Kung-Fu
History
The Chinese martial arts are as old as the culture of China itself. Written
records dating back to the reign of Huangdi, the legendary “Yellow Emperor” who
reigned from 2698-2599 B.C., make references to various combative disciplines
and indicate that these ancient forms of pugilism were already highly developed
at that time. Over the next several millennia hundreds of fighting styles
evolved and many of them are still practiced today. Most kung-fu styles can be
classified as “northern” or “southern” systems.
Because
northern China’s topography features wide-open plains that are dotted with
hills and mountainous areas, the northern fighting arts made use of the
wide-open ground and generally utilized long stances, jumps, and long-range
kicking and punching techniques.
These are now generically referred to as the “long fist styles” and include
7-Star Praying Mantis, Changquan, Eagle-Claw, and so on.
Southern China’s climate is much warmer and living conditions in the
narrow alleyways of the southern cities were much more crowded than those of
the north. Many people worked and lived on houseboats. Because there was
less room in which to maneuver, the southern fighting arts are characterized
by shorter stances, low kicks, short punches and strikes, and close-quarters
joint-twisting techniques. These are often referred to as “short fist
styles”, which include Hung-Ga, Southern Crane Styles (which gave birth to
Okinawan karate), and Fut-Ga.
The differences between the northern and southern styles are broad
generalizations and the distinctions between them are not always clear.
Some northern forms utilize short-range techniques and numerous southern
boxing styles feature extended kicks, punches, and long stances.
In the 18th Century three unique martial schools emerged and they became
known as the classical “internal” styles (neijia); taijiquan, xingyiquan,
and baguazhang. Of these three arts, taijiquan is the best known. In fact,
taijiquan is probably the most popular martial art in the world. Renowned
as an excellent form of health maintenance, the flowing, slow motion
movements of taijiquan are routinely practiced every morning by millions of
Chinese. The ostensible movements of this peculiar art appear gentle and
soft but it should be borne in mind that taijiquan was originally created as
a fighting method.
Although kung-fu forms are often very aesthetically appealing they also
conceal horribly lethal fighting techniques; blows which can cripple or
kill, seizing techniques which are employed to rip muscles and dislocate
joints, and techniques that are intended to blind or even emasculate one’s
adversary.
Xingyiquan was, and still is, practiced primarily as a combative
discipline. Its movements are explosive and extremely powerful. Xingyiquan
is a kind of “no frills” martial art, which disdains “flowery” movements
that are impractical or pretentious. Instead, it focuses on direct,
pragmatic techniques that enable its practitioners to drive through the
opponent and crush him at the earliest opportunity.
Baguazhang devotees spend years practicing and perfecting various methods
of walking around the rim of a circle while performing intricate upper body
maneuvers. On the surface it would seem that this peculiar art has as much
in common with hand-to-hand fighting as a fish does to a bicycle but the
fact is that baguazhang was once extolled as a combative method par
excellence. Rather than meeting an aggressor’s attack head-on,
practitioners of baguazhang often prefer to evade the enemy’s advance and
strike him from an unexpected quarter.
Instead of relying on the isolated strength of the arms or legs, these
three novel disciplines emphasize the importance of moving the entire body
as a single, integrated unit. This allows their practitioners to generate
and utilize intrinsic energy (known as qi) and generate uncanny power.
The Chinese martial arts have never established any sort of standardized
training uniform, nor have they instituted a ranking structure. Many
kung-fu schools train in simple tee-shirts and Chinese-style “lantern”
pants. Others wear what is now called a “kung-fu uniform”, but which, in
reality, is simply a form of old-fashioned Chinese streetwear. Because most
training was conducted outside, practitioners almost always wore shoes – a
feature that is still prominent in many contemporary kung-fu schools.
While many schools do not have a rank structure, others do.
Unfortunately, there is no standardized progression of colored belts or
sashes. In one school, a black sash or belt is comparable to the same
colored rank designated in karate or taekwondo; in others, it is worn by
beginning students. However, there is a movement nowadays to utilize the
same sort of colored-belt or sash progression as that used in karate.
