Quotable DM

[Drunk Monk]

As if y'all didn't see this already on my face-twit: 

CChat 84: Gene Ching on China’s film market, lightsaber training, and kung fu movies
October 16, 2018 by M Chan Leave a Comment
Gene Ching is the editor of Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine.  Last time he was a guest on the show we discussed weapon making, fencing, drugs, and his evolution as a journalist.  Today we discuss the China film market and its relationship to Hollywood.  Is China going to take over as the #1 film economy in the world?  Listen in for Gene’s opinion and his take on what is happening in the film industry today. We also geek out about lightsaber training, weapons, and reminisce about old school kung fu movies.

https://www.culturechatpodcast.com/china...HMiqF7e56A

Greg, did you do CChat with Mulan too?  He asks knowingly.  Snap, snap, grin, grin, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more?

[Greg]

At first I thought, she had reconsidered because I answered her and never heard back from her. Then a couple of days her podcast coordinator called me and we are going to do it(!) in November when she returns from China.

[Drunk Monk]

Excellent.  She likes to queue stuff up ahead of time.  We did our CChat over a month ago and now it feels dated because some things we spoke about like Fan Bingbing have changed.  Tricky to talk about film so much, but we did this right when Crazy Rich Asians came out so that was the topic of choice.  I imagine your's will be less bound by time.

[Greg]

That's me. Adrift in time.

I was a little concerned at her pitch. She wanted me to talk about Independent film distribution.......

[Drunk Monk]

I’ve only listened to half of mine last one so far. I realize now that I say ‘absolutely’ too much. That would make this podcast into a good drinking game.

[Drunk Monk]

Not quoted, just loved.  

Exclusive: Danny Trejo talks El Rey Network’s Man At Arms, returning as Romeo to Mayans M.C.
14th November 2018 by April Neale
Danny Trejo brings the steel and the swagger to El Rey, home of Man At Arms: Art of War. Pic credit: El Rey
Danny Trejo needs no introduction, He’s the hardest working man in showbiz and he never stops.
Trejo is tight with El Rey founder and chieftain Robert Rodriguez, a visionary man who Trejo praised in a past Indiewire interview, saying: “Robert Rodriguez has done more for independent filmmaking and the Latino community than anyone in the last 50 years.”
Trejo is an iconic badass in the movies, on television and in the culinary world. From Machete to Mexi Falafel, Danny’s restaurants are growing in the LA area like crazy and the demand for his food is so strong, usually, there is a standing line waiting to get in at every spot.
Tonight, Danny Trejo takes on the Assasin’s Brotherhood on the latest Man at Arms: Art of War on El Rey Network.
Trejo and the blacksmiths examine a popular video game that has sold over 100 million copies as they recreate two of the most lethal blades around, the Scimitar, a curved-blade sword from the middle east great for beheading, and the Hidden Assassin’s Blade, one of the signature weapons for the Assassin’s Brotherhood that boasts a sneaky retractable blade.
Kung Fu specialist and writer Gene Ching and chief instructor of Guild of the Silent Sword Da’Mon Stith reportedly will test the metal and deliver the weaponry action to see how they perform.
El Rey Network is was created by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez who brings the distinctly LatinX flavor to TV with action-packed wrestling hybrid Lucha Underground, grindhouse movie marathons, kung fu marathons and series like From Dusk Till Dawn and more. Man at Arms is now in its second successful season.
We spoke to Danny Trejo yesterday:

Monsters and Critics: I’m a weapons nerd but I’m hopeless. I will cut myself with a paring knife. How do you not get something worse than a paper cut on set? When I watch that show, I worry about you.

Danny Trejo: You know what? It’s so much fun. I’m telling you, people don’t realize, it’s really dangerous because some of those weapons are so sharp that you can split hairs with them.
Especially the Samurai swords. Those things are amazing, and what I like about them, they’re not just making weapons. We talk about the history, we talk about the game-changing part that they had in war. So there is a whole lot of stuff that goes on.

M&C: What have you learned with this show as far as ancient cultures that you had no idea maybe as a kid growing up or from history lessons in school? 

Danny Trejo: That’s an amazing question by the way, and really it’s like, you know… history in school, I loved it but I never knew. It’s like the Mongols. The Mongol Hoards, the reason that they were so amazing in war is that they had developed a bow that it was reverse curved and it was so much more powerful than your longbows.
Your longbow, you had to stand still and shoot. The short, reversed curved bow had more power, and could pierce armor, they could shoot from a horse. So they had moving weapons really.

