Does it really matter?
The differences between Karate and Kung Fu have been discussed by many people in many ways for many years. And does it matter what they are called? It’s all relative, of course. It matters as much as any name matters. Martial arts styles may share similarities, but they also have rich histories rooted in different cultures, their own philosophies, language, methodologies and yes, names. There are volumes of literature that discuss these details in depth, so I’m just focusing on their names. What do “Karate” and “Kung Fu” mean, and where did their names come from?

Chinese Hand or Empty Hand?
“Karate” actually consists of two Japanese words: “Kara(空),” meaning “empty” and “Te (手),” meaning “hand.” There were actually different “Te,” or hand styles, believed to have developed from Chinese martial arts introduced into Okinawa in the 7th century. Trade relations in the late 14th century brought more Chinese martial arts influences and Okinawan styles became referred to as “Kara Te (唐手),” meaning “Chinese Hand.” In the early 20th century, most likely due to the poor relations between Japan and China, the character “Kara (唐),” representing China, was first changed to the similar-sounding word “Kara (空),” meaning “empty.” During WW2, Karate became popular among U.S. soldiers stationed in Okinawa. Some of these returning U.S. soldiers started Karate schools as early as 1945, with many more following during the 1950s. This infusion of Asian martial arts into mainstream America only grew, as Judo and Karate were featured in movies such as the successful James Bond series of the early 1960s. It wasn’t long before Karate became a common generic name for all Asian martial arts.

Kung Fu is Hard Work!
“Kung fu” is another all-encompassing term used for Asian martial arts. Martial arts have been practiced for thousands of years in China, but the first Western use of the name “Kung Fu” for martial arts most likely originates from a French priest, Jean Joseph Marie Amiot, whose missionary work brought him to China in 1750. In his collection of writings, Mémoires concernant l’histoire, les sciences et les arts des Chinois, Amiot observed “peculiar exercises” performed by Taoist priests. He called these exercises “Cong Fou,” later romanized as “Kung Fu.” This consists of two words: “Gong (功),” meaning “skill” or “achievement,” and “Fu (夫),” representing “human.” Together, this translates as human achievement through hard work. The “Kung Fu” name didn’t become as common for Chinese martial arts until the Hong Kong action film craze of the early 1970s, driven in a large part by Bruce Lee. In these HK films, movie characters would use lines like, “your kung fu is no match for my kung fu,” meaning “your skills are no match for my skills!” This kind of dialogue led to people referring to Asian martial arts in general as “Kung Fu.” Before then, Chinese styles of martial arts were more often referred to as “Chinese Boxing.”

Where does Wushu fit into the picture?
The term “Kung Fu” isn’t just used for martial arts, of course. It can describe many endeavors that reflect achievement through hard work, such as “Kung Fu Cha (功夫茶),” a specific and skilled method of preparing tea. A more accurate Chinese translation for martial arts would be “Wu Shu (武術),” literally translated as “martial arts.” To make things confusing, Wushu is used to refer to China’s national sport, also known as Contemporary Wushu. After the communist party took control of China in 1949, China’s government created a national sport based on a compilation of multiple traditional Chinese martial arts styles. This essentially produced a new standardized government style of martial arts which is why it is also referred to as “Guo Shu” or “Kuo Shu” (國術) meaning “national art.” Because of the naming ambiguity, “Kung Fu” is usually used instead of “Wushu” when referring to traditional Chinese martial arts (styles that developed prior to the PRC‘s creation of Contemporary Wushu).

Other related terms:

I plan to continue creating and adding more templates until I have a sort of library of basic stances. When I have enough of these to build from, I will start adding more techniques.

I hope the Sandbox structural diagram or Sandbox style sheet can prove helpful to someone else. Please feel free to use or abuse either at your discretion!

Some notes:

• Both of these documents are starting points only. They also apply mainly to the home page, but are easy enough to build on for sub pages.
• The diagram is just that – a diagram only. It doesn’t contain any code related to the actual Sandbox output.
• I swapped out the #header page links with category links for my site, but the structural diagram shows the default output using page links. This was changed by slightly tweaking the PHP, a relatively simple process for those so inclined.

Judo/Jiujitsu
~ 2 years
After School of the Tiger, I spent a couple years studying at the Concord Nippongo Gakko. The emphasis here was on Judo, but Grandmaster Wally Jay would visit from time to time to give Jiujitsu training. This was my first real exposure to joint locking techniques.

Eagle Claw Kung Fu
~ 7 years
It was around 1994 that I began studying Eagle Claw Kung Fu. My first Eagle Claw instructers were Sifu Billy Wong and Sifu Derek Wong, and Sigung Lily Lau would visit class occasionally. Within a couple years, Sifu Kalman and Sigung Lily Lau directed most of the classes. When I was actively competing, I spent most of my free time training at the Eagle Claw Studio. In addition to the traditional Northern Shaolin Kung Fu foundation, my Eagle Claw training focused on joint locking techniques.

Contemporary Wushu
~ 2 years
While I was studying Eagle Claw Kung Fu, Sigung Lily Lau helped contemporary wushu coach Sifu Li Shu Dong establish himself in the bay area. During my cross-training in wushu, I learned many acrobatic techniques.

Capoeira
~ 2 years
I received my first experience studying Capoeira from an Eagle Claw instructer from Brazil. Later on, I was able to study Capoeira in San Francisco from Mestre Preguica, himself a student of Mestre Bimba. Capoeira helped me apply acrobatic techniques in many new ways.

Swai Jiao
~ 2 years (Semi-currently)
I began studying Swai Jiao with Sifu James Chin in 2005. I advanced to brown belt level due largely to my background in Judo and Eagle Claw. (I should note that Sigung Lily Lau also has a background in Swai Jiao.) The training focuses on joint-locking and throwing techniques, although there are also techniques common to other styles of Kung Fu. I haven’t trained here lately due mainly to time constraints, though I am still involved in the background.

Choi Li Fut
~ 1 year + (Currently)
I started training with Sifu Daniel Tomizaki in 2008, after a very busy (work) period where I had practically stopped working out completely. While the main focus of Sifu Tomizaki’s school is Choi Li Fut, we also regularly practice Swai Jiao. Training here has helped me get back into shape, refine some of my old techniques and help round out my foundation.

After remembering that my main target audience is myself, I’ve decided to just keep it simple. From now on, I’m just going to lump on any martial arts content here, splitting the blog into two main categories: martial arts and multimedia. The multimedia category is still intended to include topics related to design, technology and gaming. The martial arts category will include things related to, you guessed it, basket weaving martial arts!