User Comments - bababardwan

Posted on: Practicing Kung Fu

oh, and Jenny mentioned Shifu being the correct pronunciation and not Sifu as is often used in the west. My understanding was that Sifu was the Cantonese form [shifu being the Mandarin], and it is from this southern region of China that a lot of Kung Fu made it to the west, Bruce Lee of course being a prime example.

Posted on: Practicing Kung Fu

I became aware of wushu being the usual term for kung fu or gongfu in China a long time ago, and yet I'm still not 100% clear how it came to be that Kung fu is the usual term in the west. My guess was that from a western/outsider/laowai point of view the literal translation of wushu to mean martial arts conjured up all idea of all the other martial arts, whereas kungfu [?Wade/Giles]..gongfu [meaning skill, art,effort] seemed more specific to Chinese martial arts. From a Chinese point of view Martial Arts was always going to refer to their own style. So they don't have an all encompassing term to refer to foreign martial arts then? Could they say 外国武术？ I guess they refer to them specifically [if at all, hehe], like 空手道[karate....a very good literal translation of the word karate],跆拳道【also an accurate translation],柔术[jujitsu/jujutsu/other similar spellings]，等等[etc] ?

Posted on: Practicing Kung Fu

"I blurt something out that consists mainly of air, followed by a very long detailed question, hoping the owner of the name didn't notice anything untoward with the name. "

..lol. Having heard this confession I'd love to see it in practice. I'd love to go to some very formal function with you where you meet a lot of dignitaries. I think I'd become obsessed with looking for it, Of course I wouldn't give you away but you'd have to allow me a knowing look or a suppressed smile,hehe :)

Posted on: Practicing Kung Fu

though the nuren doesn't look like Zhang Ziyi, and though the background doesn't look like bamboo, it still somehow reminded me of the bamboo forest scene in the beautifully filmed House of Flying Daggers

Posted on: Practicing Kung Fu

so maybe this would be an opportune time to revive the wushu group here:

http://chinesepod.com/community/groups/view/w-sh-100

In fact the last entry in this group, by ccon1717 looks to be one of the most useful:

http://www.thewushucentre.net/service_pages/downloads/

..there a link is provided to a wushu dictionary:

http://www.thewushucentre.net/service_pages/downloads/

Posted on: Practicing Kung Fu

wondering if you can apply the same logic to 踢腿， I can't see that 腿踢 is valid [but it might be I guess...anyone know?], however that other word for leg/foot 脚 [which looks like it can mean kick in it's own right] does pop up in that order in 拳打脚踢 [quan2da3jiao3ti1]...to punch and kick, so I guess 脚踢 is the valid equivalent.

Posted on: Practicing Kung Fu

this 打拳 [beat fist] is an interesting word. As John implied in the podcast it's not actually punching someone else but rather shadowboxing. But it looks like if you reverse the characters to 拳打 [fist beat] it does mean to punch [presumably someone else]

Posted on: Practicing Kung Fu

lol , very funny..I like your thinking :)

Posted on: Practicing Kung Fu

"HE...HE" ..hehe, Jiayou John :)

...and yeah, we should definitely keep Jenny to her promise of video of her demonstrating wushu.

Posted on: Practicing Kung Fu

Awesome. Can't wait to listen to this lesson. It's been a long time coming,which will somehow make it all the more enjoyable now. hehe, what's the deal with the nuren in the lesson avatar?...nice boots. Maybe it's Simon's new nupengyou. Will we see Simon re-emerge to explain all? Let's hope so.