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| Yes | 73% | 104 votes | Total: 143 votes | |
| No | 27% | 39 votes |
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Add to FavoritesKung Fu is more than just a form of combat: its a way of life. Beyond the fitness, attacks and defenses, kung fu is about self mastery, good ethics, and mental-spiritual development. You develop a greater sense of self, as well as uncover a deeper meaning to the martial arts. This doesn't just help you in the school, or in a fight, but in every day life. A sharper, calmer mind; and appreciation for important things; the ability to persevere; the confidenceto go on and sort things out, and the discipline to do so. With modern combative arts focusing only on violence and not on the ethical aspects of martial arts, kung fu is needed now just as much as it ever was.
To allow kung fu to go extinct just because we feel it is not important anymore, is like burning Mona Lisa because everyone likes Abstract art more now. Older styles of kung fu hold all of the original techniques that shaped eastern martial arts, as well as superior skills that push the ability of the human body beyond the norm. This is a precious part of the martial arts community, and an irreplaceableaspect of the Chinese culture. Kung Fu serves both as a connection for thewestern people to east, and as a connection for the east to their past. Such things should not be taken lightly.
Another reason why Kung Fu is still important today, is because it can still remain a viable form of self defense-provided it goes through a little "translating". As said before, Kung Fu holds all the original techniques used in eastern martial arts. By simply studying realistic self defense, choosing a pool of techniques that works for you, and cutting out all the flashy and quaint movements, you can translate your kung fu into an effective, efficientself defense method. That means shortening your stances, using less movement, being more straight forward, and discarding fancy movements like a one legged crane stance or an excessively low back stance. Like Bruce Lee said: "absorb what is useful; reject what is useless". Now, that doesn't mean stop practicing or teaching something you can't use for self defense, that just means you need to know what your tools are for self defense-and what they are not.
In the end kung fu remains extremely important in the modern day. Every time a modern system is missing something, the experts look to the traditional martial arts for the answer. And other traditional styles, like Karate, look to kung fu in order to further and better understand their style. It is a cultural part of the world, beloved by many, and its glory should never be allowed to fade away.
Learn more about this author, Joshua Peacock.
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No
Kung Fu is not important today unless you happen to like practicing Kung Fu. It is not widely used for military hand to hand combat training. It's not legal to use the weaponry for self-defence. It's not a part of mainstream culture, even in China and Hong Kong. It hasn't been popular anywhere since the 70s.
Let's get one thing straight Kung Fu is not art. Kung Fu was designed to kill people. A weapon designed to raise killing hands, to train armies and to win wars with. More efficient tools have been developed over the last century guns anyone? Sure there are many people on the streets still carrying concealed blades (also very effective) but for most cases a fast pair of legs will serve you better than Kung Fu. If you can't run, you're going to have to fight but is Kung Fu going to be any more effective than boxing, wrestling, Judo or any other martial art? Typically, due to the number of techniques employed, it is quicker to become proficient in boxing much more quickly than a Chinese striking art.
The health benefits may be numerous most physical training is to humans under the right conditions. Sport science has also come a long way in the last couple of centuries. Good health is not the sole preserve of a Kung Fu practitioner. I have been a Kung Fu student for many years. I train hard every week. The workout it gives you is varied, and it trains more than just muscles. Tendons, ligaments, even bones can strengthen through traditional Kung Fu practice. Yes, it is supposed to be difficult. It is character building, great for self defence and health. These practices are steeped in ritual, and some schools also combine it with religion or moral best practice to promote a positive way of life. You could even (misguidedly) view it as art, if that's your bag, and get something out of it that way.
All the traits and characteristics I've described above are not the sole preserve of Kung Fu. They can all be gained elsewhere you could take up a sport to stay healthy. Just because Kung Fu is hard work, that doesn't mean that an Olympic freestyle wrestler is lazy. Just because you can use Kung Fu to win wars (and it was used, centuries ago), that doesn't mean it is as effective as bombs. One could argue that, picked apart, you could get everything Kung Fu has to offer from alternative sources in today's society. You want religion? There's plenty to choose from. You want human movement as art? Dance has been around for a while. So have action films, should you perceive fighting as art. I hear Bruce Lee did a nice line in them. You want to physically hurt someone? Take your pick! There's plenty of blunt instruments to choose from.
Is Kung Fu a worthy investment of your time? Of course it is. Is it important in the modern day? Not unless you're in the tiny percentage of the world's population who trains Kung Fu. How many Kung Fu masters do you know?
Learn more about this author, Mangers M. Magners.
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