stabilizing the Heavens."

Because cultural/social history is so ingrained with the practice of TCMA, it is only logical that lineages be a very important concept as well. Lineages stretch back for generations, sometimes a bit tenuously and sometimes quite bold and exact. There is an unspoken, or perhaps occasionally expressed, notion that the further back your line extends, the more prominent/authentic/noteworthy/'powerful' your system must be. This connection, from present day back to a point in time far removed from what we contemporarily experience, is a note of pride and distinction in many martial arts circles and individual practitioners. People can hearken back to an age of heroes, revolutionaries, invincible fighters and vigilantism, pointing to those individuals found within their school, their lineages, all but lost to history and say, "I am directly linked to that man/woman through the art I practice/teach." In this way, it is quite similar to those that adhere to any sort of discipline ranging from distinct forms of achitecture to secret family recipes. And, much like guilds during the Middle-Ages and the Renaissance period, fraternities started forming around these perceived distinctions; people joined together in brotherhoods, and families began keeping secrets to ensure only those accepted through proper trials would be allowed access to their distinct methods. From this a sense of prominence arose just for being a part of a certain group of high esteem and renown. Thus strong lineage adherences are not a concept to simply wave off as irrelevant. They are an integral part to the study of TCMA systems. Though arguably detrimental to an efficient promulgation of an art, such concepts served, and still serves in many areas of the modern day Gong Wu, as a binding agent within families. Such a model promotes a certain retention of distinct elements even between similar schools.

After that somewhat lengthy introduction, I will now bluntly state the issue I must defend. My history is very much in line with the system(s) I practice. I do not adhere and teach what would be considered controversial claims regarding the history of different systems of TCMA I study and/or train. However, my lineage is extremely debatable. My family members knew this (particularly my uncle) when they decided to teach me. I will mention "my uncle" a lot as he was the primary teacher that I chose to identify and learn from after selecting to train under his speciality; that being the Hung Family Fist aka Hung Gar Kuen. I have NO defensible lineage, and it is because of this that some traditionalists have formed negative preconceptions, and have voiced annoyance, at my efforts and status. Thus begins my Apologia.

I mentioned in my first post that my uncle wanted me to rise above the politics and commercialism that runs through the heart of modern day CMA. When he taught me, he made it expressly clear that he would not mention lineages, names or other possibly contemporary individuals whom he may have taught. All he mentioned was that he learned from his father. I never met the man and my uncle never told me his name. Since my uncle has since passed several years ago, I will never know and I must accept this as a fact of life. However, during a particular instance where I pressed him for certain names, he gave me a rather long lecture. The following will be the bulk of his words to me. He spoke mostly Cantonese and some very broken English. This, coupled with the fact that it was about 5 years ago, makes the exact wording questionable. However, the ideas expressed are 100% true to that moment:

[Uncle] "What good is it to know a name? So you can try to gain credit for other people's efforts? The only reason why you should know a name is to let people know you did not CREATE. And even then, just mentioning a title like 'brother' or 'my master from -insert country/city-' would be enough. It is important to give credit where credit is due. However, outside of that, dropping names should be avoided. Listen. Gung Fu is about hard work. There is no short cut. There is no secret. Even the Chinese characters for 'Gung Fu' translates to 'Man with merit gained through effort'. What other people did will be their credit, and make sure you give them that credit. What YOU do will be your credit, and your hard work will guarantee that you will get that credit. If people case so much about names and lineage, making it AS IMPORTANT, or MORE IMPORTANT, than training, then they do not really have the best interest in mind for the art. My father trained me and a few others. I train you and a few others. You may train your children and a few others. As long as YOU PRACTICE and have QUALITY to show for the training, then people have to shut up. There are a lot of people out there who possess quality but cannot teach because they do not have a strong lineage, or they are not cunning enough to work a business system. There is too bad because there are a lot of shit teachers who are cunning and cling to names. They are why Chinese Martial Arts today are laughed at by karate people and white people in general.

[PAUSE...Uncle looks down and then looks at me with fiery eyes]

Why was Lam Sai Wing famous? Because he learned from a famous master? Maybe. But DEFINITELY because he was a righteous man, an excellent fighter, and a producer of many famous fighters. Why was Wong Fei Hung famous? Because he learned from his famous father? Maybe. But DEFINITELY becase he was a righteous man and doctor who paid attention to the common people and defended them from local gangs, corrupt officials and general violence. DEFINITELY because he produced such great fighters like Lam Sai Wing, Tang Fong, and many others. Take away the fact that these two learned from a famous master, and they would still be considered admirable folk heroes for the deeds they did. Let me ask you [insert my name]: Why is Hung Hey Gwun famous?"

