The Martial Arts represent many things to different people.
I like many of you get a great thrill from the beating to senseless of the other human-beings (especially the “drunken-ed untrained” LOL!) but seriously I am curious what it means to you the various members of this Kung Fu discussions forum.
While working long hours over the last week I began to reflect on my experiences here in this life and on this forum, I am reconsidering what Kung Fu represents in my life and weather or not I am served by my dedication to it.
Many of us that contribute here are practitioners of Traditional Chinese Martial Arts and weather you’d agree or not the concepts of Kung Fu (time, practice, patience and hard work) are not limited to any one particular national art or style.
Is your practice of martial science purely about the violent suppression & domination of another human being or is there something deeper? What values and principles surround and govern your practice if any? Be careful how you answer here or I’ll get lkfmdc to Bas Rutten your a$$es right here and now!
In the pursuit of excellence in the study of Martial Arts I began to search for the deeper meaning embodied with-in the harmonized training and teaching techniques of our system.
Through my consistent daily personal practice I began to heal old nagging injuries and I discovered many a psychological revelation. Kung Fu as a vivifying exercise morphed into a powerful spiritual path acting as a catalyst to discovery in spiritual practices and esoteric trainings. Some may say that this path “produces crazy” but I argue that it simply produces a powerfully alternate world view.
My Sifu taught and shared with me to be successful as a martial practitioner to humble myself as I promote and advance the martial arts as a means for individuals to achieve self-betterment, self-discovery, and self-discipline through the extended practice of kung fu.
I have great respect for my teacher not only for his martial art skill but also for his wisdom, experience and patience in taking his time to uplift me via his discipline and doctrines.
The word “sifu” as many of you know is translated as “teacher-father” in English. This is a very foreign concept to most westerners because of our overly competitive nature. We are taught to value ourselves highly, but this may also prove to be an impediment towards learning, as it is sometimes difficult for us to humble ourselves enough to learn from others.
My own teacher carefully explained to me the sacrifices he himself had to make in order to learn the martial arts. He then explained that his teacher had taught him in the same tradition.
In the discipline of the traditional Chinese martial arts we expected that all students abide by the traditional relationship between martial arts master and student.
In seems that in modern day society, we are taught to value ourselves, sometimes to the detriment of others. Reverence toward a teacher is rare and sometimes we may even be defiant or resentful of this relationship.
I believe that these teachings deserve deep reverence as over time they will enrich and uplift one’s life for the better. How can one truly respect the teachings if one does not respect the teacher? Below I list a series of guidelines my teacher suggests in his mission statement to our group:
VALUES AND PRINCIPLES
Teach the art to anyone regardless of age, sex, race, color, or nationality who is willing to learn and have no motives to defame and disrupt the class or issues of the art for unethical and/or illegal purposes.
Spread the teachings of the art via the most efficient and economic means thereby reaching as many willing students as possible.
Present the martial arts in all aspects. i.e., as means for self-defense, sport, physical training, philosophy, entertainment, performance, science, health, healing, discipline, meditation, mental development, confidence building, sportsmanship, art, history, culture, etc.
Cultivate the martial arts as a vehicle for developing friendship, teamwork, communications and cooperation, and not as means for dominance, suppression, control and undue influence over others.
Present the art in its most realistic form refraining from trickery, myths, deceptions, and supernatural claims.
Produce students that appreciate and understand the martial arts but not necessarily be experts or champions.
Develop successors who can carry the responsibility of continuing and expanding the missions and principles of the class by proper teaching of the art and most important of all, the philosophy and ethics.
Continue to better the Northern Shaolim style of martial arts via the processes of actual practice and applications of the teachings leading to re-evaluation, discovery, and understanding.
I feel that the practice of a traditional, well rounded method of instruction is an especially good system for training and inspiring young people. As I look around I find the youth of today devoid manners or respect. Respect for their teachers and elders and respect for themselves. I hope through my efforts as a teacher to raise the bar for them and to help make them better people. The martial arts training taught with proper values and principles will bolster a child's self-confidence and will channel the child's (an some adults) energies into constructive and useful action.
In my philosophy Kung Fu is much more than a vehicle for mere fighting. It is a vehicle for the cultivation of self-control, as well as self-defense. When a child learns self-control and self-discipline no goal can possibly remain out of reach. The road to mastering Kung Fu is a difficult path, one that is also extremely rewarding. In the physical world, the individual learns to control the body through the forms and the techniques. By controlling the body he learns to discipline the mind and to strengthen the connection of the mind with the body to push the body beyond endurance, through determination and sheer will power. In this union of mind and body, the rewards are potentially limitless. Through the growth experience of Kung Fu training we learn more than just how to defend ourselves, we learn the steps to becoming a positive, constructive, contributing member of society.
So friends what values and principles have you learned that you teach and live by?
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Originally Posted by taai gihk yahn
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