Use what is natural: Running

Early humans ran their prey to death using a technique called persistence hunting. Click the link to read all about it. Nowadays I feel that the consensus is that most people are scared or intimidated by running a mile or two. It seems like a lot, but given your natural chemistry, you are born and built to run.

Don't believe me? Well, I was a non-believer before too.

Earn Your Ph. D in Martial Arts

The Goal

If your goal is to get a great career, then there are 2 paths you can take.  Some people will have you go to college so you can do those high paying jobs, like a Doctor, or an Engineer.  Some people have decent skills and just know the right people.  There was a System Admin who never got his Degree, yet he is one of the most sought after people.  His age? Mid-twenties.  Most people need to work a long time before they become that special.  Regardless of our path, the goal is still about the career you want and desire.  

Martial arts follow a similar chronological path:

Why Train with Traditional Weapons?

Traditional Weapons Training

Very often people are attracted to Chinese Martial Arts because of the absolute array of weapons present in the system. No other ethnic combat system can boast such a plethora of sharp and shiney, blunt and edged, long and stout tools of defense and war. However, aside from being a “marketing” ploy, many others ask, "what is the use of training in such archaic tools for combat?" I will introduce a classification of weapons called the Four Great Weapons. I will then explain why I believe it important to continue training in these weapons despite the fact that the carrying of such items would either be considered illegal or simply a societal oddity.

Part 2 Gung Fu v Techniques [A]

This is the second part of my three part series which began, in the previous post, with a discussion of the Gung Fu Form and its purpose in the art, despite criticisms of its uselessness.

Our second pairing will be that of Gung Fu and Technique. First and foremost, these two are NOT the same. Let me repeat that by saying that they are NOT THE SAME. They are not synonymous save by the most extreme and tenuous stretch of the imagination. The character “Gung” literally translates to “merits and achievements” with the implied undertone of [through hard work]. The character “Fu” literally refers to a male person/figure. So literally the phrase would translate to “A man who has achieved merits through hard work”. More colloquially, Gung Fu would simply be “a hard working man”. The phrase is appropriately used for all skills which require a level of diligence and ability to become adept i.e. cooking, cleaning, building/fixing things, gardening, writing, fighting etc. Thus a person who does Gung Fu does not train in techniques, but simply the skills required to make their techniques viable.

The Purpose of Wushu

All martial arts exist for one purpose and that is to preserve life. That may be your life, or your families life or the life of your loved ones. This brings into question, of how is killing a preservation of life? This isn’t the main topic of this article so I will explain briefly: People fight to survive.

Wushu is chinese for Martial arts. However, for simplicity I will use two terms to describe two very different disciplines. Wushu is an umbrella turn for all chinese martial arts, but I will use it to describe a modernized practice that has been refined for performance, grace and looking good. Kung fu translates to great skill, but in this article I will use the term to mean the type of martial arts that is applied.

Wushu is for show; Kung fu is for fighting.

In this article I will explain my views on Wushu and describe why one would ever consider spending time on this.

The Gung Fu Form

By Vincent Yu

At the very heart of Gung Fu are the forms, the intricate movements and postures and patterns and shapes which make Gung Fu such a character within the classification of fighting arts. Though most of the classical arts have forms or patterns or katas (the terminology shifts with the system but they point to a general notion), the reasoning behind the actual practicing of forms takes on different meanings for different people. A study of the Gung Fu form might seem a bit redundant to the ardent practitioner. But to NOT at least briefly analyze this integral part of the system would do the art form as a whole an extreme injustice. Many of the criticisms leveled at TCMA (substitute any classical art for TCMA) seems to revolve around the extreme focus on learning forms. They even have a derogatory label for individuals who seem primarily keen on learning forms:Forms Collector. It sounds exactly like what it denotes; an individual who never actually studies the forms, but simply learns enough to copy the general shape, leaving at that, then quickly moving onto the next one to copy. There is no rhyme or reason to this want, save a pathological need to know as many as possible and perhaps inflate their self-worth with shallow demonstrations. But more on that later. Now allow me to progress into the analysis of the Gung Fu forms.

A Kung Fu man should Live by this code

By Brian Wang

Move rather then block.

Block rather then strike.

Strike rather then break.

Break rather then maim.

Maim rather then kill.

Kill rather then be killed.

For all life is precious, nor can any be replaced.

Source

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