The World of Kung-Fu 1.7: The Art of Kung Fu

“Endless boring tales.

The fight scenes are just poems.

The Chinese classics.”—“Yawning Haiku”, Kobayashi Issa, 1819.

The martial arts community has an ancient and proud tradition of artistic creativity. From classical Chinese poems painted with exquisite calligraphy, to elegant haiku, to thundering rock anthems, martial artists have described their world. To the frustration of many, the Wushu Effect stops the public from noticing these works. Worse yet, other artists often notice martial-arts themed works subconsciously, then rewrite them in a more publically accessible form to commercial success. Many mainstream musicians have had hits with what they think to be their own original material, but are in fact variations on older martial arts songs. So, for instance, the medieval revolutionary song “China, I Will Never Let You Down”, is clearly the basis for Rick Astley’s 1987 song “Never Gonna Let You Down” (Whenever You Need Somebody, RCA). The reader will no doubt notice many other such parallels in the martial arts songs quoted in footnotes.