by Roane Beard
Admit it. You grew up
watching Kwai Chane Kane on Kung Fu. You’ve seen Enter the Dragon
at least twice, you can’t believe the stunts Jackie Chan pulls, and Jet
Li frankly has you blown away. Or maybe back home you know this one guy who can
go head to head with anyone and come out untouched, no matter who he’s playing
with. Either way you came here with some half-serious intention of finding a
great master, a Sifu, who could give you real Chinese kung fu. Preferably
someone very old, with a spidery white beard and perhaps a mole on his face with
wispy hairs growing out of it, and at any rate someone very, very good.
Maybe
I’m talking more about myself here than I am about you, but chances are, if
you’re a foreigner in Taiwan, the scenario has run through your mind. And that
you’ve seen Enter the Dragon. And that you haven’t found your Sifu,
mole or not. If your experiences have been anything like mine, you’ve looked
around some and found a lot of Tai Chi, some Tae Kwon Do, some Kendo
perhaps, even a bit of Judo, but very little genuine Chinese kung fu. Trust me
though, it’s here. This is China, after all.
Kung
fu is many things to many people. To some it’s high flying acrobatics and
flashy weapons, a la Jet Li or Jackie Chan. To others it’s a method of
building self-confidence, a practical way to exercise and learn about your body.
To still others it’s for fighting, pure and simple. For Kevin Brasier, it’s
all of that.
Kevin
teaches Northern Praying Mantis Kung Fu, which he has practiced for more than
twelve years, ten of them in Tainan with famous Praying Mantis Sifu Shir Jeng
Jong. In addition to becoming the lineage holder, official heir, of Mei Hua,
Shir Sifu studied under more than 30 teachers from different styles of Praying
Mantis around southern China and Taiwan. All of which means, as Bruce Lee might
say, “his skills are extraordinary.”
In
his time with Shir Sifu, Kevin picked up some extraordinary skills
himself. And unlike a lot of good kung fu guys, he’s willing to teach it.
“Kung
fu, at its core, is about fighting,” he says. “If you study kung fu but
aren’t learning to fight with it, you aren’t really learning kung fu. And
that means you’re not getting a lot of the other benefits of kung fu, which
come from learning kung fu for fighting. You don’t want to learn fighting? Go
to dance school. There’s nothing wrong with that. But if you’re learning a
martial art and not learning to fight, then you’re not learning a martial
art.” Not surprisingly, Kevin’s classes focus on the fighting aspects of
Praying Mantis.
Praying
Mantis was originally taught as a high-level kung fu style to monks at the
Shaolin Temple. High level for Shaolin monks, of course, means it’s
right out for most beginners, so Kevin begins with basic Northern Shaolin Kung
Fu techniques and forms. When students can perform these consistently well, they
move on to the more difficult Praying Mantis forms and two-person sets.
“I
emphasize the two-person forms as an introduction to fighting.” Kevin says.
“Every form I teach can be performed as a two-person set. That means after you
learn to do a form consistently well on your own, you learn to do it with an
‘opponent,’ someone who is doing a form complementary to your form. That
way, you learn to fine tune your movements, learn how they work, and also
develop both your body and your kung fu.”
In
addition to the two-person sets, Kevin’s students learn drills that teach them
to apply techniques in a more free-flowing manner. Starting with a simple set of
techniques, students launch attacks at each other that become more complex as
the students’ skill levels increase. Ultimately, students learn to fight
freely with any opponent, moving from solid Praying Mantis technique to
technique as the situation warrants. In this way, students learn about
themselves, their bodies, their abilities, and develop devastating kung fu.
“Kung
fu, like any art, on one level is about self-improvement. In kung fu the most
important thing you will learn about is yourself. When you practice, you are
getting to know your body, how it reacts in a certain kind of situation, how
certain kinds of movements affect you. And it develops your mind as well. Any
art that can never be mastered will elevate your mind.” In kung fu, as with
any art, practice makes you better; it doesn’t make you perfect.
Kevin
teaches classes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:00, in front of the
recreation center at NCKU in Tainan. It’s across from Century 21 on Dasuey
Road. Classes are NT$1000/ month. Call Kevin at 6- 2262348 for more info, or just drop by.
Although
the term kung fu literally translates into “hard work over time,” and can be
used to refer to any skill that is developed to a high level, it has long been
commonly used in both China and the west to refer to traditional Chinese martial
arts, or wushu. Traditional Chinese martial arts have a history of thousands of
years; hundreds of traditional Chinese martial arts styles survive today, each
with their own theories, techniques, and methodologies.
Today, kung fu is frequently loosely divided into Northern and Southern
styles; styles developed in Northern China typically placed more emphasis on
mobile footwork and kicking, while Southern Chinese styles frequently emphasized
more solid stances and supporting hand techniques.
Well known northern styles include Northern Praying Mantis, Black Crane,
and Black Tiger, Pa Kua, and Hsing-I.
Well known southern styles include Southern Praying Mantis, White Crane, Choy Li Fut, Hung Gar, and Wing Chun.