Kung Fu ... crappy western term ?

[47MartialMan]

So how does it gets its meaning to mean martial art?

[Drunken Monkey]

......it refers to 'martial art' but doesn't mean martial art.

 

actually it refers to something that you have to spend a long time to gain skill in.

 

this is why it is also used, although only more recently, to desribe any skill be it cooking or driving.

 

kung=work; both proffesional work as well as physical work.

 

you can 'faan (go to) kung' (which is just 'go to work')

 

or

 

you can 'linn (practice) kung'.

 

this use is specific to martial arts training

 

(but i can't actually tell you why... well, not yet...)

 

and

 

the use of the word 'kung' here is a short form of 'kung fu'.

 

i.e the whole phrase would be

 

go to 'linn kung fu' and it isn't used for anything else.

 

as i said, it is specific to martial arts

 

and has been adopted for other skills,

 

not the other way around.

 

i should add that it is a very general way to refer to the martial arts.

 

if you like, it is almost like a slang term to refer to martial arts training to the layman.

[47MartialMan]

i should add that it is a very general way to refer to the martial arts.

 

if you like, it is almost like a slang term to refer to martial arts training to the layman

[47MartialMan]

i should add that it is a very general way to refer to the martial arts.

 

if you like, it is almost like a slang term to refer to martial arts training to the layman

 

Yes,, this is what I have been waiting for.....

 

Is it more of a slang?

 

as i said, it is specific to martial arts

 

and has been adopted for other skills,

 

not the other way around.

 

From what I have heard, it WAS the other way around 60+ years ago.

[Drunken Monkey]

well, like i said before, it is only really used in cantonese

 

which in itself can be considered bad or lazy chinese if you ignore the pronunciation aspects.

 

nearly all other dialects follow correct grammer.

 

in cantonese, it isn't slang.

 

in mandarin, it (kinda) is.

 

the thing with this specific term is that it doesn't mean one specific thing.

 

it more less deals with every aspect of martial art.

 

when you say you know kung fu, you are actually saying that you have trained.

 

sometimes, what you say really does mean something different to the words used.

 

the meanings aren't fixed.

 

(call it a quirk of chinese).

 

kung fu is the product, process and result, all in one compact term.

 

that is why i keep saying that to translate/desribe it is difficult.

 

and this is just the written form.

 

let's not even go into the spoken words that have no written form....

 

as for your last statement i can't say that i've heard/read anything to that effect.

[47MartialMan]

Have you spoke to older Chinese, per Sifus of Mainland China, say 60+ years?

[Drunken Monkey]

i have no exposure to martial arts as taught in china.

 

everything i know comes from hk.

 

the oldest person i spoke to was my grand-dad who passed away this year aged 93.

 

he always refered to it as kung fu.

 

my cousin's grand-dad (not sure how old) also calls it kung fu.

[47MartialMan]

Do they use it to make reference per this era?

 

Do they use it as general reference for others?

 

Thus, making it less complicated.

[Drunken Monkey]

Do they use it to make reference per this era?

 

Do they use it as general reference for others?

 

no

 

it is the term they have always used when talking about the act of training and the training itself.

 

as i keep saying, the term's actual meaning and what it actually describes is not a fixed thing.

 

kung fu is a concept.

 

it is describing the results of perserverance and dedication and hard work.

 

if you like, the term is actually closer to describing what you need to do in order to get good at something.

 

the term itself originates from another set of terms used in martial arts (in cantonese):

 

'mo kung' (and varations thereof).

 

this term roughly means 'fighting art/skill/work'

 

(the kung is the same as in kung fu)

 

kung fu is an extension of this term and roughly means (not translates to) 'result of hard work'

 

i.e the work involved in training 'mo kung'.

 

one thing about the chinese language is that the translations and the meanings are not always the same.

[47MartialMan]

OK