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Chinese Wisdom

Concise and sometimes humorous; these bits of wisdom offer us a keen insight into the Chinese way of thinking. Often a simple sentence provides us with an acute sense of logic.

· Teachers open the door; you enter by yourself.
· A wise man teaches not by what he says, but by what he does.
· He, who asks, is a fool for five minutes; he, who does not ask, remains a fool forever.
· Medicine is for saving lives, but in the hands of quacks, can kill people.
· Never admire a man by his strength; judge him in how he uses it.
· He who rides the rickshaw is a man----like those who carry it.
· Although a tree is a thousand Chang in height, its leaves still fall to the ground.
· If you suspect a man, don't employ him; if you employ him, don't suspect him.
· One cannot refuse to eat just because there is a chance of being choked.
· Looking for fish; don't climb a tree.
· Fish see the worm, not the hook.
· Water floats a ship; water sinks a ship.
· Don't judge the horse by his saddle.
· To understand your parent's love, bear your own children.
· When riches fill your home, you will not be able to keep the thieves away.
· To know the road ahead, ask those coming back
· When you want to test the depths of a stream, don't use both feet.
· Words said in anger settle no dispute.
· Think twice; then say nothing.
· One rat dropping spoils a pot of rice.
· Keep your broken arm inside your sleeve.
· Before you beat the dog; learn his master's name.
· When you fall, pick yourself up.
· When you fall, pick up something.
· When strict with oneself, one rarely fails.
· Dig your well before you are thirsty.
· Deviate an inch; lose a thousand miles.
· When you do a favor and expect a reward, it is not a favor.
· A whale in shallow water amuses the shrimps.
· Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
· A clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.
· Even a hare will bite when it is cornered.
· It is not the creed that makes the man. It is the man that justifies the creed.
· The mind is like a fertile garden. It will grow anything you wish to plant.
· You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.
· One should not torture himself over a single mistake. Making a mistake & not correcting it, that is a real mistake.
· Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one.
· First you crawl, than you walk, than you run.
· Before a man can fight, he must first learn to stand.
· True kung fu is rooted in the feet. It develops in the legs, is directed by the waist and is express through the fingers.
· Beginning students block an assault, experienced kung fu men attack after blocking, but true masters no longer have the need to block.
· It is better to sweat in practice than to bleed in battle.
· When the archer misses the center of the target, he does not blame the bow or arrow. He seeks for the cause of failure within himself.
· It is usually the depth of skill rather than the variety of technique that decides the winner.
· Learning one hundred things is not as good as practicing one thing well. Practicing one hundred things is not as good as mastering one thing perfectly.
· Correct hitting is invisible. An enemy should fall without seeing your hands.
· A great martial artist will never make a show of being great; that is how his greatness is achieved.
· Among martial artists, there are those who desire recognition through mastery of certain skills rather a totally upright character, but they will never be genuine martial artists.
· A phony kung fu man shoots out his hand ferociously, but his punch contains no true power. A master is not so flamboyant, but his touch is as heavy as a mountain.
· The discipline of knowledge in the Oriental view is to be used towards attaining moral excellence. Granting emotion and desire their place, the true martial artist is not dominated by them.
· A martial artist without philosophy is nothing more than a street fighter.
· Martial Arts are a way of life. A martial artist is an artist for life.
· The great essence of the martial arts is its spirit. The outward features are the many techniques it teaches.
· To learn kung fu fully, one must embody the entire kung fu philosophy. Without the mind the body is useless.
· The mind commands, strength goes along and follows.
· The ultimate aim of kung fu is the unity of mind, body and spirit.
· What comes out of your training depends on what goes in.
· A skillful fighter does not lose his temper.
· The true hero hardens his nature and controls his mind; the mock variety makes a show of his talents and flies off his temper.
· The most important part of a fight begins before you draw your sword.
· The superior man moves his lips; the mean man moves his fists.
· The tree that does not bend with the wind will be broken by the wind.
· The way to Tai Chi is to comply with an attacker.
· The strength of one thousand pounds can be repulsed with four ounces.
· When an old man is able to defeat many attackers, how could it be due to his strength?
· Self-Defense is like a mirror; it anticipates nothing, but responds to what is before it.
· There is no greater catastrophe than underestimating the enemy.
· Knowledge of body weakness is every bit as important as the ability to hit a given target proficiently.
· A great general wins without a battle.
· To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the highest skill; to subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest skill.
· When the martial artist meets a setback, he does not sit and brood about it. Chalking it up to experience, he tries to learn from his mistakes. He knows the results may not come easily and he is willing to endure rough times because of the faith he has in himself.
· Every master was once a novice.
· A person who does not believe his master's teaching will never reach a depth of understanding; likewise, a person who believes every word of his master's teaching without question will never reach a depth of understanding.
