The term Gung Fu (or Gong Fu in Mandarin) is commonly understood to mean a type of martial art or martial arts collectively. Specifically Chinese martial arts. The translation and meaning for 功夫 have more depth. Gung Fu translates to "Skill Work".

ISN'T IT SPELLED KUNG FU?

The correct romanization and pronunciation is Gung Fu in Cantonese. The common term Kung Fu can be traced back to films dubbed and subtitled in the mid 1960's, likely because of a mixture of people knowing the term Karate and associating Asian martial arts with it during that time as well as the K sounding different and being easier to pronounce.

SKILL ACQUIRED OVER TIME

Gung Fu is the practice or act of honing a skill. This term isn't reserved solely for martial arts but can be applied to all human pursuits. All skills or actions that improve with practice, dedication and attention a person can be said to have good Gung Fu in.

ATTENTIVENESS

The real skill or Gung Fu in anything comes from attentiveness. Martial arts are a great vehicle for building attentiveness and focus, which is why Gung Fu is often associated with them.

To perform the movements of a martial art correctly the student is forced to listen to and pay attention to their own body. Eventually that becomes second nature and can be applied in everyday life.

Not just by noticing and paying attention to your muscle tension, joint rotation and body position but paying attention to your mood, your mental state and your actions.

First a student becomes attentive to and of yourself, then your environment, people close to you, your family, your neighborhood, maybe even your community. Building attentiveness in this way, from the inside out, we first act on ourselves and then our environment.

FAMILY

Traditional Chinese Gung Fu class is similar to and follows a family structure. Classmates address each other as older or younger Gung Fu Brother or Sister. Being older or younger than a classmate is based on the time one has spent studying the martial art, not on the actual age of the person.

This is not only to indicate seniority but also as a guide to how we treat each other. An older siblings responsibility to their younger ones is to share with them things they might not be aware of, like etiquette or insights on mistakes they're making. A younger siblings responsibility to an older one is that they will in turn look out for their younger siblings.

An instructor is addressed by the term Lou Si 老師("Teacher") while someone who has completed their initial course of study and is familiar with the entire system is called Si Fu 師父 ("Skilled Teacher"). Your teacher's teacher would be addressed as Si Gung 師公("Gung Fu Grandfather").