What is Kung Fu?

Kung Fu is the traditional Chinese martial art practiced by millions of people in China, as well as in other countries. Almost all of the other Asian martial arts have been derived from or were greatly influenced by Chinese Kung Fu. Thus, Kung Fu can be said to be the “mother system” of almost all the martial arts. Kung Fu is an all-encompassing martial art, whereas other forms are narrower in scope. Japanese Karate-Do deals mainly with punching, blocking, and kicking. Japanese Judo deals mainly with throws and locks. Korean Tae Kwon Do deals mainly with empty hand and kick techniques. Chinese Kung Fu has empty hands, kicks, blocks, throws and joint-locks as well as weapon techniques, and finally healing skills. Kung Fu truly covers a much broader scope than any other martial art.

The terms “Kung” and “Fu” are Chinese terms that literally mean “accomplishment” through time and “Effort or Energy.” This generic term was used by people to refer to anything that required a great SKILL, because a skill is acquired through a large amount of time and effort. Hence, a good chef preparing a delicious meal can be said to have good “Kung Fu” or skill. However, in modern times the meaning has become synonymous with all the Chinese Martial Art systems.

History of Kung Fu

Most of what we know about the history of Kung Fu comes from legend. Kung Fu can be said to be as old as mankind, because people have always needed to know how to defend themselves against “bad” men and dangerous animals. From early ideas, some Chinese monks and nuns developed a system to protect themselves and, at the same time, to make themselves strong so that they would live long and be of great help to the common people. They named the system they invented after the temple in which they lived. The name of the temple was the Young Forest Temple, which in the Chinese language is “Shao-lin.” Eventually, this form of self-defense became very famous throughout China and the world. This is what we call Shaolin Kung Fu.

Over the years Shaolin Kung Fu spread throughout China. People, trying to improve the art, found that they could learn a great deal from watching and imitating animals in their movements. They soon developed styles based on movements from tiger, snake, leopard, crane, and dragon. These are said to be the five animals of traditional Kung Fu. However, many other animals were imitated such as the monkey, eagle, and several more. Later, the praying mantis insect was mimicked to develop the fast and agile Praying Mantis style of Kung Fu.

Although Kung Fu can be traced back to periods before the Iron Age, the periods of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644) and the Ching dynasty (A.D. 1644-1911) are where Kung Fu seemed to flourish, and from which many of the systems of today were born.