This story in the South Morning Post caught my attention recently, “English-language kung fu manual aims to boost global popularity of Hung Kuen” about efforts to finally bring some of the great knowledge of kungfu stuck in the Mainland out to the wider world. An English language manual would be a great start, and Lord knows pretty much every school in China could use one (and a native-speaking editor to handle the job for them).
I don’t know much about Hung Kuen, Hong Gar, or Hong Quan as it is written in Mainland Pinyin. Hong Gar Kuen is the Cantonese version of what a Mainlander would call 洪家拳 or Hong Family Fist (style). It’s a popular style outside of the US, primarily because of its proximity to Hong Kong and therefore the outside world. Would be interesting to hear anyone’s thoughts on the style itself. Here are some sources I found after a brief search:
Wikipedia
National Geographic
Google Search
I think English language manuals (or translations by competent writers) is the way to go.
This little news story interested me as well, “Jet Li Opens T’ai Chi School In China,” about the superstar martial artist’s foray into the expanding “wellness+kungfu” market in China. I think taiji has great potential here in China. The hard styles are naturally lamenting the lack of hard core students, but that has always been the case in times of peace, and I think hard core students were never easy to find.
But people with back pain, lack of focus, interest in the “spiritual arm” of wushu and a lack of time to truly dedicate to a martial art have never been hard to find. Here in China, people with health issues and a marginal understanding of taiji are all over the place. Jet Li is smart to lend his name to this cause (as well as the One Foundation charity org he founded as well …).
And the last bit of news relates to women and self-defense in … India …
Men in India have problems keeping their hands to themselves, and even when their acts are broadcasted around the world, the backward authorities in place tend to have little to say/do against the perps and rapists. So the local Delhi government has enlisted martial arts to help protect the weak against the opportunistic predator: “Girls in 60 govt schools get martial arts training,” already 6,000 have been trained, according to the article.
I hope one of them does what this guy did in China, and perhaps instead of persecuting the martial artist, the authorities in India can help spread the news that kungfu women are not to be messed with.
