The True Meaning of "Kung Fu"

[@SenseiSeth]

Get 15% off an awesome Boxing Fitness Certification!! Use code SETH at course.boxingfitness.com/a/2147902252/qAe8MzUP

[@kungfujoe2136]

inflicting pain on yourself (training) an others

[@kungfujoe2136]

let's put it this way what budo is in japan is kungfu in china

[@Snowl3pard]

I’m training boxing to compete(I’m 17) and I really want to coach eventually as well so I’m just wondering bc I didn’t see a yes or no on the website on if you can only do one of the courses and still be considered a trainer(I’m wondering bc when I turn 18 I don’t see a reason why not to go ahead and get certified as a coach but also that’s a lot of money for a guy like me lol)

[@aagreenidge]

The simple answer is that Gung Fu is Skill. It's a skilled person that has been cultivated (it) over a long period of time

[@aagreenidge]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYKlinuIjLSEa6Msi=pUXWL3t5VsZCw4wW If you're trying to find out about other "Gung Fu" systems. Fu Jow Pai

[@KevinLeeVlog]

Your KZbin Kung fu is amazing!

[@skipinkoreaable]

Your kung fu kung fu is also pretty cool.

[@gw1357]

Youth Marketing Fist!

[@mahrii3093]

You are a dedicated subscriber

[@PooleAcademyofWingChun]

Better than yours

[@Iam4th]

3:36 as a Chinese i can confirm that makes sense , and I know a fun fact that nobody except people who can speak Chinese know about is most people often hear it when some masters say "你的功夫未到家" and they misunderstood the word "功夫(Kung Fu)" , they will think that "Kung Fu" means martial arts, but actual meaning of the sentence is "your skills aren't skillful enough" and "Kung Fu" means all the skills you have irl , that's why you can say your KZbin "Kung Fu(skills)" are great 👍👍

[@calubras]

The fried rice analogy goes in line with what Musashi wrote "Once you understand the way broadly you see it in everything"

[@aaronmgriffin]

I was thinking about this: Japan had a very similar mentality, but no broad term for it. The samurai also trained in poetry and calligraphy

[@alexanderkesterson6338]

​@@aaronmgriffinand Noh

[@profesorbooty]

It also becomes funnier if you know what fried rice as slang means in Chinese....

[@Humanjobec24567]

@@aaronmgriffinits an art art form, same as martial arts

[@scandisamurai8899]

"Kung Fu lives in everything we do, Xiao Dre. It lives in how we put on the jacket, how we take off the jacket. It lives in how we treat people. Everything is Kung Fu." -- Jackie Chan

[@kloroform1681]

Facts 💯

[@SS.LiuRyan]

I'm at Pan Americans for Wushu representing team USA's Sanda team right when this came out lol

[@SenseiSeth]

Lets goo!! Go get em

[@TheElbowMerchant]

Best of luck, dude!

[@SS.LiuRyan]

@@SenseiSeth bout to win that gold!

[@PlatinumRotsu]

Praying for your victory!

[@kristhomas4039]

@@SenseiSeth check out kalaripyattu

[@ittokaos]

Kung Fu essentially means "Hard work done over a long period of time." Yes, it can apply to most any skill that one has achieved a high level with. However, it became associated with martial arts because the martial artists of the day were known to constantly train in order to gain higher levels of mastery. Often even into old age. They became seen as ones who had good kung fu. Today, Kung Fu, while it still means the traditional meaning, it is commonly used for Chinese martial arts.

[@michaelborror4399]

I definitely try not to fall apart without needing a hip and knee surgery, and with plenty of stretching and arm circles and five minute horse stance, over doin the splits, knuckle push-ups, and backwards bridges, if I could only remember how to do those rolls; but I was surprised I had never thought of using vertically gripped dum-bells or jars and five gallon water jugs, instead of $150 gripping jars, without an eagle claw fist big pot, or crane spikey bracers, if we're not goin to the dojo? And knifehand, rising block, or front snap kick would probably be better than boxing or muay thai hands up shell gaurd against the lunging skinny knife and rockhand lunges that always get blasted though...