M&C: Of all the guys that you worked with like Gene Ching is on the show and I love him and Kerry Stagmer. How do you get along with the Baltimore Knife and Sword people and can you talk a little bit about your castmates there?

Danny: You know what? First of all, they all get along with me. I’m joking but there is a certain vibe. Robert [Rodriguez] has a great, great talent for putting people together that just jive right. And we’re like a family on this show.
The people that come in, I always make it a point, I did The Flash, the movie The Flash and that’s the best way to describe it because usually when you have a sitcom and a new person comes in, they feel a little left out. And so we make it a point to anybody that comes on the show, just take them in as family, and it works out really, really well.
That’s what they do on The Flash. They make you feel like family.

M&C: How does the production keep all of you guys safe on Man of Arms? There is a lot of dangerous stuff laying around.

Danny: Most of the people that work with the weapons, they’re all professional, so they know. Growing up they probably been cut and beat, so they all know. They won’t let me play with the weapons. When somebody new is on the set, everybody kind of like watches out where all the weapons are and make sure if somebody wants to pick one up, we’ll show them how to do it.

M&C: Now does cast and crew have your back? Do they demand that Trejo’s Tacos and Donuts are in craft services and the crew catering?

Danny: [Laughing] Always. Always. And they’re always saying, “Okay, when is donut time?”

M&C: Speaking of… your Trejo’s restaurants are doing so well in California. Now I’m out of California, are you going bring it anywhere else out of the state of California, do you have any plans for that?

Danny: Well, we’re thinking about it, but the only thing we’re concerned about really is quality control. We’re trying to keep a certain quality of food and when you get too far away, you can’t keep the quality control. So I eat at every restaurant. [Laughing] I get to eat it for free, so I go to every restaurant and then I send my friends to go eat to make sure that everything is up and up. All my friends say, “Do you want me to wear a wire?”
I say, “No, don’t wear a wire. Just go and eat and let me know how it is.” [laughing] So I always get good reports from staff and everybody that goes and eats there.
Celebrities now, there are a lot of celebrities going to the restaurant. The ones in Woodland Hills and the one in Hollywood. So that’s good. And we just opened up a new one at terminal one, Southwest at LAX.

M&C: That’s fantastic, so everyone coming through the city, even if they’re just in a layover, they can experience your restaurant.

Danny: Right on. [laughing]

M&C: Hey, I saw a great little short snippet for a film you want to make, Senior Citizens, will that be made?

Danny: Yes, that is gonna be directed by a guy named Craig Moss. He’s the one that directed me in Bad Ass, all three movies and it is funny. The script reads like a joke book.  So you’ll be seeing elderly people knock out people with bedpans and walkers and …[laughing]

I also finished a movie called Granddaddy Daycare starring Reno Williams and that’s a funny movie.

M&C: Hey true or false, ABC, Food and Familia, is that pilot going be made?

Danny: Food and Familia!!  That’s it, we’re going with that one, that one is funny. That’s a dramedy and we’re looking for the co-star right now, the female lead. So it’s going to be funny. The writer is Peter Murrieta? I always call him Joaquin. Joaquin Murrieta.

M&C: I got a Mayan’s MC question, I know that in Trejo’s Tacos you paid homage with a taco named for them. Will we see Romeo Parada, your character from Sons of Anarchy?

Danny: Absolutely, hey. Yeah. Absolutely because they gotta have to get that crooked DA Agent, DEA Agent.  Romeo.
M&C: So he’s coming back to Mayan’s MC?

Danny: Yeah. Yes, absolutely.
Man at Arms: Art of War airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on El Rey Network.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

“Joaquin Murrieta”. That Trejo dude *is* funny!

[Greg]

When did DM start the Guild of the Silent Sword?

[Drunk Monk]

“Joaquin Murrieta”. That Trejo dude *is* funny!

He's freaking hilarious.  He always has everyone in stitches with his quick quips - keeps us all going.  

When did DM start the Guild of the Silent Sword?

Did you miss the 'and'?  I'm not going to fault her.  She loves me.  

Kung Fu specialist and writer Gene Ching and chief instructor of Guild of the Silent Sword Da’Mon Stith

[Greg]

What kind of name is Da'Mon Stith?

[Drunk Monk]

What kind of name is Da'Mon Stith?

African American.  From TexASS no less.

You ask a lotta questions.

[Greg]

At least Da'Mon gets to run the Guild of the Silent Sword!

