The words “martial arts” conjure up all kinds of imagery – and it’s usually Hollywood-style, over-the-top fight scenes that just barely jive with the laws of physics. But the truth is, the disciplines of different martial arts cover a wide range of activities and goals, and many of them are not focused on fighting. In fact, some of them have historically prioritized form, meditation, focus, balance, and other “inner” qualities. Tai chi quan, meaning “supreme ultimate boxing” and simply known as tai chi in most of pop culture, is one of them.

We’ve spent a lot of the last few months talking about different martial arts – karate, tae kwon do, kickboxing, and so on – but for the most part, those have all focused on disciplines that prioritize body movement over weapons. While some, like ninjustsu, allow for the use of weapons like staffs, the majority of the training is on how to strike, block, and counter with your own body. Today let’s talk about a martial art that goes the other way: the Japanese school of kendo.
                 
​Kendo came together over the last few centuries, descended from kenjutsu – the expert swordsmanship and techniques of samurai and other fighters in feudal Japan. It emphasizes the quick motion and strikes of swordfighting, while also teaching how to effectively block your opponent from hitting you in return. It takes many years of practice to master, and requires intense training to reach the physical fitness necessary to wield and move the weapons properly, while maintaining the correct footwork for the style.
                 
Historically, kendoka (practitioners of the sport) used real swords, but beginning as far back as the 1700s, that has changed in favour of using bamboo or wooden swords, called shinai or bokuto, respectively. And similar to modern fencing, its participants have special protective gear to protect their heads, body, and arms, a tradition that has been in place since the 17th century. This includes a head, shoulder and throat covering, made of leather and fabric, with a metal grille over the face; a hard leather breastplate to protect the torso;  three thick fabric flaps for the groin and waist; and finally, a pair of long, thick cotton gloves for the hands and forearms. Based off the traditional outfits of samurai fighters, this equipment became a key part of the kendo style.

In competitions, the only way to score points is to hit your opponent in one of those areas – the head or throat, the wrists, or the body. Any hit on an unarmoured area does not count. Thus, learning how to properly manoeuvre with the sword for strikes and counterstrikes is the foundation for every kendo student – techniques known as kata.
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Getting used to the sword movements and reactions, and being adept enough to predict what to do next, takes years of practice – and the grading system reflects that, with more than ten skill levels noted. At age 13, a kendoka can be admitted to the first true grade, 1-dan (before that they are considered as kyu, which itself has 6 levels). To reach the next dan after that, increasing years of practice are needed, and no student can get to the highest level if they are younger than 46 years old. At minimum, 31 years of practice are needed to ascend to the level of 8-dan!

Of all the different fields of martial arts that we have already looked at, or will look at more closely in the future, perhaps the most misunderstood one is that of ninjutsu – the art and techniques of the nearly-mythical hidden attackers known as ninjas. From its ancient roots to its explosion in popularity during the last few decades, mostly thanks to pop culture phenomena like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the idea of what ninjutsu is and what its practitioners do has always walked the line between legend and reality.

The methods of the ninjas began centuries ago, in feudal Japan, but due to their secretive nature it is impossible to tell exactly when the discipline was truly established. However, the first ninjas – or as they were originally known, the shinobi – were not the black-clad masters that we would imagine today. Rather, they were simply poor people from the countryside and farms who became very good at infiltration and spying, and taught the same methods to their children over generations. They become renowned for their ability to blend in, do their task (whether that was assassination, information collection, sabotage, or something else), and then disappear without raising the alarm. Their guiding principles became the ideas of stealth and adaptation to any situation.

So what does that mean? The biggest thing that differentiates ninjutsu from other martial arts is that ninjas are not just focused on how to fight well. They may incorporate techniques from other arts, like karate or kung fu, but it is only a small part of true ninja training, which begins from a young age and runs through a student’s entire life. This training involves stealth practices, increasing your resourcefulness, long-distance walking or long periods of standing still, planning proper diets, knowledge of poisons and cures, using commonly-found objects as weapons, and a variety of ingenuous techniques for how to incapacitate, blind, harm, or silently kill targets.

Ninjutsu is known for its use of simple farm tools as weapons, like scythes, flails, or sickles, which not only could be used to great effect, but allowed anyone wielding such a tool to claim they were only a farmer, not a fighter. They also used hidden objects like hollowed-out eggs filled with broken glass and pepper, sharp metal throwing stars, and blades on chains to attack from a distance and catch their targets by surprise.