[@bang4buck326]

because of Bruce Lee and Jacky Chan

[@cyborgchicken3502]

It's more to do with Chinese Martial Arts films of the 70s than with actual martial artists themselves... The proper terminology for martial arts always was and always will be "Wushu"....unfortunately due to linguistic and cultural shifts today it's more often than not associated with the performative forms rather than actual fighting...but literally all phonyness, ineffectiveness, mistranslations etc. That's associated with Chinese "Kung Fu" is due to Chinese martial arts films from the 70s, famous actors like Bruce Lee and martial arts charlatans like Frank Dux

[@Merco81]

I'm not sure how accurate this story is, but it's something I heard a while back... When Bruce Lee was blowing up in Cinema and people marveled at his abilities in film, there was an interview where he was asked how he was able to do such amazing fight stunts, etc. He replied "Kung Fu" with the intention of it to mean "hard work". Media at the time took it to literally be the martial arts he practiced and the name stuck. Again, this is hearsay so I might just check up and see how accurate that story is.

[@6296boy]

正确，不过完整的版本是因为岭南人认为练习武术不下功夫没用，所以用功夫代称武术。

[@willtherealrustyschacklefo3812]

It was, improperly, referred to as kung fu long before Bruce , he just obviously largely popularized it. That old show with the kill Bill guy, "kung fu" etc lol. And yes the term itself in Chinese means "great skill developed over a lifetime of practice"(that could be skill in painting or in playing musical instruments) it doesn't directly have any relation to martial arts. However there are many martial arts with "Fu" in their name. Like hung fu , I'm not sure what that's about tho

[@billbill6094]

I think this is what that mocked scene from the "karate" kid remake was implying. Jackie Chan was trying to impart 3 different lessons at once: 1. Having him memorize the forms under the guise of everyday chores much like the OG Karate Kid movie 2. Teach Jaden Smith proper respect for his mom and his home 3. Impart that kung fu is about hard work and mastery, how you move about the world with intention. He wasn't saying "any movement you can make with your body is a martial art technique" as if the way you comb your hair or brush your teeth will help you fight, but that Smith's laziness, inability to engage with the idea of adapting to his new surroundings, and his thoughtless disrespect for his mom were anathema to the philosophy of kung fu. _Everything_ is kung fu, master how you go about the world, how you train, how you treat people, how you respect the people closest to you. I also think it's important to remember during Bruce Lee's time representation of Chinese people in cinema was very racist and unflattering. It's what he helped push back on with his movies, why he wanted to be remembered as an actor instead of as a martial artist. It's why scenes like him kicking the "No Chinese Allowed" sign or beating a room full of karateka and going "we are not sick men!" were so iconic (Chinese people at the time were often referred to as the "sick men of Asia" even by cinema from other Asian countries). So when he said "this is the power of Chinese Gung-Fu" he probably wasn't just referring to the martial art, he was saying that was the strength of Chinese hardwork and spirit, which allowed his character those superhuman feats.

[@HappyHitman]

Kungfu is the art of mastery. This included cooking, fighting, art

[@justinAclark2075]

Kung Fu translates literally as Great Skill. It's kind of like the word "finesse." And in some parts of America today, "finesse" specifically means to use a clever or sneaky method that brings you success, especially in the context of cheating in a game. But the word Finesse just means refined technical skill. So we have our own version of the same phenomenon happening with English

[@kloroform1681]

Good point 👍

[@TheArchersArms]

I teach kids traditional archery and there is such a deep history, multiple styles, ways of shooting, skillsets and mindsets to the martial art of archery. People don't tend to think of it as a martial art, until they have to pull an 80 longbow, or speed shoot multiple targets. 😊

[@joeysingingchannel]

In some ways it's the oldest, and purest expression of martial art.

[@gw1357]

Very cool. Japanese traditional archery (kyudo / kyujutsu) is taught as a side pursuit at lots of kendo schools. And European traditional archery is absolutely part of the HEMA world.

[@TheArchersArms]

@gw1357 it is, there are so many cool archery traditions around the world. Turkish distance shooting, mongolian horseback archery, along with those more well known disciplines.

[@johndough8115]

Weapons training is within All Chinese arts. Which weapons are taught, vary, depending on time periods... location environments, availability, and various other reasons. The ancient Chinese carrying of Bows, likely tended to be only for hunters... and or, if you were a Soldier. As otherwise, they are a little weighty, and take up space. Weapons like Swords, are a bit easier to carry around, due to the belt and scabbard. And you would tend to only need to use such a weapon, as a means of self defense.. where as a bow is clearly a long range weapon, used for sniping targets.. or for shooting volleys at masses of troops. At the original Shaolin Temple.. not the modern Semi Fraudulent version you see today... They would start training as young as 3 yrs old... and there was like +15 different weapons to be learned and mastered... on top of the hand to hand material. All skills, including weapon skills, are part of the combat arts. So yes, Archery does fall under the category of a Martial Art. One might call it a Sub-Set... because its mere 1 part of an artform.. rather than a Complete art.

