Dressing Kungfu: Q&A

[jbmmaster]

how many of you ever walked around with a chinese suit on?, you know the jacket with the frog buttons. just curious because Ive seen some cool looking ones and im thinking of wearing one although i dont know what others reactions will be. i go to college so no one would probably care anyway but i think most people might think im all that and want to kick my but or something but i just like the fashion.:cool:

[Hau Tien]

Originally posted by jbmmaster
how many of you ever walked around with a chinese suit on?, you know the jacket with the frog buttons. just curious because Ive seen some cool looking ones and im thinking of wearing one although i dont know what others reactions will be. i go to college so no one would probably care anyway but i think most people might think im all that and want to kick my but or something but i just like the fashion.:cool:

Sometimes I wear a nice Chinese style shirt if I go out for a nice dinner somewhere. I've also worn them to college on occasion. I didn't get much in the way of looks or anything. I've got a few nice ones, so I don't see the point in not wearing them:)

[cho]

I just have a couple for special occasions and Chinese New Year. Can't find any Qing dynasty ("Wong Fei Hong") robes.

[Chang Style Novice]

I wear a flowing saffron robe and shaved head with incence burn spots to job interviews.

Just kidding! I actually go nude except for a bearskin cloak and a pair of double-headed bearded battleaxes.

[jbmmaster]

no sense in not dressing the way i like to, right.
people will just call me bruce leroy but i think thats a cool name:D

thanks for replies

[Kristoffer]

When I were in China, a really stupid moron from some club bought a chinese blouse for females :D He is SO stupid! They fooled him it was 4 men but everyone knew it was female fashion LOL.. he went around wearing it untill my sifu said he looked like a f@g :D Whadda tool.. :D

[SanSoo Student]

Dressing kung fu...
I only do that when i have my trusty tai chi sword, and braided back hiar like Fei Hong. :D

[Helicopter]

I saw an interview a few years ago about a leading (Chinese) Hong Kong businessman who still wore traditional dress, and he was saying how the press ridiculed him about it.

It makes me wonder if there's some college student in China going to school dressed as a puritan. ;)

[TkdWarrior]

i used to hav one...and it looked pretty cool...but wat i want is that Jet Li wore in Fist of legend...it look awesome too..
i m getting that one for sure this month...
-TkdWarrior-

[@PLUGO]

every so often a co-worker or associate will travel to asia. If I'm lucky they'll come back with a "traditional" style shirt... I've got a few, even a Wong Fei Hung looking one... I dig 'em.

[Abstract]

i have a brown 'kung fu' shirt/jacket...i just wear it open with a shirt or t-shirt underneath with jeans and Timbs...u gotta rock it correct and it looks fine. Just don't walk around lookin like Kung Fu Kenny expecting not to be ridiculed to death. Especially if you ain't Asian.

try here: Goodorient.com

:D

[GeneChing]

Strangely, my job requires that I occasionally dress so. In fact, this is the second job that has required it. I don't dress that way casually since it is my work clothes sometimes. It's like wearing a McDonalds hat when not flipping burgers for the clown. OK, it's not thaaat bad, but I do tend to avoid it, even though it is what many of my non-martial arts associates seem to expect of me.

[Sho]

I'm gonna go see some nice traditional Chinese clothes this weekend, but I'll most likely wear them only at home. However, it would be interesting to wear them at school too, but honestly I don't what people would think - not that I care or anything, but I guess it would be a bit odd from the other students' point of view. Heh.

[GeneChing]

I used to wear my old kungfu uniforms as pajamas. Comfy. I fugre that the only people who get to work in their pajamas in public are me and Hugh Hefner. These are particular comfy, once they break in... http://store.yahoo.com/martialartsmart/product---index-11-19.html

[wushu chik]

Hey Gene,
Speaking of Hugh, you should send him a complimentary set of the pajamas, and see if he'll hook you up with some of they bunnies for some more Got Qi chicks!! :D

~Wen~

[Qi dup]

That's what I like about you Wen, Your always thinkin'!:)

[wushu chik]

Thanks QD!

I thought it was a rad idea. Gene, you really should try! I am sure Hugh would LOVE a new set of jammies :). And, if you are really nice to him, i am sure he would let you use his girls for the Got Qi ads!!!! Uh, yeah, the ads!! ;)

~Wen~

[Stacey]

those things are tacky unless they are your kung fu uniform.

Why not dress in a Rennisaince outfit with a sawdust filled codpiece?

[wushu chik]

Originally posted by Stacey
those things are tacky unless they are your kung fu uniform.

Why not dress in a Rennisaince outfit with a sawdust filled codpiece?

