Why the politics??

Browsing on some of the threads, I noticed there's so many politics within some (or all?) styles of kung fu. I was curious as to why this happens, and what the best ways to stay away from it are.

I ask this because I want to be able to ask about other styles, history, lineage, etc. without being rude or touching sensitive spots because of lack of knowledge.

There is politics in all areas of martial arts, not just kung fu. Its unfortunate but true.

As for trying not to touch on politics too much, just becareful of your wording. Try to be as unbiased as possible so that you don't offend someone. Its all in the way you ask the question. Also its good to provide your motives as to why you are asking the question, that way you can prevent someone from misunderstanding you.

Gung fu tends to be more diversified than arts from Japan or Korea. That is a strength and weakness to gung fu. The gung fu schools are not as unified as it's counter parts. I study CLF but it's quite different from school to school. Depending on the lineage it came down from.

Many gung fu people seem to think that their school is the center of the gung fu world beacause that school over there "doesn't do it our way even though their the same style". To it's strength you can learn a lot by going to other instructor's within the same style because each does not have to follow a set curriculum. The weakness is you can go to another school in the same style but may be quite a bit diffenent in the way it is run.

Kevin

Sounds like it's a bit of ego too, then? I guess it would make sense to want to be "the best" in the art, be that for the purpose of attracting students or satisfying the ego?

And pathfinder, I totally agree with the difference from school to school thing. It is really sad that one can't pickup from the same spot if he changes schools, even if within the same style. It's sad, because sometimes life stops us from learning kung fu in our current schools, making it so that we're always on the process of starting over, instead of progressing further in the art.

18 lohans IMO I believe the politics got real bad when the founders of current arts studided passsed on. Take CLF, Wing Chun, or Hung Gar the founders of these arts had the ability to add what they wanted without question and when they passed away the art was left to the people that studided under them.

Some instructor's taught 40 years within that time you could study 20 years have another person study 20 years and not even know them. So when you opened up your own school and taught other students from the same art but different teacher they think "my sifu doesn't do it this way they must not be doing the "real" art like my sifu.

Now what you see is all this in-fighting among people in the same style and it's sad. Now all these people are bickering about who has the "authentic" art. I was lucky enough to find gung fu instructor's who don't look at what style but rather "is it good gung fu". It's nice to just talk gung fu and tactic's rather than style or system. Just my 2 cents.

Kevin

put every great teacher in a room and they'll agree about everything put all their students in a room and they'll argue over everything.

why not politics?
its in every part of life, religion, Gov, ect.. why not the MA world?
If I can accept that I am not always correct.. then I can learn. If I assume that everyone else is wrong, then..
In the WC world you have a good fighter Ip man, his students all created versions of his style.. they all fight over which one is "correct". Everyone must find a way that works for them.

There is also politics in every area of the states (or anywhere), competition, fakeness, money, etc. involved. Its really disgusting that some of these guys promote such peaceful principles and then they try their best to destroy any sort of competition.