[@c99kfm]

I have a "high poundage" bow I tried to shoot with a few times; last time around, my fingertips grew numb for weeks after the session. It made me a bit leery of trying again. I used a regular draw with a finger protector in leather, on the fingers holding the string. Am I using too high poundage, too unforgiving string or insufficiently padded protection? Or is there something concrete I should be doing that would keep my fingers from going numb?

[@Slimcognito2012]

1:30, no that's not a metaphor.

[@maometos]

The word "Kung-fu" is like the Japanese word "Jutsu" which is used to express any skills

[@jeremykiahsobyk102]

The best translation/interpretation I have encountered: "kung" meaning "time" and "fu" meaning "energy." Kung Fu is anything you put time and energy into, and have pushed your abilities forward.

[@modernchow]

great video about your research! it can be easier when things can be clearly categorized but i like that in this case something like the term Kung Fu is so imperfect it kind of becomes flexible enough to include new things, new ideas etc.... maybe? I think this is all also a very good look into chinese culture in general and a peek into a society that created such an interesting concept and how they express it. also makes me want to rewatch Jessie's trip to china to look for the origins of karate and bubishi etc great job Seth

[@posapop27]

Agree, really interesting and well done video. Thanks Sensei 😊

[@miqvPL]

I wish we had some more time in Poland to discuss this and the whole energy thing. You nailed it with saying that kung fu is personal. A lot of styles have substyles and it's common for students of some styles to perform some moves within forms differently than they were taught by their masters. And it doesn't mean they are bad students, bad students don't remember which move should be done in a pattern or do them badly. Good students can adjust a form to suit their needs and understanding of it. A lot of moves in kung fu have different applications depending on the situation or range. I don't know the chinese names but since a lot fo moves were later adapted in karate- take mawashi uke. It can be a completely passive block, staying safe from punches redirecting them to the side, it can be a block and a grab at the same time or it can be a very close range grab and a takedown, there are probably more applications I don't know. It's the same in kung fu. You need to stick to the pattern and do all the moves within the form to do it correctly within the style/substyle, but how you do them is a different story, it allows much more creativity and freedom than hard procedure oriented arts like karate or taekwondo. Does it mean it's better? Nah, absolutely not, good structure of karate and taekwondo allow to judge skills of practitioners so much better, kung fu would benefit greatly from some more structure to it, the lack of it is why we have more frauds at this point than skilled practitioners, and why kung fu has laughably bad reputation worldwide. But back to the topic for a second- you know as a sumo wrestler that a lot of martial arts is based on a feeling, sense of touch, instinct, some slight precognition like "I knew he's gonna go for this move and not the other, I could feel it" ? It's the same in kung fu. When you do the same fucking form for n-th time to the point where you are both sick of it and you can do it with your eyes closed, backwards, when dead drunk and in Spanish- you start to "feel" it. You can call it muscle memory but it's a bit more than that, since it goes outside of you- you can recognize it within others as well, watching them perform. Like Sifu Rantoni Pepperoni said- skilled recognizes skilled. To close the topic- it can sound cool but it's a huge time and effort sink. I would never recommend diving into it to any hobbyist unless they are like mad passionate/obsessive about martial arts. I have a slight read on your character by now and for you personally I'd focus on competing, growing your channel/business as long as your are healthy, able and strong. When you eventually "calm down" and satisfy your needs for success- that's when it's a cool thing to dive into, adding some philosophy on top of it too. I'm as far from being a taoist as possible when it comes to my personal view on life, but reading taoist books was very eye opening and I highly recommend adding some reading for, say, when you are recovering from an ankle injury for 5 fucking weeks. Huh, I wonder why I was so specific here.

[@p.o.3889]

I love it that few youtubers have taken a deeper look at kung fu. I started practicing Tai Shin Mun kung fu when I was a teenager. The discipline of it really calmed me down and since then I've tried to talk about the benefits of practicing the traditions. All this MMA-stuff seem to skip the deeper stuff and just focus on the functionality.

[@bryanquick3349]

I like these video essays exploring martial arts concepts. you've got a good network of knowledgable people to tap into who are clearly more than willing to speak about what they have learned and understood, and it's great to have a platform to share those things!

[@juantlopez3]

When explained to me by my sifu it's simply hard work..

[@ProductionsFromBeyon]

I’ve been training traditional Kung fu for a year. Still quite new, but it’s a journey I’ve enjoyed.

