Monkey Kung-Fu Gets UNC Shaking
By Ashley Perryman

Every Tuesday and Friday about 5:30, the walls of the women’s gym start to shake. It’s not an earthquake, It’s UNC’s Monkey Kung Fu Club.

This low to the ground, acrobatic martial art is a test of the endurance and grace of even the best athletes.

Instructor Hinar Polczer has been studying the art for 18 years with his master in Hungary and since coming to America, he’s been passing along the style to eager students.

Polczer said kung fu is not primarily about violence or even self defense.

“So you’re doing one…kung fu move perfectly, then you call yourself a master or a kung fu practicioner, but it’s really about perfecting yourself, becoming the best person you can be," Polczer said.

"Fighting is just sort of a side thing in kung fu. You’re really learning to control yourself, your thoughts, your spirit, your mind.”

Polczer practices the five basic monkey styles: the tall monkey, which incorporates acrobatics, the stone monkey, which makes use of strong direct strikes, the precision monkey, which focuses on pressure points, the tricky monkey, which aims at confusing an opponent, and the drunken monkey, wherein the fighter swoops and swoons as though intoxicated.