When people talk about Kung Fu, they often think of China. However, as a composer born and grew up in China, my understanding of Kung Fu was somewhat ambiguous. True, Kung Fu has a strong link with Martial Arts, which has attracted hundreds of thousands of admirers and followers worldwide. However, on the other hand, Kung Fu has become an umbrella term that has come to encompass many aspects of Chinese people's daily lives, such as popular culture, exercise regimens, interpersonal relationships, aesthetics, philosophies and so on.

It was not until I encountered a documentary on Bruce Lee's journey with Kung Fu and Hollywood that I started to comprehend the core spirit that Kung Fu has in guiding one's endeavors and life pursuits. As a result, I decided to compose a work with my own reflection of Kung Fu and its spirit.

In three movements, Kung Fu explores the different styles and levels of what Kung Fu represents to people in a universal way. A more general summary of the Wushu spirit in the first movement, a contrasting second movement focusing on the soft yet powerful Tai Chi, both lead to the final movement of “Jiang Hu.” As Bruce Rusk, a professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, interpreted, “Jianghu . . . refers to a social space in which people are away from familial and local ties for extended periods that are governed by informal rules (officials away from home are not in jianghu). I couldn't find a good catchall translation. In this case, it could be "the scene," as Kaiser Kuo suggests, or even "everyone" (implicitly, everyone involved in martial arts).” Jianghu, in this case, is also a representation of my ultimate understanding of Kung Fu. It represents a universal rule, belief, and practice rooted in all of us. It catalyzes to connect people in different backgrounds for a more harmonized society.

Kung Fu was commissioned by a consortium of twenty college bands led by conductor Glen Adsit and the Hartt Wind Ensemble.

– Shuying Li (January 2020)