NaamKyun.com Discussion Forum

Would anyone wish to discuss this topic that I posted a response to on Martial Talk?

http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57042

I think it would be a worthwhile topic as loss of history of a system can effect even Hung Fist (some cases it has) as there is to my knowledge not even a reliable painting or photo of Wong Fei Hung.

Then there was the dispute regarding the lineages.

History is written by the winners.

As far as the death of history in CMA, what history?

In my research into the history of Hung Gar for my book, I came up with a little fact and a lot of guesswork. In dealing with history within the Chinese Martial Arts, we can only go by what is available, which is not much. There are stories, and more stories, and a whole lot of BS.

While I do think it is important to know something about how our art began, was developed and what changes it has gone through to become what it is today, I can only say that everyone has heard what they have heard. I have seen people argue (pointlessly) over the tiniest things.

The bottom line, as I see it, is that no matter what we choose to believe as fact regarding the history of Hung Gar, not everyone is going to agree. And the factual history will have little bearing on how you practice your art today. You are still going to do what your Sifu taught you to do. The history of who taught what to who, and pictures of past masters will change nothing.

Understand, I am not attacking the topic, I am just stating my opinion on the topic. While I would absolutely love to sit down and read the complete unedited History of Hung Gar, anyone who produces such a work is going to have to make liberal use of imagination, because the history was never written down.

reliable accounts of early Gung Fu is shotty at best anyway. there is simply not much reliable data on anything prior to... 1900? 1915 maybe? even if there were pictures and official documents dating back to 1875 or earlier, Mao destroyed tons of it. That leaves generations worth of history that was passed down orally, or completely lost when documents were destroyed.

The lore and history of Chinese Gung Fu is a mix between legend and fact. At this point we cannot prove what was true, we can only make our best judgment. Learn what you can, take lessons from it, create new history.

And from what i've heard, Hung Ga history is bountiful compared to some styles which have almost nothing or in the next 50 years will possibly be gone or be close to it. Tibetan white crane has what 100+ forms? after the current masters are gone, how many people will know the whole system? A handful in the world, possibly*. So it is a relevant subject, but IMO, it's one that needs to be put in perspective. If you are stuck looking in the past, there will be little to add to the future.