Shuai Jiao Part 2: Kung Fu’s failures, cultural identity and it’s enormous, turbulent history
This is part two of BE’s feature about Kung Fu’s past, present and future. Check here for Part 1.
By chrismassari Mar 15, 2019, 8:00am EDT
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What Happened to the Grandfather of the Martial Arts
The martial art of Kung Fu boomed in the West during the 1970’s thanks to Chinese cinema and has since created a global awareness that is arguably, second to none when it comes to a combat art.
Yet, this relevancy has remained for the most part, reserved to movies and culture exclusively. It’s deemed by most practicing martial artists as nothing more than entertainment and lacking any real or applicable combat principles in the world of mixed martial arts.
Because, unlike Karate or Taekwondo who have adapted to the “MMA” era, Kung Fu simply just hasn’t. But, why is that?
Why has Kung Fu been unable to adjust and is perceived, rightfully so, as ineffective in contrast to other arts? The answer to this question is probably found in its country of origin, and in the study of China’s history and culture.
However, getting to that answer is a bit of a deep dive down a very large and extensive rabbit hole, that can be difficult to fully grasp.
To start with, attempting to condense thousands of years of Chinese history is a Herculean task. Think about it this way:
The United States has been a country for only 239 years.
The Russian state is about 1156 years old.
The Greek language has been around for about 3,400 years.
While the first Chinese dynasty? It already existed about 4,100 years ago.
And when you try to explore this issue of Kung Fu’s current state, the biggest problem you run into is being unable to disconnect or discount the Chinese history from the martial art itself, because Kung Fu has also spanned the length of the civilization, culture and society.
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Six masters of Shuai Jiao in Tianjin, 1930 Wikimedia
Shuai Jiao or Shuai Chiao, the grandfather of Chinese martial arts, often incorrectly referred to as “Chinese Judo” and sometimes known as Chinese Wrestling, dates back over 4,000 years ago as an ancient system of military close combat Kung Fu, in which it was referred to then as jǐao dǐ (角抵) or jiao li (角力) and translated as “horn butting.”
Here’s another thought exercise for perspective:
Japanese Jiu-Jitsu or Judo was introduced to the Gracie family around 1914, 104 years ago.
The Chinese introduced the Japanese to Kung Fu around 650 years ago, spawning the creation and development of Karate.
Pankration was first introduced into the Greek Olympics about 2,600 years ago.
Kung Fu is almost double that.
And because of this massive factor of time that it’s existed, in order for anyone to better its current state, you again, must also understand Chinese history or at the very least, some key components about it.
This circles back to that “why.”
Why has Kung Fu not recovered as an art and why has it lost relevancy in the combat arts conversation?
Breaking Down Tradition, Theory and Philosophy
Unlike other martial arts, Kung Fu is deeply tied to religious and philosophical ideologies.
Whether it’s the Buddhist influences of Shaolin or the Daoist connection to Tai Chi (Taiji, T’ai chi ch’üan, Taijiquan), the Chinese arts are deeply tied to internal or moral development and most of the time, more so than anything external.
Lavell Marshall, a Shuai Chiao Black Belt and a multiple-time national Shuai Jiao champion and international competitor on Team USA, explains:
“There is a much deeper spiritual connection in Eastern martial arts [than others]. Not necessarily religious, but spiritual. It goes deeper into the soul...The whole culture shapes it.”
Historically in Chinese arts, progression was also tied to the development of the self. The journey in Kung Fu branches ****her than just competent fighting skills — you also become a better human being.
There are always exceptions to this rule, but Bleys Lee, in a TED Talk, gives an explanation from his time in China:
“I was ultimately confronted with the fact that the theory, the thinking of it had become 99% percent of the practice and the doing of it, had very little attention focused on it.”
Lee then goes on to tie a second issue that is very, very common in the methodology and ideology contained in Kung Fu, to the point of it being cliche. It’s the Chinese idea that students need to spend years and years doing theory and basics, before even being able to actually learn “real” Kung Fu.
This training philosophy of “ten years” was also probably the influence of this famous Zen kōan:
“A martial arts student went to his teacher and said earnestly, “I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long will it take me to master it?” The teacher’s reply was casual, “Ten years.” Impatiently, the student answered, “But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice everyday, ten or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?” The teacher thought for a moment, “20 years.”
And because Chinese Kung Fu is so closely tied with religious principles, it’s not meant to be an easy or even attainable task because neither is enlightenment. Becoming a martial arts master is almost synonymous with becoming a religious one as well.
In the HBO documentary, Needle Through Brick, a Kung Fu master, Grand Master Yeo Ching Ping is asked about how many of his students learned all of his Kung Fu, to which he replies:
“Looking at it from the traditional Chinese standards, there aren’t many. Only two to four out of every 100 students can be successful. The rest can’t be successful. Out of all my students, there have been about 1000. No more than 20 have been successful.”
The director of film, Patrick Daly, asked about teaching someone practical Kung Fu in two or three years to a group of masters. He was answered that it could not be done morally and it’s a reason why the art was dying as well.
“This is the traditional culture. That’s why a lot becomes extinct. Chinese traditional Kung Fu is like this.”
These masters stated they could not break from tradition, because they made oaths to their own masters that they would teach it the same way that they were taught.
Lavell expressed his own opinion on the matter as:
“Kung Fu failed because most people that do it, don’t know how to get out of their old ways. They get confused in the teachings and think they have to fight like the forms, when in reality, the forms are just like reading a book with techniques. It’s there as a reference and a way to develop the body for that particular style, but doesn’t mean you fight like it exactly. Kung Fu takes a long time to learn and is hard work, but truthfully, that’s an outdated way of teaching and training it.”