What Is Kung Fu Really and What Does It Actually Mean

Many people practice Kung Fu throughout the world. Many people also know how the word translates into English, hard work, perseverance, skill acumulated through years of training etc..

But I feel like there are many practitioners who dont put that into practice. Kung Fu is about more than just learning some cool forms or being able to spar or hit a bag well. It is about disciplining yourself. When you train, you have to be focused on what you are doing. You have to drive yourself to improve and put in 100%. It is too easy to get into a comfort zone and then you become stagnant, you have to drive yourself to do more each time. Kung Fu is much more than just the techniques, its about developing yourself physically, mentally and spiritually. You need to train your body in a special way, so it can take much more than a normal person. I think of training as a way to improve myself, like a sculptor who takes a plain block and chips away at it to reveal an inner beauty. "The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in war."

The way masters teach in China often seems strange, but it is very methodical. They may not answer all your questions or validate things, you have to trust them. If they just answer all your questions then you are just becoming a robot that repeats what they say. You have to learn and understand for yourself. Basics often seem a bit pointless, circling your arms around, kicking your leg straight up in the air, holding strange stances. But with time and perseverance you can come to understand how they are useful, how they build up strong foundations and good body mechanics.

You really cant rush Kung Fu, you need to spend a lot of time on basics, the slower you progress the better. There is a saying in Kung Fu, "three years of horse stance" which doesnt literally mean you must only do that for 3 years, but that you must spend a long time to build up good foundations, they are the key to your progress later on. Another saying which illustrates this is "practice begins after 1000 repetitions, perfection after 100,000." When we practice basics at the beginning of every Mantis class, Master Qu makes us do a few rounds of arm circling movements and basic straight leg kicks, which I always thought were a bit useless, but then recently he explained how they are applied and what they train and it made so much sense and I see how applicable they are.

Also, it is important to spend some of your free time practicing and reviewing, so in class time you can progress more. Sometimes masters will mention a key point only once, so if you dont get it and practice it in your free time, its gone. You need to keep practicing everyday without fail to improve. Another saying in China, "miss one days training and you will know, miss two days training and your master will know, miss three days training and everyone will know." This shows the importance of daily training and perseverance. You need to drill the movements into your subconscious. Kung Fu requires your body to move in a strange way, you have to have coordination and body mechanics to be able to generate power and have good technique.

Here at Kunyu Shan, there is so much each of the masters has to teach, not just techniques, forms or theories, but something much deeper, the importance of self development, perseverance. These things are not so apparent on the surface, you have to be open to receiving it, its easy to miss. They all have their own unique personalities, teaching styles, experiences, which makes them all pools of knowledge and if you show them you want it, you can get it.

An Introduction to the Styles I Study

I thought Id write a little about the styles I learn here. I mainly focus on Mantis, Ba Gua and Qigong, and also do some Taiji and Xingyi.

Mantis:
The lineage of Mantis we practice is Taiji Meihua Mantis, and is local to this area. Mantis was said to be created around the east of Shandong province, particularly Yantai city. Mantis is a combination of internal and external Kung Fu, and it is quite aggressive. In Mantis, we defend by attacking, moving forward into the opponent with vicious attacks and low kicks and sweeps. When striking, the whole body twists to generate power from the back foot up through the waist to the fist. We use a lot of leg sweeps and takedowns as well. In Training we spend a lot of time on basics movements, particularly footwork and developing lower body power. We also train forms and applications, like punch combos, takedowns etc. A good stance and agile footwork is important. Master Qu is very methodical in his teaching, in 1 lesson we may only practice 2 techniques over and over. Also, once we learn a basic movement and can do it well, then we learn different ways to apply it, and also how to follow on from it, counter it etc.

