Why is the chinese character 'leak' translated as 'flowing continuously'?

[cwhoss]

I am posting this in this forum as well as the Mastering Kung Fu book forum, where I originally raised the question, at the recommendation of my sifu Brad Ryan:

I believe I have finally found the answer to my question - why, in the 6 1/2 points, is the chinese character for 'leak' used to represent flow? It took a 3rd reading of the book for the answer to slap me in the face...

Let's examine the character 'leak'. You have water (the 3 lines on the left), outside of a structure (the rectangle with a tail), and rain within. (Background note: I spent around 8 years in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and had the good fortune to study mandarin Chinese at the National Taiwan Normal University).

Are 'leak' and 'flow' the same? No. Given a hose as an example - 'water running thru a hose' and 'water leaking from a hose' are clearly 2 different concepts. Water flows. Structures (such as the hose) leak. This is a universal truth - in the East as well as the West.

What if this were used in a martial arts context? An attack flows against a defense, which has structure.
Just as a continuous heavy rain reveals leaks that would go unnoticed in a light shower, so too would a continuous attack reveal cracks in an defensive structure that would otherwise not have been readily apparent...

Final proof of concept? (An embarrassing admission - I first really noticed this in the glossary!) Chapter 2 Table 2.1 Chi Sim Weng Chun Page 31 of the Mastering Kung Fu book

[Cang Long]

hello cwhoss,
Interesting reading, how was your time in Taiwan? keep reading the MKF as you point out it's rare that we find diamonds on the surface of things.

[cwhoss]

Eleven years of my youth were spent in Germany and Austria (my mother was German) and I spent most of my 20s happily marooned in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, a time which molded much of my outlook as an adult.

Shaolin Kung Fu systems are Chinese, and the movements and explanations behind them are based on Chinese history and experience. MKF is an excellent work of translation, but it was written with a Western audience in mind. I view the Chinese characters in the book as an opportunity to gain a slightly different perspective, and thus a deeper understanding of myself.