Kung Ga, Kung Fu and the martial arts in general

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Dear Anthro-L,

Sunday I went to the 20th Anniversary of a Kung-Ga Academy in the heart
of Chinatown in NYC. 41 different schools were represented demonstrating
each of the major and minor forms of Chinese martial arts. If the
performers were not gold medalists or masters, they were introduced
as silver medalists in specific divisions so I think I got to see the
best of the best.

Is anyone on the list an expert in the martial arts as an anthropologist?al
My Tai Chi/Qi gong master took me - since I last wrote I've been
adopted - so I could see all the forms and so I could meet the
acupuncturists, herbalists and at least get to see the bone-setters
that I've read so much about.

Has anyone else here ever entered this world? I saw a lot of similarity
between some of the movements and those one sees in videos made
by dance ethnographers - especially the crane dance. Not a few
masters demonstrated weaponry which I thought were only fictional
as portrayed in "Journey to the West" currently being reshown on
Channel 31 in the New York Metropolitan Area - you know, tridants
and rakes and 9 foot poles with huge spears, etc. on the ends.

There was also a demonstration of external QI similar to but a little
more frightening than the film clip in Bill Moyer's "Healing and the
Mind" opening episode in Beijing. More frightening because the
student who charged the master bounced off and was flung across
the stage and was noticeably hurt.

Any comments?

Still parsing the references on acupuncture - completed 3,204
complete references so far but over 2,000 left before I ever get
to Medicine, Traditional so . . .

Barbara
Campbell@Zodiac.Rutgers.Edu

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