What makes Kung fu, Kung Fu

[hskwarrior]

My sifu always reminded me that you can tell the quality of one's gung fu by the age he passes away at.

Since Gung Fu is an individual endeavor, what makes gung fu ...gung fu is the INDIVIDUAL and the hard work he puts into it. Sure, gung fu mean great skill developed through hard work over time. But, gung fu isn't just about martial arts. Gung Fu is SKILL any way you look at it. Gung Fu can be found in any art, any sport, and THING an individual who puts in the time and effort to be good at what he or she does.

Long ago, i heard a Chinese Chef being called "SIFU" and i asked my sifu "is he a martial artist?" My sifu informed me that yes a CHEF, an athlete, a painter, or even a dancer or even a tattoo artist who is at the top of their game can be called Sifu and said to have good gung fu ....meaning skill.

So, on the most important level, what makes gung fu ....gung fu is HARD WORK by the INDIVIDUAL.

Where i believe a problem lies is when people try to imitate the CHINA side of chinese martial arts. Some will try to "BECOME" chinese just to be accepted by the Chinese. Others are intoxicated by the vapors of gung fu and completely misconstrue the art and get all esoteric and mystical. THAT is not gung fu. Chi is not exclusively "GUNG FU" because Chi can be built up by any athlete not related to gung fu.

So whether you're interested in weapons, forms, lion dancing, or fighting, if you don't put in the work you will never have good gung fu.

JUST MY OPINION.

[Drake]

I'm interested in Chinese history. Modern Chinese culture, not so much.

But, then again, I am interested in history in general. This was just something new and fresh.

[Gru Bianca]

It seems there is some little drift from what I think (please correct me if I'm wrong) Ronin meant with the opening of this thread. I guess he was referring more to the arsenal and technical aspect of the art rather then the general meaning of Gongfu.

[No_Know]

What makes Kung-Fu, Kung-Fu?..The spelling.

No_Know

[hskwarrior]

Oh_No !!!!!!

[SPJ]

kung fu is a journey and the road map is defined by you.

I like to add 2 things. Many good points already been posted.

1. specializing or honing in on a certain set of skills or related jin/power/energy.

Without practicing or developing jin or gong, your moves or techniques may not work.

For example, in tong bei, we stress the whipping power. we start with shaking wrist, rotating elbow, and the shoulder, -- we also practice stepping on toes and heels or deng and ta.

Eventually, we practice to develop whole body whipping power.
It starts with feet by stepping into the ground, the recoil power from ground then transferred all the way up, stored in your shoulder and then expressed in your fingers or palm.

It takes time and stages of diligent practice to get there.

2. do not look down on basics. Kung fu is about developing excellence in the basics of your style.

They are bread and butter. They are bricks and foundation to build things on.

From day one to day whenever, we still practice basics daily.

For example, in ba ji, we have all the basic moves in small frame.

We then have some tactics and strategy and derivatives from small frame into large frame. (intermediate level)

In advance level, we actually practice specialized moves in the lian huan routine.

In short, the advance is still from the basic moves but just more focused to a special theme or apps.

Therefore, we take times (kung fu) to develop the skills and jin (kung/gong).

We practice the basics (kung/gong) to a proficient level.

We learn the tactics and strategy and apps well.

[wenshu]

精 气 神
jing qi shen

手 眼 身法 步
shou yan shenfa bu

弓 马 仆 虚 歇
gong ma pu xu xie

三节合
san jie he (I hear all sorts of variants of this principle. Alternatively liu he; san wai + san nei he. Or san duan; shang zhong xia etc. The idea of whole body integration or coordination)

[Yum Cha]

I think, amongst other things, there's a lot more free will and mindfulness required to study Kung Fu, "Making it your own." There is more plurality an subtlety in the techniques and training than regimented and catalogued arts - and you have to figure it out yourself.

The aforementioned "Road map is not the same as a destination."

Obviously, the folks that think collecting forms is the same as learning 'kung fu' are in real danger of missing the point entirely.

[MightyB]

Kung Fu is about how many forms you know and how sweet you look while performing them!!!

[bawang]

chinese people

[dirtyrat]

Many don't like his politics, his overt Taiwan favouring and his veiled racism towards non-chinese in that book.

I've read it. I respect his Kung Fu skills.
I look at it (SPR book) through somewhat cynical eyes.

i went over the book, and i just don't see any pushing of political agenda, overt Taiwan favoring or veiled racism toward non-chinese...

he did note his difficulty in bridging cultural barriers when he taught in the states.

there was a chapter where he said he was impressed with the other kung fu instructors in San Francisco, though he didn't care for some people's obsession with titles.

[YouKnowWho]

I like the simple definition of Kung Fu as:

The human body contains 3 separate springs. Without Kung Fu training, those 3 springs will be compressed and released independently. With Kung Fu training, you can make all 3 springs to be compressed and released at the same time.

[Kung Fu God]

Power from ground, to foot, to ankle, to knee, to hip, to waist, to rib, to shoulder, to elbow, to wrist, to finger..... body like a whip, or ocean wave crashing = Kung Fu

[hskwarrior]

Power from ground, to foot, to ankle, to knee, to hip, to waist, to rib, to shoulder, to elbow, to wrist, to finger..... body like a whip, or ocean wave crashing = Kung Fu

yeah maybe for those of us with two GOOD shoulders.

[IronFist]

So if a martial art came out of China that "looked like karate," would it still be kung fu?