Ba Gua Zhang:
The lineage of Ba Gua we practice is Yin style Ba Gua. Ba Gua is only 100 or so years old and was developed in Beijing. We spend a lot of time on circle walking, which is the foundation. It teaches you to be able to evade attacks, move behind the opponent and deal with multiple attackers. We also practice other basics, our forms and applications. A lot of the applications are locks, throws, takedowns and sometimes it resembles Aikido or something. You have to have a loose and flexible waist, which at the same time is strong. Ba Gua is based on the 8 trigrams in Taoist metaphysics. The 8 trigrams were are an ancient Chinese way of explaining change in the universe and so in Ba Gua they correspond to the 8 palm changes, which are the fundamentals of Ba Gua.

Qigong:
Master Guo teaches the Qigong classes. Qigong is a practice which harnesses, increases and develops your Qi, or your bodies natural energies. The main kind of Qigong we practice is standing meditation, which we do for 15 minutes to an hour. We learn how to focus our Qi into our lower Dan Tian, which is a point in the lower belly, and once you begin to accumulate Qi there, you can harness it to increase your power, fight disease, and at high levels even more esoteric things. We also practice several kinds of moving Qigong to circulate the Qi around our bodies and focus it to different places for different effects. Ive started praticing Hong Sha Zhang, which concentrates your Qi in the palms of your hands, and makes them feel hot and turn red. It can be used heal, or also to inflict heavy internal injury on someone. Ive not got very far yet though. We also do iron palm and iron body conditioning, so that we can break bricks, rocks etc with our hands and take strong kicks to our back, ribs and legs (most of the masters here can have thick wooden poles broken over their bodies).

Taiji and Xingyi:
I dont study these in detail so Il just mention a little. Ive completed the basics Yang style 24 form in Taiji and progressed on to learning the Chen style Taiji forms. Chen style is the original style of Taiji and uses really low stances, flowing movements and sudden bursts of power, so it can complement other arts if as well as mastered alone. Xingyi is an explosive internal art. I has some similarities to Wing Chun in that is uses short explosive movements in a straight line. Again, Im only really learning the forms, not the full style.

my first full contact sparring match

I had my first full contact sparring match on Friday. I was really nervous and though about not going through before, but felt much better after for having done it. I didnt feel like I did that well, but it was good experience and made me realise a few things. Most of my training went out the window, I resorted to pretty basic head punches. Its really hard to use a lot of techniques you learn when someones pumelling your head.

I realised several things from that fight. I now see the importance in having a wide range of experience in order to teach. Its not enough to be able to validate a technique by talking about such and such an angle, but you need to be able to back it up with action. You need to be able to tell a student it works, because youve really used it. When youre adrenaline is really going, most of what you learn is forgotten. Only the most basic stuff comes out.

Ring fighting and street fighting are very different things, but ring fighting is a good way to test yourself in a controlled circumstance. What I like about the Sanda matches we have here are that there are no winners or losers, its not about flaunting your ego. Its a chance to test yourself. Find out what youre capable of under pressure and find your strengths and weaknesses. How can you know what you learns works, unless you test it. To quote Buddha, "application is the only way to verify truth." Although I dont think I did so well in the fight, I now know more about my own level of skill, and how I cope in that kind of situation. So I know what aspects of my training to focus on improving, mostly my fitness, leg conditioning (my thigh is swollen from taking somer hard kicks) and general technique. I hope next time I can use more technique and strategy in the fight.

My first month of training at Kunyu Shan

Ive just completed my first month training here. I feel like Im really getting to grips with the basics of mantis and have started my first form. Ba Gua on the other hand is much slower as we only do one day a week of it and its a slow-to-learn style anyway.

Im really getting into Qigong too. I do at least half an hour of standing meditation a day, Ive done a few sessions of an hour. Master Guo says if I want to make real progress then I should do at the very least an hour at a time. The bare mininum should be 30 minutes as that is the time it takes the blood to circulate round the body once. Master Guo told me that when he was my age, he was doing 2 sessions of 2 hours standing and 1 session of 1 hour sitting meditation a day, and could go a week without eating! So I have a long way to go! Im beginning to get a strong feeling of the Qi in my Lao Gong points (centre of the palm of the hand) and Im also getting a feeling, although not so strong, in my lower Dan Tian (the abdomen). Once I accumulate enough Qi in the lower Dan Tian, I can move change my focus to the middle Dan Tian (solar plexus) and then upper Dan Tian (third eye). Once all these points are open then supposedly you can begin to develop some kind of powers, such as healing, or psychic abilities, although you shouldnt focus on developing these, they are your natural potential and they will happen naturally. I dont know about this, but I have much better clarity of mind, and there are times when I can sense things will happen and it turns out right.