[@gracekaram4947]

Ok, all that is so fascinating, but I'm most excited by the fact you dabbled in a little bagua!!! I started it in Jan (of this year), and I think it's so mind-blowing, but to see one of my martial arts KZbinrs learning it??? SO exciting haha

[@dustincintron1682]

I train bjj now but I was a long time fan/student of Kung fu (BaGuaZhang and ILiqChuan). Your Kung fu vids always help me reconnect to those days and give me nostalgia/appreciation for them.

[@bruno1653]

kung fu = great skill acquired through time and work, and this applies to any activity in life. kung fu is not the process, it is the result.

[@yusetsuarez1459]

Beautiful video!! Thank you very much.

[@danielopez07]

This was really good! Some I've already heard of, and a lot of new info, and insights. Keep it up Seth! Thank you for your Kung Fu!

[@stiltzkin2683]

"Kung fu lives in everything we do! It lives in how we put on the jacket, how we take off the jacket. It lives in how we treat people! Everything... is Kung Fu"

[@isorry123_]

I spent a summer learning kung fu in Fort Collins, Colorado. Had a blast! Tiger claws and crane forms. Did a bit of ti chi too. Kind of hokey but would recommend just to try it

[@johndough8115]

If you do the forms improperly, it seems too easy, and senseless. Its much the same for doing certain exercises incorrectly. You are not going to get much benefit, if you do things wrong. With Tai Chi forms in particular.. the main focus is on Slow Motion training. If you want to know why... then try comparing standard speed pushups... to slow motion pushups (at least 7 seconds down, and 7 seconds up, minimal for each one). Forcing yourself to go slow, means that you cant cheat with momentum, that your limbs are in the air away from your body for long periods of time, and that you are super aware of your every movement and position in 3d Space. Having your limbs in the air for so long... eventually causes a lot of strain to the Tendons. One of the goals, is actually to create "Super Tendons". Tendons that are longer and more flexible... yet also superior in strength. You can later learn to harness your tendons, to collect the OPs mass-energy.. and use it against them. Basically... like using your tendons as power Rubber Bands, sort of like a Sling Shot. In order to get the most Benefit from Slow Motion form work... You want to make sure to remain as relaxed as possible. So relaxed, that one degree more... and your body would collapse to the ground, like it was Jello. By barely holding up your body with any muscle power at all... you put FAR more stress and strain on the Tendons. This is what eventually causes them to develop much stronger. However.. thats not all. You will have to extend your training times, to at least 1 hour per session... and.. then you need to preform this session every day, or at minimum.. every other day... for a consecutive 3 months minimal. Getting the tendons to change radically... is a very slow process. It requires constant strain, and enough strain period... before results even start to form. Of course, this isnt the only reason, nor benefits to the Tai Chi form. Your brain will actually develop new connections... causing you to develop far more "Consciousness" within your body, and of the 3d space around you. You will also develop great density in your tissues, as well as greater circulation (so long as you always maintain deep and constant breathing, when you train these forms). There is a lot more... but this explanation, is more than enough to get the point across.

[@LeonardoGarcia-qt6lf]

Surprisingly educational! Great Video, Seth Sensei!

[@Purwapada]

wait i need the bagua episode. hope seth releases it soon

[@KevinLeeVlog]

I just released a Bagua video today 😂😂

[@Purwapada]

@@KevinLeeVlog oh cool. Thanks Kevin, I'll check it out 😆😆

[@rickdg]

Congratulations on this video, Seth. It really leverages your own personal journey so far.

[@jarrodpelrine7229]

Tony has the best boxing KZbin channel period!

[@mehmeh3894]

To add as a native Chinese speaker and culture, if someone says your kung fu (功夫) is good, its not just praising your skills, its acknowledging your hard work and effort in training, cultivating and improving your art, a much higher praise than just saying you're good. Most likely you'll hear "I can see the kung fu in your xxx skill". To that end I say: The kung fu in your YouTubing is top tier!

[@Blimix]

Thank you for this. I particularly appreciate the segment on Jeet Kune Do. As Bruce Lee was my teacher's teacher's teacher's teacher's teacher, I feel that the terms I'm taught are suffering from an epic game of Telephone. So this is helpful.

[@frankidoodle]

Kind of a journey one the best things in life I ever did. Even as a starter above 50‘s. For one year now. I‘ts great fun seeing oneself developing 👏

[@stefanschleps8758]

Thank you Seth. The most simple and accurate definition of Kung Fu is "hard work". All the best to you. Laoshr #60 Ching Yi Kung Fu Association

[@arbogast4950]

I'm so glad you're going down this rabbit hole. Was Sanda the thing that really peaked your interest in Chinese martial arts? Don't give up on learning fajin either. You were doing pretty good for the amount of time you spent.