[Drunk Monk]

[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]Remembering Ralph Castro, the SF Peninsula’s trailblazing martial arts master

[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]Charles Russo[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.54)]Mar 5[/color]
From his friendship with Bruce Lee to the many thousands of students he taught over a lengthy career, Castro was a key contributor to martial arts culture in the Bay and well beyond.


[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.68)]A portrait of Great Grandmaster Ralph Castro set up in remembrance within his longtime martial arts studio in Daly City. Castro passed early last week at the age of 87. (Photo by Charles Russo, with permission by Vince Ronan)[/color]
1958.
When it comes to martial arts culture in America, the date can land like pre-history, a forgotten and hidebound era before Black Belt Magazine or Enter the Dragon or high-profile UFC fight cards. But it was 1958—more than 60 years ago—when Ralph Castro first began (formally) teaching kenpo karate around the San Francisco Bay Area.


[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.68)]Castro moved to the San Francisco Bay Area after growing up in Hawaii and then serving in the U.S. Coast Guard. (Image via Shaolinkenpo.com)[/color]
Castro passed away last week at the age of 87, leaving behind a martial arts legacy that in many ways mirrored the trajectory of the culture within America: from early hot spots in Hawaii and the Bay Area, through the boom times of the “kung fu craze” of the 1970s and the Karate Kid mania of the ’80s. Castro was not merely present within this evolution, but a factor in shaping it, a role that was reflected in the many photographs that lined the walls of his longtime school in Daly City where he was pictured alongside the likes of Bruce Lee, Ed Parker and Chuck Norris.
“Grandmaster Ralph Castro was a true pioneer for martial arts in America, especially the San Francisco Bay Area,” explains Gene Ching, publisher of Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine. “Beyond being the founder of Shaolin Kenpo, he was a true gentleman and a stalwart 49ers fan.”
Castro’s recent passing reflects the final days of the pioneering generation within the Bay Area who made significant contributions to the foundations of martial arts culture in America and around the world.[/color]

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[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]“Ralph went to a really rough high school in Honolulu and he was the toughest guy there.” —Coach Willy Cahill, San Bruno
Island Origins
Castro emerged from the mid-20th century martial arts culture of Hawaii, a diverse, dynamic and seriously rough-and-tumble fight culture that was the first great (though often forgotten) martial arts melting pot in the world.


[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.68)]Castro (left) pictured with his kenpo teacher William “Thunderbolt” Chow. (Image via Shaolinkenpo.com)[/color]
Predicated on the work opportunities within the islands’ cane fields, Hawaii experienced a robust influx of immigrants from around the Pacific (and the world) in the early 20th century. The workers brought their respective martial arts styles with them, and—after factoring in the great many U.S. servicemen stationed nearby—a unique, rugged and otherwise unprecedented martial arts laboratory soon developed.
Born of Spanish and Hawaiian descent, Castro grew up in close proximity to the islands’ fight culture. In fact, his father—Rafael “Boss” Castro—made extra money by fighting in underground bareknuckle boxing matches along the docks in Honolulu in order to help support his wife and eight children.
In time, the young Castro began his own martial arts career by studying under William Chow, a gruff and volatile character who, at five feet two, went by the nickname “Thunderbolt.” Chow’s classes were notorious for their stark physicality, and as one student described the practice environment: “[Chow] was into full-on fighting in the classroom rather than sparring. I used to get broken ribs. It was bad. That’s how we learned it.”


[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.68)]Family affair: (from left) Ralph Castro with his children—Boss, Rob, April, May, June, July and Mia. (Image via Shaolinkenpo.com)[/color]
Eventually, Castro moved to the mainland with his wife Pat and their young family (they would ultimately have seven children, and named their daughters April, May, June, July and Mia). In San Francisco, Castro began teaching in his spare time in a variety of locations, including the family living room (which was put to a halt after one of his students came dangerously close to falling out an open window). In 1958, Castro opened his first formal location on Valencia Street in San Francisco’s Mission District.[/color]

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[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]“I can’t tell you the number of late nights that [Bruce Lee] spent with Ralph Castro, and Wally Jay, James Lee, Allen Joe, all those guys. Many late nights where they would go around the room demonstrating things.”—Linda Lee Cadwell (Bruce Lee’s widow)


[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.68)]Castro (right) with friend and colleague Ed Parker. The two served in the U.S. Coast Guard together and then later learned that they had the same martial arts teacher back in Hawaii—William Chow. (Image via Shaolinkenpo.com)[/color]
Early pioneers
In California, Castro partnered with Ed Parker, another of Chow’s students, who would also make his mark on martial arts culture in America. Operating out of Pasadena, Parker was profiled by TIME magazine in 1961 as the “High Priest of Hollywood’s Karate Sect” for teaching martial arts to a number of celebrities, including Warren Beatty, Gary Cooper, Steve McQueen and—most notably—Elvis Presley.
Castro became part of Parker’s International Kenpo Karate Association, an organization that would play a major part in enrolling seemingly countless Americans into martial arts practice in the years to come. Far ahead of the curve for the early 1960s, Castro offered training programs at his school for women and children in an industry that largely catered only to adult men at the time.


