Balancing violence with virtue

"When you can take the pebble from my hand, it will be time for you to leave." This quotation is likely to bring a flood of memories to fans of the original TV series Kung Fu (1971-75) starring David Carradine. That show, and the rising star of kung fu legend Bruce Lee, lifted the veil from the secretive world of Chinese kung fu and propelled martial arts into mainstream American culture.

In following years, big stars like Jackie Chan in the 1980s and Jet Li in the 1990s inspired millions of Western boys to take martial arts training. And even though some of those boys grew up to create movies as popular as the animated Kung Fu Panda (2008), some Chinese believe that the film genre is merely capitalizing on people's stereotyped impressions about gong fu (the Chinese system of self-defense that stresses circular rather than linear motion).

"Hong Kong films and some Hollywood films about kung fu are very well known, but what they have presented to audiences is a very limited portion of real kung fu culture in China," said Zeng Hairuo, director of the new documentary series Kung Fu. The ambitious project, which began shooting a few months ago, plans to finish over 100 episodes within five years.

In most Hong Kong kung fu films, southern schools of martial arts such as Wing Chun, Praying Mantis, and Choy Li Fut (developed mainly in China's Guangdong and Fujian provinces) are used most frequently. Over time, this trend creates a problem. Zeng told Global Times, "Besides limited kung fu styles or schools, films usually either romanticize or exaggerate real kung fu and overlook the long-accumulated Chinese culture behind them."

Comprehensive record

Offering audiences a comprehensive knowledge base of Chinese kung fu is one of the aims of documentary Kung Fu. As planned, it will be divided into two main parts: the first one is themed "Searching for Kung Fu," and the second emphasizes the culture behind the various martial art styles. Zeng and his team will interview about 50 heirs of different kung fu schools in the country in an attempt to include as many kung fu styles as possible.

"Besides the 50 schools we know about now, we want to present stories about the heirs and the cultural influences that connect [their particular style of] kung fu with their birthplaces," said Zeng.

Invested by Beijing Five Star Cultural Media Company, the documentary has invited Mark Jonathan Harris, winner of three best documentary Academy Awards in 1967, 1968 and 2001, to be co-director. He can act as both a professional mentor on the documentary and provide a foreigner's perspective about kung fu.

At the news conference in Shanghai on December 10th, Harris mentioned that foreign audiences now are changing their views about Chinese kung fu. No longer focusing on "violent aesthetics," now more people are trying to figure out the Chinese logic behind this beautiful and powerful art.

"Presented through body language, kung fu is an area in which we can most easily communicate with foreign audiences," said Guan Qingwei, producer of the documentary Kung Fu.

Searching for kung fu

"There have been countless foreign documentaries about Chinese kung fu since the 1950s when their parallel films emerged," said Guan, "but most of them come from foreigners' curiosity about kung fu, presenting what they are and how to practice them, lacking further exploration about the culture behind them," said Guan.

From the sample video of the documentary's first episode, "Searching for Kung Fu," audiences can see an American host who has practiced kung fu for 20 years. He travels to different places searching for heirs of different kung fu factions. As the host personally experiences kung fu with the heirs, audiences get a deeper understanding.

Guan explained there will be 26 episodes broadcast per year, and they planned to focus first on North America with the Discovery channel as the program's distributor.

Concentrate on culture

This year, the documentary A Bite of China became an overnight success. But what attracts audiences is not just the mouth-watering food: it's the local customs and traditions behind them.

The hit show's concept helped inspire the documentary Kung Fu. "The second part 'Culture Behind Kung Fu' is what we want to stress most," said Guan.

In recent years, rough and slipshod kung fu performances, which lack necessary cultural and historic interpretations in films, have disappointed domestic audiences and led to a decline in the kung fu film genre. However, the opposite is true in foreign countries, according to Guan. "Recent years have seen more and more foreigners coming to China to learn kung fu at the Shaolin Temple (in Henan Province) and Wudang Mountain (in Hubei Province), and they stay there for a long time."

Guan told the Global Times that when he talked to Mark Harris, the latter said the reason he wants to do such a documentary is that he wants to find out why kung fu was highly emphasized and respected when China was actually not strong (in the early and mid-20th century), but now as China is becoming strong, kung fu and its culture seem to have fallen into oblivion.

"Psychologically we believe there are three levels of demand when a person wants to learn and practice kung fu," said Guan, "The first level is out of basic human instinct to dominate others; the second is the belief in a chivalrous spirit." Both levels underline the practitioner's desire to make himself physically strong.

"As to the third level and also the highest, it is more philosophical. It's a human's self-perception. He wants to overcome his own weaknesses and be master of himself through practicing kung fu," he added.

"China is undergoing a development period when most people are busy pursuing material instead of spiritual saturation, but meanwhile there are some ... that emphasize spiritual development; they hope to draw inspiration through practicing kung fu and learning its culture. So, what we are doing is to discover and reveal the cultural significance behind martial arts," Guan explained.