Product Description: A well-known martial arts expert describes the philosophy behind Kung Fu, discussing the ancient wisdom of the Chinese masters, the principles of Shaolin thought, and the inner meaning of martial arts. Reprint.
Drift with the wind, float with the clouds David Carradine was an actor in the original "Kung Fu" television series of the early 1970s. Although Bruce Lee introduced martial arts to mainstream American living rooms as Kato in "The Green Hornet," this program had a deeper martial arts theme, and the show was very popular. Mr. Carradine was asked by his martial arts master, Sifu (Master) Kam Yuen, to write a book that would present the teachings and principles of Kung Fu. The book is divided into three parts: Stories, Ancient Wisdom, and Lessons. I will devote more commentary to the last two sections. This work was published in 1991. At the time, Mr. Carradine had studied Kung Fu and related martial arts for 18 years.
Book One: Stories
Ironically, Mr. Carradine, who never had any martial arts training prior to the television series, beat out Bruce Lee for the part of "Kwai Chang Caine." Sifu Yuen was hired as the Kung Fu consultant, and Mr. Carradine remarked, "We concentrated on what I did well, and stayed away from the stuff that looked awkward on me." Mr. Carradine did not begin to study Kung Fu rigorously until the third season of the program.
Due to FCC censorship laws, "Kung Fu" could only film four minutes of actual fight scenes per episode. The show followed the journeys of a Chinese immigrant in the American West during the late 18th century. "We just kept beating our old drum, by coupling excellent production values with historical accuracy, kung fu fighting, and Chinese wisdom. We documented redneck prejudice and gave an authentic chronicle of the difficulties of the Chinese people in America." After the series ended in 1975, Mr. Carradine appeared in a few movies. He also produced two video tapes with Sifu Kam Yeun. One on Kung Fu, and the other on Tai Chi.
Book Two: Ancient Wisdom
Roots of Kung Fu
The Chinese martial art of Kung Fu traces its roots to the 6th century A.D. A Hindu monk, Bodhidharma, was traveling through Northern China. One of his visits took him to a Shaolin (which means "Young Forest") Buddhist monastery. At this locale, he developed 18 forms called "ahrat" movements that would provide the basis for modern day Kung Fu. Actually, Kenpo was also developed at Shaolin monasteries in Northern China. Kung Fu means "To know what to do." As Mr. Carradine states, "(Kung Fu) continues to teach the body and mind throughout life, and further establishes and strengthens the communication link between the two."
Chinese Teachings
Chinese philosophy traces its roots to two distinct sources: Taoism and Confucianism. Taoism was created by Lao Tzu, a teacher whose name means "Old Master." He published his thoughts in the "Tao Te Ching," which remains a classic in Oriental literature. The word "Tao" means "The Way." The book title means "Changes in the Way." Confucius, who is also known as K'ung Fu-tzu, lived sometime between the 5th and 6th Centuries B.C. He developed a social and familial code of conduct. His philosophies were presented in the Wu Ching, along with the Ssu Shu.
Yin-Yang Concept
The symbol of all Chinese and Eastern religions is the T'ai c'hi t'u, which we know as Yin-Yang. This image, which depicts two fish, one black with a white eye, and the other white with a black eye, describes the passive (Yin: female) and active (Yang: male) energies of the universe that are in perpetual motion. This theory is also found in acupuncture. Some illnesses have Yang elements, while others have Yin components. For example, muscular problems are usually the result of too much Yang. Mr. Carradine provided an excellent explanation of Yin-Yang. "In the darkness is the light. In strength is the softness. In the question is the answer. It is all one thing... Choose the positive to begin with and most of the rest will follow. Choose courage instead of fear. Choose success instead of failure. Choose harmony not conflict. Choose love not hate. Choose life instead of death."
Chi
This is the vital energy or force that flows throughout our bodies. Chi can be developed by deep breathing techniques, coordinated flowing movements found in Kung Fu, along with stance training.
Book Three: The Lessons
Healing
Mr. Carradine views Kung Fu as a way of life. He also discusses the healing nature of this Art. "The use of special massages and pressures, herbs and tinctures, corrective and healing movements and stances, and certain mystical disciplines, having to do with meditation and divination (predicting the future), all of which can be tailored to benefit specific viscera (upper torso region), organs, maladies and conditions, are part of any Master's general knowledge." As we can see, the Kung Fu instructor is much more than a martial arts teacher.
Nutrition
Fresh and/or raw fruits and vegetables are relics of our hunter-gatherer past. Our distant ancestors did not eat much red meat. A diet that minimizes animal products has been shown to reduce the threat of modern day health concerns such as high cholesterol, heart disease, and certain forms of cancer.
Stance Training
Mr. Carradine discusses several important stances found in Kung Fu. The horse stance is a fundamental concept that all Shaolin students would study for at least six months. This is complemented by the forward, reverse forward, heel, toe or cat, and the crane stances. They are better illustrated with pictures rather than words. "The dynamic method is to strike a stance momentarily, and change smoothly to the next, altering the position of the arms as well... Drift with the wind, float like the clouds."