· Train with one hundred percent focus and train regularly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act; it is a habit.
· Traditional Kung Fu places no emphasis on competitions, record breaking or championships; being focused instead on the ultimate aim of self-perfection.
· Advance daily throughout your life, becoming more skillful today than yesterday. This is a never ending process.
· Always devote 100% of your heart, mind and body during training. Negligence in any of these categories will limit growth in your art.
· When striving for excellence, complacency is not an option.
· Progress in the martial arts is seldom achieved without countless failures and frustrations. Overcome these setbacks with proper practice, perseverance and a positive attitude. Failures and frustrations are learning experiences and should be treated as such. Development in this area will not only assist your physical art, it will also serve to strengthen your mental facilities.
· Our personal logic and philosophies predict how we think we would react to a violent confrontation. However, one does not know for certain what his response will be until he is actually involved in the situation. To be properly prepared, one must include mental and physical development as an integral part of their self defense training.
· Do not let anxiety defeat you. Overcome fear; start to learn.
· Remove the word try from your vocabulary. Try is an excuse to fail. Replace try with do. Incorrect, I will try it; correct, I will do it.
· Ask yourself the following question every time you train: How would I feel about my school if everyone trained as I train? This query has nothing to do with your skill level. It refers to the amount of effort you put into your workout.
· Other than injuries or physical liabilities, a true martial artist will never devote less than 100% towards his training. Doing so is a serious impediment towards the mental development integral to his art.
· One should never display a weak attitude. If a man loses his courage his associates will lose their respect for him.
· A victorious person in this life is not a superman but one who, while knowing which conditions are the causes of failure, also knows which conditions are the causes of success.
· The journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step.
· The hardest thing is not attaining your goals; it is setting them. Know what you want.
· You can do the things you want to do or not do the things you want to do.
· Many problems happen that you can't control. However, you do have control over the way you react to these problems.
· Successful people have the habit of doing what failures don’t like to do. They may not like doing them either, but their dislike is subordinated to the strength of their goals.
· If you find 10,000 ways something won't work; you haven't failed.
· A superior thinker possesses the ability to anticipate the consequences of doing or not doing something.
· Future intent should influence present actions.
· Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.
· A person runs three to four miles per day, bragging about the extra ten years of life it creates, unaware that he is spending them running.
· The person who doesn't read is no better off than the person who can't read.
· To study & not think is darkness. To think without study is dangerous.
· Chasing after the poisonous snake that bit us will only drive the poison throughout our system. It is far better to take measures to immediately get the poison out.
· The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
· To see further than others; stand on the shoulders of giants.
· For thousands of years Chinese philosophy has been the single most potent force in Chinese history and civilization. It has destroyed empires, established bureaucracies and instituted moral codes that affected everyone, from the mightiest emperor to the lowliest peasant.
· Confucianism, Taoism (pronounced Dowism) and Buddhism are not forms of worship, but unique ways of thinking and seeing the world as well as man's relationship to his fellow man and his own inner nature.
· The kung fu warrior from the earliest times has been deeply enmeshed in these ways of thinking. Thus, the wisdom of the kung fu masters and the wisdom of the ancient sages are one and the same.
· Confucius advised his students to practice martial arts, specifically archery and charioting. The Buddhist patriarch Tao Mo not only brought Chan (Zen) Buddhism to China, he also founded the famed Shaolin branch of the art. The Taoist Lao Tzu wrote much on military tactics as well as practical advice on Chi development. Consequently, later day martial arts masters were often Taoists. Confucian or Buddhist sages and their wisdom and teachings, reflected the school of thought that they had come from.
· While lesser men quarreled with the different doctrines, wise men saw them as complimentary. In the final analysis, the primary concern of all great philosophies is enlightenment.
· It can also be said with total certainty that if these unique ways of thinking had never developed, kung fu, if it survived, would be little more than a fancy method of pugilism, instead of the rich complex art into which it has evolved.
· Peaceful co-existence is the ultimate form of self-defense.
· To win 100 victories in 100 battles is not the highest skill.
· To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest skill.
· A journey of 1,000 miles begins with the first step. It is not the destination that is important, it’s the journey. Enjoy the journey!

 

THE MARTIAL ARTS CODE

“ The Martial Arts are an inexhaustible source of knowledge. Regardless of ones achievements a good person will respect the rights of others.

When suddenly challenged defend yourself well.

One who reaches the highest plain will always be humble among others.”

See Also:

 

• History of Kung Fu
• Kuan Ti
• Lao Tzu
• Confucius
• Leong Sil Jong
• Animals
• The Lion's Dance
• Vocabulary

Choosing a Martial Arts School

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