Nah, don't worry about it. You already look stupid enough!! ;)

~Wen~

[@PLUGO]

you should pay a visit to the BAY AREA...

it may redefine your perspective on "tacky" :p

[cho]

Originally posted by TkdWarrior
i used to hav one...and it looked pretty cool...but wat i want is that Jet Li wore in Fist of legend...it look awesome too..
i m getting that one for sure this month...
-TkdWarrior-
What Jet Li wore is primarily a student's uniform. A friend of mine had one when he was in high school in Korea.

[eulerfan]

I completely understand where you are coming from. I think those outfits look hot. But, at the same time, and I have to be totally honest, if I saw somebody walking around in one, I would assume that he was full of himself. I'd like the look but I'd also wonder what the guy was trying to prove.

It doesn't make a lot of sense but people generally don't.

[@PLUGO]

well does does anyone have to Prove with their Fashion/style choice?

Weither it's traditional Chinese/asian dress or say thrift Shop Sheek...

this lends itself to an interesting debate once a person goes beyond simply waring garments for protection from the elements...

Could it reveal cultural values/Taboos?

Personal asthetic values.. or the lack there of?

what makes a "chinese Shirt" so different from a T-shirt bought at Old Navy... asside from the obvious appearances, a shirt's a shirt's a shirt...

[Chang Style Novice]

I'll tell ya, it p!sses me off to no end that women can dress almost any way at all, and as long as the 'naughty bits' are covered, there's no more thought given to deeper implications than "looks good/formal/fun/whatever." On the other side of the coin, when men dress in any way not considered very typical, all kinds of assumptions are made. EG "oh, he's got a chinese dress shirt on, he must think he's a real bad@ss" or "look at all that jewelry, he's overcompensating for something" or "a grown man wearing shorts must be really immature" or "what kind of f@ggot wears a sarong?" or "sleeveless undershirt=wifebeater" etc.

I live in Texas! If I wear shorts, a sleeveless undershirt, or (please don't let me be g@ybashed) a sarong it's because I don't want to die of heat stroke! Clothing should be practical first, expressive second, and nothing at all third.

Of course, I realize that on most double standards men make out like bandits, so please don't lecture me about that.

[@PLUGO]

I hear you man...

I guess the freadom of Fashion for women is a sort of compensation for living in "man's World" :rolleyes:

Yeah and region can be a major factor in the cultural expectations...:Like I said, a trip to the Bay area can certainly be eye opening... Or better yet, Black Rock City (http://images.burningman.com/index.cgi?q_keyword=&q_year=&q_category=&q_photog=&go.x=13&go.y=27) :cool: :eek: :cool:

[Qi dup]

Originally posted by eulerfan
if I saw somebody walking around in one, I would assume that he was full of himself. I'd like the look but I'd also wonder what the guy was trying to prove.

It doesn't make a lot of sense but people generally don't.

I'm with Eulerfan on this one. I'm almost sure Steve Seigul is a very good martial artist, but everytime I see him wearing that crap I think, "What a puttz."

[Qi dup]

btw, what's a sarong? I really don't know much about clothing:confused:

[Chang Style Novice]

A sarong is a wraparound garment worn in various southeast asian and southern pacific cultures. Here's what appears to be a tourist in Indonesia wearing one.

http://www.hdi.ns.ca/sarong.jpg

And here's a couple, each in their own sarong, to demonstrate it's unisex usage.

http://www.mauime.net/Images/Copy%20(2)%20of%20Sarong-couple1.JPG

It's also the punchline of a ancient and cheesy joke:

A tourist has just come to india by way of indonesia, and wants to get a wearable souvenier. She stops a woman she sees in the street who he thinks is rather nattily dressed in a colorful wrap. She is somewhat confused about the terminology, though.

"That's a very handsome sarong, where can I get one like it?

The indignant native corrects her: "Sari!"

"Oh no!" apologizes the tourist "Don't be sari! It is I who am sarong."

[Son_Goku]

Well, I was thinking about wearing an authentic outfit much like the first one that you see Jackie Chan's Wong Fei-Hung wearing in Drunken Master 2 ( the brown one with the robe -- I have a robe like his though not totally authentic; I'm quite good with the needle and thread, you see ), but when a TKD practitioner that I am good acquentences at my high school wore a satin blue gungfu outfit to school, there were countless morons who ridiculed him. Taht kind of threw me off. However, now that we are jounors, I am thinking of it more and more.

[GeneChing]

Did I get that right? Stacey and Wushu Chik are commenting on my codpiece now?

Anyway, the Got Qi bunnies are all part of my master plan and now that you know, you must either become part of my conspiracy or I'll have to release the ninjas.

