What is Kung-Fu

By Dean Chin (Edited by Britney Ramirez - Sun, Oct 28, 2018)

    According to revolutionist Darwin, the fittest survives. This theory can be applied to the man’s defense techniques. In the beginning, when man’s survival had to depend on his adaption to the environment, he learned how he could best make use of the natural resources, and how he could best overcome the many animals which were preying upon him. As time evolved, and as man dominated nature and animals, he became his own enemy. This is so because man is a competitive animal; and in this complex social, political and economic civilization, man, having conquered nature and animal, turns towards each other. That is not to say that the history of defense techniques is all offense, but that the survival instinct promotes better and more self-preserving physical practices each day.

    The word “Kung-Fu” was not always identified with the martial arts we know as today. Prior to the days of advanced civilization when man’s mental adroitness, the ability to do something readily and well. “Wu-Su” is generally understood now to refer to the martial arts, and “Kung-Fu” is a mastery of an arts. To survive then, one must acquire “Kung-Fu” in hunting, fishing, sheltering, etc. As the need for protection from nature dangers degreases, man’s “Kung-Fu” in these arts became less important for his survival. He now had leisure time to develop his mind as well as his physical fitness. It is from this gradual chain of specialization of skills that “Kung-Fu” has come to signify a defensive system of hand to hand combat utilizing a variety of sudden blows, kicks, and weapons.   

    In examining the history of Kung-Fu, one is inevitably examining the history of Chinese boxing, wrestling, weaponry, and exercises; because in order to become a Kung-Fu master, one must be a complete expert who is able to accept any challenger’s specific method of fighting. Kung-Fu stems its origin from the military, and at the same time, relates to the philosophers of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. From these three teachings, Kung-Fu draws and emphasizes their positive aspects of meditation, breathing techniques, enlightenment, and the search for good--all of which contributes to the development of a higher sense of awareness for the mind and the body.

    Chinese boxing can be traced back to the Chou Dynasty (1066 B.C.-403 B.C.). In the Book of Rites of that dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Annals (722-481 B.C.), and the literature of the Warring States period (403-221 B.C.), displays of archery, fencing, and wrestling are shown. During the reign of the Yellow Emperor (Ca. 2700 B.C.), there lived an able fighter and chief rival of the Emperor named Chi Yu. He was a village leader who engaged in a constant power struggle with the Emperor. In the many battles for supremacy, Chi-Yu invented a horn-like ornament worn on the head and used for butting against the enemy while fighting. This was considered a revolutionary combat form; since prior to this invention, fighting was composed of wrestling and hand to hand combat with crude weapons. Despite his innovation ideas Chi Yu lost the struggle to the Yellow Emperor’s reign, more advanced wrestling techniques were also developed.

    In around 500 B.C., a famous surgeon named Hue To originated a series of five health exercises named after the animals which were imitated: the tiger, the deer, the bear, these exercises, which copied the five animals’ method of fighting, were later adopted by the Kung-Fu masters and incorporated into the Shaolin Temple School of boxing.

    In the Han Dynasty (206B.C.-A.D.220), China increased its trade with Japan; and along with commercial wares, wrestling was brought to Japan where it proliferates today. Also during the latter part of this dynasty, a parallel discipline to boxing developed. This physical discipline was based on the respiratory and psychophysiological techniques of Lao Tzu and was called Teo Te Ching (“The Way and Power”). Taoism was a philosophy of pacifism and greatly influenced Chinese martial arts. Confucius, who acknowledged that a well-rounded individual should excel in the six arts of self-conduct, music, archery, chariot-driving, writing, and arithmetic (i.e., an athlete as well as a scholar), along with the Taoists, believed in one’s right as an independent life of his own. They opposed brute force, but recognized the necessity of physical readiness in defense. Originally, the Taoist meditative- respiratory techniques were practiced for health purposes, but later lent themselves to fighting applications.

