My master recently wrote an article about his concerns for traditional wushu. I figured some folks on this forum might be interested in having a read:
In the 1960’s and 1970’s Chinese martial arts prodigy, Bruce Lee, brought to the world Chinese martial arts, or “wushu”. Since Lee’s exposition and dispersion of wushu, many people from other countries have become greatly interested in it.In the early 1980’s the “Shaolin Temple” movies again brought more interest in wushu to different parts of the world. As a result, in the past 20 years wushu developed rapidly to its peak in China, as well as overseas, and wushu enthusiasts and practitioners can now be found everywhere. However, with the impact of modern economic society, wushu has become commercialized and dramatized primarily for entertainment and performance, which has brought its steady deterioration and decline. Also, since traditional wushu is known by very few, the heavily emphasized performance based trend has become a tremendous impediment to the development of traditional wushu, with more people interested in learning performance wushu than traditional.
In the past few years the learning atmosphere for wushu in China has deteriorated rapidly for the following three reasons:
Because of the commercialization and dramatization of wushu, some wushu schools solely focus on the external and superficial aspects, placing all of their emphasis on how it looks and basing their judgments of skill on its external display. For a modern wushu student it only takes two to three years of training before they are prepared for performance, which is also considered the major goal of their training. This type of training cannot achieve the original intent and purposes of wushu, which are knowledge of and proficiency in self-defense, a strong body, cultivation of heart and character, longevity, and spiritual development. This modern trend has brought a complete change to traditional wushu, guiding students to learn shortcuts in training. There is no short cut in traditional wushu; looking for shortcuts is contrary to its essence. When students begin to age and lose their physical ability, they begin to tire of this style of training and lose interest in continuing to train. Not only will they have continued injuries, but emotionally they will become distraught and question the purpose of their training. In Chinese culture, there is a saying: “Lian quan, bu lian gong.Dao lao yi chang kong.”What this means is that if one only practices the external form and pays no attention to their self-cultivation and the internal aspect of their training, later when the practitioner becomes older they will realize that they have gained nothing and wasted all of their efforts.
With the current trend in modern wushu, when a modern practitioner’s training is completed not only is there a discontent with oneself, but there is also a lack of recognition from society and a lack of employment opportunities. This has become a practical concern nowadays for this type of wushu practitioner.
Since the Revolution, China has employed a strict form of population control; typically a family consists of four adults and one child. Therefore, many of the children are treated as the pearl in the palm, making the children less able to endure difficulties and learn the true value of hard work and the importance of determination. The real essence of the Chinese phrase “Shi nian ru yi ri,” “ten years is like a day,” has become a boring legend that is impossible to achieve to children.At the same time, there are parents who are not willing to allow their children to endure this form of learning.
In the past, a master and a disciple formed a formal relationship of transmission. The Chinese saying “Yi ri wei shi zhong shen wei fu” means that “one day spent with a master and he becomes your father for a life time.”Thus, a good master brings up good disciples; and good disciples are willing to listen to their master without wavering in their devotion and foundation. The master will do what it takes to train his students, and the students will follow. The master does not only train his students in wushu, but also has strict expectations of his students’ daily lives and personal growth. Before students become official disciples, the master will strengthen both the wushu and personal character of his students. When his students have fulfilled all of his requirements, the master will then give a specific physical artifact to each student as a representation of the student officially becoming a disciple of the master. This disciple will have been rigorously tested and trained over many years by the master in both wushu and the disciple’s personal development. Master Yuan believes that if one has chosen the pathway of wushu then one must have the passion and strong will to transmit and develop wushu with all of their energy and continue to walk this pathway for their life. These qualities are often lacking in modern wushu.
In Wudang wushu the training first focuses on “form” and then “intention”. Master Yuan’s training regime is to first soften the body, then to strengthen it to the right hardness (“hard” here does not mean stiff or rigid), then from the right hardness to the right softness, and to finally fuse the right hardness and right softness to become one. Hardness without softness is like steel: it is strong, but can be broken with a single twist; jumping and spinning in modern wushu with large overly expressed movements, while at the same time adding regular combat training usually causes injuries to the students. Similarly, if we train only softness but not hardness, we will lose the basic defensive power that is trained for in actual combat, let alone the power for attack. Losing both of these means losing the meaning of the practice of wushu.
Master Yuan believes that for internal wushu one needs to first build the right basics of body mechanics and movements and the movements must be practiced correctly. After one has trained in the correct body mechanics and movements one can begin to regulate breathing and cultivate “qi” through standing and sitting meditation. Only when both training systems have been attained can one combine “form” and “intention” together. When this is done, forms and movements can flow uninterrupted like clouds and running water. Looking from the surface there is no force, only “intention”, but in the true practice there is a full power hidden within, without fully expressing itself.If one continues to practice there will be unlimited “qi” congregated in the “dan tian’’ (the “dan tian” is the physical energy center of the body) ready to be used and can destroy all hardness.
Through his years of teaching, Master Yuan has observed that there are three main types of students who come to learn.
The first type is founders, teachers, or coaches of wushu schools. These students generally have a good mentality and can respect the teacher and the teachings. Generally, their purpose for coming to study is to upgrade and refine as well as to learn some forms to bring back to their own schools to teach. These students usually look to learn many forms, but because of their older ages and also their own personal responsibilities (maintaining their schools, family, etc.) they do not have enough time to fine-tune and refine their limitations.
The second type is those with jobs or careers. Due to the lack of attention paid to their bodies’ conditions plus the added pressure from work and daily life, many of these students have some health issues and often feel exhausted. These students generally come to build up their bodies and to “recharge”. This type of student usually cannot spare too much time to learn systematically. They generally are interested in relaxing their mind and learning some qi gong and tai ji so that they can continue their practice when they return home.
The third type is generally students who just graduated or have left school. These types of students usually do not know much about society and their minds are not matured. They do not have accurate judgment or discernment towards people and things, and therefore cannot find an ideal job. Some of them are not satisfied with their current position and are searching for change. Due to the promotion of wushu through movies, television, and other media, many of them come to learn.
Because of the different needs of these three types of students, it is hard for a wushu school to maintain a standardized training program. Currently, Master Yuan tries his best to customize a training program for each student based on their body, mind, and social conditions so that each student can gain something through their personal learning experience. However, from the view-point of developing and maintaining traditional wushu, Master Yuan believes that it is only the third type of students that have enough time and energy to carry on traditional wushu. These students are usually young, not matured mentally and emotionally, and do not have a clear direction for themselves and their future. However if there is an experienced master to guide their minds, sharpen their will, and help them to analyze the development of traditional wushu in the world, it should not be difficult to find the right person (one who is developed in both wushu and character) to carry on the teachings of traditional wushu.
Thanks for reading! There's more to the article, but I don't want to flood the board too much.
Yuan Zi He
wudanggongfu.com
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