So, for my next promotional belt test I have to write a paper on Kung Fu and I need some reading material. Anybody know of any good books I should start with?
I don’t have any real direction, just history, philosophy, all that good stuff.
I have found that the library is an atrocious place to research any martial arts, so the internet and word of mouth on books is about the best place to start I’ve found.
Thanks
The Tao of Jeet Kune Do. Of course, this may not be considered “real” kung fu, depending on who you’re testing with.
[quote]devildog_jim wrote:
The Tao of Jeet Kune Do. Of course, this may not be considered “real” kung fu, depending on who you’re testing with.[/quote]
I looked it up and I’m not sure how much it will help me with the report, but I bought it anyway, it looks like a really good read.
Tao of JKD is basically a collection of Bruce Lee’s philosophies in… everything, including the martial arts. A lot of really good ideas in there have their roots in Buddhist and Hindu philosophy. Good stuff.
I’d think you would have gotten a bit more instruction than “write a paper on Kung-fu”. I mean what about it? Origins and history? Philosophies? Techniques? Origins of techniques?
Yeah, you would think so. The instruction that I received was “kung fu.”
The previous paper was karate, so I did a lot of history and different styles of karate and a ton about Funakoshi, then after the second draft I was asked why I didn’t add more about philosophy.
So it’s pretty much do whatever I think is a satisfactory paper. No page limit, no real guidelines, just write a paper about kung fu.
Just out of curiosity, what art do you practice?
[quote]RynoSmash wrote:
Yeah, you would think so. The instruction that I received was “kung fu.”
The previous paper was karate, so I did a lot of history and different styles of karate and a ton about Funakoshi, then after the second draft I was asked why I didn’t add more about philosophy.
So it’s pretty much do whatever I think is a satisfactory paper. No page limit, no real guidelines, just write a paper about kung fu.[/quote]
There are easily as many (more actually) systems of wushu (“kung fu” is a westernized pronunciation of “gongfu/gungfu” which I believe was commonly used in Wing Chun circles, thus why Bruce Lee used it to describe his original martial art “Jun Fan Gung Fu”, and thus why the term “kung fu” became synonymous with chinese martial arts) as there are of Karate. So, that’s a pretty gigantic topic you’ve got there.
Maybe you could think about specifically what you want to write about regarding Kung Fu, and then ask for books on specific topics. That would probably make your job of writing the paper easier, as well as our job of suggesting books easier.
[quote]rundymc wrote:
Just out of curiosity, what art do you practice?[/quote]
Tae Kwon Do, Song Moo Kwan style.
Edit: Song Moo Kwan was one of the original 9 TKD schools in Korea, it literally means Pine Tree School, which was part of a tribute to Funakoshi, whose style of Karate is Shotokan/Chotokan, which means whispering pine school. Our style is closely tied to Shotokan in that the first 9 forms we practice are tkd, then after that we learn karate forms.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]RynoSmash wrote:
Yeah, you would think so. The instruction that I received was “kung fu.”
The previous paper was karate, so I did a lot of history and different styles of karate and a ton about Funakoshi, then after the second draft I was asked why I didn’t add more about philosophy.
So it’s pretty much do whatever I think is a satisfactory paper. No page limit, no real guidelines, just write a paper about kung fu.[/quote]
There are easily as many (more actually) systems of wushu (“kung fu” is a westernized pronunciation of “gongfu/gungfu” which I believe was commonly used in Wing Chun circles, thus why Bruce Lee used it to describe his original martial art “Jun Fan Gung Fu”, and thus why the term “kung fu” became synonymous with chinese martial arts) as there are of Karate. So, that’s a pretty gigantic topic you’ve got there.
Maybe you could think about specifically what you want to write about regarding Kung Fu, and then ask for books on specific topics. That would probably make your job of writing the paper easier, as well as our job of suggesting books easier.[/quote]
Well, it’s going to be mostly history and philosophy. I’ll have to include the major styles, but there’s no way that I’m going to try and cover all of them, I’m not writing a book. I’m not going to get very detailed in any one style, so a book on Praying Mantis style would go into far more detail than is necessary for my purposes. I will probably just do a whole section on Northern (Southern?) Kungfu rather than a section about each animal style on its own.
Ryno,
Between a lot of the “serious” students of Chinese Martial Arts (CMA), history and origin can be contentious points of discussion, given the reverence payed to instructor lineage by some students. I tell you this in case you find differing views between various websites while surfing the 'net. That said, the general delineations in CMA are Internal v. External, and Northern v. Southern.
The dominant umbrella “schools” for Internal and External are Wudang and Shaolin, respectively. This does not mean that one is entirely Internal and the other entirely External, since both schools blend the two in different ways, rather it is a reference to the primary training focus for beginners. Incidentally, the philosophical tenets of Wudang systems are primarily Taoist, while Shaolin philosophies are predominantly Buddhist in nature. I suggest reading “The Shaolin Grandmaster’s Text” for basic Shaolin research. I haven’t read his work in entirety, but B.K. Frantzis is fairly well respected for Wudang material, I believe. Also, Shaolin systems are broken down further within the North/South divide. There are additional factors in here of family styles, military education, foreign (i.e. Mongolian) infiltration, etc, but the above should be enough for your intended effort.
If you want Kung Fu sport topics, Shuai Jiao (aka Shuai Chiao) is the sport of Kung Fu throwing, and is the Chinese equivalent of Judo, but with no real ground work. It is also a recognized self-defense system when studied in the combative form, which includes striking. San Shou (aka San Da, or Sanda) is the Chinese sport of kickboxing. It generally involves punches, kicks, and throws/takedowns, but again - no real ground game. Under some rule-sets, knee and elbow strikes are also incorporated. Unlike other sports such as Judo, no points (or reduced points) are awarded for throws in which the thrower hits the mat with the throwee. “Modern Wushu” is the PRC created/sanction, non-combative, Kung Fu sport of Forms (Kata) competition.
Depending on your interest, and the intended depth of the essay, reviewing the effect gov’t has had on Kung Fu will be very insightful.
Anybody have thoughts/disagreements on the above?
Hope that helps some. Good luck,
-B
Try BudoVideos.com
They have just about every martial book ever made. You are gonna have to sort through alot of titles but I am pretty sure they will have a few books that will cover what your looking for.
Thanks a lot for the advice guys. I’ll be sure to check out the Grandmaster’s Text, I found it on Amazon for like $19.