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Thread: Kung-Fu Music

  1. #1
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    Kung-Fu Music

    Taken from the first Kung-Fu Hustle Thread:

    Quote Originally Posted by No_Know
    A superior fighting skill of Kung-Fu is indicated to be Music, and restructuring sound in a focused manner. The tunes were probabally hints as to the attacks. I should go study the classics more...
    This is really cool! Many martial artists and Kung-Fu masters are also musicians, or have musical ability. I just thought this was an incidental correlation, but it appears that there's more to it...does anyone have any further insights?

    On a strictly superficial level, I can weave parallels between my form performance and in general, things like combat drills or hitting the bag, with my compositioning, in terms of dynamics, rhythm, etc. ...but that's purely on an external level.

    I'd be curious to know anything about the internal aspects, if anyone has any insight into it.

    -123
    The 10 Elements of Choy Lay Fut:
    Kum, Na, Gwa, Sau, Chop, Pow, Kup, Biu, Ding, Jong

    The 13 Principles of Taijiquan:
    Ward Off, Roll Back, Press, Push, Pluck, Elbow, Shoulder, Split, Forward, Back, Left, Right, Central Equilibrium

    And it doesn't hurt to practice stuff from:
    Mounts, Guards, and Side Mounts!


    Austin Kung-Fu Academy

  2. #2
    If you read about the old time kung fu guys, they always recommend "scholarly pursuits" such as music, calligraphy etc.

    It seems obvious that if you can gain a grasp of rythym thru music, you could apply that knowledge to martial arts. There are the chinese stories of many martial artists also being members of opera actors in old time china.

    I think the idea of music opening up a different part of the brain might be just as important. Different subjects use different parts of the brain. If all you do is fight, you only ever use the fighting part of your brain. If you play music or learn other things, more of your brain opens up and you can apply that to the kung fu.

    Music has psychological effects that are obvious so a knowledge of that might be good for kung fu. If you know which music evokes fear or paranoia, you could imitate those sounds to invoke fear and paranoia in an opponent. That is how some people "psych out" other people. They use their voice like a musical instrument and play whatever "music" evokes the desired emotion in the other person.

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    If you go back to Confucian times you will find that within that system of thought, and others I might add, music was believed to come from the heavens.

    When a musician is creating song, it is said that the sounds flowing from their creativity stem from the heavens and gods themselves.

    It is also said that you can tell the state of a culture based upon the popular musical trends.

    Look at modern society, mainly large cultural areas, USA, Canada, Japan, China, Germany, England, and so on, this is not excluding other areas, but in general our new musical trends are thus:

    Very violent, sexually obsessive, and overall depressing.

    The state of our modern cultures, if viewed from a Confucian musical standpoint, are in a state of constant violent flux, intermixed with confused desires of earthly pleasure.

    In other words, we are going down hill and falling further out of reach with the heavens.

    Music is an interesting thing. Find one who is truly at peace with themselves and listen to the music they will create. It will be a harmonious melody of joy and loving peace with often a tint of sorrow for the fellow man.
    A man has only one death. That death may be as weighty as Mt. Tai, or it may be as light as a goose feather. It all depends upon the way he uses it....
    ~Sima Qian

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    "Just do your practice. Who cares if someone else's practice is not traditional, or even fake? What does that have to do with you?"
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    performance AND chinese drums sums it up for me. the two combined heightens both the spirt and engery levels, especially when doing animal forms like tiger....its like a pep squad or something HAHAHA.

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    Bands that use the name Kung Fu

    I'm taking this old thread in a new direction. Let's list some bands that use Kung Fu in the name (other than the Wu, which is already covered extensively here).

    The first one that comes to mind is Kung Fu Vampire. They are horrorcore, which is a music movement that I'm rather dubious of.

    Another is Asian Kung-Fu Generation, which I know nothing about beyond their website.

    Another is Kung Fu, a jam band that more than a few friends have recommended to me specifically (but no one has dropped me a cd ) I don't have a site for them yet, but here's a review on jambase.com.

    Here's a new one:
    Introducing Kung Fu Fax Machine
    By Nicole Sheahan
    Friday, Dec. 04, 2009

    Kung Fu Fax Machine. Definition: a band that writes and performs witty, acoustic folk-rock music.

    Before I even heard them play, their creative name intrigued me, and I wanted to like their music. I was not disappointed in the least when I saw them live. Kung Fu Fax Machine's lyrics are clever and thought-provoking. They express emotion through lyrics like:

    "Suddenly your name is the name of a street

    I found you in the place we were never supposed to meet

    And the dawn and the music and the lights of the town

    Have the glimmer of your laugh and the pain of an eternal now"

    (Lyrics from track one on their album, "Déjà vu.")

    In other words, it is not your typical returned missionary attempt at wooing the ladies through music. Their songs talk about the struggles of life, questions of social politics and, you guessed it -- unrequited love.

    Mike McClellan and Trevor Matthews were next-door neighbors at Helaman Halls their freshman year at BYU. Matthews heard McClellan playing the guitar through the wall and brought his viola over for a jam session. They started co-writing songs and performing at open mics. Both left for two years to serve missions in Brazil and New Mexico.

    McClellan and Matthews recognize how their missions have affected their music.

    McClellan said, "I realized who I wanted to be and how seriously I wanted to take my music. I feel like I got a much bigger view of the world. I saw sides of life I had never fathomed. Without my mission in Brazil, I would have an extremely shallow, narrow view of people and what they face in life, and that would be apparent in my music."

