Kung Fu CUstoms, Rituals and Traditions

[5thBrother]

Why does my kung fu school use THREE incense sticks when it bows in at the start of class?

what are some of the kung fu traditions and rituals im very interested in this aspect and the customs and cultural aspects of chionese martial arts..

my sihing said sumfing about "heaven, earth and man" ....

but what is heaven, earth and man means?!? hehe...

i'll have to ask him at the next dinner or quit time post training

but any info on kung fu customs, traditions and rituals..

naturally some a re school or art specific but those interesting too :)

if ur school is "against" bowing, chinese customs etc" den dats kewl but please dont post here about it... ie. should ancient kung fu chinese customs be used in modern times etc - not interested in THIS thread.. this thread soley about the customs :)

sorry if that made no sense...

thanks

[David Jamieson]

Actually, Gene wrote a fairly rounded article on the rituals associated with the kwoon.

It's located here *click it (http://www.wle.com/resources/art024.html)

as for the number 3.

3 is an esoteric number in many respects.

Consider the Taoist lesson:

1 gives birth to 2, 2 gives birth to 3 and 3 gives birth to the 10,000 things.

THis lesson has many many levels of understanding tied to it.

There are also:

The anscestors, the teacher, the art.3

The School, the teacher, you.3

The anscestors, the teacher, you.3

and, not to forget the buddhist spin of the three treasures:

The buddha (the master), the dharma (the law) , the sangha (the community.

These may all be used as reasons for burning three sticks. the fire on the incense represents the fire in our minds, the focus of our intent, i.e our will to learn, practice and achieve kungfu in our lessons.

The smoke is what carries your intention to heaven and to the world around you. esoterically speaking.

as for heaven, earth and man, these are also distinctions associated with recognition of reality from a dualistic viewpoint.
So we can be cognitive of their existance, we name them.

anyway, there is probably a swack more stuff that can be said about this. I personally burn three in relation to the first thing i mentioned in my own practice.

Being a westerner, I do not practice anscestor worship in a big way and instead focus my intention and am mindful of the practice of binding my mind and body as one using my spirit as the thread (yet another 3!).

selfish? Maybe, but it's my reality, feel free to get one of your own. :D

cheers

[5thBrother]

very interesting and some food for thought

thanks! for sharing kung lek!

[mantis108]

Customs, rituals and traditions most of the time have to do with the worldview, spiritual outlook and practical applications of a people. This is why when a new culture seize control of another it would banned the practice of these important functions of the people.

Take burning incense and worshipping ancestors for example. The very act of burning incense has the practical application of purifying the venue. It would drive certain insects and animals away or kill certain type of germs. Keeping the participants healthy. Not to mention to get rid of odorous smells (helps concentration). This action also helps to clam the mind down. Giving a moment to relax and focus on the task at hand. More importantly it helps to promote devotion which is a form of love. Yes, love as well as hate are 'disciplines'. You can "train" someone to love or to hate. A ritual such as burning 3 sticks of incense could be interpreted as passing on knowledge or hidden messages which can be viewed as submersive activities. Not to mention the messages might promote conflicts. That's why it would be banned.

Anyway, it is obvious that 3 sticks of incense represents San Cai - heaven, earth, and men. It is a symbol of time - past, present and future. Tao being the void and zero is one with Heaven. That's heaven 1 (qian). Then comes earth 2 (qun). To complete the Chinese worldview, we need to have Men/compassion/love 3.
Men here can be viewed as the Confucius ideal of a compassionate human being (Ren). The character (in writing) used to depict Ren is the same as the seed which is a men radical standing next to 2 parallel lines (the number 2 - yinyang). That's the symbol of lifeforce. So this 3 burning incense sticks is a representation of an holistic and organic ecology within a 4 dimensional space. BTW, Tao is already a lifeforce or a life giving force.

When you hold the sticks with both hands, you have the representation of 5 Elements. Just thought I add that in for ya. ;)

Mantis108

[Ao Qin]

Excellent post as always Mantis 108 - very informative and insightful!

When my teacher was at my kwoon last, I asked him if it mattered to him about the number of sticks in the pot to burn. I didn't want to offend him (one = death?). He said it didn't matter at all - one would do just fine - it was the thought / focus & respect that mattered (and yes, he is a devote Buddhist). It does indeed "purify the air" & help with the focus.

Then again, I once made the mistake of writing to one of my teachers in red ink...

Sometimes it seems though, an incense stick is just a stick of incense.

[mantiskilla]

i dont know about purifying anything, but three sticks of incense give me a headache. plus, they're a cancer causing agent...just a little extra bonus.:)
________
Wendie 99 (http://www.lovelywendie99.com/)

[David Jamieson]

plus, they're a cancer causing agent

LOL!

I don't know where you are getting your info from, but that tidbit is just slightly erroneous.

cheers

[cerebus]

Well....I suppose that inhaling large amounts of ANY kind of smoke is probably carcinogenic eventually. But you'd hafta be inhaling that incense as though you were smoking a cigarette. Somehow I think doing that with a single stick of incense would make you feel sick enough that you'd never build up to a pack-a-day habit though. :D

[Banjos_dad]

Our Sifu is from Taiwan, & when he burns incense in the school it's to mask our funky sweat stink, from the workout. If he lit 3 stix, that would really be a burn (pun intended).

[Tak]

I don't know, I think if that's the case, you should all be working your asses off to get him to light more sticks.

[Banjos_dad]

touche.