[@CoachSteveJandS]

The Legend Continues... 😮

[@estudio100rafa]

As a 5 Animals, 5 Families Shaolin Kung Fu practitioner, I thank you for your respectful and enlightening video.

[@DryerFryer]

Loved this really well put together

[@tekchoy]

Thanks for another informative and entertaining video. Just a couple of observations regarding the term kung fu. I have several dozen Chinese-language training manuals published in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. Almost all of them use the hanzi 拳 (quan in pinyin) or 拳法 (quanfa), meaning fist or boxing, even if weapon training is included. Another important point, famed Taiwanese director King Hu, who helmed martial arts classics like A Touch of Zen and The Valiant Ones, said: “Kung fu doesn’t mean anything. Kung fu is like Fu Manchu - it doesn’t exist anywhere except maybe in San Francisco’s Chinatown.”

[@travellion2112]

I absolutely love this historical deep-dive style of video! (not that I don't love all the others) I would personally love to see someone do a video tracing the evolution of certain martial arts, ie. Japanese Judo to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Chinese Wushu > Japanese Karate > Korean Taekwondo, hell I'd love to see the way wrestling has changed over time. Imagine a look into Grecian wrestling, as it moves through Europe and becomes catch-as-catch-can, into North America and becomes Folkstyle. This stuff is great, love to see it, keep up the great work Seth!

[@rafaelaraujo1526]

Is nice to see kung fu touching you and see you sharing it from a sincere place

[@the.wandering.warrior]

When talking "Kung Fu" (as in Chinese Martial Arts, not fried rice or tea), we can probably divide them into certain 'groupings' or 'languages' and their 'dialects' if we think of them as movement languages and strategic approaches. There's definitely a whole variety but Chinese don't just have one approach to the martial arts - they have many - though all of them have certain common themes. Would love to discuss this stuff with you, Seth! - Vincent

[@farkas266]

This was one of your best videos. thank you!

[@sniperwolf141]

Love these research vids you do Seth! Super interesting and I love hearing the perspectives of the people you seek out for them. It'd be cool to see a video about Muay Thai in this sorta format! There's gotta be some nuance to it being brought from Thailand to the US and different places in the world

[@vishalseusankar9793]

The Chinese wushu coach needs an entire episode, Seth Sensei.

[@Devilsblood]

Great video. I love vids that have a deconstruction of something we think we know, but we actually don't. You would make a good educator.

[@Justamartialartist]

This is great dive into history! Love this format of video 🙏🏽

[@pipedreamteam4184]

As a "Kung fu" guy myself, this is a special treat for a Saturday morning

[@Okuri_Inu_Comic]

As someone who has lived a life as a jack of all trades, dipping his toes into whatever hobby I felt like experiencing at the time. This makes me want to focus on one thing.

[@FrancescoGarabello]

Hi from Argentina Sensei Seth! It would be great if you could make a video where you can explore the Chinese martial arts concept of "Wu De" and give us as high quality insight as this video of yours I just watched exploring "kung fu" as a concept. Thanks for the content!

[@hdanielmartinez7045]

One of your best Videos Sensei Seth. The 1977 book "Kung Fu: History, Philosophy, and Technique" by David Chow also explained this. That's where I learned it from. Looking forward to seeing Seth in the 3rd season of The Ultimate Self defense Championship! When are you teaming up with The Karate Nerd again?

[@joeysingingchannel]

11:10 Seth is learning yi lu chuan, or first road fist. A traditional longfist form taught at many schools, including mine. Never stop learning, man!

[@CryoToast]

The fried rice analogy put such a big smile on my face, and I get exactly what he means. Focusing entirely on achieving the desired outcome, you must understand every factor of frying that rice, the heat, stir tempo, ingredients, everything regarding making that perfect fried rice and just doing it. That's kung fu. It is both a metaphor and applicable to making food at the same time.

[@kevinlobos5519]

Your last thoughts are all we kung fu practitioners we need I think. Everyone has a personal martial arts journey that takes them to a unique path of mastery. Great content, as usual.

[@Mahbublearn]

Great video! I noticed a few areas where there might be room for improvement. For example, Proper Video Optimization. I believe addressing these points could make the video even more engaging and effective.

[@secretarchivesofthevatican]

The Chinese use the term widely, I've read. They call TKD Korean kung fu and BJJ Brazilian kung fu, for example.

[@travesty-studios]

Tony as a sponsor is awesome!!

[@haydenford3794]

its cool just seeing you use clips from your other videos and some of them dont even connect or talk about kung fu since it ties into explanations so many other martial arts give and how at its core martial arts use the same or similar principles

[@davidjuby7392]

hard work applied over time

[@dapostop7384]

Just started my lessons two weeks ago :). Im more into it for the art forms then for the fighting.