And sarongs are quite comfortable. I wore one in Bali.

[Qi dup]

Ahh, so that's what a sarong is!



Originally posted by Stumblefist

Why do you care what other people think? If you like it wear it.
If you're not willing to kick butt for your right to do so, maybe you're on the wrong forum.

I agree with you.

[eulerfan]

Originally posted by Chang Style Novice
I'll tell ya, it p!sses me off to no end that women can dress almost any way at all, and as long as the 'naughty bits' are covered, there's no more thought given to deeper implications than "looks good/formal/fun/whatever." On the other side of the coin, when men dress in any way not considered very typical, all kinds of assumptions are made.

That's good. I'm compiling a list of why being a woman is preferable. So far I have,

1) Don't have to worry about an unexpected graze.

2) Don't have to worry about the size of my organ.

3) Don't have to figure out how to make a women happy.

4) Can dress however we please without fear of reprisal.

I think that third one is where you all REALLY got the short end of the stick. Guys are so easy to please there's almost no fun in it.

[eulerfan]

A couple of minutes of reflection and I'm taking it off the list.

We have to go out there and try to put together cute, semi-original outfits. Then you have all these weird skirts and blouses you are always trying to coordinate. It's a hassle.

For guys, dressing is a no-brainer.

Go ahead and be p!ssed off to no end. But there's a certain amount of responsibility that comes with freedom. Keep that in mind.

[Qi dup]

Originally posted by eulerfan

1) Don't have to worry about an unexpected graze.

2) Don't have to worry about the size of my organ.

3) Don't have to figure out how to make a women happy.

4) Can dress however we please without fear of reprisal.


Some guys don't have to worry about any of those things;)

[Chang Style Novice]

eulerfan -

You did see that last sentence of my post that you're quoting, right? I'm not under any illusions about this subject.

[SanSoo Student]

I like cheese also!!! ^_^ chang style novice

[Chang Style Novice]

Glad to hear it. I don't recommend wearing cheese, though. Except in the most intimate situations...

[eulerfan]

Originally posted by Chang Style Novice
eulerfan -

You did see that last sentence of my post that you're quoting, right? I'm not under any illusions about this subject.

I wasn't lecturing you about how bad women have it. I was telling you that you shouldn't be angry about this particular double standard. It's actually something of a blessing for you.

[Chang Style Novice]

Ah, maybe. The fact remains that if you wear jeans and a t shirt to a picnic, you'll be fine. If I wear a sundress, I'll be gaybashed. If you wear a suit and tie (or as I call it, a leash) to a job interview, you'll be fine. If I wear a calf-length dress and button-down blouse, I'm not getting the job.

[@PLUGO]

...er well I guess that depends on the job?

:p

[eulerfan]

But you don't have to worry about what to wear to the job interview. Suit and tie. No muss, no fuss. That decision is made for you.

There's an upside.

That's all I'm saying.

[Chang Style Novice]

Yeah, but ties are REALLY REALLY awful. About as bad as pantyhose.

Uh...

So I'm told.

:D

[eulerfan]

Now, that's nothing to be ashamed of. For those of you who don't know, on a really cold day, a pair of pantyhose under your pants will keep you as warm as your mother's bosom.

[GeneChing]

You can dress anyway you like, in the right neighborhoods in SF. We're very open minded here.

Of course, the cost of living is way high, but that's just what you got to pay if you want to wear a dress, guys.

[Chang Style Novice]

Originally posted by eulerfan
Now, that's nothing to be ashamed of. For those of you who don't know, on a really cold day, a pair of pantyhose under your pants will keep you as warm as your mother's bosom.

A really cold day?!!?

What alternate universe Houston TX do you live in?

[eulerfan]

I live in the regular old Houston. I've also lived in the regular old Norway and the regular old Scotland.

I seem to recall a few really cold Houston days. A few years ago. Maybe it was a dream I had. I'm not sure.

[Chang Style Novice]

Norway and Scotland, huh? Well, that's different (to say the least! Ever try getting a nice bowl of pozole with lots of chipotle in Oslo?)

I lived in Alaska for seven years, and Quebec for one, so I know from cold, too. And as far as I can tell, Texas ain't got it. "Really cold" down here means below 30 degrees, not below -20 degrees.

[eulerfan]

Cold is subjective. Norway and Scotland notwithstanding, I lived in Singapore for seven years. I think I adapted too well to the heat and, being in Houston, haven't had a chance to adapt to cold. Below thirty is pretty painful for me.