Become Who You Want To Be
Chien: The teacher. "Reaching to Heaven. Creative, strong, the leader." Kun: The healer. "The Earth power: devoted, receptive, soothing, selfless." Chen: The warrior. "The arousing thunder. Always moving. Sudden and quick. Ambitious." Kan: The artisan. "As soft, as vital and as powerful as water: the artist." Ken: The sage: "Standing perfectly still, strongly based like a mountain, the wind in his ears, the sun in his eyes, wisdom comes to him and stays." Sun: The musician. "Gentle, penetrating, the entire sweet and terrible story of Creation can be heard whispering and roaring in the wind, rustling in the leaves." Li: The poet. "Clinging to thoughts and words, giving light to the darkness, shining like the sun, crackling with fire." Tui: The fool. "Filled with the joy of life, pure pleasure, spreading himself across pain and sorrow like a lake of gladness, the clown reigns supreme."
Which one of these describes you?
Thank you for the opportunity to review this very intriguing book.
This book has something that many martial art books do not It has authentic convictions that are expressed out of personal experience regarding many spiritual, motivational and practical matters. The content veers away from trying to express what is most commonly accepted through traditional teachings and instead offers an honest insight into the personal take on the full spectrum of the martial arts as a very human way of life. I give David Carradine credit for placing personal truth with a greater priority than acceptance from others in his writings. I am a little critical myself of some of the comments made regarding some other styles and have found what I would guess to be some inaccuracies. Maybe even a couple of differences of opinion on some material. But what is here is like listening to someone who is real, like a friend who is sharing what he is made of. There is a lot of perspective here that is surprisingly uncommon yet enlightening and precious.
The book is basically divided into three sub-groupings.
Book One-The Stories: A biographical history of the author's experience in the martial arts.
Book Two-The Ancient Wisdom: A history and overview of Shaolin ways and David's take on what shined through to him.
Book Three-The Lessons: A practical breakdown of wisdom and advice on a variety of levels.
Like Bruce Lee has said... "All knowledge is ultimately self knowledge" and with this book a deeper knowledge of one's self can certainly be had as well as a deeper knowledge of David Carradine.
Too shallow Grasshopper I found this book slightly misleading from the title but should have known considering books like this are a dime a dozen. This book starts off basically giving a low-down of Carradine's start with the Kung-Fu movies and TV series and then discusses some of his other films involving martial arts. From there it proceeds to give general lessons and personal musings on what kung fu is and encompasses. There are some historical mentionings like Bodidharma spreading the art to China from India, the significance of the Tao Te Ching, and a general history of Kung Fu. This book is by no means comprehensive and lacks that extra depth that is appealing for novices wanting to learn more about the art. I found the book to contain profound truth on many subjects but never really felt the message as most of it seemed like recycled cliches and stories you've heard a million times if you are familiar with the Eastern arts. One particular gripe I had about the book involves lack of accuracy. On page 92 Carradine writes, "The limitation of karate stems, at least in part, from its association with Japanese-style Buddhism, which ignores or forgets the Chinese Taoist principles and replaces them with specific, and generally radical, ideas peculiar to the Japanese culture, i.e. Zen. Much could be said about the subject of Zen, but we are interested here in kung fu, so best look elsewhere for that." This is simply not true. There is a large body of work out there related to and examining Zen Buddhism. In this work you'll find that it's common knowledge that Zen is a combination of Chinese Buddhism and Taoist principles. Thus the word in Chinese for the Japanese Zen is Chan. Furthermore, Japanese karate is not necessarily limiting. It's just an evolved development of the spread of martial arts from the mainland to an island. The same philosophical lessons and achievements to be gained in kung fu can also be gained in Japanese karate with the proper attitude and focus. Anyway, this book reads pretty quick and if you are interested in some light-philosophical reading that you shouldn't take too seriously you might enjoy this book. Otherwise, delve into the fascinating martial arts by reading other material.
Superb Introduction to Shaolin Kung Fu Great intro to Shaolin, philosophy, spirituality, way of life and self defense. Serves as great launching point for more in depth studies. I find it amusing that one reviewer critises it, stating it calls Bruce Lee an actor. Carradine gives nothing but respect and credit to Bruce Lee in this book. He merely states some facts about Lee's life that include having an actor father and having some acting experience...
this is the real shaolin spirit!!! this book is expressed suberbly the way and the spirit of the shaolin temple and their kung fu. as the name of this book,it is try to show and explain the true phylosophy of kung fu and the real meanning of kung fu,because it is actualy based on a dicipline (a way of life) wich a kung fu fighting is a part of the dicipline and not a brutal thing as most of the films usualy shows.this book will teach you what are the guidelines you should understand in order to understand the kung fu phylosophy,what kind of teacher is more suitable to you,and what to expect from the school,system,teacher,but most of all----discovering yourself through understanding of the true meannings of the shaolin kung fu spirit.it is not a technical book,but it is a much more fullfiling.this book is having a lot of sayings that are very much enlightning as the true phylosophy (and a practical one)of shaolin kung fu. there are also personal expiriences of david carradine in his film making and he shared his enlightning expiriences through his journy of life.i enjoyed,learned and growing through this book, thank you david-carradine,god bless you!. and to the readers i bless you all that you will enjoy,learn, and progress through this book,and into the life,because learning is a life time process!.superb book,i recommand it!
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