[@Memorixt]

Great combination of a video surprisingly well covering a wast and deep subject (related to martial arts) in a very lighthearted, personal and fun way: this is your kung fu.🙏🙇…And now I am having also some fried rice for dinner!😉😂

[@benjaminpujols1914]

I love the vid it was really awesome and insightful and also I wanted to mention that all week I had in mind some chicken fried rice and steak fried rice and I'm actually going to have that today later on place call the Great Wall

[@pranakhan]

Seeking to be rooted in scientific inquiry, while remaining open to seek that which lies beyond it is, itself, a reflection of the practice. In our training we learn and obey the fundamental laws of our method, while we also bend and twist the edges of our personal capability. It takes a lot of energy to evolve, to change. So we should train in a way that increases that potential energy, so that we can improve. We move through the territory of biokinetics through this journey, and perhaps experience Neigong.

[@maxkim7937]

everybody was kung fu fighting actually makes sense. their kung fu was fighting and this made them fast as lighting, little bit frightning, had expert timing.

[@WholeCosmos]

Kung Fu or Gong Fu literally means skill or ability acquired through practice and training. It is not limited to martial arts. Hence a skilled cook has great fried rice Kung Fu. It is not a metaphor it literally means greatly skilled at something. for example all gold medal Olympians have great Kung Fu of their sport. but again it is not limited to sport and artist or craftsman or tradesman that is highly skilled would be considered to have great Kung Fu.

[@toostrong4life379]

Thank you 🙏🏾

[@Toremneon]

Basically the same idea like in "do" (Judo, Iaido, Aikido etc), since it means "way" it can be aplied to anything. The way of the tee, the way of the wood cutter or the way of KZbinr. It ia about the obstacles you have to face and overcome.

[@TheToneBender]

Japan has a similar cultural mindset. Like if you're a barber, you ARE a barber. You keep taking courses to just get as good at cutting hair as you possibly can.

[@mikehunt9884]

life long pursuit of the cultivation of an art, including cooking, musicianship, painting/drawing, traditional medicine, and, obviously, martial arts.

[@mallamuaythaichaiya]

Your Channel is definitely one of your Kung Fu

[@llengsuch3426]

Mastery, excellence, self actualisation, personal development, achievement, fulfilment. And at the deepest level - realisation, awakening, enlightenment, insight, humility, modesty, knowledge.

[@jatsantsa]

Seth holding his head every time word tea appaers after kung fu. Me europian sipping my Dong Ding oolong from gong fu set for 20 years, just raising eyebrown, smile and say "noob".

[@minraw458]

great video sensei !!! 🤩

[@Salsmachev]

Kung fu vs gong fu is literally just a change in transcription systems. Bear in mind that Chinese doesn't use Latin characters, and has different sounds and distinctions of sounds than English, so if you want to write Chinese with Latin characters, you have to come up with a system for it, known as a transcription system, romanisation system, or (erroneously) a transliteration system. Historically, the main system used was Wade-Giles, which was created by Western scholars, but in recent years it has become more common to use Pin Yin, which was created by Chinese scholars. To explain in a little more detail, Mandarin Chinese makes a distinction that doesn't exist in English between aspirated and non-aspirated voiceless stop consonants. We have both sounds in English, but we don't use them to make distinctions between words. If you want to see the difference for yourself, hold a piece of paper loosely in front of your mouth and then say the words toss and sot. When you say the t in toss, you should see the paper move as you release a puff of air. But when you say the t in sot, you shouldn't. The puff of air is called aspiration. In Chinese, those two sounds are considered as different from eachother as t and d are in English. Wade-Giles represents the difference by making the non-aspirated t just a normal t, but making t' with an apostrophe stand for the aspirated t. Think of it as a t, plus an apostrophe to represent the puff of air. Pin Yin, instead, takes advantage of the fact that Chinese doesn't make a voicing distinction. Voicing is the difference between s and z in English. Touch your throat with your hand and say a long sssssss and a long zzzzzzz. When you say the z, you should feel a buzzing in your throat. That's what voicing is. Chinese doesn't make that distinction, the same way that English doesn't make the aspiration distinction. So, rather than use an apostrophe, Pin Yin takes all the letters for voiced sounds that exist in English but aren't needed in Chinese, and repurposes them to represent aspirated sounds that are in Chinese but don't have letters in English. The normal p, t, and k in Pin Yin stand for the aspirated sounds with the puff of air, and b, d, and g, which are the voiced equivalents of p, t, and k in English, instead represent the non-aspirated versions of p, t, and k. In the case of kung/gong fu, the fist sound is a non-aspirated sound, so in Wade-Giles it's a k (distinct from aspirated k') but in Pin Yin it's a g (distinct from aspirated k). The rise in the use of Pin Yin instead of Wade-Giles is why many Chinese words are now spelled differently from how they used to be spelled (Peking vs Beijing, Mao Tse-tung vs Mao Zedong, Kung Fu vs Gong Fu, etc.) They're just two different ways to represent the same set of Chinese sounds in a Western alphabet.