[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.68)]A young Bruce Lee (left) conveying some ideas and techniques to Ed Parker and Ralph Castro, circa 1963, at Castro’s school at 1132 Valencia Street in San Francisco. (Image courtesy of Greglon Lee)[/color]
In 1963, Castro and Parker were introduced to a young, dynamic and fairly egotistical young “gung fu” practitioner named Bruce Lee. Although Lee was half the age of Castro, Parker and their Bay Area colleagues, they accepted him as an equal. (An old photo shows Bruce explaining some of his technique at Castro’s school on Valencia Street, during this era.)
Lee was on such a similar wavelength to these practitioners that he soon dropped out of school at the University in Washington, in Seattle, to live in Oakland and collaborate with the martial artists he had met in the Bay. What followed were many late night think tank sessions between Bruce and the likes of Castro, Wally Jay (a renowned jiu-jitsu instructor in Alameda), James Lee (Oakland native and MMA pioneer), Al Novak (East Bay kajukenbo teacher) and other trailblazing figures from the region. Collectively, their collaborations and subsequent ventures would form key foundations to the modern martial arts industry in America.[/color]

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[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]“Whenever we saw Ralph with his students at competitions, we’d all be saying — ‘Jeez, we gotta fight those guys?!’”—Barney Scollan, student of Ed Parker and Bruce Lee


[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.68)]Castro (back row, 5th from left) pictured with a young class of his students at a local competition. (Image via Shaolinkenpo.com)[/color]
Longterm legacy
As the popularity of the martial arts began to bloom in the mid-1960s, Castro helped to form the California Karate Championships, an annual regional tournament held at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium, which typically hosted more than 1000 participants and helped to launch the careers of martial artists such as Chuck Norris and Mike Stone.
In time, he branded his particular art as “Shaolin Kenpo” and operated numerous schools with thousands of students around the Bay Area. In 1980 he settled into his largest and final location—on Washington Street in Daly City, near the 280 freeway.


[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.68)]Castro featured on the cover of Black Belt Magazine in the summer of 1984. (Image via Shaolinkenpo.com)[/color]
Reflecting on his teacher’s life and legacy, Vince Ronan emphasized Castro’s love of his family and students, as well as his perennial sense of humor (and, of course—his enduring devotion to the San Francisco 49ers).
When it came to the martial arts, Ronan says that Castro was a 24/7 practitioner: “Great Grandmaster lived and breathed martial arts … and he applied his training to almost everything. The few times we’ve seen Great Grandmaster using the push broom to sweep, you could see him working on his kenpo stances and side stepping as he walked up and down the floor.”
Upon retirement, Castro passed his school into the hands of Vince and his brother Gerald, who were students of his for close to three decades.
Castro was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame in 2002, and was honored again for Lifetime Achievement in 2017. The museum’s president, Michael Matsuda, frames Castro’s legacy in prominent and far-reaching terms: “Considered one of the early pioneers of the arts, Castro introduced the unique system of Chinese Kenpo to an American audience. Through his guidance and teachings, he has touched thousands upon thousands of lives and spread the art across the world.”[/color]

Charles is a journalist friend.  He was the one who got me on NPR.  He reached out to me for the pull quote yesterday.

[Drunk Monk]

• ASIAN MMA
  

Shuai Jiao: Finding China’s martial arts renaissance in a 4,000-year-old wrestling system
Bloody Elbow’s two part feature goes in depth on Kung Fu’s past, present and future.
By chrismassari  Mar 12, 2019, 8:00am EDT
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The Grandfather of the Martial Arts in the Modern Era
Nearly 30 years ago, martial arts forever changed.
UFC 1 was a catalyst to forever reshape the ideology, foundation, education, approach and very make up of self-defense and the martial arts.
Simply put, the Gracie family changed the game.