[GeneChing]

"The coldest winter I ever had was a summer in SF" Its a popular misquote of Mark Twain. Actually SF is pretty warm but it tricks you. The rest of the Bay Area is quite warm, but SF has the fog which freezes our tourists. Heh, heh, nothing more satsifying to an SF local than to see some short sleeve short pants clad tourist while being bundled up in a cosy hoody. http://store.yahoo.com/martialartsmart/99xmahd15.html

[Chang Style Novice]

I haven' t yet made it to asia in my travels. Is it true the Singapore cucarachas make the big flying fellas we see down here look like runts? I don't like that idea at all. I swear, I once saw a Houston waterbug wearing colors and flashing gang signs. If it get's worse than that, I might just stay home.

[eulerfan]

That's funny.

The roaches are about the same there.

What you have to watch out for is this fruit called a Durian. It's the worst thing you will ever smell and the scent is a powerful lifeforce. Once, somebody threw durian remains down the garbage shute. It just passed by the appartment via the shute but the whole place smelled like a$$ all day.

[Lisa]

Ugh... durian. I lived in Taiwan for about four months last year. In the grocery store where we shopped, the durian bins were right in front of the entrance. You'd walk in and it was all you could smell. It's like rotten cantaloupe.

[eulerfan]

I've been told they taste like onion flavored ice cream.

[GeneChing]

Durians, my lord. I love tropical fruits and durian fans claim that it is the king of fruits, so I tried some in Thailand. Wow, that was some nasty stuff. N-A-S-T-Y. I love the signs in no durian signs Singapore with the Durians in the red circle with a line through it.

It's more of a weapon than a fruit.

[Chang Style Novice]

So, uh...what's the best way to wear a durian (trying desperately to return to topic.)

[TaiChiStorm]

I like Steven Seagal wearing Asian clothes. He lookes very good with it while other people just look stupid. It depends......I personally like wearing Indian clothes. They look a bit different to Chinese clothes as they don't have such characteristic buttons.
By the way, it is getting winter here in Germany, too. Sometimes I have problems with the cold outside when I practice Kung Fu. Do you have any tips concerning handshoes or something like this???

[Chang Style Novice]

handshoes? I think the word you're looking for is gloves, but I'm not certain.

Anyway, I've been known to do forms outdoors with gloves. Doesn't seem to cause me any troubles. The most serious problems come from wearing streetclothes, because most pants don't have the gussetted crotch for wide leg stretches, as in "Snake crawls on the ground" side heel kick.

[TaiChiStorm]

Thank you for your reply.
I would like to tell you about my Tai Chi teacher: always when I practice the whole old yang style form with him outside, his hands turn warm. It is so curious!! No matter how cold it is.....his hands are always warm while I am having real PAIN in my fingers when it is cold outside. You know ,this is something I really want to reach with my Tai Chi training one day!!!

[@PLUGO]

well, this sounds like a great arguement for those extra Long Chinese sleeves!!! :D

[GeneChing]

You know, I was toying with wearing my silk chinese jacket from the anniversary party to the exotic erotic (thought it might go good with my devil horns) but I didin't. But I did go to my high school reunion wearing a pseudo-kungfu style jacket. It was a bright orange jacket with frog ties in the Chinese-style that is either made of a raw silk or hemp blend that I got in Thailand. Most of the others wear wearing sports coats & ties. Everyone kept telling me I looked exactly the same (although in high school I always wore solid black, goth before they even had a word for the trend.)

You know, I was voted most likely person in my class to be a villian in a kungfu movie. Prophesy, in a way. I suppose a lot of people here got voted the same or similar distinctions.

[@PLUGO]

Bright orange with frog buttons... JEEEZE.

Never reached anything nere villany until college... became V.P. of the Martial Arts club at about the same time... so maybe there IS a connection...

Still got in good with Campus security at the time which made for quite a few "perks"... ahhh collage.

[GeneChing]

Well, as day glo as that material can be. It was pretty gaudy, but I was pretty gaudy in High School. And after working for the Dead so long, I have no fear of dressing in a retina-searing clown suit. It was soooo worth it. I tell you, staring into the years of my own midlife crisis, it's great to hear that I look exactly like I did 20 years ago from a gaggle of fat balding alumni. heh, heh, kungfu keeps ya young!

[onikage]

I have a very weird question, what do you call those long shirts and coats that the kung fu masters wear in movies like lord of the wu tang?(starring jet li) I've been wanting to buy some for a long time but i can never find the ones I'm looking for.

[@PLUGO]

Well not sure where you live... (actually I have no idea) but is there a "china Town" district? I've found them plenty in the China town on both coasts... N.Y. & S.F.

you can probably order it online as well...

[GeneChing]

Actually two of our reps are currently in China & Taiwan and that's one of the things they are going to look for for www.martialartsmart.com