[@catocall7323]

You speak truth. I tried explaining the same in a much less eloquent manner. LOL

[@Salsmachev]

@@catocall7323 Lol the tradeoff is that when I'm supposed to talk normally, I still sound like I'm giving a university lecture.

[@efnick96]

King fu is basically the process of improving/perfecting a skill by hard work and repetition

[@000Krim]

Good question

[@the36thchamber89]

Great video, sir!

[@TF_NowWithExtraCharacters]

As someone with Chinese heritage (from Asia), I like your interpretation of it! If I had to explain kungfu, I'd say.. Think of it as craftsmanship. Something you hone over tens of thousands of repetitions until it can be done perfectly without conscious thought. Martial arts is a subset of that. If "gong" is translated as "work" or "effort", wugong is literally "martial work". "Wushu" is slightly different, that's "martial skills". The difference is subtle but it exists, you learn wushu but you gain proficiency in your wugong. (gong and shu aren't some old timey terms btw, they are still in everyday use for those meanings).. Fundamentally it's referring to effort put into honing your craft, not which field that craft is. That's why gongfu can describe so many things. Cook with the perfect fried rice is one example. Someone who is exceptional at doing a tea ceremony? That's gongfu too. And so is a tailor. A blacksmith. A shoemaker. That's also why old gongfu movies have so many masters hidden in plain sight doing manual labour. It's all the same common thread of perfecting your craft. Personally I wouldn't call making youtube videos gongfu though, because I have cultural bias and I view it as a strictly physical abilities thing. No such thing as social media engagement back in the day.

[@dtkbop]

Wow!!! Now that was interesting. Such a small world. Never thought I'd see Master Chin again. My Sifu took the class to meet him when he was in Fayetteville. I gotta tell ya; the Mongolian beef he made for us was a true display of Kung Fu mastery.

[@zetareticulan321]

截 (jie) does not mean adapt. It means intercept. That's what that character translates to, and Bruce Lee have said himself it means the way of the intercepting fist.

[@jckingsley]

You gotta go talk to Mint Hill Kung Fu school at some point and get them to talk to you about their training and the Lion Dance. The Lion Dance is WAY more than just prancing around in a paper mache lion head to the beat of a drum, and I think you'll really enjoy diving into it for a KZbin vid, Seth.

[@joeysingingchannel]

lion dancing is super difficult. I've only ever had a seminar on it that was a few hours down in Florida.

[@littlerunningwolf]

I've been practicing taijiquan for 20 years, and even wrote about it in my doctoral dissertation. I have found that if you focus less on the meaning of the words, and more on what it represented to the practitioners, some of the umbrella terms are actually more useful than the fractured Western perspective. I do not speak Mandarin, but my understanding of Qi is that it has a very broad definition. I've heard it described as "energy," "vitality," "breath," "attention," or "vitality." So qi gong would be skill developed in any/all areas cultivated through repetitive practice. Qi gong is subdivided into different categories: "Dong gong" is dynamic or active work, "jing gong" is passive/static work, and "jing-dong gong" is a combination of the two. Dong gong includes running, lifting, and all the other forms of exercise that Westerners know about that is based on either one. Anyone that is advanced in running or lifting knows that breath control is necessary for endurance in running and generating power in lifting. The way in which you breath changes how you generate power, or manage your energy. If you want to run longer, you conserve your energy by managing your breathing. Jing Gong is the standing qi gong exercises that every one thinks of as "qi gong." By paying attention to your internal changes as you alter your breath, and paying attention to the impact of changing your breathing, you can learn the fundamentals of power generation, managing physiological arousal, and posture and internal stability. Jing-Dong gong is the third subcategary, which includes taijiquan, or tai chi. This combines dynamic and static patterns, teaching a person to move slowly enough to maintain internal stability and breath control while moving. The more one practices, the more one can maintain a calm demeanor, and adapt one's speed and power generation. The better one's internal structure, the easier it is to generate and transmit power from the inside to the outside. I could use Western terms to describe all of those pieces, but fundamentally, managing breathing to stay calm, even in an aroused state, is an incredibly powerful skill, and arguably the source of internal power. The ability to direct one's attention in a relaxed manner is a powerful skill, and helps better utilize the physical abilities that a person has cultivated. Qi gong and kung fu are fundamental training and life philosophies. Learn skills, stay calm, slow down, and try to stay balanced. It considers breathing a skill, and awareness and attention are skills that can be directed either internally or externally, and when they are directed internally, the skills can be refine so that when it is directed outwards, some pretty crazy things are possible. It also takes into account two definitions of the mind in Mandarin, which are "Yi" and "Xin," which adds further layers of complexity, but that's too much for one post.