Though the idea of dressing in all black is a great Hollywood trope, it is more likely that they dressed in disguises that would allow them passage to their targets – monks, priests, farmers, and so on. They became so good at blending in that legends told of them being invisible, and the reputation progressed to the point that sites fearful of being infiltrated had all kinds of traps, alarms, and failsafes to prevent anyone from getting past the guards.

So where does that leave the idea of ninjas today? Unfortunately, if you’re looking for a school that teaches ninjutsu, you are likely to be out of luck – not only because it was a hereditary concept to begin with, but also because there is no such thing as a single, overarching discipline of ninjutsu. It is a mix of trainings and practices from all parts of life, and deals with a lot of ideas and methods that are obsolete in the modern world.
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But it’s still interesting to look back and see how a group of poor Japanese peasants turned into some of the most feared and respected martial artists in history, by constantly practicing and using only what was available to them!

A lot of people will ask about martial arts as if it’s a competition – which one is the best, which one is better for winning fights, and so on. But one of the best things about all martial arts in general is that they are all different expressions of the same underlying philosophy: that through training, discipline, meditation, and practice, anyone can become more in tune with themselves and their environment, and live a better life. And when we’re talking about styles as different as kung fu and wing chun, that distinction makes a big difference.

Wing chun (which you may know as the style practiced by stars like Bruce Lee, Anderson Silva, and even Robert Downey, Jr.) is a martial arts discipline that is characterized by lightning-fast arm strikes and blocks, strong leg support, and a prioritization of hits and defense along the vertical centre of the body.  The main stance is high and narrow, allowing the arms to easily block hits and counter-attack in return.

One of the most important concepts highlighted by Wing Chun is the idea of “softness” – not at all in the sense of weakness, but in the flexibility and adaptation of a fighter’s movements. This core idea means that when defending, there is the ability to manoeuvre around incoming hits, but all the strength of training is ready to be used at all times when the opportunity arises. Teachers of the art liken it to a shoot of bamboo: steady and firmly rooted, but able to easily sway in the wind.

Wing Chun is also more simple with its forms than many other martial arts, especially ones like karate or tae kwon do. Organized by accessories – “empty hand”, “weapon”, and “wooden dummy” – almost all lessons in the discipline take place within just six forms. These all have derivatives as well, but the majority of concepts can be expressed using this methodology.

There are three empty hand forms, emphasizing different techniques and skills. The basic form, Siu Nim Tau, is the basis of all the others across the whole martial art, and teaches fundamentals of balance and body structure. The next, Chum Kiu, highlights movement, initial strike and recovery techniques, and ways to “bridge the gap” between one fighter and another. The third, Biu Ji, is more advanced, teaching short- and long-range techniques like kicks, sweeps, counter-attacks, and emergency techniques when the main ones are no longer possible.

Traditional weapons in Wing Chun include dual short butterfly swords of 11-15 inches as well as wooden poles ranging from 8-13 feet long. Requiring advanced footwork, power, strength, and training in strike ability, they are a developed skill that many students no longer train on, focusing instead on the breathing, flow, and movement of the empty hand forms.

Lastly, the wooden dummy (seen in the image at the top of this blog) form is an intermediate style that helps train students on strikes against another person. There are many different versions of this, and it is only a guide meant to instill confidence and expectations as a Wing Chun fighter moves up in their ability to execute strikes.

Another interesting idea of Wing Chun is the practice of “sticking hands”, Chi Sau. These drills are meant to develop automatic reflexes and to feel – and eventually, anticipate – how opponents move before striking. In training, students maintain forearm contact with each other while practicing, learning to sense pressure, momentum, muscular mechanics, and so on, with the idea of getting to the point where they can precisely predict and respond to attacks based on sight alone.

So with all that said, what is the same about Wing Chun? At its root, it does the same thing that kung fu does: it teaches patience, mindfulness, oneness, and confidence. It makes students more balanced, both physically and emotionally. It creates wellness and peace where there were often scattered thoughts. Overall, they are both martial arts here to make students healthier, happier, and more aware of all that they are capable of!

If you go to any bar on a Saturday night, you might encounter a room full of people glued to the TV, watching Pay-Per-View coverage of the latest big-name title fight. From humble origins, mixed-martial arts (MMA) fights have come up to be hugely popular, often getting tons of attention from people around the world – and more often than not, drawing parallels with the more traditional martial arts from which MMA is descended.
                 
