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One of the neatest things in cinema was when David Carradine in the old Kung Fu TV series walked on the rice paper. Rice paper is extremely thin, and the moisture on the sole of the foot, along with the weight of the body, was enough to tear the stuff. The legend, of course, was there is this thing called Light Kung Fu, where one could actually make the body lighter, maybe even levitate it.
Now, myself and all the budding kung fu students in the neighborhood would watch David Carradine, Kwai Chang Caine as he was known on the tube, and wish we had a kung fu master to teach us how to do the light kung fu walk on rice paper. Why, there was no end to the power we would have if we only knew this thing called Light Kung Fu! The neighborhood bullies would shiver in their knickers if we had that awesome power!
So, a little thought about the problem, a little western ingenuity, and we came up with a solution. Take a roll of toilet paper and unroll it on a linoleum floor. Now, very carefully, put a small drop of water on each square. Now, walk.
We thought that wet toilet paper would be like rice paper, you see. So we danced our gentle kung fu pattern, and...the thin stuff was ripped apart. Hmmmm.
We cleaned the mess off the floor, let it dry, and unrolled the paper again, put our feet down and tried not to turn them at all. Squoosh, squoosh, yikes! Darn stuff just turned into puddly, little messes.
So we tried arranging a long row of chairs along the sides of the unrolled toilet tissue, and we tried supporting ourselves with a little arm strength as we walked our kung fu walk. Squish, rip, and oh my good lard! This rice paper stuff was tougher, uh, softer, than we thought.
Now, in the end, we never did manage to walk the light kung fu walk, and not tear the filmy tissue into shreds. And, to be truthful, I don't think it is possible to do, toilet paper is supposed to dissolve in water, and rice paper, well, who knows what the heck rice paper is for, or even looks like. But something amazing happened because of our interest in being able to do what the old masters did, even if they were only actors on the tube.
In trying to walk on rice paper we ended up working out long and hard. While waiting for the floor to dry we ran through our kicking and blocking routines, we did our forms and worked on our balance and strength. In the end, though we never did manage to walk the light kung fu walk and not tear the living dickens out of that stupid toilet paper, we became masters by another means, we mastered kung fu through dedication and long hard work and by being inspired by our dreams!
Now, myself and all the budding kung fu students in the neighborhood would watch David Carradine, Kwai Chang Caine as he was known on the tube, and wish we had a kung fu master to teach us how to do the light kung fu walk on rice paper. Why, there was no end to the power we would have if we only knew this thing called Light Kung Fu! The neighborhood bullies would shiver in their knickers if we had that awesome power!
So, a little thought about the problem, a little western ingenuity, and we came up with a solution. Take a roll of toilet paper and unroll it on a linoleum floor. Now, very carefully, put a small drop of water on each square. Now, walk.
We thought that wet toilet paper would be like rice paper, you see. So we danced our gentle kung fu pattern, and...the thin stuff was ripped apart. Hmmmm.
We cleaned the mess off the floor, let it dry, and unrolled the paper again, put our feet down and tried not to turn them at all. Squoosh, squoosh, yikes! Darn stuff just turned into puddly, little messes.
So we tried arranging a long row of chairs along the sides of the unrolled toilet tissue, and we tried supporting ourselves with a little arm strength as we walked our kung fu walk. Squish, rip, and oh my good lard! This rice paper stuff was tougher, uh, softer, than we thought.
Now, in the end, we never did manage to walk the light kung fu walk, and not tear the filmy tissue into shreds. And, to be truthful, I don't think it is possible to do, toilet paper is supposed to dissolve in water, and rice paper, well, who knows what the heck rice paper is for, or even looks like. But something amazing happened because of our interest in being able to do what the old masters did, even if they were only actors on the tube.
In trying to walk on rice paper we ended up working out long and hard. While waiting for the floor to dry we ran through our kicking and blocking routines, we did our forms and worked on our balance and strength. In the end, though we never did manage to walk the light kung fu walk and not tear the living dickens out of that stupid toilet paper, we became masters by another means, we mastered kung fu through dedication and long hard work and by being inspired by our dreams!
About the Author:
Al Case has researched martial arts for forty years. A writer for the magazines since'81, he is the founder of matrixing technology and neutronics. You can walk on rice paper with him, or, least get a free ebook, at Monster Martial Arts.
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