Wednesday, September 9, 2009

It's KUNG FU not Karate!!!

Alright, I was getting into my car with my uniform on. BOTH have Eagle Claw Kung Fu written BOLDLY on them. A lady who was going in to the house next door to mine asks if I teach Karate. I answer the school phone with "Eagle Claw Kung Fu, may I help you?" People ask me what style of Karate I teach?
I understand that most people don't know that there is a difference. It is also known that Karate is more commercially successful than Kung Fu. THAT is my main (certainly not the only) reason why I get so perturbed by this. In my trying to run my business it is very important to have my identity. Being Kung Fu and not Karate helps in that. In this day of internet searching, if people know that they are looking for Kung Fu and not Karate, it will also help me in finding me in search engines.
Now for the other reasons- Physically and philosophically, there are differences between Kung Fu and Karate. (One thing to note is that, in general, Kung Fu is the 'father' of Karate and most other martial arts. These others derived from Kung Fu so please don't think of Kung Fu as a style of Karate.) Most of these are generalizations but the ideas are there:
1- Kung Fu is more of a finesse art while Karate tends to lean towards muscle and strength.
2- Kung Fu tends to take longer to learn. This ties in with the finesse/strength- It is much easier to use power than 'perfect' technique. The words "kung fu" don't mean martial art. The word 'kung' means time and 'fu' means energy. When together they mean a high level of skill derived from hard work over time. The name tells you it will take time. When people call and ask if I teach the philosophy of kung fu, I tell them that I teach (as much as possible given Western condition) traditional Kung Fu.
3- Kung Fu is more circular and fluid than Karate. Again, this ties in with finesse.
4- Kung Fu is Chinese while Karate is Japanese. Enough said?
Please don't think this is a 'cut' on Karate. I respect all martial arts and Karate is a fine art. I just need to clarify that there are differences (since the general Western press doesn't do this) to help me in my business and to, simply, educate the general public.
When you talk with others about martial arts, you now have a basic understanding of this and can further help educate on the differences and, maybe, help more people come to my classes for Kung Fu!
THANKS!!!

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