Martial Arts As It Pertains to Life

In today's rushed society, it can be easy to question the value of martial arts training. Why would anyone do anything just for the sake of doing it?

There is much to be learned when training in kung fu, and some other forms of martial arts. Much of my commentary will focus on kung fu as that is my experience. During my years of training in Siu Lum (Shaolin) Kung Fu, it has taught me many lessons that I have applied to real life. I will itemize and explain my experience and application of these lessons.

I have learned the value of integrity through maintaining the true nature of the art. It is ok to be unyielding when you know you are right. You do not need to lower your expectations to satiate someone who cannot understand the true value. Be true to yourself, and you will know the true value of honesty.

My Sifu places value on doing for the sake of doing. It is about the activity and not always the payoff; when you do something just because it’s the right thing to do with no expectation, and only the feeling of the good deed is its pure goodness.

One does not need to see the end in sight when the experience of the journey is more important than the destination.

Dedication to the continual learning and perfection of my chosen path has allowed me to become proficient and knowledgeable in problem solving. There is more than one path to the solution - improvise, adapt and overcome. If you always take the same path you will ultimately reach the same destination.

The most obvious value is that a practitioner can protect their safety and defend their life. This is important, but maybe more important is the confidence in oneself. This confidence in our ability to learn something new and difficult allows us to challenge ourselves to try new things and learn from the experience.

We train in kung fu in order to be able to defend ourselves to the fullest extent of our ability. We do not train in kung fu to learn how to fight. There are plenty of martial arts schools who will train you to fight, whether it’s for a specific competition or a MMA style fighting system.

In kung fu, the outcome is foremost in mind. When I train in kung fu, I am not training to fight. I am, in fact, training to win. I do not want to engage in a fight with a person and sit there and exchange blows. This is inefficient.

Siu Lum Kung Fu emphasizes the quickest route to the end of the altercation. There are no rules or referee in an altercation, and one must introduce a level of violence to the altercation that your opponent is not prepared to deal with.

Most fighters enter into the altercation with a certain level of acceptance in mind. This means that they have come to terms with a certain level of damage that they are aware they may take. This means they mentally accept that they may get punched in the face or body, they may get kicked in the face or body and have prepared for this possibility.

In Siu Lum Kung Fu we will meet the level of violence of our opponent and then rise above it. We will always give our opponent the opportunity to reconsider the action; however, once action is taken towards us we will end the altercation before it escalates to a fight. A concisely placed strike to the throat (one of many options) with moderate pressure will give your opponent the realization that your intentions for survival supersede his intentions to fight. This becomes the second and final warning ("this isn't baseball…" as my Sifu would say). The first warning is a verbal attempt to deescalate the situation.

Siu Lum Canada is Winnipeg's Shaolin school. We teach the Siu Lum style of kung fu. Our training revolves around real life situations and real life solutions. There is no question that we will not answer.

Watch our video and get a glimpse of what we do at Siu Lum Canada.

Follow us on Twitter at @SiuLumCanada

Email us at siulumkungfu@gmail.com