Chinese Kung Fu is the general term used to identify Traditional Chinese Martial Arts. Kung Fu simply means "difficult effort" or "hard work". One of the things that makes Chinese Martial Arts truly unique is the holistic approach to physical conflict. The Japanese & Korean martial arts are subdivided into specific art systems. That is, in Judo/Ju Jitsu, throwing techniques are almost exclusively used. In an extremely high percentage of Karate systems, very hard strikes & very hard blocks are the only techniques used. Two or three kicks in total, & only to below- the-waist targets. Tae Kwon Do, the national sport of Korea, has the same approach to combat, but with an emphasis on the feet, & kicking above the waist. Arts from these countries place the main emphasis on power. Pure speed, & pure power. There are a few arts from Korea & Japan that incorporate portions of other martial aspects within the same framework, but they are both uncommon, & still, to a certain degree, lacking. Martial arts from Japan & Korea simply do not have the 5000 years of tried & true technical study that kung fu has to offer. Most Korean & Japanese Bu Do (martial+ways) have a very limited repertoire despite all of the homogenization that has gone on during the last 50 years with the advent of kung fu on the national scene. All Chinese kung fu is comprised of entire systems of Chin Na, Shuai-Jiao, Traditional Chinese Medicine (acupuncture, massage, herbal remedies, etc.) that are truly only sub-systems to the actual specific martial art being taught. In the greater realm of kung fu, there are both hard & soft styles, the difference between which should not be confused with the idea of Internal vs. External kung fu styles. Each style has it’s own blend of hard & soft, multifarious weapons skills, throwing/grappling/wrestling arts, pressure point strikes, etc. There has never been a kung fu system that excludes any of these, even the more streamlined & economic styles such as San Soo or Wing Chun.

Chinese Kung Fu, Hard & Soft

Chinese martial arts consist of thousands of styles, both hard and soft. Shaolin is by no means limited to being a "hard" style. In the Black Mountain Spirit system of kung fu, the curriculum encompasses styles that are commonly categorized as both hard & soft. So the common bias that most Taiji & Bagua stylists hold against Shaolin for the sake of seeming somehow superior doesn’t exist here. The common contention is that Internal stylists are the only people that use ch’i. All styles of kung fu develop & utilize ch’i for their own purpose, as varied as they are.

By the same token, stylists from Japan & Korea are the first to point out that Shaolin kung fu is too "soft". In the cases where Shaolin looks pathetically soft, it’s easy to see where instructors were not properly trained as students. Their own instructors obviously passed on poor training habits, & obviously could not pass on the true nature of the techniques & routines being taught. There is a vast amount of information that surrounds a Chinese kung fu system, & if the quality of teaching drops just one single percent, then in 100 generations there is nothing left but mimickery & charlatan arts.

But prospective students trying to develop themselves cannot be held accountable for the antics of pretenders that are really good at marketing & promotion. True instructors, despite all of the quirky behavior that each human being has, are usually not pompous & loudly out-spoken. They never seem to get around to starting a chain of martial arts ‘studios’ & teaching aerobics' classes. So the task becomes one of self-tutelage first. Learning what you are truly looking for, & looking until you find & settle for only that. 

The legendary exploits held to be true of Chinese kung fu practitioners come from the years of serious, intensive practice that are required for one to attain the skills which have become the mythos of the kung fu practitioner. From standing, singly against impossible numbers, fighting unarmed against opponents with sword & shield, spear & halberd, the stories of one against the many for the cause of right are innumerable. This is the catalyst for Black Mountain Spirit practitioners. All too many schools only teach acrobatics, physically athletic movements that are pretty to look at, but have no other developmental functions. This is not the legacy of true kung fu. Most styles of martial arts, especially the Japanese & Korean styles during this last century, have incorporated movements from traditional systems so that they may attract a larger clientele. But there is no further development of the mental or spiritual aspects of being.

What is Qin Na? Qin Na is a method by which the mobility of certain bone and muscle structures (usually joints) may be manipulated to either alter the physical structure or create an amount of pain in a partner or foe. I have been very loose in this definition because everything from a joint-lock to a meridian-point strike falls under the category of Qin Na. Generally, creating an improper range of motion to a joint or series of bones will bring about the desired results; that is, either by separating the muscles/tendons/ligaments from the bone or the bone from it’s proper position in the human body. This is the mundane form of Qin Na. At advanced levels, manipulation of your partner/foe’s Qi will be applied through the Cavity Press. Cavity Press describes your physical application of force at sites that you have determined will cause either an imbalance in your partner/foe’s energy that you will take advantage of through the rest of your practice/conflict, or create a very painful sensation. The first is preferred over the second, because anyone that you would need to use this absolute last resort with would already have trained first their body to withstand such attacks, and secondly their mind to withstand such pains. In Kuei Shao there is an incredible emphasis on single attacks to completely obliterate the foe that we only practice the Qi manipulations at much higher levels in our training.