ø Hawtin Arts ø

For those of you whom have stayed around long enough to figure out the differences, there still may be some of you who do not know what this title means. After many years of research, study and first hand experiences I have found a lot about the reasons for training and what styles to train under. Why are we taking any type of self defense course? Why do we train in this style of Kung Fu? Why not just join the armed forces? All of these questions and many others will be answered in this article.

Kung Fu or Wu Shu?

There have been many students that asked me “What is the difference between kung fu and wu shu?” Let us first go into the translation of these words from Chinese into English: “Kung Fu” = Time and Energy. Then “Wu Shu” = War like Technique. Neither of these two words separately can be translated onto a fighting style or some type of self defense. However, placed together they represent generalized Chinese martial arts.

Kung Fu: A term normally used in the Chinese language for anyone who gains a skill through time and effort. A carpenter would have good kung fu in laying carpets, a tailor would good kung fu in sewing clothes, a fighter would have good kung fu in defending himself.

The term “Kung Fu” got it’s connection with martial arts and Shaolin in the 1960’s when Bruce Lee and other movie actors used the phrase: “Your Kung Fu is good” which actually meant that there skill was good, not to say that kung fu was there style. From that point onward most average people thought kung fu meant a type of fighting style like karate or tae kwon do.

Kuo Shu: Kuo = National and Shu = Technique. National Technique, a term used starting in early to mid 1900’s by the Chinese government. They were trying to unify the martial arts into a public sport. Later the term Wu Shu would replace Kuo Shu as the term most of us recognize.

Wu Shu: A modern term used for the martial sport popular in China today. Wu = War like and Shu = Techniques. War Techniques or Wu Shu became popular in the 50’s – 60’s and China has now made an application for Wu Shu to become an event in the 2008 Olympics.

Modern / Traditional?

There are plenty of arguments of what is considered modern and what is considered traditional. The only difference between the 2 should be: Something made or developed long ago or Something made or developed recently.

Modern kung fu or martial arts seam to focus on the needs of the people today. Which for the most part is health and fitness and a little bit of self defense. There are very few hard core individuals interested in the brutish power and aggressive nature needed to become proficient in any type of worth while street defense.

If you look at everyone on a whole, 75% of us will never get into a fight or need martial arts in our lifetime. There is a 25% chance that some of will get into some type of self defense situation or you could look at some woman and children being physically assaulted. Most likely you will never need kung fu skills to defend yourself. For the most part, today’s society is gun happy and you can not effectively use martial arts against firearms.

Anything that has to do with an older, more original way to do something can be considered “traditional”. In that respect, kung fu styles that use older more original forms and techniques could be considered traditional.

However, due to the destruction of all the old records and manuscripts, it is virtually impossible to correctly know if a kung fu style is authentically “Traditional” or not. Many kung fu teachers claim to be teaching traditional styles but, are only using this ploy to lure prospective students into their schools. There are also many teachers who may not actually know if their style is traditional or not, they just teach the kung fu that was taught to them by their teacher or father.

For most people here in India, modern or traditional may not even matter. Our society is relatively peaceful in nature. There are no civil wars going on right now. Our government is not an evil tyrannical regime that constantly thwarts the people at every turn. So the need for all people to be at their top kung fu skill just to stay alive is practically none. So this peaceful society usually leads most people to martial arts, not to stay alive, but to get in shape or to get some self defense in. For parents, kung fu can build confidence, discipline for their children.

Fighting Art / Performance Art

I have heard many say “I wish to learn a art form”. An Art Form can be anything from dancing, opera, gymnastics or Kung Fu. As we look at kung fu, the art form most people see is the “Form or Pattern”. This Form are techniques linked together to create a pattern or sequence. Older more traditional forms are more practical, but still are beautiful and graceful to watch. Newer forms such as in the style of Wu Shu are a bit more gymnastic / acrobatic in nature. The practitioners of Wu Shu look spectacular as they do a dazzling array of jumps, flips and aerial kicks. There are those who say that Wu Shu is just a performance art and not a real kung fu style. That is a wrong assumption. As most of us go to competitions or demonstrations, we tend to see the modern Wu Shu player as only doing the “Form” and not fighting or sparring at all. If taught correctly and with traditional fighting values, Wu Shu can be an effective and devastating kung fu fighting style. Just because something looks beautiful does not mean it is not deadly.

No matter what reason you think you are supposed to be taking kung fu, whether it’s for self defense or for the “Art Form” or just to get into shape. Just take kung fu because you enjoy what you are doing. Keep training hard and don’t worry about anything else.

