Hakka style gungfu (southern mantis, bak mei) |
SHaolin gungfu (Wing Chun, Hung gar, choy li fut) |
northern kungfu (7 star praying mantis) |
Wudang kungfu (baguazhang, xing yi) |
Muay Boran (Lerdrit) |
Filipino martial arts (Kali, eskrima, arnis) |
silat/kuntao |
Traditional martial disciplines are among the most misunderstood by the modern public. Storefront schools lined full of screaming participants or organizations “testing” dozens simultaneously for black belts are NOT traditional schools. Rather, those are the result of the modern American marketing system, driven particularly towards children and having exceptional success in the 1980’s. In fact, the familiar “belt system” is irrelevant in virtually every true traditional discipline. For example, traditional Chinese martial arts possess only three ranks: Student, Disciple, and Master. In Siam, (Thailand) 16th century warriors were not agonizing over titles, and similarly, the Samurai concerned themselves with survival not belt tests. Thus, traditional martial disciplines are the ones established often centuries ago, by actual warriors. Their “ring” was the battlefield, their “training center” the mountains, and their “coach” the master. Victory was not a matter of points, the judges’ decision, or a TKO.