Kung Fu: literal translation, "work hard."

Most people hear 'kung fu' and images of Chinese guys 'n girls kicking the shit out of each other spring to mind. Hong Kong cinema exploded onto U.S. consciousness in 1997, when the peninsula was returned to mainland China's control and the movie stars and directors flooded Hollywood's film studios in a deluge, escaping Party control of their collective and individual destinies.

The term 'kung fu' actually has nothing whatsoever to do with fighting, or any discipline in particular. It is more akin to the Native American concept of 'medicine,' or 'mystery.' To have 'good kung fu' is to say that one gives oneself so utterly, so completely to one's art, that the individual ceases to be, and the art DOES all by itself. In those moments, when you experience total surrender to the force that moves you to sing, to dance, to run...when the momentum sweeps over you and YOU cease to be whoever you are...when it comes of its own accord, without effort, without force...THAT is kung fu. It is when you ARE what you do.

In that sense, there is nothing in life which cannot be kung fu.

Long ago, Buddhism spread east from India, traveling over the Himalayas with the Indian monks who brought the religion's scriptures and also the practice of yoga with them to China. There, they found the warrior monks of Shandung and taught them the breathing, stretching, and energy focusing techniques of yoga. The Shaolin monks refined these internal practices to their fighting style (wu shu) and called it 'chi kung,' or 'energy work.'

Kung fu comes of wu wei, which means 'action through inaction.' To do something without effort, without force or rigidity. Rigidity constrains power, keeps it from flowing, keeps it unfocused. True power comes from the flow, when your fist stays relaxed and supple until the final moment that the power strikes it's target - THROUGH it's target - and out the other side. This is why the outcome of a fight does not depend on who is bigger and stronger, and it is a common mistake many fighters make, to their shame. Many people who depend only on their strength to fight, fight very poorly. The force is unfocused, and spreads out over their target instead of traveling through it as it ought.

My teacher is frequently asked, "Who do you look to as a kung fu master? Who is your spiritual guru?" His answer is invariably, "Jimi Hendrix." This reply usually provokes a shocked reaction. But it makes perfect sense, given the meaning of 'kung fu.' My teacher always says that if you want to see what makes a good kung fu master, look to musicians. Watch them closely when they do their art. With Jimi Hendrix (who shares a birthday with Bruce Lee), my teacher found instruction in someone who would lose himself in his art - totally surrender himself to it - as anyone can witness when watching a video of his performance at Woodstock.

The principles of kung fu aren't esoteric or hidden. Everyone experiences it at some point in their lifetime, usually when they're not trying. However, to learn to cultivate it in oneself, and be able to draw on it at will, is the most powerful skill a person can have in their worldly arsenal. Such a skill requires a lifetime of training...perhaps even longer.

I wish you good kung fu.