Part 5: Mind and Body Training
Starting with a Clean Slate
“Don’t Tickle My Stomach”
Learning to See
Find Your Balance
Internal Training: Is It Necessary?
Kung-fu Mind, Multi-dimensional Mind
The Risk of Special Training
Adapting Western Methods to Kung-fu
Part 6: Usage: The Soul of Kung-fu
The Kung-fu Art of Fighting
Real Kung-fu: Use It or Lose It!
Use Your Head, Not Your Opponent’s
The Continuous Fist
The Nine Doors of Kung-fu
Part 7: Masters and Students
How to Choose a Kung-fu Teacher
Only a Kung-fu Teacher
The Proper Kung-fu Attitude
Kung-fu’s Age of Reason
The Senior Student
Belt Levels for Kung-fu
Salute! I’m Your Grandpa
Part 8: Kung-fu Today and Tomorrow
The Complete Kung-fu Practitioner
The True Lessons of Fighting
Pursuing the Ultimate Kung-fu Goals
Preface
When I arrived in San Francisco from Taiwan in 1978, my dream was to help promote and preserve the ancient arts that had been handed down by my forebears. I have studied kung-fu since I was a young boy, learning from my father and then from the best teachers I could find in Taiwan. I feel fortunate to have been exposed to the ancient treasures of kung-fu, and view it as my duty to share those treasures with others in the United States and elsewhere.
In 1980, I went Los Angeles to discuss writing articles for Black Belt magazine with Jim Nail, who was editor of the publication at that time. He approached me about writing a monthly column for the martial arts magazine. When I returned to San Francisco, I felt unclear as to what direction to take with the column. Words and theory are not a substitute for the physical and mental training required to polish one’s kung-fu. Yet, they are an essential part of the learning process, allowing the mind to process commands and concepts that help the body move in a special, kung-fu way.
The meaning of words, however, can be bent and distorted to have a detrimental effect on kung-fu. In fact, today kung-fu is like a sword of incomparable value that has lost its shine and sharpness-a result of the many misconceptions spawned from the words and images in books, movies, TV shows, and video games.
The errant teachings of unqualified instructors have also greatly contributed to the uncertainty of kung-fu’s future. Students desiring the real kung-fu are unwittingly cheated by instructors promoting fraudulent histories, self-made family trees, and so-called “secret” teachings.
In addition, mainland China’s government-produced wushu (martial art) has jeopardized the future of traditional kung-fu. The movements in the popular wushu forms promoted throughout the world contradict almost all the fundamentals of kung-fu.
Based on kung-fu becoming an endangered discipline, it became obvious to me that the column needed to help restore kung-fu’s definition, purity, principles, and basic theory. “The Sword Polisher’s Record,” as I named the column, became my way to polish the kung-fu sword, clearing up the misconceptions that are causing it to become dull and rusty.
This book includes many of the original “The Sword Polisher’s Record” columns printed in Black Belt and Wu Shu Kung-fu magazines. Additional articles that first appeared in Inside Kung-fu magazine are also included to provide more depth on some of the topics.
The book is organized into eight interconnected sections, each examining a different aspect of kung-fu. The first sections deal with the foundations of kung-fu. Without developing a true foundation, no matter the style, there is no kung-fu. In subsequent sections, I try to bring to light important concepts and principles related to kung-fu styles and forms, as well as usage and training. Finally, I discuss the future of kung-fu and its place in our lives.
I hope you find The Sword Polisher’s Record useful. My dream will be fulfilled if we can restore this damaged treasure so that its beauty and power can enrich us today and in the generations to come.
—Adam Hsu
October, 1997
Part 1
Knocking on the
Kung-fu Door
The Contemporary Purpose of Kung-fu
Before the introduction and dominance of guns in warfare, skill in hand-to-hand combat determined the victor in any battle. Armies were trained in martial art. The security of communities, villages, and a person’s family depended on successful martial art training.
In ancient China, the weapons available were limited to those people could wield with their hands: the staff, saber, sword, spear, and of course the primary weapon, the body. In these times the attitude and purpose of kung-fu was very serious, potentially a matter of life and death. With survival as its foremost purpose, kung-fu was learned not for its beauty or meditative qualities, but for protecting one’s family and possessions.
Certainly the ancient practitioners derived considerable health benefits as a by-product of their art. Kung-fu training emphasizes use of the entire body. The body is trained to maneuver in and out of unorthodox positions with fluidity and control. The martial artists of old were not without appreciation for this valuable consequence of training, but their chief purpose for learning kung-fu was selfdefense.
With the introduction of guns to warfare, the weapons of old became quickly obsolete, and the highly evolved art of kung-fu can be said to have reached its evolutionary peak. Because of the deadly power and accuracy of the gun, the role of hand-to-hand combat was greatly diminished. Naturally, with this descent of kung-fu’s importance in battle, the training associated with it also lost value and intensity. Why train with devotion and sincerity if a bullet can defeat your mightiest technique?
Kung-fu skills, which have been refined over the centuries, are not learned easily or quickly.
Although hand-to-hand combat has become less a factor
