Ankush Singh

'Will' Redefined the 'Kungfu Panda' Way It’s been just a few days that I went to see the new movie in line of the 'Kungfu Panda' series and I have to be honest guys. The 'Kungfu Panda" series never fails to astonish its audience, be it the amazing graphics or the story line or even the lesson at the end of the movie. From the very first part till the second sequel it has continued to amaze us and gather enormous acclamation from even the toughest of critics. However this blog here is not to exaggerate the achievements of the movie series but to express my very personal view on the moral of the story form the third part of the series; i.e. 'Kungfu Panda 3'. ng h The overall experience of 'Kungfu Panda 3' movie was no doubt extraordinary but there is one thing in particular about the movie that tickled my intellects the most. The story in the movie roams around the concept of 'qi' or chi as most of us spell it. Now this 'qi' is actually a Chinese word to describe 'the natural energy of the Universe'. The story is about a warrior who has mastered the art of 'Kung fu' and uses his powers to protect the people of a valley and to fight against the 'evil' powers that rise once in a while with devilish motives. When a new adversary rises from the realm of the dead or the 'spirit world' as it goes in the movie; the warrior is asked to learn the ways of 'qi' to counter with this new adversary. The movie shows that to attain the knowledge of the 'qi' the warrior has to first learn about himself; i.e. his real 'self'. The warrior in the movie can often be found questioning himself-"who am I?". As the movie proceeds, the warrior finally finds the answer to his question discovering that he has mastered the 'qi' as well. Well it may be an animated movie made prior to entertain the young ones but it has a hidden message in itself. ku s h Si Now I am not a 'Kung fu' master or someone who has the knowledge of the 'qi' but even as an average surface dwelling human being I too have my own version of the 'qi' and that is my 'will power'. The Chinese word 'qi' describes the natural power of the Universe and what more 'natural' power can exist other the 'will' to do, be or have something. Let me try to be more precise. Think about us humans; as a species we are weak enough not to survive. A giraffe takes somewhat around five hours to become able for sole survival, a bee on the other hand takes even less than five minutes, while an average human child gains that skill by the age of nine. This concludes that the humans may not be physiologically very strong but we have something more than physiological strength that has helped us to survive over the years and that is our 'will' to survive. Ever since the beginning of the mankind, the 'will' to be something more, the 'will' to have something more and the 'will' to do something more has been the sole reason for all of our achievements and advancements as a race. It was the 'will' of two common men, The Wright Brothers to fly that gave us our modern day airplanes, it was the 'will' to create great music that gave the extraordinary powers to a deaf; Ludwig Van Beethoven to create music as complex and brilliant as the 'Ninth Symphony', it was the 'will' of one man; Abraham Lincoln to unite and create a nation that resembles freedom itself that gave USA its now known avatar. The human history is full of such examples where the 'will' of one man or a group of men to create, achieve or be something better changed the shape of the pre-existent world forever. An There is yet another thing that the movie teaches us about the 'qi'. There is this dialog of 'Master Oogway' when he faces 'Kai' who happens to be an old friend of the master and the supernatural villain of the movie as well. The dialog goes as"the more you have the less you will possess". I believe this is the fundamental law of 'the power of will'. The more we seek this for the sake of our own selves the less chances there are for success while the more we seek this power for the selfless good of the entire mankind or planet the more chances there are of accomplishment. In simple words, 'the will to give has always been and will always be greater and more powerful than the will to receive'. There are numerous mythologies in every religion practiced on earth. For an instance we may take the example of Lord Jesus Christ as in Christianity who sacrificed his life to purify the sins of the mere mortals for which he was resurrected by God himself or the example of Lord Ram as in Hinduism who banished even his own wife, Lady Sita as to create a perfect society that has no obligations to a particular sect/caste/clan and consequently got worshiped as the Perfect Man or the example of Lord Buddha as in Buddhism who gave away his entire life just to seek the answers to his three basic questions and became the Enlightened One on the course or even the example of Abraham as in Islam who did not even flinch at the thought of sacrificing his own son as an order of Allah and was granted another son as a gift for his faith, from Allah. All these may either be real sagas or just myths but they surely teach us one thing and that is- 'there is no greater cause than to be willing to give selflessly'. Nevertheless even knowing that 'qi' is but our own will is of no help until we understand what our will is. And to understand that, even we have to ask that same old question as 'Po' of the 'Kungfu Panda' asked to himself, that is-"who am I? Once we discover the answer to this question; we will be as invincible as 'Po' in our own battles.