Introduction To KunTao

By IMDL On January 11, 2011

Kun Tao -Kung Fu is one of the oldest self-defense Martial Arts in the world. It has been developed and used widely in China since approximately 2700 B.C. It’s purposes are primarily two fold:

1. Self-defense
2. Physical fitnessIts techniques include body conditioning, breathing exercises, Chinese arts of exercises which teach various methods of fighting by striking, grabbing, kicking etc. as well as ground fighting with or without different types of weapons such as staffs, spear, knives and swords.

There are many different systems of Kung Fu in China. The Shao-lin is one of the most well known. Kun Tao teaches both Soft and Hard techniques with emphasis on kicking (Shantung) (Northern Mountains) or Hand movements (Hokkien) (Southern low lands).

Kun Tao – Chuan Fa

As time evolved, and as man dominated nature and animals, he became his own enemy. This is so because man is a competitive animal; and in this complex social, political and economic civilization, man, having conquered nature and animal, turns toward each other.
This does not mean that the history of defense techniques is all offense, but that the survival instinct promotes better and more self-preserving physical practices each day. The word Kung Fu was not always identified with the martial art we know today. Before King Fu meant “great skill”, the ability to do something well. “Wu Su” is generally understood now to refer to the martial arts, and “Kung Fu” is a mastery of an art.
During the T’ang Dynasty (600-900 A.D.) Kung Gu was given a great emphasis by the heroic fighting of the “fighting monks”, most important of whom was T’an Tsung. He and the Shaolin Temple monks won the emperor’s favor and support. As a result the name of the Shaolin Temple School of boxing became well known.
Under the Sung Dynasty the first emperor Sung T’ai Tsu learned boxing system of his own called T’ai Tsu “ch’ang ch’uan” he was the first to use the two and three sectional staffs (nunchaku).
In the Ming Dynasty (1300-1600 A.D.) there was a Shaolin Buddhist monk named Ch’eng Sam Fung(1417-1459 A.D.) who changed his beliefs in Buddhism to Taoism. Leaving the Shaolin Temple and having learned its school of boxing, he went to the Shantung mountains. There he developed a “soft” system which stressed:

1. Centripetal force
2. Intense concentration
3. Chi-kung (breathing method)

This system was different from the “hard way” of the Shaolin. In examining the history of Kun Tao one is inevitably examining the history of Chinese boxing, weaponry and exercises (Tai-chi). In order to become a Kung Fu master, one must be a complete expert who is able to accept any challengers specific method of fighting (empty hand or weapons). Kun Tao (Kung Fu) originates from the military and at the same time, relates to the philosophies of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. From this three teachings Kun Tao takes and emphasizes their positive aspects of meditation, breathing (Chi kung), enlightment, and the search for good, all of this contributes to the development of a higher sense of awareness (character) for the mind and the body.
Chinese boxing can be traced back to the Chou Dinasty (1066 B.C.-403 B.C.). Around 500 B.C. a famous surgeon named Hua To originated 5 health exercises named after animals which were imitated:

1. Tiger
2. Deer
3. Bear
4. Monkey
5. Bird

These exercises copied the 5 animals’ methods of fighting and were later adopted by the Shaolin Temple school of boxing.
With the arrival of Buddhist monks from India, Chinese boxing was modified. One of these monks named Bodhilharma (or Dar Mon, 481-557 A.D.) lived in a cave in the Qu Mountains in Honan Province for 9 years. From him, new ideas of health based on the equilibrium of the four elements composing the body: earth, water, fire, and wind, were borrowed. These ideas are carried into modern chinese boxing and in the integral to the internal system.
The importance of Bodhilharma (Dar Mon) lies in the fact that he was the first to teach the martial arts to the monks. Towards the end of the Ming Dynasty (1522-1566 A.D.) the influence of the “soft system extended as the prestige of the shaolin declined. This caused a shaolin priest named Goh Yu Sang Yuen to travel throughout China, hoping to find great boxers who can rebuild the fame of Shaolin boxing. He was successful in meeting 2 great boxers; Boh Yohe Fung and Lei Sui, who revised the shaolin system and gave us Kung Fu as what we know today.
5 animal forms of boxing was invented:

1. Dragon
2. Tiger (leopard)
3. Snake
4. Crane
5. Horse

With the introduction of these new forms, the Shaolin Temple School of Boxing reached its height of influence.
During the Ming and Ch’ing Dynasty (1600-1911 A.D.)boxing became very popular and many of the systems of today were born, for example, Tai Chi, Wing Chun, Hun Gar, Kun Tao, etc.
This growth in the martial arts was caused, in part, by the conquest of China led by the Manchu, which in turn caused many boxers to join up with secret societies and teach the new members the boxing skills (Pai-chi). Hoping to return the Ming Dinasty to its supreme power. The Shaolin fighters were the main force in the rebellion against the Manchu and the Shaolin Temple was burnt as a result. Although unsuccessful in restoring the Ming Dynasty, the Shaolin fighters were instrumental in bringing the boxing doctrine to all corners of China.
Today the present government of Mainland China as well as the one in Taiwan, still promote mass participation in Kung Fu, which is regarded as a precious heritage aside from its defensive purposes, Kun Tao’s esthetic worth then as now is clear, for it enables one to use the body as a tool of expression and to channel aggression without injury to others.
Kun Tao schools were established not only throughout China, but also in Singapore, Japan, Australia, Europe and the United States.
A Kun Tao course involves the following:

1. History and philosophy of Kun Tao
2. Internal and external physical exercises in preparation for fighting techniques.
3. Empty hand techniques, small tiger forms, stepping stances, breathing methods, body movements.
4. Weaponry- involving the use of the sword, staff, chains, ax, hooks, lances, etc. While the student who pursues Kun Tao can learn the fundamentals within one year, the art and practice of Kun Tao is a lifelong learning process- A way of life which must be followed daily for physical fitness and mental health.

By Tai Sifu Otto R. VanDerGroen

http://www.imuakuntao.org/introduction-to-kuntao/