“Kung Fu is not a just fighting art to today’s masters, but also a path toward enlightenment. Wrapping kung fu up with Taoist or Zen Buddhist philosophy and linking the quasi-religious martial art with the concept of internal qi gong is basically canon for many traditional martial artists.”
– “Why Kung Fu Masters Refuse to Teach,” Vice, Jan. 27, 2016
I wrote this story as much as a defense of my Master than anything else. Writing for Vice: Fightland was a great experience and I learned a lot from my fellow writers and of course from the people we were writing about, but it was very Mixed Martial Arts-centric. The narrative that Kung Fu – or Chinese Traditional Martial Arts – was all useless and show bothered me. I knew very well how effective Kung Fu is, and how deep and profound the culture can be.
I remember this story engendered a lot of discussion, as old school heads praised my stance and new school cats laughed it all off. They traded barbs in a comment section that has since been removed. If anyone out there trains, and has an opinion, feel free to leave it in the comments below.
Click here to read the full story, “Why Kung Fu Masters Refuse to Teach.”
