Two Martial Art

When I first came to US, my American friends was always asked me a question: do you know Kongfu (Martial art)? Obviously, my Chinese face and body represent the Chinese cultural, and the most well known part of Chinese cultural is Kongfu. However, In China, we see Kongfu as a self defense ability that can keep you safe. But in US, most people think Kongfu is just a way of sport. Because in US, knowing Kongfu is not going to keep you safe, you have to learn how to shoot to keep you safe.

So check out this picture I found on a website. This image was originally post by Oleg Volk on his blog, in a blog post called "more than one martial art" This is a advertisment he created for a small fire arm industry.

A little boy, wearing a karate suit, and holding a rifle! On the left side of the picture it says: Learning a martial art is good. Mastering two is even better." Then there is a drawing of rifle, below it is says:"Learn marksmanship".

let's read this image: a little white boy, good looking, very neat, age about 8 to 11, most likely come from a wealth family. Wearing a karate suit, which have black belt on it! It means that this little boy have already master one martial art. In his hands he is holding a rifle, which is made by "Chipmunk" an American gunsmith. look at the way he was holding the rifle, is the standard way of holding a rifle, which indicate that he is also well trained with marksmanship. So overall, this little boy is handsome, rich, and master both martial art and marksmanship, and he is only 11! How perfect is that!

When I first see this picture, I just smiled. Because this image is perfect representation of American cultural and society: Rich, handsome, and powerful. Which is also the perfect image of an successful young adult American. Also it points out that in US culture, gun is a big part of it. Because in lots of place in US, residence are allow to carry fire arms. So no matter how good is your Kongfu, you have to learn how to use a gun. That's why when people consider violence and conflict, they all think about guns.