[@pierremaiden]

Talking about martial arts with a cigar in hands , certified badass :P

[@makaiev]

06:00 The portuguese empire did it, in between the 14th and 16th century they started romanization of chinese writings as we know it instead of just direct translation like the neighbouring kingdoms did because of seatrading and in that process, they coined some assumptions that later orientalism was base upon. Also the Portuguese empire technically invented what we know as racism today too, so gotta consider that when reading about their endeavours...

[@DayneMichael]

Love your videos Seth.

[@The_Rosko]

need that lady's voice on an audiobook, it's sooo soothing

[@werewolf74]

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." - Bruce Lee defining KungFu You just blew my mind one of the guys who trained me knew Sho Sanshou and I never knew what it was or how to spell it. I always tried Sho Nanshu ... Sanda Gives new meaning to KungFu Panda. Hes the best panda.

[@simontaylor9362]

Doing karate I've always found the kung fu connection and it's evolution.

[@AlexGSalvador-cv9ln]

Kung-Fu:: Time + Energy. Serious effort applied towards the acquisition of expertise in something (martial arts, carpentry or making fried rice). People don't know kung-fu. They have good kung-fu... in something, anything.

[@Tondor50]

Seth I really appreciate that you that at us, rather than trying to pound home some predetermined point of view. Anyone who tries to sell you the truth is a con artist. True teachers are guides that help us get closer to the truth.

[@apollosroman8784]

"Bitter Work" At least that's what team Avatar taught me.

[@fauxbravo]

Glad to see you come around to Kung Fu since a few years ago when it kinda seemed like it was a joke to you. It's so good.

[@WesternCommie]

There is an old Chinese book call "the book of songs (shijin/shih ching)". There are poems in "music and dancing" that talk about "he is just going to do the Wan dance" then goes on a few lines later to say "a big man, so warlike, in the duke's yard he dance it. He is strong as a tiger." While not saying the words "gongfu" or "kung fu", it shows really early mentions of martial arts. There are many other mentions of this kind of stuff in it.

[@michaelmarchal4004]

Kung fu is the art of mastering of ones choise.

[@superfatbobtail]

9:21 according to Bruce lee, Jeet Kune Do is the way of the intercepting fist. If you search Jeet 截 on google, the answer is mostly related to "cut off, stop, obstruct, interce". I don't know how Ian Lee said 截 means adapt. Kung Fu 功夫，it was a term from the Han and Zen Buddhism koan. It means "A method or means of remembering how to reach a certain goal of practiciing." After Tiandihui failed in several anti Qing dynasty campaigns, the society decentialised itself in the Southern China "Canton and Fujain", some of the branches used Buddhism e.g. Southern Shoalin to hide their indentities and train the new recuites. Therefore they use Kung Fu instead of Wushu in order not to alert the Qing enforcers.

[@zacctheracc5804]

From my understanding with the “fried rice” example alone, I think Kung Fu is the proficiency and mastery of a certain skill (cooking fried rice) from years of learning and practice (learning what makes the fried rice good or bad and how to make it better)

[@obiwanquixote8423]

You should look up a guy named Onassis Parungao. He’s a former wrestler and kickboxer who went deep into Traditional Chinese Martial Arts and has got great perspective on Kung Fu and its application. He has a KZbin channel that he very occasionally posts to. Fight Commentary Breakdowns did an interview with him a couple months ago.

[@ernest9868]

sanda and sanshou. san being fragmented, da meaning hit/fight, and shou being hand. so fragmented fight and fragmented hand. both means the specific style that is the mma variant of chinese martial arts as for jeet kun do. jeet is used in cantonese as some variant of 'intercept' or 'stop' or 'truncate'. the full name in cantonese with the underlying meaning is 'intercepting fighting style'. or some variation of that

[@vincentloo7520]

Kung Fu = Hard work and practice leading to high-skill