Kung Fu is a way of life for many Chinese people.
It provides entertainment, exercise and religion.
For some it also provides a living.
These two young men are film actors in Hong Kong.
They are planning the choreography of a fight they will perform in a Kung Fu film.
Their teacher, Master Chan, supervises to make certain that in their search for excitement
they remember the strict tradition of the art.
However spectacular the action, it must conform to what the Chinese audience recognises as
good Kung Fu.
The use of fighting techniques as entertainment has always been part of the tradition of Kung
Fu.
The spectacular battles of the Chinese Opera made an easy transition into the Kung Fu films
for which the Hong Kong cinema is famous.
The Chinese audiences understand the differences between techniques and are excited by the
skill of the performers.
The fight sequences are like battles.
The aim is not just for the hero to win, but for him to defeat his opponent with elegance.
Only Kung Fu students may perform the lion dance.
This dance has been a part of every Chinese celebration for centuries.
Even in sophisticated Hong Kong the custom is still very strong.
No shop can be opened or building completed without the lion and his orchestra to bring
good luck and cast a favourable atmosphere over the event.
On this occasion the dancers performed on a local police station's fate day.
The lion is cautious, suspicious of the crowds.
It has to feel safe before it can eat an offering of green food, usually a lettuce.
Beneath the lion's head, tossing the lettuce into its mouth with his feet, is a senior
student of Kung Fu.
He is the leading performer of the dance in his master's Kung Fu school.
The school charges a fee to perform the lion dance and the money is shared out among the
students.
The schools that have lions which are known to be lucky and that perform well can earn
useful amounts.
The reputation of the master of a Kung Fu school depends partly on the quality of his
students' lion dance.
It's the custom for masters to delegate much of the teaching to the senior students, but
the master enjoys involving himself in it.
It is a long and complex dance.
Each movement of the dancer controls different parts of the lion.
The dance is designed so that when the mask is placed over the dancer, his personality
vanishes and all his actions bring the lion to life.
Although Kung Fu appears to be fundamentally a Chinese activity, there is an important
Indian aspect to it.
It's from India that the religion of Kung Fu came and perhaps some of its fighting techniques.
From about 400 BC, the ancient roads between India and China were used by Buddhist monks.
Some of the Chinese monks found their way to this historic city of Kanchipuram in South
India and one of them is carved into stone in a seventh century temple.
On the wall beside him are carvings of figures in fighting postures, probably the oldest
detailed records of martial arts that exist.
The kings of Kanchipuram held the Chinese monks in high honour and a sixth century king
built a line of pagodas in front of this temple as a memorial to a Chinese monk who was his
friend.
The journeys were not all one way.
It is probably from this same city that an Indian prince set out to travel to China.
He is now known as Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism.
He is revered by martial artists and throughout China and Japan his portrait hangs in the
training walls.
The legends say that he travelled by sea and land into the heart of China to a Buddhist
temple built in a huge valley under the mountain that the Chinese think is at the centre of
their country.
Shaolin temple is now mostly ruined but it does contain large frescoes painted in the
eighteenth century that give an idealised picture of Chinese and Indian monks practising
martial arts together.
Bodhidharma is given the credit for encouraging the monks to learn martial arts.
He thought that in their untrained state they were unhealthy and lacked the strength to
meditate.
However it came about there is no doubt that this mixture of fighting and Buddhism is of
major importance in the martial arts today.
Then as now men learnt destructive fighting skills balanced by the peaceful morality of
Buddhism.
For much of the time the monks were able to live in peace but at least twice they fought
to help emperors to the throne of China.
Many times they were closed down by emperors who feared their fighting skills.
Each time that happened they went underground and spread throughout China.
From China the art of Kung Fu has travelled to Chinese communities throughout the world.
The techniques are still practised in mainland China to a high standard.
However it's in the Chinese communities outside the mainland like Hong Kong that the full
range of traditional activities still exist.
Some of these are associated with the Triads, the secret Kung Fu societies that organise
criminal activities, protection rackets, prostitution and drug smuggling.
Of course this is not true of all Kung Fu masters.
Mr Chan is an upright member of the Chinese community, highly respected for his charitable
activities.
He hasn't missed a Rotary Club meeting for 20 years.
Like so many Chinese he starts his day exercising to receive the benefit of Qi, the life giving
energy of the world that they believe is especially concentrated under trees in the early morning.
He came to Hong Kong from South China about 60 years ago and learnt Kung Fu when he arrived.
He is typical of the best of his generation of masters.
He starts his day at about 5, always exercising in the same place.
He returns to his surgery and opens for business at about 6.
There are always likely to be patients who damage themselves during the night and who
need repairing before they go to work.
His shops around him don't open until about 10.
