DEATH OF TRADITION - HK MARTIAL CULTURE

The death of tradition has been a slow evolution away from the traditional martial arts and a push towards eclectic and progressive ones. Ever since martial arts have moved out of their secretive niche, to be exposed and available to the public at large, there has been a higher demand for effective, street-wise martial arts and self defense systems.

This phenomenon is global. Nowhere can this be felt more than in the former British colony of Hong Kong. It's geographical location lends itself ideally as a port city, the gateway to China. As a former colony it has been a nexus for tourism in the past, and although tourism has declined since its handover to the People's Republic of China it still remains a vibrant clamoring city.

The East meets West phenomenon that punctuates Hong Kong culture is felt in every aspect of the society. From the modern transportation system to the gargantuan malls and monolithic buildings that arise in the city center.

Its proximity to China obviously enabled the transmission of martial arts between the two regions for centuries . Hong Kong, even only decades ago, was an abundant training ground for the Chinese martial arts. One could find and practice a variety of Chinese arts, such as Mien Ch'uan, Pa Ch'uan, Shaolin Ch'uan, Wing Chun, T'an T'ui and also the coveted Shuai-chiao (Chinese wrestling). In the last two decades Hong Kong has experienced extreme decline in the practice and quality of the martial arts found here.

Today, the need for efficient and practical martial arts has driven out the tradition that was the firm root of the martial arts culture here. However, this has not stopped masters of their art training the students who trouble themselves in finding the instructors they seek. It is a common sight to see Wing Chun students training in the alleys of Kowloon Park after dark with their masters looking on.   Entry into this type of training is relatively simple and traditional. One must know a student that trains in this way and simply has to be introduced to the master in charge. However, such masters have at most two to three students. Huge schools on Hong Kong island have tried to supplant the small masters have themselves been stuck in the traditional quagmire  as students are taught in the traditional ways. This has had an affect on the volume of new students. One of my Wing Chun instructors here once commented on the reasons for decline of traditional arts. He had in his youth spent many years learning the intricacies of pa-kua, yen ch'ing ch'uan and ch'ang ch'uan (various Chinese boxing styles). When I asked him how effective he thought these were now, he expressed it succinctly:

"Good for war, many good for show, but all no good for fighting."

 The old idiom "time is money" has much relevance with the time-conscious and money-hungry populace of Hong Kong who have less and less time for cultural and personal pursuits.  No longer do they want to train hours in forms, stances or footwork. Fitness work, practicality and effectiveness are more in demand, hence the growth of fit boxing, kickboxercise and tae-bo in musty studios no bigger than many household bathrooms. Softer styles such as Aikido, Judo and Tae-Kwon do are all popular, since there is no threat of physical injury or any serious contact for that matter.

But further still, sparring has been completely eliminated from many martial arts. Hong Kong work culture is very hands on, service related, and many data-entry clerks, chiropractors, doctors, electricians, musicians and secretaries are very wary of injuries which may affect their hands. Due to the service related manual labor, there is a propensity to not engage in sparring exercises or full contact sparring of any kind if there is the chance of injury. Eskrima, Arnis and the Filipino Martial arts do so poorly in Hong Kong because of this fear of injury. The Hong Kong Arnis society has about 15-20 members, mostly domestic helpers and Filipino laborers, and can be described better as a social club rather than a martial arts entity. All the exercises are formal drilling of the attack angles and various forms for the entire morning. Sparring is rarely pursued (perhaps only one or two sessions a year!) and then only with padded sticks. The empty hand nature of the Filipino martial arts that emphasizes limb destruction is obviously worrying to many workers and hence is not taught at all.

Joint locking techniques and full contact striking is also very unpopular. In Hong Kong, there exists not a single jiu-jitsu class. Judo schools teach joint locking only to their most senior students, and then are taught to apply them softly, in a controlled environment. Karate-do schools have eliminated all the locking altogether.

The exception to the rule is the Hong Kong boxing association which maintains a strict sparring regime in its boxing, kickboxing and Muay Thai classes, but again, it is usually optional, and thus, the amateur fighters training there have limited sparring partners. This leads to a decrease in the overall skill level of the fighters and the sport as a whole.

In today's world, however, since eclectic martial arts are storming the martial arts scene with efficient street-wise training programs, one would expect such martial arts to be popular here in Hong Kong. The fact that Bruce Lee, the most legendary of all martial artists was raised here has not improved the status of martial arts in his birthplace. Even the Hong Kong Chapter of Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do is a pale shadow  of the progressive martial arts schools found elsewhere. Their students are not taught any of the more recent 'progressive arts'  like Maphilindo Silat, Kali or even Wing chun. Their curriculum is based strongly on muay thai and some basic judo grappling, but the overall level is again, dismal. Surprisingly however, they have a broad student base, perhaps because Sifu Ted Wong, one of Bruce Lee's original students still maintains a presence within the organization and the organization itself may eventually prove vital to the resurrection of martial arts within Hong Kong.

Below: Bruce Lee's house in Kowloon Tong

The nature of martial arts within Bruce Lee's birthplace serve as a reminder to the martial arts world that martial arts should be progressive. It is impossible in today's globalized world to keep tradition maintained when circumstances make it impossible to do so.  It will be interesting to observe the future and to see if the legacy Bruce Lee left in his philosophy of the martial arts dies with him. 

About the author: Alex Haynes is a Senior Instructor in Black Eagle Eskrima, a Muay Thai instructor and has had experience in Wing chun, Silat and Jiu-Jitsu and JKD. He has lived in Hong Kong for seven years.

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