Without neglecting the history of Shoot Boxing, Catch Wrestling, Pancrase, Vale Tudo and even the philosophies of individuals like Bruce Lee and other multi-martial art disciplines pre-UFC, the practice of “cross-training” wasn’t mainstream among western practitioners, nor was it thought of as something integral to becoming a successful or even competent martial artist. Historical nuances aside, this event in 1993 can be seen as a defining marker in martial arts and how the culture shifted to where it is now.
In that span of three decades, we’ve seen martial arts grow from traditional based systems, rigid, linear and structured, to the basics of mixed martial arts. Slowly dipping their toes into what it means to train in multiple disciplines, before fast forwarding only a few years, where the practice starts to culminate in the ultimate form of cross training found in the “complete martial artists” like George St. Pierre or Jon Jones.
And as mixed martial arts continued to grow and adapt, traditional styles began to die in the early years of internet forums.
The Bullshido days of MMA.
Yet, instead of dying, some traditional systems reinvented themselves and modernized with this changing landscape. Practitioners like Lyoto Machida, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, Michael Page or Anthony Pettis to name only a few, began surfacing years later and proving their styles had a place among these modernized systems.
But, unlike other styles, one of the most ancient systems of fighting, Kung Fu and the martial arts of China, hold almost zero influence in 2019 and never regained that foothold of relevancy it once had. After UFC 1 and the ushering in of the next era of martial arts, Kung Fu was faced with the dilemma all traditional martial arts were: adapt or die.
The difference? Unlike Karate or Taekwondo who adapted, Kung Fu never recovered in Western combat sports since, and in some cases, globally too.
The reason is simple. An internet search of “Kung Fu versus” can provide an almost a perpetual stream of videos of Kung Fu experts in Gracie style challenge matches or “dojo storms” against blue belt level grapplers or western boxers with only a few years of training. All of them ended with the same invalidating results, leaving Kung Fu currently on life support.
Gene Ching, the associate publisher of Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine and KungFuMagazine.com, as well as a weapons master featured on El Rey Networks’ Man At Arms, was asked why Kung Fu hasn’t found success in Western combat sports.

“One reason is that China has a romantic notion of martial arts, and the kind of braggadocio seen in MMA (ie. Khabib vs. McGregor) doesn’t fit within their cultural view, so it’s not encouraged. When you have MMA fighters challenging Tai Chi practitioners, that’s painfully tone deaf in terms of what each style looks to achieve. But, China is starting to come around. ONE Championship just crossed a quarter billion in total capital, and while that’s Singapore, not China, well, that’s where Crazy Rich Asians is set, right?

Related: An in-depth look at ONE’s finances, losses

Another reason is that Kung Fu is working for a longer game, so it’s more sophisticated, and in this case, to a fault. A practitioner doesn’t really come into mastery until their thirties, and that’s outside the window of MMA competitors. A simpler way to look at this is that if someone pursues Kung Fu in earnest, they have to study dozens of cold-arm weapons. That’s time that an MMA competitor will spend training fighting, so they are more focused. Kung Fu can be stripped down to just sparring, which is essentially what Sanda is, and that has achieved some level of success in MMA.”

The issue with Sanda or Sanshou, is most would barely recognize the difference between it and any other kickboxing related practices. There have been a handful of notable Sanshou-based MMA fighters such as UFC and Strikeforce veteran Cung Le, or Filipino champions like Eduard Folayang and Kevin Belingon, but the success of a few outliers is not going to win the hearts and minds in a systems’ ability — which Kung Fu desperately needs, unfortunately.

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[img=0x0]https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xOrO05GnRxpIkwxoVreoG0v2IlQ=/0x0:3000x2027/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2027):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/14726927/176428251.jpg.jpg[/img]Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images
Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting...
Kung Fu originally exploded into the Western eye in the 60’s and 70’s thanks to Chinese cinemaand more specifically, through the influence of martial arts pioneer and icon Bruce Lee, as well as films from the Shaw Brothers.
These films not only promoted the art of Kung Fu to the West, but really the martial arts as a whole. It can even be argued that if it wasn’t for the Kung Fu film genre, that the martial arts might not have reached the global level of popularity and the cultural influence that it has. These films took Kung Fu and martial arts mainstream.

Still, Kung Fu’s influence has since remained, if not wholly, reserved to cinema and culture exclusively, slowly fading into obscurity in the world of hand to hand combat.
There is one individual though, who wants to change that and will take on anyone, abiding by a philosophy of “the mats don’t lie” as he puts it, in order to prove Kung Fu’s legitimacy and bringing the Chinese martial arts back into the conversation of combat application. He is Lavell Marshall, who is not only accepting all challengers, but is actively seeking them out in competition.

