Originally posted by Inquisitor
With all that being said, I would like to make clear that the distinction placed between contemporary wushu, created and propogated by the People’s Republic of China, and the traditional Chinese Martial Arts is not unsubstantiated. You can make the claim that through learning modern wushu, one can in fact learn valid techniques contained within certain Chinese Martial systems. This may very well be true, but the simple fact of the matter is that no one learns contemporary wushu to learn how to fight.
That’s quite a generalization. Though I didn’t join Wushu to learn how to fight (I’ve known how to fight since I was kid), I did join Wushu to learn self defense, along with many other benefits that I have touched on before. Wushu has yet to fail me in any regards.
At any rate, the basis of this claim is founded upon the principle that modern wushu is based upon the traditional arts - no one disputes this (think of it this way: you learn how to punch in modern wushu, and the form/technique of that punch is based upon the traditional martial arts, but at the same time you do not learn the concepts/principles/theories associated with that punch, nor do you learn how to condition the body to punch without fear of injuring yourself, nor do you learn a myriad of other things).
How do you know that we don’t learn the concpets/principles/theories associated with any technique we do? If I’m learning chin na locks, and how hip rotation increases the power of a punch, how is that not learning theory, concpets, and principles behind your art? Furthermore, how do you know that we don’t condition our body? I do weight training, heavy bag training, run, etc. I also condition my body by doing external and internal form sets. In simplest terms, doing forms alone are conditioning the body. While preforming anything from Taijiquan, to Long fist, your body is being conditioned internally, and externally. The more elaborate and expressive of our form sets condition quite a bit more. However, we use common sense when we train so we don’t injure ourselves. However, What school doesn’t? We train responsibly, but we also train with little fear about being injured. We train to better ourselves mentally and physically.
So yes, I would agree that you can find viable martial techniques within the scope of the modern wushu taolu forms. However, I would greatly disagree with the oversimplification that they are the same thing, when in fact they are not. Teleologically speaking, they have two different aims. And not only do they have vastly different purposes - with those different goals come vastly different methods. I have yet to year of a modern wushu coach who sits with his students and discusses martial philosophy.
Then I recommend taking a trip to Pan Quing Fu’s school in Canda. He’s a Wushu exponent who knows quite abit about Martial philosophy, and is a strong martial artist in his own right.
Do you learn basic Chinese Martial fighting theory? Concepts such as ging (and there are several types of ging), rooting, pressure points, footwork, sticking, leaking, trapping, kung training, sensitivity, etc. etc. etc. are all fundamental truths found in all Chinese Martial Arts, no matter the system or style. Does every modern wushu exponent learn of these things?
Students at my Wushu school do learn such things. However, I can’t speak for the entire wushu community, just like you can’t speak for the entire traditional wushu community. You can’t say that every traditional Chinese MA school teaches all of those aspects, nor can you say that those same MA schools are useless because they don’t.
And yes, modern wushu is great for developing physical ability. However, I would dispute the claim that it develops the same physicality as that associated with the Chinese Martial Arts.
You’re quite correct. Advanced Wushu exponents tend to lack the rather large pot-belly found on mid-section of traditional MA instructors.
In fact, I would even go so far as to say that certain aspects of contemporary wushu training in fact promote bad long-term health. Certain acrobatic techniques (as well as some ground-based movements) promote bad joint health, and place too much pressure on one particular area.
The same can be said for traditional arts like Monkey, which require deep, squatting stances, or to a lesser extent, Hung Gar and other Southern styles that also require deep rooted stances. Even beyond Chinese Martial Arts, all intense body movement can cause strain and tearing of the joints and ligaments. All physical training does this. Wushu hardly has the monopoly on “wear and tear”.
Also, not all aspects of wushu technique correspond with that of the traditional foundation. For example, many movements stress that the arm or leg should be fully extended, when most traditional systems stress that doing so promotes bad habit, as it will leave the limb open to counter-trapping/breaking. It seems that oftentimes modern wushu will take the principle of overextension for training purposes (e.g. kicking to your head, even though you would never have to do so), and extend it even further and then place it at the forefront for aesthetic purposes.
Oh please. Both traditional and modern styles stress overextension for training purposes. You overextend to develop strength in the ligaments and the muscles. Take Crane and its absurd high kicking. You train to kick that high to develop the muscles in your legs and thighs, and to stretch the groin muscles. Thus, when you need to preform a technique, you can do it from a variety of ranges. Low, high, and everywhere in between. The same can be said about Hung Gar and its extremely deep stances, or Taijiquan and its slow movements.
In ending, I would say that there are similarities, but there are also differences. While I would say with certainty that contemporary wushu does not teach pugilism, that does not mean that I would discredit it as a sport. To have kungfu requires great dedication, great perseverence, and great diligence - whether it be kungfu in modern wushu or kungfu in the traditional Chinese Martial Arts.
Once again, if you don’t think a wushu man can be a pugilist, all I need to do is point you to Sifu Pan Quing Fu.