“If you want me to beat you up, I can put my mind into beating you up, but I’m into walking calm, cool collective. I never want to punch a man in his face again.”
Wu Tang is a group that is known for their lyrical prowess and their ability to snap necks with their words. Their image coincides with their lyrics as they have adapted the art of the warrior and seem to have a heavy interest in the Chinese culture.
Just look at Raekwon’s visual for “House of Flying Daggers”.
The RZA is heavy into the craft as he has taken every opportunity to submerge himself into it. Working on Kill Bill, Afro Samurai and even crafting his own martial arts flick, the rapper is clearly obsessed with the way of the Wu.
While talking about his upcoming book, The Tao of Wu, the Wu member spoke with John Sellers of trueslant.com to broaden his mind on the physical and mental teachings he has undergone at his master’s dojo.
“This first law of nature is self-preservation.”
Going back into his upbringings, the producer spoke on how he was influenced by kung fu flicks. He reflected on a situation with ODB when they had guns pulled out on them and their instincts told them to snatch the weapons, as they did. With age and wisdom under his belt, he has realized to step away from physical confrontation by all means and step away unless absolutely necessary.
Most can relate to acting out the images being portrayed on television. From popular shows such as The Power Rangers to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, kids are always trying to act out what they see. Grouping together afterschool, most remember the times when they would practice moves on their friends or get into little sparring matches with one another.
“The only martial arts that I’ll do are lyrical martial arts.”
As an adult, unfortunately, a person must kick in some knowledge and realize that he/she can’t go around beating the crap out of people or snatching away weapons from assailants even if they think it could save the world, or at least his/her sanity.
For some reason, funny enough, African-American males are very drawn to martial arts movies. Looking at the Wu Tang Clan itself and its foundation, there is heavy influence in the Black community from the Asian culture with Kung Fu and other styles of fighting.
After repeated requests to have a demonstration of what he has learned physically, RZA gave a glimpse by kicking a can from the head of a man standing at 6 feet. Whether he grazed him or not is purely technicalities as the job was done.
The art of Shaolin is strong with this one.
