Wu Shu roots

In Greece Wu Shu, in one of its many styles, was one of the Olympic events. In earlier times, in India, Wu Shu existed and was called “Wu-Shu-Ho-Shin-Shu (method of body protection without the use of hands), as far as we have learned thanks to archaeological finds.
In Buddhism, the ln-Wong Buddha’s Wu Shu, represents the self-defence position and this relation between power and love is to be found in the whole historical way of this ancient art.
The character of Pao-E has become legendary: he is known for having conquered all the animals, by understanding and using the energy that brings into being everything and that regulates the universe. The legend binds Pao-E’s destiny to the snake and its peculiar nature: for this reason so far, in the Pao-E sanctuary in China, one of the statues portrays him half man and half snake.
In the wake of the Pao-E legend we find, in the most recent Wu Shu story, some imaginary animal figures: for example, “O-Kek-Do” (the 5 poles theory) represents the origin of Wu Shu through the animals’ body, such as the dragon, the tiger, the leopard, the lion and the wildebeest.
Now a legend follows where you can find the explanation about the roots of Chinese Martial arts:

Once, a very intelligent man left society in search of the truth,by retreating in the remote mountains. The most immediate problem he had to face was the survival to the attacks of ferocious beasts’ ready to devour him; so he realized that human strength on its own isn’t enough to fight wild animals. After careful consideration and a long thought, the hermit started to study the attributes of every animal: the type of force, the physical structure, the speed, the agility, the suppleness and their hunting techniques.
So he started to train by imitating the animals’ movements in order to learn them, in the meantime he discovered also the typical animal breathing method through the lower belly. After a long training he managed to win and dominate the animal world where he recruited his disciples. There are various ancient paintings which represent celestial creatures riding a tiger or other animals, showing this kind of relationship between human beings and animals: that way originated the Martial Art as a combat method with animals. This is the reason why all the movements in Chinese Martial Art are difficult and strange and why years of perseverance and patience are necessary to master them.

Another concept that you mustn’t forget is that Wu Shucan not be used against a human being; every person full of good sense is aware of the cruelty of its use in a man to man fight. Since the olden days, Wu Shu teachers kept their techniques secret and said to their pupils “Try not to divulge your Wu Shu as far as you can, even if you can’t avoid to use it if the opponent is “lower” than an animal.”

It is difficult to establish an accurate starting date of Chinese Martial art, due to lack of precise information, but we can presume that it dates back to the same period of I-Ching’s development.
The reasons of the lack of information are the following:
1. The tendency to respect intellectuals and to keep martial arts secret.
2. The tendency of Wu Shu teachers’ to abandon society in order to train in solitude and to progress without any teaching commitment.
3. Since the old days, Wu Shu was founded on the secrecy of its mysteries, this is why there are no pieces of writing.

Without many researches, though, you will learn the story and the essence of the art thanks to the tuition of the various teachers that you will meet and with whom you will practise.

Information about Kung Fu / Wu Shu

Kung Fu is generally thought to be a physical exercise to improve strength essential to win another person in a hand-to-hand combat. But, in actual fact, it is not a domination technique nor a way of combat to defeat the opponent.

WHAT IS KUNG FU / WU SHU
Wu Shu has deep roots and a long history. Since human being exists on earth, he had to fight against nature to survive; he had to strive against cold and heat, the wind and the rain and he had to hunt animals to get food or just to defend himself. So he started to study the meteorological phenomena, the animals’ and vegetable breeds’ characteristics in order to understand the nature surrounding him: all this is at the root of Wu Shu learning.
In Chinese mythology, Pao-E, founder of human science, studied the animals’ and plants’ origins and guessed that the source of life was the “Chi” (meaning energy or spirit). He handed down the principle that the invisible “Chi” is the origin of the entire animal and vegetable life. Therefore if we are able to divide the “Chi” of one of the species’ individuals, they can be subjugated. This way, human beings learned to breed pets that contributed to satisfy the food necessities. The facts’ evidence shows that the mind energy is the key to victory, not the physical energy. Common conventional energy can’t guide us to victory or defeat: in order to win we must understand the “Chi” and conquer the “Chi” of others.
Since the old days Wu Shu was described as “Yuck-Ae-Bul-Yi (literally translated: there’s nothing that comes second or that is bigger than the great energy of hot love); this essential energy that pervades the universe, and love, that animates the nature development, are an absolute and indivisible unity.

Kung Fu meanings

Real Kung Fu, compared to the one introduced by the mass media, is very special and therefore is not easily definable nor classifiable. Real Kung Fu is a spirit, an idea, a tradition, a way of life. Trying to express its essence with words is like trying to describe the moon to a blind person. If we gave to Kung Fu, just for a moment, a common denominator, it could be a self-defence form, as it appears to people. In reality, the combat is only one of the parts of this art, Kung Fu went beyond these confined limits thousands of years ago. Traditionally Kung Fu men and women had to study many subjects, such as: educational teaching, alchemy, the weapons, practical philosophy (Taoism-Buddhism) and Chinese medicine; (it has to be pointed out that China has a long tradition of the roles division according to the gender, whereas Kung Fu doesn’t; great teachers and warriors often were women). Students that were able to learn perfectly all the imposed subjects were called “Sifu” or “Teacher”. Many teachers were often priests, monks, nuns or hermits, as this way they had a lot of time to dedicate to the study of the various practices.

Another oriental discipline similar to Kung Fu is Yoga; if we didn’t consider the martial aspect of Kung Fu, it could be defined Chinese Yoga:
* Both systems’ training method aims to develop muscles as well as to reinforce our internal organs.
* Herbal remedies are an important part of the yogi training and essential for the Kung Fu trainee
* Deep breathing and meditation exercises have a vital role in both practises and many techniques are the same.
* Some Kung-Fu and Yoga schools teach only the above mentioned techniques, excluding all the others
* Yoga, as well as Kung Fu, is not a religion but it encourages its students to study the spiritual thought and literature.
* Moreover both systems recognise the importance of a healthy diet and have similar programs.
*The aim is the same: to tune in with our own internal energy that is called “prana” in Yoga and “chi” in Kung Fu

.

 

The meanings of the Kung Fu diagram:

 

1. Discipline
The word Kung Fu reflects like nothing else its real spirit: translated in Italian, Kung Fu is a discipline which requires a long time and hard work to reach perfection. Thereby whoever has spent years studying or teaching a technique is considered a “student” o a “Kung-Fu possessor”.

2. Merit
Although Chinese ideograms have several meanings, Kung-Fu is often related as: a duty, a part of a work that must be done, a mass of time and work, as a general exercise or anything that concerns teaching and any kind of study.

3. Confucio
The biggest involvements of this activity are emphasized by the fact that the name of Confucio, the great philosopher, in Chinese is Kung Fu Tzu.

4. Fire and Time
Another meaning that shows an aspect of this art is “fire and time”; when it is used in relation to alchemy, studied by many of the first Kung-Fu practitioners, it denotes the exact time when an alchemist had to hold stirring over the fire a drug, a medicine or a panacea.

Drawn from “The Wisdom of Kung-Fu” of Michael Minick