The Wake

Today I rushed toward Cooke Hall 308 where the University of Minnesota Vo Lam Kung Fu workout takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. Knowing nothing about the true nature of Vietnamese Vo Lam kung fu, I envisioned bloody boxing matches and street brawls that looked like screenshots from my two favorite fighting video game series, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter.

In point and actual fact, many of the philosophies that I have encountered in books on Shotokan karate and Shaolin kung fu highlighted the importance of harmony and self-defense. Until chatting with Josh, the instructor, about the characteristics that make Vietnamese Vo Lam kung fu unique and observing him teach the participants practicing the martial art, I thought I might only see people strike each other.

Josh reminded me that martial arts have other purposes besides fighting. He emphasized the peacefulness of his martial art. “I liked the traditional style that it is taught in,” he says about his club. Participants bowed when exiting and entering the gym, which I mistakenly thought might contain several punching bags, weight-training equipment and mats; instead, they put together their hands and bent down slightly at the doorway of a room with only a wall mirror, white beam and ample space for exercise.

I found this scene intriguing for its simplicity, which I thought advantageous in allowing the participants to focus on practicing technique without the distractions of a complex atmosphere. Rather than wearing the white or black coats that many other martial artists wear, some of the participants wore a yellow outfit with white cuffs while others wore a gray shirt and black pants. I paid little attention to the color of the belts that they wore since Josh told me that they did not compete in tournaments like practitioners of Shotokan karate and tae kwon do.

“We don’t fight, but we can,” he said when I asked him if they break boards. However, he said that knowing “punches and blocks” helps them to learn how to defend themselves. He adds, “black belts only break boards, and this strength comes from internal power generation.” Interestingly, as soon as he mentioned that they “build from basic techniques and build up,” I somehow saw a commonality between math and martial arts.

I agree with Josh’s comment that “Vietnamese Vo Lam kung fu provides an excellent workout.” In preparation for their practice routine, many of the students spent a lot of time stretching, bending and swinging their legs while holding onto the white beam. One of them side kicked the brick wall. One of them faced the mirror to perhaps find ways of improving their techniques. I had no doubt that Josh’s legs ached, especially with the numerous repetitions of exercises and the 30-45 minute basic stance work that he mentioned. I understood why they needed a break at 8 p.m.

From the first half-hour of the practice, I listed 47 different parts of a practice routine, including the deep breathing exercises that tended to follow a series of punching, blocking, chopping, kicking or rolling techniques that looked somewhat like the black and white photographs in a book I read on ninjutsu. Their endurance surprised me. I saw every part of their body stretch. They rolled their heads, waved their wrists, bent their legs at the knees, swung their hands back and forth and shifted in all directions to build strength in their stances.

In every snap or rotated kick, the students coordinated their arm and hip movements as well. When they punched, they sometimes moved their legs apart to keep their form, or they placed one bent leg ahead of another to form a front stance with their legs. Even when they threw strikes with two fingers, I saw some kind of stance and arm movement that supported the strength of the attack.

With all these movements, I lost track of count after a while, but I did recognize Josh’s observation of Vietnamese Vo Lam kung fu’s balance between the hardness and softness as well as the equal use of the upper and lower body that distinguishes it from other types of martial arts. They applied both linear and circular techniques; their ability to directly strike an opponent and to add strength to their punches and kicks through swinging their arms, legs and hips demonstrated this unique quality. They did not concentrate on only one part of the body but the body as a whole for use in self-defense.