The White Dragon Lion Dance team is one of the most active Lion Dance Teams in San Diego County. For a complete list of performances during this upcoming Chinese New Year, contact White Dragon Martial Arts Clairemont.
New York Times
December 8, 2010
by Peimin Ni
In a 2005 news report about the Shaolin Temple, the Buddhist monastery in China well-known for its martial arts, a monk addressed a common misunderstanding: “Many people have a misconception that martial arts is about fighting and killing,” the monk was quoted as saying, “It is actually about improving your wisdom and intelligence.”
Indeed, the concept of kung fu (or gongfu) is known to many in the West only through martial arts fighting films like “Enter the Dragon,” “Drunken Master” or more recently, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” In the cinematic realm, skilled, acrobatic fighters like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li are seen as “kung fu masters.”
The predominant orientation of traditional Chinese philosophy is the concern about how to live one’s life, rather than finding out the truth about reality.
But as the Shaolin monk pointed out, kung fu embodies much more than fighting. In fact any ability resulting from practice and cultivation could accurately be said to embody kung fu. There is a kung fu of dancing, painting, cooking, writing, acting, making good judgments, dealing with people, even governing. During the Song and Ming dynasties in China, the term kung fu was widely used by the neo-Confucians, the Daoists and Buddhists alike for the art of living one’s life in general, and they all unequivocally spoke of their teachings as different schools of kung fu.
This broad understanding of kung fu is a key (though by no means the only key) through which we can begin to understand traditional Chinese philosophy and the places in which it meets and departs from philosophical traditions of the West. As many scholars have pointed out, the predominant orientation of traditional Chinese philosophy is the concern about how to live one’s life, rather than finding out the truth about reality.
The well-known question posed by Zhuangzi in the 4th century B.C. — was he Zhuangzi who had dreamt of beinga butterfly or was he a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuangzi? — which pre-dated virtual reality and “The Matrix” by a couple of thousand years, was as much a kung fu inspiration as it was an epistemological query. Instead of leading to a search for certainty, as Descartes’s dream did, Zhuangzi came to the realization that he had perceived “the transformation of things,” indicating that one should go along with this transformation rather than trying in vain to search for what is real.
Confucius’s call for “rectification of names” — one must use words appropriately — is more a kung fu method for securing sociopolitical order than for capturing the essence of things, as “names,” or words, are placeholders for expectations of how the bearer of the names should behave and be treated. This points to a realization of what J. L. Austin calls the “performative” function of language. Similarly, the views of Mencius and his later opponent Xunzi’s views about human nature are more recommendations of how one should view oneself in order to become a better person than metaphysical assertions about whether humans are by nature good or bad. Though each man’s assertions about human nature are incompatible with each other, they may still function inside the Confucian tradition as alternative ways of cultivation.
The Buddhist doctrine of no-self surely looks metaphysical, but its real aim is to free one from suffering, since according to Buddhism suffering comes ultimately from attachment to the self. Buddhist meditations are kung fu practices to shake off one’s attachment, and not just intellectual inquiries for getting propositional truth.
Mistaking the language of Chinese philosophy for, in Richard Rorty’s phrase, a “mirror of nature” is like mistaking the menu for the food. The essence of kung fu — various arts and instructions about how to cultivate the person and conduct one’s life — is often hard to digest for those who are used to the flavor and texture of mainstream Western philosophy. It is understandable that, even after sincere willingness to try, one is often still turned away by the lack of clear definitions of key terms and the absence of linear arguments in classic Chinese texts. This, however, is not a weakness, but rather a requirement of the kung fu orientation — not unlike the way that learning how to swim requires one to focus on practice and not on conceptual understanding. Only by going beyond conceptual descriptions of reality can one open up to the intelligence that is best exemplified through arts like dancing and performing.
Philosophers’ ideas, even when theoretical, have never stopped functioning as guides to human life.
This sensitivity to the style, subtle tendencies and holistic vision requires an insight similar to that needed to overcome what Jacques Derrida identified as the problem of Western logocentrism. It even expands epistemology into the non-conceptual realm in which the accessibility of knowledge is dependent on the cultivation of cognitive abilities, and not simply on whatever is “publicly observable” to everyone. It also shows that cultivation of the person is not confined to “knowing how.” An exemplary person may well have the great charisma to affect others but does not necessarily know how to affect others. In the art of kung fu, there is what Herbert Fingarette calls “the magical,” but “distinctively human” dimension of our practicality, a dimension that “always involves great effects produced effortlessly, marvelously, with an irresistible power that is itself intangible, invisible, unmanifest.”
Training for Life
Inside Kung Fu Magazine October 1989
by Grandmaster Doc Fai Wong
Everybody has run into the situation where they just don’t have enough time to practice. Maybe there’s enough time to go to the school and do your forms, but not enough to put any serious thought and work into your martial art.
The good news is, no matter how busy you are, there is a way to creatively put serious workout time into your work.
Remember, there’s a difference between work and workout. Work is something you must do to earn a living. Sometimes it’s pleasant, sometimes it’s one of life’s necessities. A martial art workout is usually pleasure. So why not combine the two, converting your job into a pleasant productive way to improve your marital arts expertise. It will make your job more interesting , the time at work go faster, and help your martial arts progress.