There was a time when the karate man was looked upon with respect and feared. A time when, if someone said they were a black belt, it caused others to be impressed. You can say that karate has become outdated. But what has really happened is that karate has become exposed. There has been an interesting development in the martial arts in the late 20th Century and into the 21st. Martial arts have evolved and become much more true to life than ever.

If you are one of those people who like to question things then maybe this thought has gone through your mind. Why are there so many different martial arts systems in the world. We all have two arms and two legs don’t we? So why all the different systems of self defense? I know that systems were usually born out of a need such as one group of people having to fight another group who were better armed. So they developed systems to fight those men who used certain weapons a certain way. Unfortunately these men thought their system more effectual than they should.

So let’s look at what we have in the world without going into a deep history lesson. You basically have karate and ju-jitsu from Okinawa and Japan. You have a multitude of kung fu systems from China. You have Tae Kwon Do and a few others like Tang Soo Do from Korea; boxing and wrestling from Europe of course. Of these there is every variation under the sun. You name it and someone has tried to develop it into a fighting system. But what do we really have. The fact is that all we really have is three men out there. It all boils down to THREE. You have boxers or people who fight predominantly with their hands, kickers who like to use kicks as their main weapon and grapplers who like to take people to the ground and finish them there. That’s really it. Just those three. Now there are people who are good at one, two or even three of those methods. Those guys are now known as mixed martial artists.

Someone once asked, what is truth? I think we can ask that same question here. I mean how can the average guy deal with someone who is skilled in one or even three of the main fighting methods? You know, the grappler who can kick and box. If the guy is good at all three methods then do I have to be good at all three methods, too? Do I have to fight in the same manner? I know karate won’t do the job. Definitely Tae Kwon Do will not do. How about adding a self defense class or two. Will that help? I don’t think so. What about kung fu and all the various animal styles? No. You can pretend to be an animal but that won’t beat the skilled boxer, kicker, grappler. So how do we deal with this guy. It can’t be using his own methods. You can’t box a boxer and expect to win if he’s really good at what he does. Let’s just assume this guy is a really good mixed martial artist who happens to be a thug and wants to rob and maybe even kill you. What’s the answer if you don’t have a weapon at hand?

The answer is elementory yet intricate. In order to effectively deal with a skilled thug you must first put away all your preconceived ideas about what real combat is. Forget the ring. Forget what you see on TV. How can an older man; say middle-aged, defend against a group of younger, stronger and faster opponents. It will not be by speed and power. If he is to win; and he must, he has to do something all together different. Yes the older man is a master of self-defense. But his system is highly evolved. He relies on a core group of concepts rather than techniques. Of course he uses proper technique but it is all grounded in his core principals. He also has the amazing ability to fight in a very apropos manner because he is guided by highly developed contact reflexes. In other words, if he is touched by an aggressor, the older man instantly knows all about him and deals with him in proper time with super preparatory application. That means he stops the first attack and all future attacks immediately. He also uses skeletal alignment to enhance his power. He is able to hit much harder than his younger counterparts who use muscle to deliver their blows. The skilled older man delivers his strikes with his bones which feels like being hit with the end of an iron rod.

The answer is to unite with the opponent’s energy. No struggling or resisting but moving according to “the now”. To be able to discharge a highly potent “motion martial art”. Not static or choppy, muscular movements but relaxed yet aligned motions that can deal with an attack as if it were just a crude language. Yes, the answer is to have a highly developed and fluent martial language as a complete and elaborate communication. Yes, self defense can be like this. The only martial art I know that achieves this elevated dexterity is Wing Chun.

If a person truly dedicates him or herself to only doing and developing a system that is fit for the 21st Century real world self defense, then he must use external defenses guided by internal faculty. A system that encompasses the most effective techniques a person can deliver with the most advanced internal concepts one can make manifest. Now I mentioned Wing Chun earlier but not every Wing Chun teacher has developed in this manner or to this level. It is rare to find people who have this high level skill. But they are out there.

If you really want to get involved with a martial art and want to find verity, then take a few steps back. Get back far enough away from what is traditionally known and taught. Take an honest look around and see if the martial art before you justifies itself intellectually. Ask the hard questions. Will it work against the boxer, kicker, grappler guy? Can it be done effortlessly? What makes the most sense? Study and do research before you join a school. I can tell you right now, forget karate and Tae Kwon Do unless you just want to do a sport. Don’t be too reverent with any martial art system. Be honest with yourself and hopefully you’ll find a good teacher.