This dealt a death blow to traditional kungfu and chi kung in modern China.īut the Chinese government later reversed its policies. The worst period was during the Cultural Revolution when anything traditional was considered counter revolutionary, the most serious crime in China at that time. When the present-day Chinese government took over from the Republican in 1949, practicing kungfu and chi kung as well as other traditional arts was considered bourgeois, and was discouraged or forbidden. Genuine kungfu practitioners referred to such dance-like kungfu forms, which were beautiful to watch but uselss for combat, as “fa khuen sau thieu” (Cantonese pronounciation) or “flowery fists and embroidery kicks”. These students would perform the beautiful kungfu forms during gatherings and celebrations, and their parents as well as invited guests who could not tell the difference between kungfu forms and genuine kungfu, would be very pleased, thinking that the instructors had done their job well.
Genuine masters would not compromise their arts, but mediocre instructors would teach the rich children kungfu forms as a sort of physical exercise, leaving out the demanding force training and combat application. Force training and combat application were two essential aspects of kungfu.īut towards the end of the Qing Dynasty and during the Republican period, when rich landlords invited kungfu masters to teach their children, these children who were used to pampered living, were often lazy to endure the vigorous kungfu training. There were many styles of kungfu, such as Lohan, Praying Mantis, Huaquan, Xingyiquan, Taijiquan, Baguazhuang, Hoong Ka, Wing Choon and Choy-Li-Fatt. In the past, kungfu was always practiced as a martial art.
I was reading an answer in your Question-Answer Series and I got very confused about this particular part of the answer: “The introduction of wushu, the modern form of demonstrative kungfu popularized by present-day China, quickens the transformation of kungfu from a martial art to a dance.”