[Me] "Because he created the Hung Gar Kuen system, the art that Wong Fei Hung and Lam Sai Wing practiced. He was also a famous revolutionary that fought against the corrupt foreign government and went to spread his fighting system to the common people so they could better fight for themselves."

[Uncle] "Right. He CREATED the art. Yes he was influenced by his training, but he still took what he learned and created something relatively distinct. At some point in time, someone has to create something for it to be passed on. As you can probably see, you can be famous for three reasons. The first is to create something... something worthwhile. The second is to be skilled... good at what you claim to do. The third is to belong to a famous group. Out of the three, only the first two are hallmarks of true Gung Fu. The third is an accident. You might claim that it takes a lot of work to find a famous school. But it would be better to use that effort to train. Do you want to be famous simply because of an accident?"

[Uncle puts his hand on my shoulder and speaks gently]

"Remember this. Train hard and talk less. That way when you show in the future, people cannot talk bad at all about your skills. They may pick on something else, but they have to shut up about your skills."


And that concluded that lecture. Afterward he turned around and just yelled some instructions at me. It was from that conversation, some five years ago, that I have my favourite saying and little signature at the bottom of every post.

So ends my defense of my lack of lineage; my lack of textual qualification to do what I do. Surely I must have a lineage, but if asked for proof, I must confess to have absolutely none. I have been criticized before, but that has yet to stop me from trying my best to teach with credibility and responsibility.

Train Hard. Talk Less
~Thunder Palms

POST #1: The WHO, the WHAT, and the WHY

To remain somewhat anonymous on the interwebs, the WHO will remain partially ambiguous. Suffice to say that I am a 23 year old male who graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a BA in Philosophy minoring in Creative Writing and Religious Studies. My professional aspiration is to become a lawyer (father's idea but I soon jumped aboard), but retire as a teacher/professor of Philosophy. I have studied and trained in traditional Chinese Martial Arts for most of my life and have made it a personal mission to seek out not only other forms of Chinese Martial Arts, but to also inundate myself with as many other forms of martial combat as well. I have therefore amassed an extensive collection of practical knowledge regarding Japanese martial arts, western boxing, Thai kick boxing and a few other more contemporary schools of practice.

WHAT this will be is a semi-formal gathering point of my experiences with traditional Chinese Martial Arts. I have been family trained since the age of 4 in various distinct styles; I have picked one to focus my efforts since the age of 10. The training not only centered on the physical, but on the history and martial theories involved. My Uncle once said that I was more of a natural scholar than that of a natural fighter since I always asked questions galore before doing anything. That's why he affectionately called me "Scholar Warrior". It might also have something to do with my ear. The cartilage pattern for my ears are different from each other. My Grandmother told me that one shape emphasized book learning and the other shape emphasized a fighting nature. So I suppose Scholar Warrior is a nice nickname. The title of this blog is "The Modern Day Gong Wu". Gong Wu is a Cantonese phrase which literally translates to "Rivers and Lakes". It was the poetic designation of the Martial Arts Society that was so integral to the cultural history of the Chinese people. Thus I name this page the modern day Gong Wu; a contemporary gathering of the traditional.

The WHY of this page is somewhat personal. This blog, though not my preferred method of transmission, is to be one of my many efforts to fulfill a promise I made to my uncle before he died. The promise I made was -to promote true traditional Chinese Martial Arts, by any viable format, in a society which misunderstands and misrepresents the richness and efficacy of one of the oldest systems of armed and unarmed combat.- He wanted me to rise above, to complete forego, the politics and commercialism that dictates the mainstream form of dissemination today. Thus I have always trained for free, taught for free, and now I type and post for free.

Some extraneous information that would explain my future posts would be that my speciality lies in southern styles. I also deal a lot with practical theory and the exploration and integration of "foreign" concepts to better the traditional Chinese system. Also, to clarify, I understand the limitations of transferring knowledge over textual posts is limited for something as physical as Traditional Chinese Martial Arts. That is why the majority of these posts will be aimed primarily at disseminating practical theories with a smattering of physical examples. I also want to point out that I do not suffer any level of delusion that I should be called anything remotely like a Master. Master/Sifu is an Honorific that is granted by OTHER PEOPLE who think you deserve the designation. Even then, a truly secure person wouldn't insist on being called that. You are called a Master because you live and act like one, not because you insist on being called One. Besides, 23-24 is too young. You need life experience as well as martial knowledge to be considered a Master. So bear in mind, I have no false beliefs that I am an authority. Other than that... I believe the rest will be revealed in time.

Train Hard. Talk Less.
~Thunder Palms