What’s more, on the rare occasions when a modern MMA fighter goes up against a student of kung fu, it can appear extremely lopsided! While being totally different styles, they are both rooted in attacks and defense, and thus it is tempting to think that they are roughly equally matched. So, when faced with the fact that kung fu fighters often lose when pitted against MMA – how can we explain that? Is one discipline better than the other? Is kung fu useless in a real, ruthless fight situation?
                 
Well, not exactly. It’s not nearly as simple as that, and here’s why.
                 
Simply put, MMA fighters win more often in the ring because that is exactly – and only – what they train to do, whereas kung fu is much more broad in its focus and its moves. Kung fu was not developed to “win in a ring”, after all. It was developed out of principles of meditation, balance, mental discipline, and the necessity of self-defence in situations where the fight likely would not be fair.
                 
What does that mean? Well, it means that we teach kicks, punches, and other hits that are effective in an emergency situation, when they need to be – but would never be allowed in an MMA fight. Downward elbow hits, reverse roundhouse kicks, open-hand strikes, and glove-free blocks are good examples of this – they are all very common in kung fu, but not used anywhere near an MMA ring. In a street situation where you need to end a conflict fast, fighting “according to the rules” is not going to help, so we train our students to do what is most effective, with the least amount of harm inflicted. MMA, on the other hand, is about beating up another person until they are completely subdued and usually unconscious – as long as they stay within the rules. It may be more entertaining to watch, and more brutal in its execution, but it lacks the real versatility and adaptability of a true self-defence discipline; it can’t accommodate unexpected weapons, or illegal kicks and punches, or the ability to stay calm and focused for hours at a time instead of short three-minute bursts. It is a sport – one that requires a lot of time and talent and passion, yes, but a sport nonetheless – whereas kung fu is a philosophy, an art, and a way of life.

Another way to say it? MMA fighters train to get into fights and give 110% toward conquering their opponent. Kung fu fighters train to stay out of fights, unless there is literally no other way out – but if it’s all on the line, they are equipped to approach any escalation with a clear head and a quick response. So don’t be so quick to judge if a kung fu martial artist has lost in the ring – real fights don’t have referees or rules, and it would look much different in a street situation!

Fighting in some form or another – and with the elements of rules and sportsmanship – has been around for millennia, as shown by the huge number of ancient arenas and fighting pits that have been discovered dating back to some of the oldest human cultures. But these days, it’s much more than just tossing a couple of gladiators in a circle and placing bets. From those old traditions come some of the most common and recognizable disciplines we see today, including kickboxing.

Last month we talked about the origins and forms of karate, and that ties into kickboxing because that’s where the sport began! Though it may seem like a natural offshoot of a fighting style – after all, kicks are more powerful than punches – it actually was not until the 1950s that the sport we now know as kickboxing began to take shape in Japan.

Drawing not only from traditional karate, but also from muay thai, a man named Tatsuo Yamada began outlining the forms of the new sport and throughout the early 1960s, it took hold in students of both disciplines. As more people learned the rules of the sport, and the first competitions and events were taking place, soon kickboxing was expanding around the world and by the 1980s, it had grown into North America and Europe. Moving back and forth in popularity since then, and with very broad scope of rules and styles, it is one of the most enduring schools of modern martial arts for people of all skill levels.

Though each country seems to have its own rules, the bouts that most people are familiar with in kickboxing are generally based on full-contact karate, where the opponents fight through rounds until one of the fighters is knocked out or submits. There is no specialized equipment or weapons; generally only a mouth-guard, hand wrappings, and other protective gear is needed. Rules vary on low and high kicks, hits to knees or with elbows, use of spins, and other details. That means that each fighter has to be pinpoint accurate, quick to strike and to retreat, and ready to react to their foe in an instant. As opposed to the more meditative nature of karate and kung fu, kickboxing is much more fast-paced and focused on the immediate impact of kicks and punches.

There are dozens of sub-styles of kickboxing, including shoot boxing (where fighters can use standing chokeholds and armlocks),  sanshou (which incorporates elements of wrestling and takedowns), and Japanese K-1 (which allows lower-body strikes and grappling).

Whatever your personal style may be, if you like to fight, chances are good that there’s a kickboxing genre for you. However, if you prefer something more holistic and meditative, you can’t go wrong with studying kung fu – and we just happen to know the perfect place to learn: right here at Kung Fu