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KUNG-FU

The "kung fu" is the transliteration of the ideographs "kung" and "fu" which mean "hard work" and represent the concept of pursuing an objective through a great sacrifice, suitable for every field of the martial art; for this reason, the correct name is "kung fu wu shu", that is to say, skilfulness in martial arts is achieved through dedication and sacrifice.

A very important location for Kung Fu development and spread is the Shaolin (Young wood) Monastery which gave life to the different and still practised styles. The monastery was founded round the year 50 as a place where monks could dedicate to meditation; with the arrival of Bodidharma - a legendary figure in Chinese martial arts - body care concepts together with the foundations for a fighting system were introduced in the temple.

As time went by, the monks wisely merged their meditative practices with martial practice, originating some of the styles based on animal behaviour; among these, the main ones are: Tiger, Dragon, Leopard, Crane and Snake.

While the tiger, the leopard and partially the dragon belong to kung fu external styles, which are characterised by quick and powerful techniques, mostly focused on the use of physical strength and nimbleness, the crane, the snake and partially the dragon belong to the internal styles, since in this case the starting point for Qi development is the body. Even though it is less emphasised, external styles study the Qi as well, but it is usually merged with physical skills practised in an advanced learning stage.

In Chinese martial arts tradition, there are four basic weapons:

  • Staff (gun)
  • Broadsword (dao)
  • Spear (qiang)
  • Straight sword (jian)

 

The influences that Taoism brought to martial arts led the five-element theory to unify with the opposition among the five basic weapons, according to the relationship reported in the drawing above.

As in the five-element theory, in which an element destroys and is destroyed by another one, each weapon beats the next one and is defeated by the previous one.

Since everything is born from earth, one has to start learning barehanded techniques.

Wood destroys earth, as the hoe digs into the soil, in an analogous way the easiest weapon - as the staff - can beat the unarmed man.

Metal cuts into wood, so the broadsword beats the staff. Fire forges metal, so the spear wins over the broadsword.

The water quenches fire, as the straight sword - the most flowing weapon - beats the spear.

Eventually, earth beats water, so the fist beats the sword; this symbolises the fact that the one who has fulfilled the learning cycle and has become a master is able to fight barehanded even the noblest weapon.

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