by Joshua Peacock

Created on: May 24, 2009

Kung 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.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.