I was looking at a kungfu magazine recently and I saw a someone usually more associated with grappling on the cover. I noticed that this American was wearing orange shaolin monk robes and prayer beads. He had his hands in kungfu-ey positions as if he belonged on the cover. I also noticed that he had an unusual grin that seemed to suggest that he knew he was fantasy role-playing, but that he was getting paid. So what the hey.
Looking through the magazine made me want to lose my lunch. It was bizarre. I thought we had left the multi-color demo uniforms and the neon numchucks back in the 80’s. I felt embarrassed to even be remotely associated with what was presented in those pages. Clearly those people were dressing in costumes like it was Halloween and were enacting some fantasy that they have about the “Orient.”
Why are Chinese martial arts so rife with fantasy role-playing?
8 responses so far ↓
1 Rick Matz // Feb 13, 2008 at 11:12 pm
A larger question would be: why does martial arts attract so many friggin’ losers?
If you are trying to make a buck on martial arts instruction, you have to attract students. Attracting enough serious students is tough. The low hanging fruit is to appeal to the denizens of a lower rung on the martial arts food chain; the ones that are harboring a martial arts fantasy.
There are certainly enough of them out there. If you read virtually any MA forum, there are ALWAYS people who think themselves modern day Shaolin, who will defend their neighborhoods or women folk or whatever.
When I did aikido many years ago, our Japanese teacher had a very strong personality. A large number of students, wanting to be “just like him” in a misguided way started speaking in broken English. Not just in the dojo either, but out in the real world!
Who needs fiction?
2 William Acevedo // Feb 14, 2008 at 4:53 am
that is one of worst magazines out there, lots of bs, I am not surprise to see the cover
3 Morgan Buchanan // Feb 14, 2008 at 6:51 am
i think that although he is not a shaolin monk by any stretch of the imagination matt furey has a chinese wife and spends time in china studying kung fu (shaui jiao i think) and chi kung. perhaps that is the connection?
4 wayne hansen // Feb 14, 2008 at 7:09 am
those of us who have been around since the early 70,s have seen these things come and go.
remember the prolification of ninja some years ago,every magazine was full of it.
and it is not just in ma it is everywhere,look at the way pilates took off the momernt the copyright expired and every gym junkie with no training could use the name.
more of a worry is the corperatisation of the ma school,the amway approach.
give the customer what he wants not what he needs,reduce the expectations,grade him on a regular basis,make sure he passes,then upgrade him to a more expensive plan,the black belt club.
look to china and the prolification of wu shu/temples,they learn quick.
watch what happens after the big free ad called the olympics,saffron robed monks in every corner of the globe.
sorry if i am a little off topic but i needed to say it.
also how come every time someone tries to promote videos for sale over you tube they are not game enough to let people leave comments.
5 Jay Gischer // Feb 14, 2008 at 7:51 am
I guess I have more of a live and let live attitude towards this kind of thing. Maybe fantasy roleplaying is what gets people interested, but then some of them get more serious about it.
One of my sensei has the motto “never subtract, only add” he goes on to say that when students don’t need some belief or attitude any more, they will let go of it on their own.
6 Ed // Feb 14, 2008 at 9:17 am
Actually, I think that this kind of thing started when Japanese martial arts were introduced to the West - note that the Japanese are big on wearing uniforms, which are often simple versions of clothing from a previous era. It is, in effect, a kind of “role-playing” or even “costume play” that is really not necessary at all. In Japan, they also wear kimono/yukata for various holidays - that is also silly, what would people think if Americans dressed up in colonial-era clothing for July 4?
But the Japanese example for martial arts caused Korean martial artists to also long for the cosplay experience, so they also introduced similar uniforms (pseudo-dogis, alternately colored hakamas, etc.); the funniest example is the wearing of old peasant Korean clothing for taekkyon (why?!?!).
Of course, most people in Japan don’t know that originally, Okinawan karateka just wore some kind of short pants when practicing… But the karateka image now requires the dogi (and saying things like “Osu!”).
China is a bit better, since lots of old CMA masters wear funny-looking athletic suits in bright, primary colors; most do keep a silk uniform in the closet just in case they need to perform, though. And then we have the Shaolin/Wudang/Emei/etc. folks who have their very fancy uniforms (often complete with hats)…
7 Hermann // Feb 14, 2008 at 6:26 pm
At any time do I prefer a Japanese cotton workout gi (or a Chinese Shuaijiao outfit) to any of those acryl-glittery pyjamas of the mainland wushu guys. And I myself practice CMA, nothing Japanese!
Used to tear those “silks” during pushing hands, if in my power, just for fun.
8 Ed // Feb 14, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Cosplay is cosplay.
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