Master Chan is famous for his skill as a bone setter and his ability to ease painful backs
and soothe bruises.
His surgery is a typical Chinese room cluttered with the souvenirs of a lifetime.
From here he maintains a constant telephone link with his friends throughout the colony.
Since he's lived in Hong Kong for so long he knows everybody.
His influence is much greater than his apparent status.
The training hall of his school is beside his surgery.
It has all the normal equipment found in a Kung Fu school including the dummy man who
is attacked by all the students in turn.
This is the school's most senior student of Kung Fu who also works as an assistant with
the patients so he's studying the complete tradition.
As well as him there are always several non-fighting students working with Master Chan to learn
medicine.
The whole country came out.
Fortunately, now that I'm back, it's better.
Did you talk to him when you were out?
Yes, I talked to him.
He just came out.
Yes, the whole country came out.
It's very dangerous.
It's not working now.
Now it's back to normal.
If it's broken, it will take two months to fix it.
The basic moves of Kung Fu are the same for all the systems.
But one of the problems of studying the art is the proliferation of different styles.
There are several hundred named schools known to exist.
Master Chan belongs to the Hongquan School,
the style that teaches the traditionally elaborate techniques.
Most of the older styles of Kung Fu have many weapons techniques,
often using military weapons.
They are a reminder of the days when martial arts schools were the centres of rebellion
against the usurping Qing emperors of China.
From 1600 onwards, the secret Kung Fu societies organised rebellions that lasted for years
and tied down huge armies.
It's these revolutionary societies that have dwindled to the triads.
In today's weapons training, there are many decorative flourishes which have no combat use,
but they instil confidence in handling the weapon and intimidate opponents.
The exercises are not all decoration.
These upward cuts are designed to attack the softest parts of the body
from the angle least protected by armour.
Master Chan feels that Kung Fu is bound to lose students to the more organised fighting arts
and that the traditional ways of teaching are inadequate for the modern world.
It's not that you have to practice for an hour,
and you can't do it for a day.
Recently, the masters are not called teachers or coaches.
What's the reason?
They think that when I teach, I give you money,
and you have to teach me how to use that money.
It's not that you have to respect the teachers, it's more important.
Traditional Chinese teaching is very informal.
Students wander in and out of the training hall and practise as they will.
The master instructs when he feels like it,
or leads it to the students to train one another.
Master Chan teaches much more than many masters.
There is no profiting Kung Fu for Master Chan.
His training hall takes up valuable floor space at expensive Hong Kong prices.
He recoups his losses by business acumen.
He rents the whole ground floor of this building and runs several businesses in it.
On the street there's a prepared food shop and a tobacconist.
Behind there's a tailor's.
This was the first trade that he learned when he arrived in Hong Kong about 60 years ago.
He has three children, a daughter and two sons.
One is a surgeon practising in New York.
The other runs a travel business, neatly fitted into the gap beside the tailor's
and behind the food shop.
Essentially Master Chan sees the perpetuation of Kung Fu as one of his duties to the Chinese community.
In most Kung Fu styles there are many long elaborate forms to study.
The long sequences of fighting moves include sections which take their names from five animals,
or the five elements.
These long set forms are a point of dispute amongst those who study Kung Fu.
The critics say that they are more of a dance than a preparation for fighting.
Those who believe in them say that they teach concentration and stamina.
And above all that these forms contain the spirit of Kung Fu.
It is a hard external art, the opposite of the soft internal arts like Tai Chi.
In Kung Fu the energy comes from the tension that is held in the chest muscles.
In Chinese terms the body's chi is raised from the stomach to the chest.
There are even sections where he has to pretend to be drunk to deceive an attacker for a moment.
So he is very tired when he is drunk.
So when a normal person hits him, he can hit him with his arm.
If he can't hit him, he can use his arm to hit him.
There are many beautiful things in Kung Fu.
The school style is similar to that of a skill.
If someone hits him, I can use my arm to hit him.
I can use my arm to hit him.
One, two, three, four.
As for transmitism, it means to hit someone.
This is the method of stitch fabgovista.