Ive been going to the weekly Buddhist classes, and sometimes Im the only one there as its on a Friday night. Master Wang, who is from Shaolin gives the class and he oftens talks about his personal experience of life at Shaolin, which is really interesting. We think our training is tough, its like a holiday camp compared to their life. They trained most of the day, and "rest" periods were usually spent doing work, like carrying supplies up the mountain, cleaning etc. If they misbehaved the masters would beat them and make them stand facing a wall for long periods of time. Master Wang is also a world Sanda (Chinese freefighting) champion and he has a certain presence about him that commands the respect of everyone.

All the masters here are unique and worthy of respect. My master, Master Qu, is also a Chinese doctor, and is really strict during class, but also likes a joke and really cares about us. He learnt Kung Fu the real traditional way, and is in a direct lineage from the Laiyang San Shan, 3 masters all with Shan (mountain) in their name. They were the greatest masters of Mantis Kung Fu. He is also highle skilled in Ba Gua, the other style he teaches and is also in a direct lineage of Yin style Ba Gua. He teaches us a good balance of lots of basics, training drills like pad work, sensitivity drills etc, forms and conditioning.

Kung Fu Training at Kunyu Shan mountains, China

Ive just completed my first full weeks training here (here being Kunyu mountains njear Yantai, Shadong province). Im learning 2 systems, Mantis and Ba Gua Zhang and taking extra classes in Qigong twice a day and some bits of Taiji and Xingyi. The school is set at the just outside a national park, in the mountains, so the environment is really peaceful and the air is fresh. There are 4 masters at the school, 2 of them Shaolin monks, called Big Wang and Little Wang, and the other 2 are Master Qu, who is my main master, for Mantis and Ba Gua and Master Guo, who teaches Wing Chun and Ba Ji, he teaches the Qigong and other optional classes. There are about 30 students here, from UK, France, Belgium, Australia, South Africa, America, Canada and other places.

The training is much better than I expected, I was a little worried it would be a lot of Wushu forms and acrobatics and no real Kung Fu, but actually, it is exactly what I wanted. My Mantis class has just 6 of us, and Master Qu is a really good master. He is friendly and caring, but at the same time, is very strict and has high standards. Everyone here comments that Mantis class is of a high standard. Master Qu is in his 30s, but looks much younger, he is strict in class, people who mess around or swear have to do 40 push ups or hold horse stance for 5 minutes, and is someone is slacking, he gives them a little slap or whack with his bamboo cane. We have a good balance of physical conditioning and technical training. We spend a lot of time on basics, sometimes in an hour and a half session, we will work on 2 or 3 basic movements, first just doing them in the air, then on the punch bags, then as a partner drill. Afternoons we often do more application work, learning how to use our basics or forms. We do 2 or 3 mile runs a week, then Friday we run up and down the mountain 4 times, which is hell. We have a power training session, which is like strength training, we do things like doing basic movements or holding stances with bricks in our hands, practicing our grip strength on wooden poles and whatever other pain Master Qu wants us to go through. We also have a power stretching session, where you hold a stretch as deeply as you can, then someone pushes you even further, ignoring your screams and holds is for a minute, it feels so good after though! Then we do forearm and shin toughening on trees and learn to take kicks to different parts of the body.
The only downside here is that Id like to do more Ba Gua, we do Mantis 4 days a week and Ba Gua only 1. Ba Gua is a good style for me because Im small, and its all about evasion and moving round the opponent, so its good for multiple attackers. It works on redirecting force through circles and getting behind the opponent for takedowns, chokes etc.