“My goals are to become as great as I knew I could be since I was three years old. To keep going to new levels and reach a place no one’s ever seen in this art.” Marshall states, “Through this journey, I want to show the world how great Shuai Jiao [Kung Fu] is and not just for Shuai Jiao, but for anyone and in any arena. When I’m old the whole world will know what Shuai Jiao is.”

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Lavell “Shaolin” Marshall: A Jack of all Grappling Trades and a Master in One, Throwing Backs to the Mat
Marshall is a Shuai Chiao Black Belt and a multiple-time national Shuai Jiao champion on team USA, who competes regularly in Shuai Jiao internationally. He is also a state Judo Champion and has competed in Jiu-Jitsu as well. In particular, he is the star of a viral video that has made the rounds around the internet several times, where Lavell displays his grappling prowess involving a spazzy white belt. Marshall has even begun venturing into other grappling art competitions too and is finding success there in Mongolian Bökh, Kazakh Kures, Belt Wrestling, and Russian Sambo.

Lavell, who also holds a Judo Brown Belt, Taekwondo Black Belt, and Jiu-Jitsu blue belt, is a student from the famous Shuai Chiao fighting lineage of Chang Tung Sheng, Master David Lin and his teacher, Sifu Omar Harvin. Marshall, who has also appeared in Netflix’s second season of Luke Cage, is currently studying under Vladislav Koulikov — a world-renowned sambist and grappling ace in his own right — in Sambo and Sambo Fusion (a mix of Sambo, Judo, Wrestling, and BJJ).
As far as the grappling world goes, the four kings are Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Judo, and Sambo, and when it comes to the purely throwing arts, Judo is deity. Kung Fu may be viewed to most modern martial arts as very low on the totem pole of fighting systems, but it’s even worse when it comes to grappling, making what Marshall does that much more exciting.
He is not just an outlier in the grappling disciplines of the West. He is also the only one using a Chinese system at a high level in multiple grappling disciplines, and winning on what is traditionally an area of fighting that Kung Fu is considered one of the worst in.

Kung Fu is known as a striking art and made mainstream by Bruce Lee and again, Chinese cinema. Films of all nature in the action genre focus on the striking nature of Kung Fu. Whether it’s Drunken Boxing, Crane Style, 5 Animals, or Wing Chun, generally speaking, Kung Fu is thought of as a martial arts with zero grappling based principles or history.
Because there’s no wrestling in Kung Fu, right? Judo was the first real throwing art, right?
Wrong.

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Ancient Chinese Secret: China’s Oldest Combat Based System
Shuai Jiao or Shuai Chiao, often incorrectly referred to as “Chinese Judo” and sometimes known as Chinese Wrestling, dates back over 4,000 years ago as an ancient system of military close combat or Kung Fu, in which it was referred to then as jǐao dǐ (角抵) or jiao li (角力) and translated as “horn butting”, before reaching its modern term of Shuai Jiao.
During different periods of time and Dynasties, this art was extremely popular and was not only an art of the military, but entertainment as well. It was then in the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1912) that it was the art of the Shan Pu Ying, The Battalion of Excellency in Catching, who were the bodyguards to the Emperor and when it truly flourished with Chinese, Manchuria Buku and Bökh really beginning to mesh.
At one point, even women participated in entertainment based wrestling events, in the same garb as the men, shirtless with undergarments similar to Sumo. Lavell explained in more detail, this Chinese and Japanese wrestling connection, as well as other influences to Asia abroad.

“Sumo has its origins in Shuai Jiao. During the Tang Dynasty when it was called Xiang Pu, it went over to Japan and was taught to a few people. Down the line with modifications, it became Sumo. Many people will dispute this, but one thing we can’t dispute is that Japan was heavily influenced by China, and so was Sumo.
“As for Bökh, there are two main styles, Inner Mongolian and Mongolian. Inner Mongolian has developed along Shuai Jiao, so aside from uniform, it has much of the same techniques, just with a different emphasis. Mongolian Bökh also has close relations because of the Mongols taking over China and encouraging people to wrestle. Much of what is seen today is thousands of years of crossover between the two.”

Since Shuai Jiao is almost completely unknown in the West, there has been confusion that this 4,000 plus-year-old art actually borrowed techniques from more modern throwing systems, rather than the other way around.
Matt Gelfand, an international and national Shuai Jiao champion, elaborates by stating:

“Shuai Jiao can be considered the father of Chinese martial arts and also the father of most Asian wrestling or grappling arts. It’s a wrestling based art with combat and close quarter applications. However, unlike most Kung Fu styles, the focus is on throwing and takedowns as opposed to striking.”