These are two striped
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蛇鹰呢就好活潑嘅。一打落嚟嘅时候呢,一飙。
即係抢眼,多数呢就滑眼珠嘅。
蛇鹰。龙蛇。虎呢,虎呢,等于头先我讲相互咒。
炮呢,就空猛嘅话,使插锤。
即係用嗰度插炮锤呢,就係,就仲空猛过嗰个虎形。
虎呢,即係等于虎,虎鹰呢,夸锤。
讲。一锤。跳脚。跳。
睇嘛。跳。睇嘛。
若啲全翻埋咗嘛。
笑话。一锤。有。原来。扎实。
咁。
佢嘅方式,就相当丰富。
无疑,Wing Chun 真正地训练打手。
相比起其他技术, 技术就相当直接,并且强。
老师,仅係新开了学校。
连学生都无读过, 都只得一年训练。
这种方式, 能让 兴奋的学生 迅速地成功。
华盛云 出自中国西,
但在香港的窄道和 后街上, 它在近战争中 发生了一段时间。
华盛云 似乎是一种 非常柔软的武器。
似乎不像强大的武器, 但它是一种 内在力量。
它就像 柔软和硬硬的 混合在一起。
但你不必喜欢 六米五或六米。
而你必须要 学习 硬的方式。
即使你 用 中硬的方式, 也要 用 中硬的方式。
因为 弘春 主要是 用 技术和技巧 来 超越 力量。
华盛云 只有 三种 形状, 而 所有 形状 都 短。
这是 第一种形状。
它的 目的 是 控制。
而 这种形状 使 体力 自然 移动 。
所有 动作 都是 弘春 战斗 中 使用。
这种形状 使 体力 自然 移动 。
当你 学习 硬的方式时, 你必须要 学习 刮刀。
使用 刀刀和 刀刀。
使用 刀刀和刀刀。
刀刀和刀刀。
使用 刀刀和刀刀。
从 艺术 上 变化 你的 性格 。
如果 你是 懶人 、 狂 、 狂 、 狂 、
从 艺术 上 变化 你的 性格 和 性格。
这是 第一点。
第二点, 你知道 你在 哪里。 你知道 多 远。 你被 打 了 你知道 你不在。 你知道 你被打 了 你在街上 被打。
一 二 三 四。
刀刀的 根本 是 速度。 双 刀刀 都 变化 了。 同时 学生 都 学习 了 保持 手 放松 和 放松 。
一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十。
让它 走 。 哦 更 快。
再 一次。
一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十。
当 你 转 时, 确 确 要 把 刀 打 了。 转 然后 打。 转 刀 打 了。
嗯? 别 走 像 两 个 人。 女 依 女 依。 转 刀 刀 刀 了。 试 试 试。
一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十。 一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十。
cursor 。
So that will be totally different thing altogether.
From the beginning, the student might be have temper.
That mean they're mentally out of control.
That mean they have temper, they're very aggressive minded,
and yet their physical ability is not up to the standard what they might want to do.
Until they take the punch, until they got a hit somewhere,
if they are the person who really want to learn self-defense as such.
And then eventually they get up to that standard.
When they good at it, their mentally will be cool down.
Because they know how confident they can handle people,
but their physical got to be extremely aggressive.
And yet they know exactly what they're doing.
That's better.
Back.
That's it.
Back.
That was it.
Must be relaxed.
That's it.
Got a bit more higher.
Must not let it loose.
Head must not bend forward.
Forward.
The way they move is very limited.
Like the rolling hand, the hand they roll, the hand they roll back.
The way they move, it is the method to fight.
They only practice those movements, the muscle used to those movements is for fighting.
Really, it's not for a competition or anything like that.
And then from time to time they build it up.
It is a muscle contracting and relaxed, contract and relaxed, and contract and relax.
And eventually they get the hidden power,
which is you don't have a big build and you don't make a big move.
To develop the deadly skill.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
Ten.
Okay.
The movement when you go into rolling the hand there, got to be a bit more on the side.
Not straight forward when you're pulling forward.
When you're pulling forward, when you're operating the distance too close of it,
you don't have to move forward to attack.
One.
Two.
Again.
One.
Two.
And again.
One.
Two.
When we fight we don't have rules.
We don't have, we have no rules.
Because we train for real self-defense.
Self-defense, real self-defense I mean, real fight.
When you have a real fight you have no rules.
There are no concessions to the women that study here.
They're expected to stand up to the sparring with the male students.
In preparation for actual fighting conditions.
Wing Chun was the Kung Fu style that Bruce Lee started to learn when he was 13.
He was in Hong Kong then.
His full development as a master was after he moved to California.
It was in Los Angeles that he began his film career.
And at the same time worked out his theories about the fighting arts.
He taught many people, but he shared his deepest thoughts with very few.
One man who worked closely with him still teaches Bruce Lee's approach to fighting.
In his Los Angeles gymnasium.
Bruce Lee called his system Jeet Kune Do.
The way of the intercepting fist.
Although he was a film star, he was a creative master.
One of the men who have kept the fighting arts developing throughout the centuries.
Those men who worked closely with him consider that he was a genius.
He made Dan Inosanto think again about all that he had been taught about the fighting arts.
Dan Inosanto doesn't teach Bruce Lee's revolutionary theories to everybody.
