What Happened to White Crane Kung Fu?
Newsletter 1138
Another day in paradise! Paradise, of course, being the chance to work out!
One of the big points of understanding matrixing is understanding how the martial arts came to be a mess. While there have been brilliant advances in this mess, there have also been some disastrous developments. Let’s talk about White Crane Kung Fu.
Legend has it that White Crane was invented by Fang Qiniang, a young lady whose father taught her Shaolin kung fu. Fang was supposedly in a field one day when she saw a crane battling a snake, and was inspired.
Maybe, maybe not, makes a great story, and…why not? Even today that image has power.
BUT!
White Crane developed, over the decades, into Karate. So let me ask the question? How did something developed by a soft, fragile girl become a hard core, impact oriented type of martial art?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying ladies aren’t capable of becoming hard core brutes (they are the more vicious of the species, after all), or that they can’t embrace brutal training methods.
I’m asking how an art that relied on guiding the attack, misdirecting the opponent, undoing balance and finding workable striking spots became an art that relies on power, power, and then more power?
How did an art developed by a gurl, with a ‘lesser’ frame and all her delicate, inner sensibilities, became a ‘You bash me, I bash you, Grrr!’ type of martial art?
And while there are styles of Karate that are softer, more liquid, and not so brutal, consider arts like Kyokushin, or Uechi Ryu.
Somebody had a bright idea. And that bright idea was tempered by young turks who were inordinately proud of their muscles and swagger.
When I developed Matrixing, which is the application of logic to the martial arts, I was struck by how, with slight adjustment, the need for power could be subverted into unbalancing an opponent, re-angling an attack so no impact was needed.
Was I approaching Karate’s roots? Was I onto some of the concepts discovered by some (choke) sissy girl? Oh, my suffering manhood!
I’ve included a snippet from the Monkey Boxing course offered on my substack channel/newsletter (monstermartialarts.substack.com). In it I want you to see how instead of relying on a hard block, a block practiced by millions and yet is rarely seen in a real fight, has been replaced by a simple slap, and a substitute for a block.
Heck, this slap/grab concept is in every art, yet almost nobody practices it, let alone understands how a hard art could be grown from the soft.
Check it out, consider if your art has gone over to the ‘hard side,’ and then consider whether 8 bucks a month (less than a meal at MickeyD’s) is too much to pay for a whole new different look at the martial arts.
All right kiddies, It’s the end of summer, winter is around the corner, and it’s time to make yourself strong enough to last through those cold, winter months!
Work out! Darn it! And make yourself a new person! One who is kind, considerate, and able to beat up bullies with a smirk and a laugh.
May the Matrix be with you.
Have a great work out!
Al
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