I really enjoy the Qigong class with Master Guo. He is really friendly and approachable and seems to always smile. His Qigong is his own families system, which is very effective. We do it twice a day, standing for half an hour, the first 10 minutes we focus on the Qi in our Lao Gong points, which are in the centre of your hand, you have to build up a magnetic feeling between your palms by moving them together and apart, and when you get it, it feels great. Then, you move your focus to your lower Dan Tian, in your belly, which is where the Qi is stored. You can feel a warm and inflated feeling there. One day a week, we learn Hard Qi Gong, which is how to use your Qi to break bricks and things, which will take a while for me to get the hang of before I really try! Then we do Taiji every morning with him, although its pretty much just the form, and we do Xingyi Quan twice a week in the afternoon after Qigong, I like doing it, but I think he only really teaches the basics as its an extra class. Master Guos internal power is amazing, apparently a few weeks before I came, the Masters gave a performance, and Master Guo broke a marble slab, balanced on tofu, with 2 fingers. Although he broke 1 finger in the process, but then he used Qigong and healed it in a week.


Weve also had theory classes in the evenings, learning massage, acupuncture theory, Buddhism, Taoism, Kung Fu theory, history and philosophy and calligraphy. I really enjoy the training here and highly recommend Kunyu Shan to anybody serious about Kung Fu training.

Applying traditional kung fu concepts to modern self defense

Recently, Ive seen a lot of videos on modern self defense, and also, people who feel that traditional martial arts dont cut it in real life situations. While Im probably not the most qualified to criticise professional instructors, I feel that there is a lot of misunderstanding about traditional Chinese concepts in martial arts. A lot of this is due to mis-translation, such as Qi being translated as energy etc.

When I was learning Taiji in China, a senior student told me that i lack Shen (神）in my form. I didnt really know what Shen meant, or how it applied to martial arts. I just knew it translated as spirit, and it was something to do with Taoism. So I asked him to explain, and he said when you train martial arts, you develop Shen, it is something like spirit, but I think rather than being spirit as in soul, it is more spirit, like warrior spirit. A state of mind which has complete focus and determination in what you are doing. So, when I do my forms, I should be focussed, like my life depends on each movement being perfect. After spending a lot of time doing zhan zhuang, standing post meditation, he said I will increase my Shen. Later on I read that kung fu masters often have a glint in their eye, this is a sign of highly developed Shen.

This reminded me of a few things Id seen on TV. On Mind, Body and Kickass Moves, I saw an Okinawan karate master, who was sparring with the presenter, Chris Crudelli. But Chris couldnt touch him, every time he moved in, the master just glared at him and moved forward and Chris had to retreat. Its nothing supernatural, its the same kind of stuff Derren Brown works with when he does his tricks and feats of mind control. I saw a documentary about the life of Mike Tyson, and he was talking about his early fights. He said when he stepped into the ring, he stared into his opponents eyes, and didnt let them out of his gaze. As soon as he saw their gaze drop for a second, he knew hed already won the fight, so as soon as the fight started, he annihilated them.

These are examples of using Shen, which manifests as kind of piercing gaze, a deadly focus, and you will find that all self defense instructors will talk about psychology in a fight, using your fear and adrenaline as a tool to increase your power, well, adrenaline starts as a feeling in the pit of your stomach. Where does Qi originate? In your dan tian, the pit of your stomach, so isnt using your adrenaline the same concept as using Qi and your mind/intention (Yi) to increase your power. Have you ever noticed that some people have an air of power around them, and if they get agressive, you feel scared, well what if you can turn the tables on them and be mentally stronger than them. When I was young, my dad told me that being mentally strong is more important than being physically strong. It took me a long time to understand that. A lot of people avoid eye contact, feeling intimidated by it, so you can use that in a fight to psyche the opponent out, just like Mike Tyson and the Karate master.

In 2 weeks, Im returning to China, to Kunyu Shan to study Kung Fu full time. It appears this blog site is blocked in China with their heavy censorship, so I may have to find another site, or get someone from home to post for me. Il let you know if I make a new site.