The Spirit of Gung Fu

My greatest passion is Gung Fu. But what exactly is Gung Fu? Gung Fu is a system of Chinese martial arts - comprising of hundreds of styles. Often, people ask me what's the point of martial arts in the modern world? Just buy a gun. But Gung Fu is not just about combat. It's philosophy in motion. Take, for example, Taoism. Taoism talks about "moving like water and respond like an echo."

When I taught Gung Fu, I would throw a punch and tell my student to picture a still of water. Imagine how the water moves and whatever you throw inside the water simply responds, much like an "echo."

But often times, I found that my students have trouble internalizing this concept. How does one exactly move like water? It's a strange concept to Westerners. But I would simply repeat three words:

With this visualization, my student would counter the punch with ease. As such, you become the very essence of "moving like water and respond like an echo." It's not an easy feat to achieve. And after one accomplishes it, they find Gung Fu to be a much easier task. The student moves on the advanced stages knowing they can move like water. This is the true meaning of Gung Fu. Philosophy in motion. Or as the late Bruce Lee called it, "The Art of Expressing the Human Body."