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A Phoenix in the Ashes: Reclaiming the Middle Kingdom’s Martial Glory and Where it’s Future Lies
If Kung Fu is going to have a future, then it must look to its past. An ability to excel in combat sport and to adapt to a sports-based setting, regardless of tradition or practices linked to “self-defense” is the only way to rise from it’s defeated state. The biggest hurdle Kung Fu is currently facing in the modern martial arts landscape, and more precisely in the West, is simple: results. And the only one holding it back from those results, is itself.

“Many teachers would say it’s because their techniques are “lethal”... but, realistically, most just haven’t made the jump to sport training,” Gelfand states. “Arts like Western and Thai Boxing have been tried and tested in the ring for a long time, as they make it a point to simplify concepts to fit [a sport setting]. Kung Fu styles like Praying Mantis, Wing Chun and Dragon Style involve catching and breaking limbs, which can’t really apply to sport. Most techniques, when broken down to sport concepts, look almost exactly like western boxing. If you look up Sanda or Sanshou (Chinese Kickboxing) you’ll get a glimpse of how that translates.”

Between YouTube, World Star, mixed martial arts, the internet and media overall, for a martial art to be deemed valid, you need tangible outcomes which are commonly found in some form of combat sport. This isn’t said as a negative either.
Fighting arts of all kind must be shown as capable in combat. It’s in their very design. The reason people don’t question the effectiveness of Jiu-Jitsu, Judo or Muay Thai is that not only can they take what they practice and instantly apply it in some form of sparring or sporting event, they can watch it in action from others in a competition.

The martial arts are a physical embodiment of the scientific method. It’s why they have been ever evolving throughout human history, building the validity and practicality of any given technique through constant testing. The only difference in this method is, if the thesis is proved wrong, the results generally have repercussions, and in the most serious cases, could even result in permanent injury or death.
Meaning, for theories of technique to be scientifically tested over and over again, they must be done where the researchers of this subjects, martial artists, are able to experiment safely and continuously in their study. This leaves sport training as the only way we can continue to evolve the martial arts.
A very easy case to study for this idea is the very rapid evolution of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
One can debate the difference of “sport” versus “real” Jiu-Jitsu, however, there is no denying the Jiu-Jitsu of today is more advanced in its “vocabulary” than it was 10 years ago, let alone 50. And while within the Jiu-Jitsu community there is debate versus how the sport or game aspect of Jiu-Jitsu may have deviated from its original self-defense roots, that is a path most, if not all, combat sports take. They are forged in combat and spawn offsprings meant to foster competition that can be tested over and over again without participants facing the same consequences as war.
The debate of sport and self-defense will continue in Jiu-Jitsu regardless. Nonetheless, there are ways of testing modern Jiu-Jitsu’s competency through MMA and high-level players like Demian Maia, Ryan Hall, Gunnar Nelson, Shinya Aoki or “Jacare” Souza, to name a few, have shown Jiu-Jitsu does just fine in combat or self-defense.
Daniele Bolelli, a professor at California State University and Santa Monica College, host of the History on Fire podcast and author of On the Warrior’s Path, states:

“Historical circumstances have made Chinese martial arts considerably less effective than others at present. It’s not so much that the techniques employed in these arts are bad — in many cases they are quite sound — but the training methods and teaching methodologies are antiquated. The same thing would have happened to Japanese martial arts had it not been for people like Kano Jigoro, and their efforts to modernize the practice of martial arts. Out of all Chinese styles, Shuai Jiao is one of those that offer the most promise in terms of being adaptable to MMA.”

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Cultural Renaissance over Revolution: The Future of the Chinese Martial Arts
Without diving into the 4,000 plus years of Chinese history, which includes countless revolutions, uprisings, social unrest, cultural and customs, the big question becomes, if Shuai Jiao is Kung Fu, then why hasn’t it succeeded in the West?
Marshall sheds some light on this extremely valid question:

“It comes down to the fact there aren’t [many] high level instructors and [there’s] no money. It is now growing so things are changing, but because of these reasons it has been hard to develop strong players in the West. Many of the players are hobbyist and don’t train full time like professional athletes. I am one of the exceptions.”

This is where Shuai Jiao provides so much potential for reviving Kung Fu.
Not only is Shuai Jiao a practice that employs modern principles and can be applied over and over again in a live sparring setting, it can also do so completely removed from theory, philosophy and internal development, while still maintaining traditional and cultural roots so intertwined within Kung Fu.
Shuai Jiao, unlike Sanshou or Sanda, looks like traditional Kung Fu in the purest form. The movements look right out of the movies, but have actual practicality. The training resembles something out of ancient Shaolin, and the techniques themselves present something uniquely Chinese.

