Tags archives: artofkungfu
-
-
-
454 days ago
- The starting point: During my research, I became increasingly enamored with the idea of a chronological art show that gave viewers a sense of how kung fu actually evolved.
It would include the women of kung fu that are so frequently marginalized, a couple wu xia/swordsman stories, and the religious elements (Buddhism and Taoism) that worked as catalysts to turn kung fu into a philosophy and not[...]
-
-
-
469 days ago
-
14.
The Gangsters at the Docks
Wong Fei-hung Increases His Renown
Everyone in Guangdong Province knows the name of Wong Fei-hung. They know he once lived at Po Chi Lam, where he ran a clinic specializing in traditional Chinese medicine. They know he opened half a dozen Hung Gar martial arts schools. They also know he led a revolt against the Ching Dynasty and restored honor to the Shaolin [...]
-
-
-
476 days ago
-
7.
A Daughter’s Duty
Wei Mulan Duels Her Father
From her place at the window where she worked her loom every day, Mulan heard a clanging rise from the courtyard, and it drew her gaze away from the moving threads. She leaned out the window, catching sight of her father teaching her brother—a boy not more than twelve—to hold a sword and swing it. It was a pathetic display. The boy was too fr[...]
-
-
-
483 days ago
-
4.
The Battle of Zhuolu Plains
Huang Di Defeats Chi You
Golden Swallow’s premonition proved true: war engulfed the land, far beyond what Chi You had expected. The God of War knew that he had tempted fate long enough. Every warrior fought with forged iron now----it was no longer unique to his hand----and he had long dreaded that a day of reckoning would arrive, but he never dreamed it would [...]
-
-
-
490 days ago
-
12.
The Bandit-King And His Fiancé
Yim Wing-chun Fights for Her Freedom
Yim Wing-chun was only fifteen years old when her tearful parents dragged her to the Henan Shaolin monastery to meet secretly with its Abbess and renowned kung fu master, Ng Mui, and beg her to teach the girl something—anything—that might save her life.
You see, just the day before, a bandit-king named Flying Monkey ha[...]
-
-
-
498 days ago
-
9.
The Snake and the Hawk
Zhang Sanfeng Creates Tai Chi Chuan
In the early stages of the Sung Dynasty, Zhang Sanfeng gave up a prominent magistrate’s position and left his native province of Liao Tung in Northern China in order to search for immortality. He was a tall, robust man with a heavy beard, prone to wearing the same quilted coat and wide-brimmed straw hat regardless of the weather[...]
-
-
-
504 days ago
-
1.
The Bull Dance
Shang Li and the Ancient Roots of Chinese Fighting
Histories written on oracle bones tell tales of villages that used a type of choreographed wrestling in their harvest ceremonies to pay homage to the earth. What began as a folk dance, an expression of strength and virility, evolved into a test to find the most marriageable young man in the village. At least, this is what [...]
-
-
-
511 days ago
-
What: It is generally believed that modern Chinese martial arts derived from two separate mountains: Shaolin and Wudan.
Yet, before these two traditions established themselves, the development of kung fu is shrouded in a rich and mysterious past, rife with magical beasts, angry gods, and fearsome warriors.
To celebrate the coming Chinese New Year (the Year of the Dragon!), I reworked six[...]