Here’s how to combine your workout with your work. Let’s say you are a laborer, using your body to carry heavy objects. Make it a personal challenge to pick up each object and put it in the right place with the precision and accuracy you would use doing a form. Keep your body positioned correctly, using your waist and legs for support. Time your breathing to make the best use of your energy while lifting and carrying those heavy objects.
When I was a teenager, I paid for my kung fu lessons by working as a busboy in a restaurant. At a certain hour I had to move quickly, cleaning tables, loading and unloading dishes from the dishwasher, and stacking the clean plates. Although I would rather have been practicing in the kung fu school than settting up clean tables without breaking anything. I used my best martial arts footwork (balanced and light footed) while I did my job. Before long my job became my kung fu practice.
For those who work in offices, be creative while you type and file. When standing at the files, bend your knees and get some stance training. Try to be quick and accurate with each file, with the same efficiencey and focus as a well done form.
No matter how much your workload, work efficiently, staying relaxed and calm. Concentrate on the job, but don’t hold your breath. These are all martial art principles that you might practice in your school while doing a form or sparring.
Typists who sit most of the time should be erect, with their bodies relaxed and legs positioned solidly on the floor. As you type, think of each finger movement as a special martial arts finger exercise. Be aware of each hand an finger movement when you git the keys. Concentrate your power and energy into your fingertips with each downward stroke.
It doesn’t matter what kind of job you do. Try to be good at it, exhibiting accuracy and efficiency. Take the opportunity to make it part of your martial arts training. The same principles that make you a better martial artist are all present in our job - timing, speed, accuracy, focus, balance, relaxation and a calm mind. Practice them everyday, then if you’re ever drawn into self-defense or when you spar, you’ll find the right reflexes already present.
Grandmaster Doc Fai Wong is a columnist for Inside Kung Fu
by Grandmaster Doc Fai Wong
From time to time, students with backgrounds in the gi arts (those who wear a gi to train) ask the equivalent terms for dojo, kata and gi in Chinese. This is a recurring question.
The most popular term is dojo. “Do” in Chinese is dao, which means the Way. This “way” is the spiritual way, which is spoken of in Chinese religions. “Jo” in Chinese is chang, which means the place. Dojo is the same as daochang in Chinese character writing. It means the place to practice the “way”, “do” or dao.
Let’s take a look at the gi arts. Karate-do means the “way of empty hand.” Judo means the “way of soft art” and tae kwon do means the “way of the foot and the fist.” Aikido means the way of combining or harmonizing the qi. The term dojo is the place to practice the martial arts mentioned above and doesn’t mean school or academy.
Dojo or daochang originally came from Taoist and Buddhist terminology. It’s a place to practice or cultivate the spiritual way, “do” or dao. It can also be the place to teach the “do” or dao. Today, the term daochang in China refers to the place that performs ceremonies for the dead. While the term dojo uses the same Chinese characters as “daochang,” today it has nothing to do with martial arts. Some people use the term “guan” or Cantonese “goon” or “kwoon.”
“Kwan” means the same thing in Korean. The word “guan” is used for more than martial arts. It can be chan guan, the restaurant; lu guan, the hotel; tushu guan, the library; shu guan, the old term for the regular schools; yi guan, the clinic; cha guan, the tea shop; shuhua guan, the art gallery; yan guan, the smoke shop; and many more beside just kung fu studio or wu guan. Most Chinese in the West use the English term “studio” instead of the Chinese term guan or koon, because the word guan has too many meanings. In other words, there is no equivalent term in kung fu for the term dojo.
Kata is the next popular term students are always asking about. Kata is tao or taolu in Chinese. When speaking in the Chinese language with another Chinese person, the correct way to say hand kata is kuen too for Cantonese and guan tao in Mandarin. The weapons kata is bingqi taolu, which is a general way of using this phrase. When breaking this term down into different weapons we use these terms: long weapon kata is chang bingqi taolu and short weapon kata is duan bingqi taolu. The double weapon kata is shuang bingqi taolu. The flexible weapon kata is ruan bingqi taolu. Let’s break it down to the individual weapons. Staff kata is gun tao; spear kata is qiang tao; straight sword kata is jian tao; and broadsword is dao tao. Just keep adding the Chinese weapon term in front of “tao” for all other weapons.
The above terms are most likely used by non-Chinese instructors. I use the term non-Chinese, because the Chinese would not use taolu as the placement term for kata when speaking to their English-speaking students. Chinese instructors would use English terms such as set, pattern or form. For example, for hand kata they would say “the hand set” instead of the hand taolu or quan tao.
Gi is another word for robe. It originated from judo practitioners and is made with a heavy cotton-like canvas for grabbing and throwing. When karate masters began teaching their students, they adapted the gi from judo and made it into a lighter-weight uniform for student training.