    Chinese boxing was subsequently modified by the arrival of Buddhist monks from India. From them, new ideas of health based on the equilibrium of the four elements composing the body; earth, water, fire, and wind, were borrowed. These ideas are carried into modern Chinese boxing and is integral to the Internal system. One of these monks name Bodhidharma in Honan Province for nine years. Along with preaching the philosophy of Buddhism, he taught his followers, whom he believed were physically weak, a series of internal and external exercises called the Lor Bon of Eighteen Hands, Yik Gun Gaing, and Sai Shu Gaing to strengthen their health. The importance of Dar Mor lies in the facts that he was the first to teach the martial arts to the monks.

    During the T’ang Dynasty (618-907A.D), China’s age of chivalry, boxing was given great emphasis by the heroics of the fighting Buddhist monks, most important of whom was T’an Tsung's triumph. He and the Shaolin Temple boxing won the emperor’s favor and support, and were awarded large tracts of land. As a result of the dynasty’s backing, the name of the Shaolin Temple School of boxing became well-known.

    Imperial support became active participation in the Sung Dynasty. The dynasty’s first Emperor, Sung T’ai Tsit learned boxing under the tutelage of the Shaolin monks. Having mastered the arts, he developed a boxing system of his own called T’ia Tus “ch’ang ch’uan” (“long boxing”), and was the first to use the two and three sectional staffs in fighting. Also during this period, it was believed that a General Yueh Fei perfected the Eagle-claw grappling technique and spear fighting. These techniques were then taught to his soldiers.

    In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.), there was a Shaolin Buddhist monk named Cheng Sam Fung  (1417-1459 A.D.) who changed his belief in Buddhism to Taoism. Leaving the Shaolin Temple and having learned a “soft” system of boxing which stressed the use of centripetal force, intense concentration, and “chi-kung”, a method of breathing. This system was different from the “hard” system of Shaolin which he thought was too strenuous and unnatural for the body. Yen Ching of the late Sung Dynasty, using the theory of centripetal force, advance wrestling techniques called Gim Yee Eighteen Falls; these wee methods which caused opponents to fall with a mere touch.

    Towards the end of the Ming Dynasty (1522-1566A.D.), the influence of the Wu Don “soft” system extended as the prestige of the Shaolin systems declined. This caused a Shaolin monk named Gok Yu Sang Yueng to travel throughout China, hoping to find a new breed of boxers who can rebuild the fame of Shaolin boxing. He was successful in meeting Lei Sui and Bok Yoke Fung both master boxers, and invited them back to Shaolin with him. Once there, these two men studied and combined all of the individual skills of the monks and invented five animal forms of boxing: the dragon, the tiger, the snake, the crane, and the leopard. With the introduction of these new forms, the Shaolin Temple School of the boxing reached its height of influence.

    Boxing grew and spread at an unprecedented rate during the late Ming Dynasty and the Ch’ing Dynasty  (1644-1911A.D.), and many of these systems of today were born, for example, Tai Chi, Wing Chun, Rung Gar, and Jow Ga, etc…This proliferation was caused, in part, by the conquest of China by the Manchu, which in turn caused many boxers to join with the secret societies and teach the members their boxing skills, hoping to return the Ming to power. The Shaolin boxers were a leading force in the rebellion against the Manchu and their Temple was burnt as a result. Although unsuccessful in restoring the Ming, the boxers were instrumental in bringing the boxing doctrine to all corners of China, especially the South.

    The migration of some of the Shaolin boxers to the South eventually led to the split of the original Shaolin system to the North and the South systems. The landscape of these two regions played a major role in molding each system. Due to the existence of large areas of flat lands in the North and therefore more space to move about, kicking and jumping techniques, and fast footwork were emphasized. Also because the geography of the North facilitated horse riding, spears were natural weapons to the horsemen, whereas in the South were hills, rivers, and mountains were abundant, the emphasis was on the hand techniques, firm stance, and the staff as a weapon.

    With the demise of the Manchu and the birth of the Republic in 1912, boxing, although suffering from the setback of the Boxers Rebellion, continued to develop and spread. The present government on the mainland, as well as the one in Taiwan, still promotes mass participation in Kung-Fu, which is regarded as a precious heritage. Aside from its defensive purposes, Kung-Fu’s esthetic worth then as now is clear, for it enables one to use the body as a tool of expression and to channel aggression without injury to others.