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What is the (real) difference between “traditional” and “non-traditional” Kung Fu?

A note by Master Kongling – A small premise, the word “Kung Fu” can take on various meanings, in this discussion we refer to martial combat.

When we talk about combat-related aspects, the difference is simply this one:

“Traditional” Kung Fu – What most people (wrongly) call traditional Kung Fu does not evolve, or better, it evolves incredibly slowly and only with the approval of its highest representatives (something that, for the substantial aspects, practically never happens)
“Not-traditional” Kung Fu – What most people (wrongly) call not-traditional Kung Fu evolves each time a single master discovers an effective way to improve (or a rational adaptation to his / her present spatial and temporal context)

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

The truth is that the 2 definitions should be inverted, because:

The path that has brought Kung Fu to the present instance is son of a constant change (day by day, generation by generation); over the millennia, Kung Fu has always been something based, yes, on solid principles but at the same time liquid and personal, only during the last centuries it has been gradually coded so rigidly
The so-called “traditional” Kung Fu has historically stopped evolving not because it has reached perfection (to think this is very naive) but simply because it has been replaced by fire weapons and / or abandoned by those who were using it practically

A note by Master Kongling – Although Kung Fu is by no means limited to combat, it must necessarily be emphasized that, on that side, in an ever-changing universe, everything that detaches itself from the practical application and stops evolving, inevitably risks becoming obsolete. No matter its qualitative level in the past, everything that (seriously) evolves has already been learned from it and inevitably (even only being contextualized to the present) can surpass it.

From the fight-related point of view: what are the limits of traditional Kung Fu?

The limits are:

A too passive approach – The too rigid mentality of most of the traditionalist masters that tries to replicate a copy of a copy of a copy of a preparation that, in reality, becomes at every generation less similar to the original one (and less effective)
A distorted learning path – Too many times, bad instructors pretend to teach in the original way but they focus only on the form, forgetting the substance (read Why martial arts do not work: 5 reasons); it is not a secret that the ancient Shaolin monks (read Ancient Shaolin monks vs modern ones) were formidable warriors for the intensity, focus and severity with which they were trained (not because of the harmonic beauty of their moves)
Too much theory, no practice – For example, the forms had a relevant meaning in a time where illiteracy was widespread, where martial arts were a secret handed down from father to son; today they are infinitely less useful in practical terms and without sparring (read Sparring: everything you are asking yourself), they are binary which, if used too much, turn into crutches (read Are Karate’s Kata, Kung Fu’s form (etc.) useless?); the consequence is that the biggest part of the students of the traditional schools are completely unable to fight
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A note by Master Kongling – Let’s be clear: in 6 Dragons Kung Fu, it is the ancient knowledge that gives the biggest lesson but we do not stop there. If the possibility to add and remove is denied, each time someone discovers something new: we cannot include it, we are forced to defend something wrong and therefore we become each time weaker.

What is the meaning of studying Kung Fu today?

What for someone is a limit, for someone else is a winning point, the discriminant is simply our goal:

Self-defense – If our idea is to study traditional Kung Fu to learn effective self-defense methods to preserve our physical integrity (and the one’s of the people we love), we are totally off track (as we would be if we wanted to obtain the same result by studying Muay Thai, Silat, Jiu-Jitsu and the biggest part of the other martial arts); Kung Fu’s principles are absolutely effective in combat (both mentally both physically) but for self-defense we need much more (to know what read Best martial arts for self-defense)
Sports competitions – If we plan to apply pure traditional Kung Fu’s combat techniques to a strictly regulated sport, we are simply out of the world; it would be like trying to play Tennis on a Football field, it makes no sense; if instead we want to study and train the specific aspects of the competition we want to address exploiting the right principles and methods of Kung Fu, then it can become an overwhelming advantage
Self-improvement – If we want to address traditional Kung Fu to find peace, to improve our life quality (almost on all the aspects), that is a good choice (as long as the one who teaches us is the right instructor, read Recognize a good / bad master: 5 characteristics); in this case, the real benefit can be obtained even without practicing the fight as long as this does not mean watering down physical training or superficially addressing the aspects of mental preparation
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A note by Master Kongling – Regarding the last point it must be stressed that too many people seem to do not understand that the acquiring of combat capabilities (even if high-level) is only a secondary benefit of Kung Fu and certainly not the most relevant.

In-depth video courses

Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu Exercises – The core exercises of 6 Dragons Kung Fu workout
Basic free hand fighting techniques – The fundamental combat techniques of 6 Dragons Kung Fu

In-depth articles

Kung Fu training for beginners’ fast improvement – How to martially grow fast
Why martial arts do not work: 5 reasons – Why martial arts fail at the time of testing

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

What is the most negative aspect of a martial education that is too traditional from your point of view?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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