Kung-fu schools in China don’t have a particular training outfit. You often see wushu performers wear a nice exhibition Chinese outfit when they perform. Each performer is wearing a different color as well as a different outfit. Therefore, it’s not even a uniform. To call it a uniform, everybody must wear the same outfit. In the 1970s when kung-fu was becoming more well known in the Western world, some kung-fu schools had their students wear Chinese-style clothing when training. Some people called it a kung-fu gi. However, the Chinese don’t know what a gi is, because gi doesn’t mean uniform, nor does it mean robe.
Bio: Doc-Fai Wong writes a bi-monthly column for Inside Kung Fu and is the founder of the Plumblossom International Federation.
By Grandmaster Doc Fai Wong
Training For Life February 1995
In ancient China healing arts were often reserved for martial artists. Injured people went to the martial arts sifu, calling him the dit da (tit da) doctor. Dit means falling, da translates to be beat up or struck, hence people injured from fighting or falling went to martial arts dit da doctors for treatment. From there dit da became a term for any injury, covering burns, cuts or bleeding, broken bones and even bullet wounds.
There were several levels of treatment practiced by dit da doctors. The first were minor injuries caused by falling, bruising such as hematomas and muscle injuries. The next level is joint dislocations, such as a broken nose, jammed finger or wrist joints, elbow or shoulder dislocations, and any joint hyper extensions. After that comes fractured bones. There are all injuries treated by martial arts masters. Even today, kung fu sifu in Asia treat and set injuries and broken bones.
Injuries come from sports, labor or work related injuries. In the old days small Chinese towns and villages didn’t have hospitals, so injured people went to see the local martial artist for relief. Some of these people were good doctors, who had special herbal formulas and techniques handed down from generation to generation in their families.
In China in the old days there were no such things as stitches for open wounds and cuts. Therefore, using the right herbal powder was a must for stopping bleeding. Any good dit da doctor had to have a good formula to stop bleeding. The one you buy over the counter today, yun nan bai yao, is rated the best in China for “blood stop” medicine.
Besides good herbal formulas, martial artists needed to be expert at certain healing techniques, such as how to replace a dislocated joint and how to set a broken bone without it healing crooked. Remember there were no X-rays in the old days.
Martial artists got their training from watching their own martial arts teacher in action healing others. Information was passed down from teacher to teacher. Today, in various parts of Asia, martial artist dit da doctors still practice their trade. Many people will go to no other doctor for relief from injuries.
Even those with muscular pains, such as an elbow that isn’t dislocated or fractured - possibly caused by a strained tendon or muscle - go to experienced dit da doctors. Dit da doctors should know whether to massage or not to massage soft tissue injuries, like the strained elbow. Sometimes rubbing an injury causes more damage to the original injury. On the other hand, some tendon injuries come from tendons that are slightly twisted or shortened. Good dit da doctors know massage techniques that loosen the tendons and relieve pain.
Besides massage, dit da doctors had a lotion to apply to the injured area. Now known as dit da jao, this lotion hastens healing when used with massage. Jao means alcohol or liquor and describes the base ingredient that speeds absorption into the injured area. Dit da jao has become the most popular lotion in the martial arts school.
For major injuries and deep bruises, rubbing dit da jao won’t do the job. Martial arts healers made a dough based plaster to apply to injured area for four to eight hours at a time. This means the dit da doctor has to have another remedy called dit da fun (powder). Dit da fun is made from many types of herbs, ground into powder, stored in a container and used by scooping anywhere from one half to one cup, heated and mixed with different lotions to make a dough that is not too weary nor too dry.
In the old days the dit da doctor might use a piece of leaf, like banana or lotus leaf, as backing for the dit da dough. Nowadays, they use wax paper or Saran Wrap, with the dough spread about a quarter to one half inch thick in a four to six inch rectangle, depending on the size of the injured area. For an injury caused by a hot swelling, a cool plaster is used.
If the injury is not swollen a hot plaster is used. The plaster is then wrapped with an Ace bandage. For example, a foot injury is treated by wearing a plaster for about eight hours overnight (longer than that might develop a rash because of a lack of air on the skin surface). Then the dried plaster is taken off its base and put in a bucket of hot water, where the injured foot is soaked for five to ten minutes for a second treatment at about 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Deep injuries or internal bleeding that disturbs circulation heal faster with dit da yuen (pill), an internal medicine that helps improve circulation. These are large, ping-pong or golf-ball sized pills. The actual herbal pill inside is about the size of a marble - the rest is wax. To make dit da yuen, a special dit da powder is mixed with honey and rolled into a marble-sized ball. Then wrapped with a piece of rice paper, bee’s wax is used to seal it into a large ball for a longer shelf life. Dit da yuen is taken once in the morning and once at night, sometimes for a week to ten days. The pill can also be dissolved in a liquor and rubbed on the skin for muscle injuries.
Dit da doctors must also have the knowledge to cook specific herbs into teas for internal treatments. These are called dit da tang (soup). Most martial artists had only three formulas: neck and above injuries, body, and one for the legs to feet. Some with more knowledge have more formulas, one for every kind of injury.
While today many people go to hospitals for serious injuries, martial arts doctors still flourish in Asia and many Chinatowns throughout the world.
Grandmaster Doc Fai Wong is a columnist for Inside Kung Fu Magazine.