Learning from Kung Fu Films.

OK it is not really the films but what they are portraying of Chinese (other films are available) culture, philosophy and values. This alternative perspective is valuable for the westerner (and vice versa), taking into consideration another view to reduce your own cultural and personal bias. Although some people may say I watch too many Kung Fu films that is obviously ridiculous as there is no such thing as too many Kung Fu films (inside joke: Spanner Philosophy).

One constant perspective is balance, finding the right amount not too much and not too little. YinYang theory is simple and yet deep. Something that is childishly simple and yet study can take more than a life time as you delve deeper. Simple examples from the martial arts can be straightening your arm can lead you to lose as the opponent can use it against you (break it!), but if you keep things too close you have no defense. Just being aggressive works against the week but is predictable and leads to defeat against more capable opponents, and of course can create more opponents. That does not mean never be aggressive but that there are times and places for it as with everything else. Studying the amounts and timing of different elements is done on the journey of Life. It is not a case of damned if you do and damned if you don’t, its a quest to find balance in a dynamic world. There are many deeper subjects and cultural elements within the vast number of films that can give perspective once contemplated. This is an impossibly voluminous topic for a blog so I will touch only on a few with important film references (I suppose the film is not technically the important bit).

The 36^th Chamber of Shaolin covers many of the elements of Buddhism. I want to focus (another element!) on the method of progression through the chambers. There are 35 chambers (watch the film to understand that!) each has different lessons and only once the monk (learner) has mastered and understood a level do they progress to the next level. Some people, lets say the star of the film progress quick and some find their level in a progression. There are lots of monks at the lower levels and fewer at the higher levels. The higher levels are more complex and intense with deeper lessons. In education we often go at a scheme of work speed moving on whether the students have learned or not, some could move on faster and others are moved on with little to no understanding. Hoping the building of education can be built on little foundation (built on sand? More biblical than a martial reference!). This also overlaps with the Confucian philosophy where the teacher will teach a quarter of something and the most talented will pick up the rest for themselves. In the west we value giving information quickly and clearly. This may hide important complexity and subtlety. The person who asks for simple information may not be talented or gone through enough chambers to understand (and yet they still get promoted!).

Many films show the journey to mastery with the battles to understand important concepts and real nature along the way. In Tai-Chi Master Jet Li has to strike the waters surface and move with objects to understand the nature of water and how to move like water. Many films follow this progress under the tutelage of the master and the realisations and enlightenments of the student. Ultimately it is the journey itself that makes the films but it is the necessity of the journey to reach enlightenment that must be appreciated. Another common feature are the students who do not progress in the end how their behaviour of seniority (perceived) ultimately fails. The revenge theme is common but also the demonstration of the actual achieved ability of the leaner who actually learns the lessons and not the bully, relative or child of a rich father and how relying on these prevents progress. Ethics and morality are constant themes and behaviour to others is regularly demonstrated by goodies and baddies with the contrast shown. Much is taken from Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism of behaviour and attitudes to others and nature. Many lessons cannot be learned without correct (li) attitudes and behaviours. Wong Fei-Hung is an upstanding person in many films like Robin Hood in the west does the right thing under great stress and with personal consequence, and like the recent Ip Man films the character was a real person.

The last person I will mention helped the cross over from east to west. Much has been written of Bruce Lee, He was born in the US and traveled to Hong Kong. He studied with Ip Man and made films that caught attention in the west. A sample phrase was ‘don’t look at the finger and miss all the heavenly glory’. Many Chinese philosophy and intellectual elements are in his films. He also wrote books and taught Martial Arts and both popularised and informed. He is much quoted in one he tries to explain the path of perception in learning and his teaching:

‘Before I studied the art, a punch to me was just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick no longer a kick. Now that I've understood the art, a punch is just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. The height of cultivation is really nothing special. It is merely simplicity; the ability to express the utmost with the minimum.’

When compared to older western literature and thought there are lots of overlap with Ancient Greek and other ideas and descriptions with Kung Fu films (OK, oriental culture and thought). Modern western societies emphasis different elements but looking at other cultures and perceptions can aid understanding and assessment of one's own. The Greeks talked of Arête or virtue as the Confucians talked of Li and both cultures put down in writing similar principles of the world.

So hopefully I have convinced everyone that Kung Fu films (although many countries have produced good films) are valuable for Continuous Personal Development (CPD) for all including teachers. So boldly go (oops that’s another genre of films) forward with new perspective(s).