    About his mission in New Mexico, Matthews said, "My missionary service has given me a lot of experience that I draw from as a songwriter; it helped me learn patience. Patience is an important part of our craft because good music so rarely comes to you all at once. It is mostly a piece-by-piece experience."

    Now they are back together writing and performing more than ever. They recently recorded their debut album, "The Light in the Eye." McClellan rocks out on the acoustic guitar, as does Matthews on viola. Jason Sanders keeps the beat on percussion.

    "(We want) to make interesting, catchy music that is also poetic and artistic. I believe that accessibility and artistry ... are not mutually exclusive. It is our goal to combine the two," Matthews said.

    When McClellan was asked how he'd describe Kung Fu Fax Machine's music, he said, "My answer in one word: wood. Both the sound of the band (three finely crafted pieces of wood) and our lyrics are earthy and real. I think a lot of the appeal of acoustic music could be pinned on that idea. Nothing electronic. Nothing artificial. The acoustic musician can pick up his instrument, walk into the woods, or sit down on a sidewalk and play without any help from electronics. Just a man and his wood."

    Kung Fu Fax Machine's debut album will be released Dec. 10. For more information on their new album and CD release concert, visit www.kungfufaxmachine.blogspot.com.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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    The NYC metalcore band Merauder's first full length was titled "Master Killer" and their second was "Five Deadly Venoms."

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    I like this new direction, Gene.
    They aren't strictly Kung-Fu, but there are (were) bands called:
    Karate
    Sweep the Leg Johnny

    There's a band called Danielson, and I didn't know if that was a misspelling of Daniel-san.

    And of course, there's the Foo Fighters!
    The 10 Elements of Choy Lay Fut:
    Kum, Na, Gwa, Sau, Chop, Pow, Kup, Biu, Ding, Jong

    The 13 Principles of Taijiquan:
    Ward Off, Roll Back, Press, Push, Pluck, Elbow, Shoulder, Split, Forward, Back, Left, Right, Central Equilibrium

    And it doesn't hurt to practice stuff from:
    Mounts, Guards, and Side Mounts!


    Austin Kung-Fu Academy

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    Quote Originally Posted by yutyeesam View Post
    And of course, there's the Foo Fighters!
    Actually, foo fighters refer to UFOs spotted by Allied fighter pilots during WWII.

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    Jeru the Damaja raps a lot about Chinese martial arts.

    Dialated Peoples have a lot of Gracie jiu-jitsu references in their lyrics, as well.
    He most honors my style who learns under it to destroy the teacher. -- Walt Whitman

    Quote Originally Posted by David Jamieson View Post
    As a mod, I don't have to explain myself to you.

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    Quote Originally Posted by yutyeesam View Post
    Taken from the first Kung-Fu Hustle Thread:



    This is really cool! Many martial artists and Kung-Fu masters are also musicians, or have musical ability. I just thought this was an incidental correlation, but it appears that there's more to it...does anyone have any further insights?

    On a strictly superficial level, I can weave parallels between my form performance and in general, things like combat drills or hitting the bag, with my compositioning, in terms of dynamics, rhythm, etc. ...but that's purely on an external level.

    I'd be curious to know anything about the internal aspects, if anyone has any insight into it.

    -123
    some ancients believed that music comes from the heavens and is displayed through our actions. such that our artistic expressions are windows of our souls that peer into the hights of heaven. with that belief its easy to see the correlation between music and combat, as both at their highest levels are forms of self expression.

    of course that outlook is all a matter of personal belief.
    For whoso comes amongst many shall one day find that no one man is by so far the mightiest of all.

  11. #11
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    While it isn't neccessarily about Chinese MA, Dead Prez's "Way of Life."

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kEir...eature=related
    Although the changes are infinite, the principles are the same.
    - Wang Tsung Yueh

    To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the highest skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest skill.
    - Sun Tzu

    Boards don't hit back.
    - Bruce Lee

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by yutyeesam View Post
    This is really cool! Many martial artists and Kung-Fu masters are also musicians, or have musical ability. I just thought this was an incidental correlation, but it appears that there's more to it...does anyone have any further insights?
    hmmmm... now imagine the approach from a deaf persons perspective.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by uki View Post
    hmmmm... now imagine the approach from a deaf persons perspective.
    what approach? not sure what you're getting at. if you can't hear, then none of it applies.
    The 10 Elements of Choy Lay Fut:
    Kum, Na, Gwa, Sau, Chop, Pow, Kup, Biu, Ding, Jong

    The 13 Principles of Taijiquan:
    Ward Off, Roll Back, Press, Push, Pluck, Elbow, Shoulder, Split, Forward, Back, Left, Right, Central Equilibrium

    And it doesn't hurt to practice stuff from:
    Mounts, Guards, and Side Mounts!


    Austin Kung-Fu Academy

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by yutyeesam View Post
    what approach? not sure what you're getting at. if you can't hear, then none of it applies.
    you are suggesting the correlation between music and kung fu(martial arts), this is true, yet i am offering you to imagine what correltaion a deaf person would have... form can be directly linked to music tones, yes? expressing yourself corresponding to musical harmonies? ah well... nice to point this out anyway... made my brain go to work.

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    "It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others and to forget his own." -Cicero

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