My journey in personal practice of martial arts has been
filled with so many offs and ons. Throughout my childhood years, I was always
intrigued by all the various beautiful and dynamic movements in martial arts.
However, I just never had the initiative to really practice what was
fascinating to me. I guess, it was throughout my teenage years, I really
struggled with the acceptance of my cultural identity, Toisanese Cantonese American. With this, I avoided
completely any idea of practicing martial arts because of my desire to distance
myself from the stereotype of being Asian and then automatically labeled as a
martial artist.
In college, I opened up a little to accepting my Asian
cultural identity and to trying out martial arts. It was actually a friend who
asked me if I was interested in joining her in the school’s karate club. I had
a good time learning this style, and I tried committing to personal practice
close to a daily basis. However, right before taking part in any of the karate
classes, I already committed myself to weight lifting and bulking myself up.
When I look back at this, I find it very funny, because now all of my regular
routine exercises are just using my body weight and maintaining my health, with
no interest in increasing my muscle mass. Anyways, eventually I felt a lot more
committed to weight lifting, and felt like my energy was burning out by adding
practice of karate to my daily routine. Oh yeah, I also played basketball
daily, and had a similar dedication to it as weight lifting. I don’t know how I
juggled all three of these along with my academic work. So, I just gave up
karate. Shortly after, I took a semester long class in Western boxing. It gave
me somewhat more of a stronger basis for fighting stance and coordination.
Again, adding boxing to weight lifting and basketball was too much, so I gave
up boxing, too.
One random day while still in college, I decided to give up
weight lifting, because I didn’t want to rely on external weights to be strong
and healthy for the rest of my life. So, I turned to bodyweight exercises. This
shift in my fitness routine led to my current love for hand balancing, which
eventually led me to simple imitations of movements I saw in watching capoeira.
I never felt a burning passion to really take on capoeira, so I never took
initiative of going to an actual class and learning it formally.
About two years into just doing bodyweight exercises on a
regular basis, I suddenly had a burning desire to learn kung fu, particularly a
style that was linked to my cultural heritage, Southern Chinese or Cantonese. Ha!
Some of this desire stemmed from watching the Ip Man movies starring Donnie
Yen. Not only was I fascinated by his kung fu and his acting, but I also felt
proud of being Chinese and having kung fu linked to my culture. So, I browsed
online for the different kung fu schools in Boston Chinatown. Eventually, one
caught my interest the most. I really wanted to be committed to it. However, in
two weeks, I just disappeared from the school, and have not returned since. I
had gotten heavily involved in community activism, so I just dropped kung fu
completely just like I had with karate and boxing.
Today, it is a little over two years since I practiced kung
fu at a school in Chinatown. A couple months ago, I did want to pick it up
again by watching videos on Youtube. Then, I got a leg injury, and did not practice
for months. Just a week ago, my leg was no longer hurting, and I was so
determined to return to kung fu. I’ve also moved so much this past year. So, as
much as I would like to, Boston Chinatown is a little far for me to commute to
on a regular basis. I have found a kung fu school near where I live now though.
I almost joined it instantly. The class was so intense, but I got so much out
of it. Fitness, reflex drills, flexibility, traditional kungfu skills all in
one class. What more could I ask for? I am happy now to say I am a member of
this kung fu school. This has already been more than just a hobby. Kung fu will
only become more of an integral part of my life, in terms of culture, philosophy,
health, fitness, and community.
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