Traditional & Modern Chinese Arts

As if life is not confusing enough, there are literally thousand of styles of Martial Arts to choose from, or take into consideration. Then there is Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino and a whole host more. Each is influenced by their country's cultural background and to some extent history. The Korean Martial Arts, for example, are very much influenced by their militaristic past, with the exception of Hap Ki Do which was developed for an Emperor's personal guards,  using 80% Chinese Martial Arts to begin with.

Within the Chinese Arts there are pockets of development, some coming from militaristic backgrounds, such as an Emperor's personal Guard's style, some from individual sources, such as family styles, developed to protect against robbers and marauding soldiers or invaders. There is even a secret women's style, passed down from generation to generation, to protect against rape or bullying; I believe this was called something like Pei Pei Pai (?).

Hard Training
Many styles use what is called "hard" training. Generally associated with muscle development or strength building; press-ups, squatting, using weights or  dynamic tension, etc. This can include beating your fists, arms and legs against iron bars, wooden dummies or even rocks. It can also use breaking techniques. The body parts used are treated with hardening herbal concoctions and repeatedly beaten until callusing forms (bone deformation). This style of training can also damage the nervous system. Many people who used to do this sort of training suffer from debilitating arthritis or osteo-arthritis in later years. Techniques of self-defence can include brute force.

Mixed Training
These styles can be a mixture of hard and soft methods. Traditional Shaolin, for example, contained a balance of both, with some conditioning offset by qigong and perhaps herbal formulas as well. There are many misrepresentations where people claim their style is either hard or soft, when in fact it is somewhere in between. The greater majority of methods actually fall into this category.

Soft Training
This can all sorts of forms, but the easiest to explain are the exercise based, the mind focus based, the qigong based and the internal core muscle based (waist training). Often there will be a mixture of these in any one style. One of the key factors in Soft Training is techniques of a more technical nature. Students are often taught to use skill in order to overcome brute force.

Traditional Shaolin emphasised a range of techniques that could not really be categorised in any of the above. The Songshan Shaolin Monastery was a place where travelers or those seeking a quieter life could seek refuge. This attracted a wide range of people and when it became famous for its Martial Arts it attracted many people from many different styles, hard, soft or indifferent. The true facts are that anyone who was "accepted" could learn what they chose. Forms were developed within those hallowed walls, possibly the most famous being Wu Quan or 'Five Animal Fist'. Zhangsanfeng reputedly learned this before developing Wudang Kungfu or Taijiquan; the Snake and the Crane styles probably having a major influence.

Modern Times
The UK and USA have been built on travel, discovery and returning with other people's inventions and then being made "our own". Most of the things we use and take for granted today are actually Chinese inventions. Likewise with Martial Arts, whether Chinese, Korean or Japanese. There are many people in our countries who have learned a little and then tried to emulate, creating their own styles, often claiming them to be Shaolin, Chinese Family or even "secret" styles, some selling Black Belt Tuition at ridiculous prices in a ridiculously short time.

Kungfused?
If you are "kungfused" (confused) about which style does what, or is real, false, traditional or modern, do some research. This is important as it is something which can be for the rest of your life; or less if you get injured by bad practice! Research is essential because you need to know what is out there, what it does, how you will learn it and with whom. Instructors may claim lineage, check it. They may claim they are insured and registered with an association; are they? Check it, and also check the reputation of the association, as some are less professional than others and may be a "refuge" or offer camouflage for unqualified instructors; some even give away grades and black belt levels as a reward for membership.

New Style, Old Style?
There are a ignorant and abusive section of the western public out there who take it upon themselves to criticise other people when they have very little knowledge themselves. Naming no names, there are those who stupidly believe that anyone who creates or develops a system of Chinese Martial Arts is a fraud or fake, or they start childish name calling, like "self styled master" in a derogatory or derisory manner, etc. Pathetic as it seems, sadly it is true. These people are too ignorant to realise that all styles, old or new, were created or developed by someone. Shih-fu Soo developed Li Family Arts, Shih-fu Chen the Chen Family Arts, Shih-fu Yang the Yang Style of T'ai Chi Ch'uan, General Yueh created Hsing-I Boxing, and many more men and a few women developed all of the other styles that are known and loved worldwide today. One of the latest of the best known is Shih-fu Sun Lu-Tang: his family system has been accepted by all the Chinese authorities as No.5 in the line of major (known) Taijiquan styles; Sun Style is a development of Hsing-I Ch'uan, Pa Kua Ch'uan and Wu/Hao T'ai Chi Ch'uan, with other influences. So, was Shih-fu Sun, or are these men to be insulted by ignoramuses and called "Self-styled Masters"?

New style or old, it is not the age of the style which is important but what it teaches. In that respect, some students just can not be taught, as they never learn to open their minds to anything but plod blindly on bumping into this style, that style and the other style, never understanding any of it other than at surface value. Ch'uan-shu is not just the domain of the Chinese, half-Chinese or even American-Chinese! It is the domain of any person who has the intelligence to see what the core principles are and can then learn, develop, demonstrate and teach those principles. So whether you choose new or old is completely irelevant. What counts is what you can obtain from that style or system.

WYSYWYG?
Do not be fooled by appearances. There was recently a Chinese man locally who was offering teaching (of modern Chinese Forms, like Spear and Competition), and he was teaching a few people for £20 per hour to top us his money while studying at Uni. . His "Kungfu" was not that good, he had good "form" (posture and positioning) but no "guts"; real Kungfu can be seen by its power and grace, control and effectiveness, etc, by a trained eye. His power was "faked", you might say, as his training was ostensibly for competition and therefore "style and posture"; not traditional values which have to be practical for self-defence. If you take a well-trained Shaolin man though his power may be very good, even if "modern". The motto of this? There are Forms and Forms, some place emphasis on show, some on ability to fight.

Decide what you wish to do. What ever that may be, after research, then you should accept it, warts and all; traditional may include some physically damaging practices, for example, modern may mean that it is traditional but has been made safer, or more adaptive for modern "street" conditions.

Some clubs will attempt to keep you away from other clubs or styles by saying that their own are genuine and someone else's is not. Anyone who teaches something that really works is "genuine", but there are degrees of success and skill, hundreds of degrees! Some will attempt to "lock you" into their system by charging a small fortune for grading and memberships, uniforms, etc. Do not allow yourself to fall into a trap whereby you feel obliged because you have spent so much money; there are some who fail you on grades deliberately so you pay again. Someone once said, "The ones who shout the loudest (flashy ad's and big promises) are the touts", perhaps he had a point as many "traditional schools" hardly advertise at all.

At the end of the day it is your choice. There are thousands of variations and only you can choose what is attractive to you, old, new, competition, traditional or what ever; for what ever reason that it might appear attractive to you. Research, talk, go along and watch, try, try some more. There you have it, some basic facts about traditional or modern and what goes on behind those doors. Decide when you have enough information of your own and you are sure about your choice.