This is the Way we push our hands, push our hands, push our hands…

[pure_doxyk]

Comments

[madwolf]

Sounds like an interesting read, but it would be nice to see a book that has it's history correct. Shaolin is not the origin of kung fu as a whole, only of Shaolin Kung Fu, the art as a whole has existed long before the Shaolin came around but no one ever seems to write about it.

[pure_doxyk]

Oo, please read the book, if you can, and let me know where you think it's wrong -- My sifu seems to agree with it for one thing, and he's more than a minor scholar in the field. He's also told me, independently of the book, that all forms of kungfu originate with Northern and Southern Crane, the temple forms.

I left the book at work for Boredom Emergencies, but if you like, I can look up some relevant passages for us to argu--er, discuss.

[madwolf]

I'll have to read it, but, there are forms of kung fu that predate the Shaolin by hundreds of years. The earliest written account places it in the BC era, no less.

[madwolf]

http://www.chunyi-kungfu.com/history_of_kungfu.html

http://www.essortment.com/hobbies/historykungfu_sply.htm

Two good links with brief descriptions of the origins of kung fu. One must be careful about studying chinese history because of the "cultural revolution" of the communists. Most of what is considered the popular or proper history of most things Chinese has been fabricated for bizarre reasons. It's pretty amazing to read about the reasoning behind the cultural revolution because it involved trying to destroy most of China's historical legacy, even to the point of book burning.

[satarnion]

"Often, the key lies, not in seeking an answer, but in understanding the question."

This bugs me a bit.

I've been burned by a lot of modern interp of Zen and Taoism recently. My aunt bought me this horrible book. She's been reading it instead of the Red Pine translation of the Tao te Ching I bought her because she, "doesn't like poetry." Grrrr...

[pure_doxyk]

Eeeeek that DOES look like a horrible book