The Life and Death of Great American Kung Fu Classes

Yesterday was my Old Master's birthday. None of us know how old he is, even today. I biked an hour to see him, which doesn't seem like a long way to go, but riding on the expressway by bike speaks volumes if you ask me. Anyway, he changed my life. It was the least I could do.

Passing this abandoned class, once the "Double Dragon" Kung-Fu studio (true story), I felt a pang of sadness. I've biked by it many times before. Very Karate Kid- big bulky guys in sleek black kung fu uniforms teaching hyper aggressive kids. Sometimes, if I was lucky, I'd catch one of the monks from Mommy and Uncle's temple stepping into the Cash4You next door and give them a good bow. It was always nice to see them outside temple.

Kung fu's everywhere in popular culture and it does good on screen to try and teach the values of kung fu- the things people usually laugh about in real life, but the same kind of things I've been told numerous times by my Old Master. Eat bitter, protect each other, the metaphors go on. It's a shame that these kinds of truths are starin' us in the face, but we hardly believe them. Unless of course you're lucky enough to be taught by a man that was orphaned in red China and worked his way to fame by way of martial arts, fighting for Mao, fighting for a shitty bowl of egg drop soup after 13 hour days in factories.

Without kung fu, I'm willing to bet a lot of people wouldn't have made it. These are the kinds of perspectives people need today. How kung fu can really communicate this? I don't know. The only way might be to devote your life to it. To really devote your life to it, and that takes a lot of guts, because it can leave you poor. Very poor. So my heart went out to this studio, even if the kung fu taught was bad.

My friend and I often have arguments about kung fu's use, and in today's age it may not be practical, especially when students don't practice hard enough, but it's certainly got me through some bad times. Not in literal fighting, but in having some sort of spirit and giving me perspective to soldier on. If I have a soul, it's because of kung fu, it's because of my Old Master, it's because of places like that studio that do a good job, especially on my Old Master's birthday, of giving me the perspective to carry on, so long as the road lasts.

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