Martial Arts as Dance
			The Dragon's Flight
Was that a dragon which glittered through the mist? Was that a monkey, skittering through the dust - or a man? Did a tiger suddenly strike from behind the bushes or a man's arm streak into view? Many of the movements incorporated into the martial arts for defense and offense actually look like a flowing dance, most of the time imitating movements of animals. Humans have long lost their ancestral instincts of hunting and protecting with nothing more than their arms and legs. Instead, we have "evolved" in making war with automatic weapons and nuclear warheads, and similarly defending ourselves by the same means. The shaolin monks of ancient China noticed that man had lost all ability to defend himself with his natural weapons (arms and legs) when they were oppressed by numerous tyrants and emperors. The monks were not allowed to harbour any kind of weapons so they derived a system of fighting which incorporated the fighitng techniques of different animals: the crane, the tiger, the leopard, the snake, the praying mantis, the monkey, the eagle, the bear, and the dragon. Knowing that wild animals had superb abilities to hunt and defend, the monks spent many hours observing them in their mountain strongholds. Finally, after years of practise and refinement, they established a fighting system known as Shaolin Kempo or "small forest boxing". Shaolin Kempo later became incorporated into Kung Fu and many other foreign arts such as Karate (Japan), Pentjak Silat (Indonesia), Muai Thai (Thailand), Taekwondo (Korea), Escrima (Philippines), and many other North American styles of street-wise fighting arts. Although, in some of these arts the contribution of Shaolin Kempo might be less than others, it is nonetheless an important one. Shaolin Kempo, like almost every other style of martial arts, uses 'forms' to practise techniques and concentration. Forms (pinian in Japanese) are basically a pre-set sequence of movements aimed at bringing down one or more invisible opponents. Forms were also another product of oppression by fascist governments in China and Japan. By banning all martial arts and proclaiming their practise illegal and severly punishable, the government thought that it would be safe from rebellious peasants. However, the monks and grandmasters - in order to defend themselves and their families, and keep their heritage alive - masked all their fighting techinques into dancing forms, which to this day remain an integral part of most martila arts.
					The Kiai
				War Cry of the Spirit
		The use of sound in war and peace has played an important part in human life. From the skirl of bagpipes to the rhythms played on drums, sound has stirred the blood of many people to join in combat and to defend what is rightfully theirs. In the martial arts world, one particular sound, which features prominently in Japanese systems, is the kiai. The word 'kiai' is sometimes translated as "union of spirit". In practise, the kiai takes the form of a shout emitted at the moment of an attack, or sometimes prior to it. Although it is most commonly associated with swordplay, it is also present in other martial arts. The explanation of the purpose of this shout is that it unnerves, paralyses or hypnotises the opponent, or at least makes him pause, and in the same split second he can be cut down. Take for instance the example of a tiger's growl or the roar of a lion; both instill fear into most creatures and in cosequence, paralyse them. One should not forget of course that sound in human beings is ultimately realted to breath, and breathing is featured prominently in Zen meditation techniques as outlined before. The utterance of the kiai does not depend on any particular vowel or consonant sound. Sometimes it is brief; sometimes it is long and varying in pitch. In addition, a proper kiai is not produced by the throat or larynx, but from within the solar plexus or lower abdomen. There is no doubt that the centering of one's energy in the lower abdomen enables one to release it suddenly in the form of sound, with a devastating effect. Stories are told of martial arts Masters who could kill with bothing more than a kiai. Others are known to have used its mysterious powers to subdue wild tigers and wolves. The old saying that one should look a wild beast in the eye to subdue him indicates a common belief in such things.