What he looks for in a student is quick thinking and an openness, a flexibility of mind.
Although Jeet Kune Do is based on Kung Fu, it uses many other techniques as well.
It even incorporates Western boxing into the Eastern fighting arts.
The students are taught to fight ferociously and yet to be sensitive to their opponent.
They must feel out his technique and respond to the energy of his attacks.
Taking it over and using it against him.
Bruce Lee taught that the response to attack can be to use a technique from
any fighting system in the world.
Bruce Lee is a combination of East and West.
He is neither Japanese or Chinese or Okinawan or Korean or Filipino or Indonesian.
He also borrowed from Prince Savat quite heavily.
He is a combination that somebody had something to offer and he wanted to blend it into what worked for him.
Jeet Kune Do, Bruce's art, is basically what works for that individual.
It goes back to what we were talking about, research your own experience, absorb what is useful,
and reject what is useless and add specifically what is your own creation.
Bruce never taught his forms.
We are probably the only non-classical Kung Fu style that has never been taught forms.
According to Bruce, if you taught forms, it wouldn't be the mechanics.
If you notice a lot of Chinese sets, they will go like this, right?
They will go like this or they will go like this and they will go like this.
Then they will do it with the left hand.
The left hand was against forms because you don't know what it is for.
Why not just practice it like this?
Break, then hit the groin and hit the face and hit.
Rather than practice it like this and not know what the meaning is for.
For instance, if I go like this, why not practice?
Rather do it in a set, why not practice what it is for?
Rather than do it in a set like this, do it in a set like this, and the student doesn't know what he is doing.
The basics over here is that you have a front barrier and you have a rear barrier.
Once the kicking range has been closed, and it usually is closed very quickly, we trap the first barrier.
This is referred to as Poxao.
Depending on his energy, he will come out with maybe as many as 12 different types of techniques.
Depending on how much force he is given.
This is called Lopso Gua Choy.
This is referred to as trapping hands.
Now if the energy is different, this is referred to as a double Poxao.
When you do this, it is your choice.
He can go into a bent elbow lock, which is right here.
He can at his choice go into a straight elbow lock, which is straight down like this.
He can at his choice even go into a choke, depending on what he is so desires.
Or he can at his choice, if he prefers to, after he does the Poxao Lopso Gua Choy, turn into western boxing.
Jab cross, back fist, uppercut, and so on, depending on his choice.
He can at his choice even go into another rock. Let's say he went to Poxao.
Double Poxao.
He can at his choice maybe go into a partial elbow lock.
Hook his right hand over his head, go into the Kali type of combinations, if he so desires, with the knee to the head.
Now let's say that I had a low reference point here. This is what they call a Pin Choy to Gua Choy from that position.
And he can, depending on his energy, go into Lopso Gua Choy from that position.
But this is the basis of it. There is not a lot of technique because the technique goes by his sensitivity.
Let's say he does a Poxao from this position here, and the hand is grabbed.
He can wrist lock that arm, and he goes down.
Is it grappling? Is it choking? It doesn't matter. You go according to the sensitivity he gives you.
If you limit yourself to a particular style, then you have to solve it.
For instance, if I did a Poxao, Wing Chun would go like this. He would sometimes go straight.
There is no, maybe I can flow into Kali from this position here, because this is the foundation that Bruce taught us.
It doesn't matter what art and where you take it from, you just flow accordingly to the structure of your body.
So it doesn't have to be. And I think that's where the great fall in the world is. They think it's a Chinese.
It is a Gong Fu style because it's Wu Sao. 50% of it is found in the Wing Chun system.
But he went out of it. There is not like the movies where you see the hook kick and cyclone kick.
It is nothing like this. Let's say we go like this. This stuff that you would see, very seldom Bruce would use.
In all the competitions that I've seen Bruce, I've never seen him do any of this at all, unless he's just playing around with the man.
So all this high kicking and flashy kicking is usually out.
For example, this here, if he grabs my hand, Bruce would just go stomp. That's good enough.
But you see, as Bruce said, what is spectacular for a movie is not usually practical for the street.
And what is practical for the street is very dull for demonstration.
Who wants to see a guy go pox out, and he stomp and he hit butt. See? Or you get up.
It's not spectacular enough. But now the spectacular stuff, all this stuff here, it attracts the audience.
But it's not where the art is at. This is where Bruce said he was violently against.
Bruce said that you had to have something between East and West.
And I think in the Orient they tend to be over secretive, over flowery sometimes, and hiding a lot.
If you're a security in your knowledge, you don't have to hide it. Why hide it? You can just bring it out.
The Way of the Warrior returns at the same time next week.
Next up, those sneak previews followed at 8.30 by the new French series Hello Beatrice.