OFFICAL WEB SITE OF WU-WEI GUNG FUWu-Wei (pronounced woo-way) is the Mandarin Chinese word meaning “spontaneous action” or reflexive action. This literally translates into “doing nothing, yet accomplishing everything.” Gung Fu is the Cantonese word for Kung Fu which Bruce Lee preferred using.
The roots of Wu-Wei Gung Fu Fighting Arts stem from Joseph Cowles' studies with Bruce Lee at the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute in Seattle, Washington in the early 1960's. If you have heard of Jeet Kune Do, Wu-Wei Gung Fu is very similar because they both come from the same roots.
Wu-Wei Gung Fu is a non-classical, closed discipline of combat-oriented teaching and techniques. It is designed for reality in self-defense encounters. It is an art because it promotes the expression of one's self in disciplined, honest training, self-exploration, and research of experience. The final objective is to realize the development of art as natural movement. “Simplicity is the end of art and the beginning of nature.” (That is, simplicity is the end of “technique” per se, and the beginning of natural movement.) As Bruce taught, one should be expressing himself -- not expressing a technique.
More On...
The history of Wu-Wei
Wu-Wei and What Fit's the Moment
TAPROOTS
The “Taproots” are those concepts and techniques taught personally to Joseph Cowles by the late Bruce Lee. The art of Wu-Wei seeks to honor and preserve these teachings and use them as a solid foundation for the development of natural movement.
Taproots Sayings of the SchoolThe discipline of Wu-Wei Gung Fu is not for the tournament square. Those who desire sport, tournaments, and championships should look elsewhere for their training. Our belief is that the closer one's affiliation is with the sport arena the further he is from the martial arts. The basic idea of martial arts is preparedness and discipline, with respect for others. The real issue is not whether one can win a trophy in the sport arena, or be looked upon as a champion or famous, but whether he or she can defend themselves (or the defenseless) in a given situation.
We are not, however, condemning or scorning the sport arena. Sport has its place and it is exciting and interesting. Nevertheless winning a sporting contest requires psyching up the ego to be “the best champion” of this or that title. The aim is toward self-glory and fame. But the aim of this school is exactly the opposite. The influence of inner strength of character and ability is one of our main goals. “The sword is a treasure in its sheath.”
We enjoy sporting events as much as anyone does, and we have our favorite athletes and fighters too. But for our personal training and development, our goals and methods are different. Our competition is with ourselves, so we may say after a period of earnest training, “I'm further ahead now than before training, I am learning and progressing, and the art is becoming 'natural' to me.”
This encourages self-knowledge and reality in our experience. When we speak of self, we are not speaking of flaunting the ego, but rather of the exploring of ourselves and our experience, and the expressing of ourselves in our own real personalities and capabilities -- without pretense.
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