Is traditional kung fu dying?

[chimojo]

In one of Dr. Yang's videos online he makes a reference to traditional martial arts in China as basically dying out.

I assume this is due to the governmental standardization and internationalization of contemporary wushu (not to mention religious persecution of confucianism/taoism in the past).

Do you think traditional kung fu is dying out? And if so, could other countries other than China actually be a major force in keeping it alive?

[tico]

Hey,

I think some styles are dying out, not all styles. We must keep it alive and give it to the next generation!

Tico

[yat_chum]

I think martial arts are dying out there are many reasons for this.
The first blow to martial arts was the invention of the hand gun. It takes years to be become a martial artist by only takes minutes to learn how to use a gun. The second was the watering down martial arts into contemporary wushu. The third is the holding back of knowledge by the masters so that each generation gets less of the good stuff. fourthly it is hard to find the time in this modern world to devote yourself solely to martial arts.

I would not look for true martial arts in China, although it is still there at the moment (while the old masters are still alive) it is very much hidden. it is better to look to Taiwan and South-east Asia.

I hope this makes sense, as I had very little sleep last night.

[Dvivid]

I was told by a Wudang Kung Fu monk who grew up studying at Wudang mountain that only a tiny percentage of people in China study kung fu now. And 1 out of 100 continue the training for more than a few years.

[yat_chum]

I read this on Eric Ling's Weblog it pretty much answers the question.
http://eric88ling.wordpress.com/

"Being a “Hua Chiao” or overseas Chinese, there is this need for me to connect with my forefathers’ roots and knowing how things are never the same in China after the Cultural Revolution, I sense an immense need to look for it elsewhere. The lifestyles, cultures and traditions replanted in other soils and sadly, also fading slowly into oblivion, are things that matter the most to me as a Chinese. My efforts have been in most parts, seeking these out and helping them survive, in not in practice then at least in records.

Not a easy road to take especially if you’re from a place like Singapore where everything is about keeping up with what’s new and trendy, oftentimes and sadly, at the expense of one’s own cultural identity. Preservation is not really a priority ….

I love it when my dad said, that many years ago; “Embrace the new but never, never forget the old”

And that’s how I intend to live my life."

[chimojo]

Interesting yat_chum. In fact, this leads me to a second point and one that Dr. Yang has also mentioned.

When discussing the California retreat and the training of extraordinary martial artists, Dr. Yang frequently talks about modern society vs. traditional martial arts. I think that modern globalization (of information, business, economies and cultures) has its benefits, but certainly cultural traditions do as well. In my opinion it is up to every country to strike a balance between these two because both have value. It's just that we have never had the means to do this in the past and at the beginning it can be quite overwhelming. Again, yin and yang balance.

As for me, I just like doing traditional kung fu so I am going to keep on doing it.

[Yatish Parmar]

The irony of it all is that without globalisation you wouldn't know what kungfu was or have a chance to study it.

[chimojo]

Great point! That is really what I meant in the first post. It seems that people in countries other than China and overseas Chinese almost have to seem to have a greater interest in keeping alive traditional martial arts than many mainland Chinese.

So traditional martial arts could be suffering due to globalization (standardization of martial arts in contemporary wushu / the olympics) but are also surviving because of it due to to transplanted masters and foreigners seeking out traditional martial arts.

I think another significant point made earlier is about secrets. Traditional martial artists can't affort to continue keeping secrets if their arts are to survive. Often, these "secrets" are essentials to the art!

[yeniseri]

The traditional is dying out since it does not pay!

There is a acrobatic and performance based wushu art that relies on beauty, point scoring and nice clothes and that is what people are willing to pay for and enjoy so it is bringing in money to supprt itself.

I came across 2 articles from Kungfu/Qigong magazine and both Wu Bin and Yu Hai (teachers of some well known wushu stylists) says nowadays no one pays attention to jingqishen. Do not get me wrong! I love wushu but it is performance and it look nice. I know because I am a sometime competitor and if a movement is nice enough and empty but looks beautiful, you win.