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Post by Firehawk on Feb 4, 2005 22:56:20 GMT -5
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Post by Nataraya on Feb 5, 2005 3:47:44 GMT -5
Hello Robert,
I am preparing to launch a new extract soon which will give you more 'historical' motivation about how and why.
If you read the many threads deeper, then you must notice that it is NOT fair to talk about "the only system". read the discussions about Fukien White Crane and Wing Chun, read about the Hakka styles. realize what the kind of function the 'Triads' had in martial society. And even more, look to what have happened with China over the last 150 years.
Many ancestors, many affinities, many weak and strong aspects but NO ultimate system. We all try to research and compila a best system. Some using routines, others focus on techniques. And so the systems/ skills did evolute in differences. Per generation, per branch, per teacher.
I will work on that article which will give you some answers. For me, I RESPECT every branch, whatever curriculum the lineage presents. 'There is a method to the madness", its up to use to try to find that message and understand "why".
So, give me some days and I will work hard.
Kindest regards,
Evert.
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Post by Firehawk on Feb 5, 2005 10:57:23 GMT -5
Hi Evert i am looking forward to reading that article.
Robert
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Post by Nataraya on Feb 5, 2005 13:40:40 GMT -5
The next text is a compilation, that I copied and paste, from an article in Pa Kua Chang Journal several years ago. It is extracted from: “Martial Arts taught in the Old Tradition (Part II).”<br>
IMHO it touch the problem that counts for several/ many curriculum and systems. I think that every practitioner need to read this, and realize that not always all knowledge can be expressed through your lineage. Besides some systems it explains too the ‘mix’ of ingredients, as done in our curriculum. The Golden Eagle Boxing routine is such a nice example. My grandmaster was clear about the introduction letters, he received from his teacher Hang Yat Siu, to exchange knowledge/ routines. I like to quote a popular saying of my own teacher; ”There is a method to your madness.” And he is correct, the more I look closer to the methods and principles, the more clear it is to see the role of that form/ system in our ‘whole’ system. The secret is not found in a routine, but in the path (and process) you are walking. Every individual player have a weak/ strong chains, those need to be strengthened by exercises, drills, sparring and/ or specific keywords/ routines.
But there is more, a path that all our ancestors have walked. Some suffered more then others. Chinese practitioners able to leave the country for areas such as Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Europe, Canada, Australia, etceteras. No matter how long they play the art, they were leaving there teacher.
I think that the text, as expressed in the article below, give the practitioner an idea how some curriculum were mixed ingredients. The ‘Wu Lin Tien Tui’ forum will do its best to present quality threads/ discussions to answer some of the readers questions clearly. We are pleased to notice that we have several high skilled practitioners onboard, willing to share. Please realize that it is NOT our intention to qualify and/ or criticizing any system and or curriculum. Again, we try to help to present in a respectful way, the ins and outs how it might have changed over the long run. And if we (then) are able to answer, or show direction, then we are more then happy. It’s time for the article now:
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While all traditional martial arts styles started out as complete systems, over the years these systems have been whittled away until all that we are left with today, in many cases, are fragments. In some cases all that is left of a particular system is one form sequence. If we look at the history of China in relation to the martial arts, it is not difficult to understand how the fragmentation occurred.
Since the end of the Qing Dynasty martial arts instruction and practice in mainland China has undergone a slow transformation from being studied solely for use in defense of one's self and others to being practiced predominantly for health and/or performance. This transformation began to take place during the early years of the Republic when prominent Government officials and skilled martial artists developed public martial arts programs for the purpose of improving the physical fitness of the Chinese people. The Central Martial Arts Academy, which was opened in the late 1920's in Nanjing, and its network of subsidiary provincial martial arts schools, was an outgrowth of this program. The transformation further progressed under the communist government who, as we discussed in part one of this article, will only promote a diluted version of the health and performance style martial arts and has sought to standardize the martial arts by reducing complete systems of training down to a handful of performance oriented forms.
