Qwan Ki Do (definition)
It's always tricky to come up with a literary definition of Qwan Ki Do. Indeed, “The martial art is practised, lived...”.
Nevertheless, if we had to explain the idea in a few words, we could say that Qwan Ki Do is a comprehensive traditional Sino-Vietnamese martial art. Qwan Ki Do covers a wide range of aspects, including codified sequences of techniques (Quyên), single techniques, two-person techniques, fighting, free fighting and traditional weapons.
It combines efficiency and tradition through various techniques such as fists (cutting, clawing, spiking, palming), elbows, feet, knees, sweeps,flying kicks scissors, projections, grabs, armlocks, self-defense....
In terms of terminology, Thày Chuong Môn PHAM Xuân Tong has chosen the term: Qwan Ki Do
- to pay homage to his Master Châu Quan Kỳ, by mentioning him phonetically in the name of his method.
- to preserve the name of the very old method (Quán Khí, 1009 A.D.), handed down by his family.
- for its ease of transcription, pronunciation and communication.
The values
The term also highlights two fundamental elements of any martial art:
- The Khí - more commonly known as Ki (energy)
- The Ðạo - more commonly known as Do (way)
The addition of the first name Quan Kỳ (all greatness) to this double meaning resulted in the Vietnamese term: QWAN KI DO or Quán Khí Ðạo = The Way of Body Energy
Harmony is the soul of Qwan Ki Do. Perseverance, willpower and modesty: the values of the practitioner... The choice of the word Qwan Ki Do reflects, in its deepest sense, recognition but also a whole structure of traditional thought that the Founder of this method meticulously concretized after many years of reflection:
- Qwan or Quan - is a whole of existence
- Ki or Khi - is therefore energy, life
- Do or Dao - the way of wisdom, in other words the source of mental life.
