I've heard it said that all the great civilizations had some form of wrestling or grappling art. It seems to be something universal to the human condition. On the other hand, some of the southern Chinese Kung-fu sifus I've had the opportunity to meet held ground-fighting in very low esteem. Now I've heard a bit about shuai chao and mongolian wrestling in the North. But in the South is there a cultural prejudice against "taking it to the ground"? One Southern Chinese sifu I knew didn't mind dropping down to strike, press a lock, or slam his knee onto a fallen opponent, but disdained those who "roll around on the ground like dogs".
Now in today's world where we see a terrific revival of interest in grappling arts, this attitude seems dangerously limiting, rather like learning to fight back when kicks and "low blows" were considered "dirty fighting". My question is whether this apparent bias against ground-fighting was just an idiosyncracy of the sifus I met, or does it reflect traditional southern Chinese attitudes?
Now in today's world where we see a terrific revival of interest in grappling arts, this attitude seems dangerously limiting, rather like learning to fight back when kicks and "low blows" were considered "dirty fighting". My question is whether this apparent bias against ground-fighting was just an idiosyncracy of the sifus I met, or does it reflect traditional southern Chinese attitudes?