Kun Tao is a
Chinese phrase, which translates as “Fist Way”
or “Fist Path”. It is of the Hokkien dialect,
predominantly spoken in Fukien Province, China. The Chinese
characters for Kun Tao, are the same characters used in
Cantonese. Kun, can also be spoken as “Kune”,
“Chuan”, or “Chywen” & Tao is
spoken as “Dao”. The Characters are still the
same. There are other pronounciations, as there are many
Chinese dialects. Today, the Chinese government is standardizing
the language of the country.
Kun Tao, is a fairly common term used in Southeast Asia,
according to Sifu Eric Ling, a Singaporan Foojow Chinese,
and White Crane Master.
In days of old, many of the Kun Tao styles were held as
closely guarded secrets within families, sects, and villages.
Many styles evolved from these families and were not necessarily
from Shaolin Kung Fu. Even today, there are Kun Tao styles,
which will always be behind closed doors. Some Kun Tao styles,
and other Asian Kung Fu arts, have very strange and unusual
practices. There are also Internal styles & External
styles.
Chinese Kun Tao is not a flashy or pretty art. It is explosive
in nature and very powerful. The intent is to take control
and destroy the opponent in an instant. It is deceptive
and heavy into psychological principles. We sometimes refer
to it as “Old Hand” or “Old Kung Fu”.
Over time, some of these Kun Tao styles migrated to other
Southeast Asian countries, by way of travelers, merchants,
and those who had to leave China for political reasons.
This resulted in a blending of Chinese arts, with those
arts of other countries.
This usually enhanced the Martial Art of those existing
styles, because of the mix. Some of the styles of note are:
Indonesian Kun Tao styles, Malaysian Kun Tao styles &
Philippino Kun Tao styles.
Kun Tao may be many things to many people today, as these
arts emerge into public view, and the eternal question arises:
Which one is the best?
I’ve seen many of these arts over a forty year span,
and I can tell you, the answer is:
