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국제무예학회 학술지영문홈페이지
[ Article ]
International Journal of Martial Arts - Vol. 5, pp.84-99
ISSN: 2287-8599 (Online)
Online publication date 28 Nov 2019
Received 08 Oct 2019 Accepted 27 Nov 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.51222/injoma.2019.12.5.84

Thanks to Bruce Lee & David Carradine, Kung-fu did not disappear

Daniel Oteroa
aEnglish Teacher, Shenzhen Guangming Foreign Languages School, Shenzhen, China

Abstract

Nobody can deny the impact that Bruce Lee made on the silver screen or David Carradine through the television series, ‘Kung Fu’. Almost 50 years after the fact, this influence is undeniable. Truth be told, this amazing martial art that inspires other forms of protection, enjoyed a glorious time. For centuries, it was part of the Shaolin Monks and later, became part in the army training. Not only locally, but worldwide. Understandably so, Kung-fu did come from China more than several millenniums before. It is entirely Chinese, but because of China’s closure to the rest of the world and the art’s secrecy, it nearly died out into the 20th Century. When a concept like this isn’t allowed to expand and have an influx in foreign elements, like Latin which disappeared after the end of the Roman Empire; because the Romans didn’t allow or give space for it to grow. The same was happening with the art of Kung-fu or as it is known in its Pinyin form of Cantonese, ‘Gung-fu/gongfu’. While the Japanese art of Karate (Japanese boxing) and Jujitsu continued to grow outside of Japan; expanding to the far reaches of Brazil and the United States within the Japanese-expat community. For Kung-fu, it disappeared in many parts of China and people lost interest by the 1950s. What made many take interest and allowed it to become popular once again was a young-rising star who came to Hollywood in the 1960s. Lee Jun-fan (many know him better as Bruce Lee, 李小龍) was starring in a T.V. series called, ‘The Green Hornet’ in the United States. It caught the attention of millions of viewers and people began to wonder, especially the male population how they could learn this magical art of self-defense. It is through this investigative paper, I intend to show why these two men made a great impact on the art of Kung-fu; and from a martial way that almost disappeared--to one that flourished once again.

Keywords:

Kung-fu, Gung-fu/gongfu, Martial Arts, Shaolin Monks, Bruce Lee & David Carradine

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