Everything about it oozes the aesthetic look of a traditional look Kung Fu system, that maintains both art and combat application.
And because of this, if there is was a martial art that returns Chinese influence to the forefront of combat and even simply conversation, it is Shuai Jiao. In 2015, Sascha Matuszak of Vice’s Fightland stated:

“Shuai Jiao is still on the outskirts of the combat sport cypher, with no real chance of grabbing the mic just yet. But, mixed martial artists are beginning to explore past the well known striking, grappling, submissions triumvirate into other, lesser known styles in search for an edge. At some point the Taiji-infused, Qin Na [Chin Na] influenced grappling and throwing game of traditional Shuai Jiao could prove useful.”

Lavell, an active Shuai Jiao competitor, is seeing that eruption of Chinese martial arts happening right now. In his opinion, it’s only a matter of time.
When asked if Shuai Jiao could compete with other grappling arts, he states:

“A question I get asked a lot and the answer is, of course, it can! I’ve competed in many competitions from popular grappling styles to ones even more obscure and on international levels for some, and found great success. Most styles of grappling can compete with others as long as you learn to adapt to the ruleset in which you are competing.”

China no longer wants to lose at its national sport, Shuai Jiao, Lavell explained. The Chinese government is backing Kung Fu now, rather than opposing it’s martial elements as they have done in the past:

“But, now the government is putting a lot of money and effort to spread their national art. There is even a pro league now and it is something you can major in at the Universities there.”

China no longer wants to fall by the wayside in something that is so closely linked to their traditions and heritage. Gene Ching states:

“The future looks bright. There’s more research published than ever. There’s more Kung Fu movies than ever. China has become a wealthy nation, and many of the new rich are enthralled with Kung Fu and what it represents. Jack Ma is a perfect example. In his wake, a few other affluent leaders have been working to preserve and revitalize martial traditions. It’s a slow yet steady rise, and it’s certainly not for everyone (no martial art is), but it is continually adapting to serve the diaspora in unique ways.”

Efforts and money are a good start, but the real change won’t come unless there are students learning and then spreading their knowledge. This is, of course, the age-old conundrum that all martial arts face, as growth is found in lineage and preservation through students. Money and access are great assets but ultimately, what will really push Shuai Jiao into the mainstream is successful students which come from tangible results.
The results in hardware found in combat sports.
The career and educational options found in combat sports.
As well as the prestige, financial compensation, and fame that once again, comes from sport.
This is where Lavell Marshall believes he can be at the forefront of this renaissance and one of the driving forces behind the coming wave:

“I want to bring the highest skill level of Shuai Jiao to the West and have people here see its effectiveness. Many people are already starting to see that and largely because of what I post and do, but I want the West to truly dig deep into it and for you to see players of all styles competing and training in it.”

Within the last few years, Marshall has become more and more prominent in the social media world, with an ever growing following. While on the grappling circuit, he is achieving victory after victory in the competition space, putting himself out there to spread this art to other arts through tangible, competitive victores. He’s featured in film, as well podcasts to help inform others about Shuai Jiao. Lavell has been in an all out push in every medium and avenue that he can, in order to gain eyes and grab attention to Shuai Jiao.

[img=0x0]https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qTkhH4cp3d230v9WlplxoSZQLvQ=/0x0:1080x813/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x813):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/14725261/52572838_163165108008997_761943078670396326_n__1_.jpg[/img]Lavell Marshall

This year, Lavell has moved to Inner Mongolia to continue his training further. He believes this environment will allow him the professional level insight and the technical growth in his daily training that he just cannot find at this time for Shuai Jiao in the West.
He wants to immerse himself in various grappling styles and disciplines, with martial artists who are just at a different level, and spend their days doing nothing but training, living and breathing the combat arts. Marshall feels the atmosphere towards wrestling, grappling and general life of the martial arts is different there, providing him the opportunity to grow and learn like nowhere else.

Lavell’s goal after obtaining the competition experience and accolades in competition victories, is to return and begin his next journey: To expand Shuai Jiao in the West, to become a household name, and to bring Kung Fu back to relevance in the modern stage of martial arts. In BJJ, in MMA, in all forms of grappling.
Only time will tell if Lavell and Kung Fu, through Shuai Jiao, will find its renaissance in the modern mixed martial arts, but the evidence seems to point to something special on the horizon.

[Greg]

I guess somewhere in those lengthy passages are some knowledge dropping DM quotes. TL;DR