If you are of a certain age then you will remember the films of Bruce Lee .... Fists of Fury was one that springs to mind. If not him, then maybe you will recall the TV series Kung Fu starring David Carradine.
These two media series did much to cement the idea in the West, that Chinese martial arts allowed practitioners to defeat anyone in single combat, defy overwhelming odds, and perform almost magical flights through the air, whilst performing various poses.
These led to all the current crop of film martial artists such as Jackie Chan, and of course all the 'Glasshopper' jokes that circulated amongst the population at the time. Even for decades after both series and actors were long dead.
Grasshopper: "Master Po, why does my ability not improve? I'm always defeated."
Master Po: "Grasshopper, have you seen the gulls flying by the setting sun, and their wings seeming like flames?"
Grasshopper: "Yes, master, I have."
Master Po: "And a waterfall, spilling mightily over the stones without taking anything out of its proper place?"
Grasshopper: "Yes, master, I have witnessed it."
Master Po: "And the moon... when it touches the calm water to reflect all its enormous beauty?"
Grasshopper:"Yes, master, I have also seen this marvellous phenomenon."
Master Po: "That is the problem grasshopper. You keep watching all that sh*t instead of training."
Well apparently this misty-eyed view of traditional martial artists abilities extend to China itself, for much the same reason .... they are fed a diet of films (such as The 2006 film Fearless) and books (popular author Louis Cha Leung-yung - pen name Jin Yong - writes martial art novels with heroes who take on entire armies with just their fists), which keep these ideas alive.
However this self satisfied view of traditional Chinese martial arts supermen took a bit of a bashing recently, when Mr Xu Xiaodong (Mr Xu), an exponent of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) challenged Master Wei Lei, who practises the ancient art of Tai Chi, to a no rules battle royal. Mr Xu beat the Tai Chi master in less than 20 seconds.
This humiliation has not been idly accepted by defenders of the old ways, and a Chinese entrepreneur (Xu Sheng, the multi-millionaire founder of drinks empire Tiandi No 1), has offered a total reward pot of $1.45m to anyone who can defeat Mr Xu using one of the traditional fighting methods .... so far no one has arranged another battle royal, but the smart money is on Mr Xu winning again. But as the prize money is split 1.5m RMB ($225,000) to the winner, while the loser would pocket 500,000RMB ($75,000) for each fight, there is still incentives for challengers to emerge.
Mr Xu, who has studied traditional martial arts himself, claimed these stories of defeating warriors were overblown, and that there was a lot of fraud and hypocrisy in martial arts industry. He said his aim with the fight was to expose the fakes, and show that the old ways are no match for modern fighting methods.
Defenders of the old methods say that he has shamed Chinese martial arts culture, or that the point of martial arts was not so much the fighting as the philosophy and discipline behind it.
The debate is rumbling along in social media and wont be resolved until Mr Xu defeats all comers or is beaten by one of the traditional Masters. Oh and just in case you wondered on the official view of this debate in China .... well Mr Xu's Weibo account, which he was using to finance himself, was suddenly closed without explanation and not by Mr Xu.
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| The Traditional View Of Kung Fu Masters In China May Be Overblown ...... |
These two media series did much to cement the idea in the West, that Chinese martial arts allowed practitioners to defeat anyone in single combat, defy overwhelming odds, and perform almost magical flights through the air, whilst performing various poses.
These led to all the current crop of film martial artists such as Jackie Chan, and of course all the 'Glasshopper' jokes that circulated amongst the population at the time. Even for decades after both series and actors were long dead.
Grasshopper: "Master Po, why does my ability not improve? I'm always defeated."
Master Po: "Grasshopper, have you seen the gulls flying by the setting sun, and their wings seeming like flames?"
Grasshopper: "Yes, master, I have."
Master Po: "And a waterfall, spilling mightily over the stones without taking anything out of its proper place?"
Grasshopper: "Yes, master, I have witnessed it."
Master Po: "And the moon... when it touches the calm water to reflect all its enormous beauty?"
Grasshopper:"Yes, master, I have also seen this marvellous phenomenon."
Master Po: "That is the problem grasshopper. You keep watching all that sh*t instead of training."
Well apparently this misty-eyed view of traditional martial artists abilities extend to China itself, for much the same reason .... they are fed a diet of films (such as The 2006 film Fearless) and books (popular author Louis Cha Leung-yung - pen name Jin Yong - writes martial art novels with heroes who take on entire armies with just their fists), which keep these ideas alive.
However this self satisfied view of traditional Chinese martial arts supermen took a bit of a bashing recently, when Mr Xu Xiaodong (Mr Xu), an exponent of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) challenged Master Wei Lei, who practises the ancient art of Tai Chi, to a no rules battle royal. Mr Xu beat the Tai Chi master in less than 20 seconds.
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| It Was A Short Battle Royal ..... |
This humiliation has not been idly accepted by defenders of the old ways, and a Chinese entrepreneur (Xu Sheng, the multi-millionaire founder of drinks empire Tiandi No 1), has offered a total reward pot of $1.45m to anyone who can defeat Mr Xu using one of the traditional fighting methods .... so far no one has arranged another battle royal, but the smart money is on Mr Xu winning again. But as the prize money is split 1.5m RMB ($225,000) to the winner, while the loser would pocket 500,000RMB ($75,000) for each fight, there is still incentives for challengers to emerge.
Mr Xu, who has studied traditional martial arts himself, claimed these stories of defeating warriors were overblown, and that there was a lot of fraud and hypocrisy in martial arts industry. He said his aim with the fight was to expose the fakes, and show that the old ways are no match for modern fighting methods.
Defenders of the old methods say that he has shamed Chinese martial arts culture, or that the point of martial arts was not so much the fighting as the philosophy and discipline behind it.
The debate is rumbling along in social media and wont be resolved until Mr Xu defeats all comers or is beaten by one of the traditional Masters. Oh and just in case you wondered on the official view of this debate in China .... well Mr Xu's Weibo account, which he was using to finance himself, was suddenly closed without explanation and not by Mr Xu.
I like that story; I wonder if the thugs came at him one at a time like they tend to in the movies, or if they did pile onto him, did he fling them all off like Neo against the agent Smiths?
ReplyDeleteDo you think that is air that you're breathing?
In the mythology that surrounds the traditional Chinese view on these 'masters' abilities I don't suppose that it matters which way the attackers come on. Of course if the masters were facing Mr Xu, then they would need a mass attack or risk getting their ears boxed. Mr Xu breathes whatever he wants breath.
DeleteMaster Po: Grasshopper when you can take the two balls from my hand, then you will be the teacher not the pupil.
ReplyDeleteGrasshopper: But Master Po it's so difficult with your hand inside your underpants.
There were a lot of rude jokes about 'glasshopper' and Master Po .... Thanks for the comment.
Delete