Martial Arts for Health - After the overthrow of the Qing Government in 1911, the "martial arts for health" movement began to emerge in China for two reasons. First, the Chinese people were generally weak. A corrupt government, foreign invasion, opium addiction, and poor harvest had beaten the people down. Second, for the same reasons listed above, national pride was low. The new government decided that in order to strengthen the country, they needed to strengthen the people. In order to strengthen the people, and increase national pride, they chose to use traditional Chinese methods of physical training, which meant using the Chinese martial arts. Influential intellectual martial artists, like Sun Lu Tang, helped begin this movement. Sun Lu Tang's introduction to his book on Xing Yi Quan (Xing Yi Quan Xue published in 1915) states, "The way of becoming prosperous and strong lies in the bracing up of the people. The important point is to brace up the spirit. A strong country cannot be composed of weak people. We cannot make people strong without physical training. To brace up the people through physical training is the way to strengthen the country."
The Central Martial Arts Academy was officially opened in December of 1927 and by March 1928 they had acquired sufficient funds to get the school off its feet. Their goal was to train a crop of instructors who would spread martial arts training throughout China in public schools in order to "make martial arts common in all walks of life." However, as traditional martial arts were exposed to a wider variety of people, the traditional instruction was greatly modified for mass consumption.
In the late 1800's and the early years of this century. those that studied martial arts in China where primarily farmers and peasants who hoped to obtain jobs as bodyguards, caravan escorts and residence guards. Since police protection did not exist outside of the major cities, men in small villages also trained in martial art in order to protect their homes from bandits and thieves. The majority of these individuals were uneducated and were considered to be "ruffians" by the educated class in China.
Chaos in China - In addition to the fragmentation which occurred in the public martial arts classes, we need to consider the chaotic times which China has experienced since the turn of the century in order to understand another reason for complete systems not passed down. Since the turn of the century China has been in turmoil. The overthrow of the corrupt Qing government was followed by a very unstable Republican government under Yuan Shi Kai and then a chaotic "warlord period." This was then followed by the Japanese invasion and then the Communist takeover. Since 1949 the country has been riding the Communist rollercoaster of upheavals and purges. As a result, during the 1920's, 30's, and 40's many of the Chinese people were very transient, fleeing from one city to the next and then eventually fleeing the country.
It is those individuals who fled the country during this period in China's history that brought the Northern Chinese martial arts to the rest of the world. When we trace the martial arts background of many of these people we find that they were either exposed to martial arts through what I will call the "public lineages" as discussed above, or they only studied with their teacher for a few years before their family fled their hometown or fled the country all together. If they were taught in the public classes, they did not get the complete system and if they only studied from a teacher for a few years it is likely that they didn't get the complete system either.
Many of the transient individuals continued to study martial arts, however, each place they moved they found a new teacher and/or a new art to study. Subsequently most ended up with fragmented pieces of several different martial arts. This is not to say that many of these individuals were not skilled martial artists, it is just to say that most of them did not receive complete systems.
Warm regards,
Evert.
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Post by Firehawk on Feb 7, 2005 16:04:50 GMT -5
Hi Evert this is a good article .
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Post by Nataraya on Feb 7, 2005 16:23:49 GMT -5
Dear Firehawk,
Please realize that this is just a very small reflection of what have happened. No way, I can describe the pain and suffer as experienced throughout the last 150 years. Really, just a little sketch of the constant running away to 'survive' and found a better life. Therefore, you need to dig in history, and politics to have a better impression. My Chinese student is Sinologist and study politics, so he update me frequently, truly unbelievable. For our Westerners, we can see the 'fragmentation' as seen in some curriculum'. Notice the thread of Golden Eagle Boxing to have a glimpse of one routine in our curriculum.
Kindest regards,
Evert.
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Post by Firehawk on Feb 8, 2005 0:54:36 GMT -5
Hi Evert i understand .
Robert
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