Chinese kung fu ‘masters’ told to clean up act and stop bringing shame to traditional martial arts

The Chinese Wushu Association is cracking down on kung fu “masters” from overhyping themselves and bringing detrimental effects to traditional martial arts in China.

The association published directives in a “proposal” on its website last week, saying also it would give “guidance” and help promote the various traditional martial arts disciplines.

In the past few years, practitioners have hyped fights for financial or personal gain, which has brought a lot of controversy.

The CWA’s proposal, “Ways to strengthen self discipline in the business and enhance wushu culture in China” – which can be read as a “directive” as it is the governing body – says the behaviour of self-proclaimed “masters” has also damaged the overall image of traditional martial arts.

A number of videos have gone viral of tai chi “masters” being badly beaten in actual fights, primarily with modern-day mixed martial arts practitioners.

The latest viral craze involved tai chi master Ma Baoguo who was knocked out cold by an amateur martial arts fighter 20 years his junior. The 69-year-old was left unconscious in his fight debut in Shandong.

Arguably, the most well-known MMA fighter in China, who has been on a crusade to expose fake martial arts masters, is maverick Xu Xiaodong. Nicknamed “Mad Dog”, he has taken a number of fights with various practitioners and subsequently been blacklisted in his home country.

The CWA is appealing to all the country’s martial artists to uphold “self-discipline” and avoid “hyping themselves as masters” or become involved in other “violations”.

Recently some fake masters arbitrarily set up different sects and appointed themselves as “head” of these fake sects for personal gain, making use of the popularity of traditional Chinese martial arts in the community to promote commercial activities through overhyped fights.

“This has severely tarnished the image of the traditional martial arts and must be totally prohibited,” the directive says.

It’s time to admit most traditional martial arts are fake

The CWA is asking martial arts practitioners not to appoint themselves as “kung fu masters”, “authentic masters” or “legacy inheritors” and not to fake any documents or certificates related to their training or “alleged prowess”.

“Practitioners of different martial arts styles should respect each other, communicate sincerely, enhance unity, and improve together, and must not defame, maliciously attack, or discriminate against others,” the association says.

The directive also suggests a skills evaluation should be done through the proper Chinese martial arts ranking systems, and that they should not randomly create new kung fu styles, schools and also respect other fellow martial artists.