TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF ARTS
The onus of mastering a martial art is practice, not learning
Question 5
We use the terms Martial Art, Eighteen Lohan Art, the Art of Shaolin Kung Fu, the Art of Teaching, the Art of Chi Kung, and the Shaolin Arts. What do we mean by "Art" in this context and how is it similar to and different from "Art" in the sense of poetry, literature, painting, dance, theater, photography, etc.? Also, is Spiritual Cultivation "Art" in either of these senses? Is Zen "Art"?
Sifu Mark Blohm
The term “art’ suggests two concepts, namely “man made” and “aesthetic value”. In other words, any work of art is not born of nature, it is man made, and it is generally regarded as beautiful.
A flower or a sunset is beautiful but it is not an art because it is natural, not man made. A table is made by man, but is not normally considered as an art because it has functional rather than aesthetic value.
These two attributes, man made and aesthetic value, apply to all arts, including martial arts, Eighteen-Lohan Art, the art of Shaolin Kungfu, the art of teaching, the art of chi kung, the Shaolin arts, poetry, literature, painting, dance, theatre, and photography.
Of course, the term “man made” includes creation by women, like Wing Choon Kungfu invented by Yim Wing Choon. The term “aesthetic value” may be subjective. Karate and Taekwondo demonstrated by masters are beautiful to watch. When these martial movements are performed by students learning them, they may look clumsy. We may call them arts only when the students can perform them beautifully.
Hence, martial arts, Eighteen-Lohan Art, the art of Shaolin Kungfu, the art of teaching, the art of chi kung and the Shaolin arts are arts in that they are man made and have aesthetic value. In this context of being man made and having aesthetic value, they are similar to poetry, literature, painting, dance, theatre and photography.
But they are different in two aspects. One important aspect is that while martial arts, Eighteen-Lohan Art, the art of Shaolin Kungfu, the art of teaching, the art of chi kung, and the Shaolin arts have aesthetic value, it is their functional value that is more decisive in determining how good the arts are.
In other words, how good a martial artist is, is not decided by how beautifully he performs his art but how well he applies his art for combat. How good a teacher is, is not decided by how aesthetic his teaching is, but how functional he enables his students to learn. How good the art of chi kung is, is not decided by how beautiful the chi kung forms are but how well these forms enable practitioners to be healthy.
Another important aspect that differentiate between the two sets of arts is that while martial arts, Eighteen-Lohan Art, the art of Shaolin Kungfu, the art of teaching, the art of chi kung and the Shaolin arts are dynamic, poetry, literature, painting, dance, theatre and photography are static.
In other words, while martial arts, Eighteen-Lohan Art, the art of Shaolin Kungfu, the art of teaching, the art of chi kung and the Shaolin arts are processes, poems, literary works, paintings, dances and plays are objects, though the act of reading a poem or performing a dance may be a process. In this context, we may classify the art of reciting poetry and the art of dancing, etc in the same category as the art of teaching and the art of chi kung, whereas poetry and dances belong to the other category.
Following from the aspect of processes versus objects, is the aspect of practice versus admiration. In the first category, practice is necessary to acquire mastery of the art, whereas in the second category it is the large number of admirers that makes a poem, a piece of writing or a dance a work of art.
In other words, if one wishes to be a master in any art of the first category, he has to practice and practice, not learn and learn, whereas in the second category if a lot of people admire a poem, a piece of writing or a dance, it becomes a work of art. This aspect is important for us. If we wish to become a master of any martial art, Eighteen-Lohan Art, the art of Shaolin Kungfu, the art of teaching, the art of chi kung or any of the Shaolin arts, we need to practice and practice, i.e. going over and over again material that we have already learnt, not learning more and more new material.
A master of any art in the first category is one who can perform the art very well, not know much about the art in theory. Many people in the West seen to be confused over this aspect. They regard kungfu “masters” and chi kung “masters” as those who know much about the art in theory, even when these “masters” cannot apply their kungfu for combat or are unhealthy. Worse, due to the public’s lack of knowledge of these arts, these so-called “masters” sometimes give misleading or mistaken information about their arts.
It is also worthwhile to note that even amongst genuine masters, there are different levels of mastery of the art. If one practices correctly and diligently a low-level art for a long time, he may become a master of a low-level art, in contrast to a master of a high-level of the same art even when the high-level master may have practiced for a shorter time.
For example, a person may have correctly practiced some chi kung dynamic patterns, like Lifting the Sky and Carrying the Moon, for 20 years, and has derived the benefits of his practice like having good health and vitality. He is rightly called a master. But compared to another person who has correctly practiced for 5 years advanced chi kung exercises like Bone Marrow Cleansing and Sinew Metamorphosis, and has mastered them, as well as enjoys their benefits like internal force, mental clarity and spiritual joys besides having good health and vitality, the second master is of a higher level though he has practiced for a comparatively shorter time.
Needless to say, it is better to be a high-level master than a low-level master. To be a high-level master, one must both learn and practice smartly -- smarter than the low-level master in both the choice of chi kung exercises to learn and the way to practice. The coming UK Summer Camp provides this opportunity.
The questions and answers are reproduced from the thread 10 Questions on the Essence of Spiritual Cultivation in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
LINKS
Courses and Classes