Afterword

The martial arts are ways of life. Indeed, the only way to become proficient and eventually master the martial arts is to immerse yourself in them body, mind, and spirit. There is an old saying in Chinese kung-fu circles, that when you begin the martial arts you are a regular person. After training for a while you become a person with kung-fu. Then, after several more years of training you become a kung-fu person. Only after you have truly consumed and mastered the art do you go full circle and once again become a regular person. At this point, you have become one with the true essence of the martial arts: a free-flowing, spontaneous, and ever-evolving entity.

As a good kung-fu practitioner, one has to be humble socially but aggressive in a fight. In the present society, no matter how good you have trained in the martial arts, you must never go looking for trouble. What, then, is the point of training in these arts and developing these fighting skills? Self-development and evolution through the unremitting discipline that is necessary to mastering the martial arts over a lifetime.

It must be understood, however, that learning martial arts without practicing chi kung training is a waste of time, for when you become old you will have nothing to show for your lifelong practice and devotion. Moreover, it is also advisable to become proficient in a healing modality, so that one may help others. As we have already discussed, possessing the ability to heal others is the balancing factor of knowing how to injure them. Indeed, one who is only versed in the fighting art, and not its collateral chi kung health aspect or healing dimension, can never come to truly understand and master the art or become a fully evolved human being.

We hope, then, that this book has exposed to the reader interested in this rare and dynamic art a broader side of the art and some of the things necessary to master it: fighting principles, basics, two-person fighting form, pole form, weapon applications, chi kung discussion and exercise, and a presentation of the healing art.

For those who possess a sincere interest and desire to learn more about Chuka Shaolin, please feel free to contact the authors care of the publisher.