Kung Fu, the master

Kung Fu: The Master is a collection of poetry by Vernon Kitabu Turner. In 1975 when the book was published he was a contemporary of Nikki Giovanni, Imamu Amiri Baraka (Leroy Jones), Sandra Sonchez, The Last Poets and others of that ilk publishing at that time. As the "First Lady of J azz," Bobbi Humphrey said in her introduction to the book, Kitabu went further than all the black poets of his time because he wrote about many facets of life, not just out of the anger of the times. "Kung Fu:The Master" was the title poem. It reveals what was until later, his secret, a warrior side which was held in check by a love of peace. It was that book that exposed him to a Martial arts loving public, an image still large today. Kung Fu: The Master is a wholistic poetic treatment of an evolving African-American soul who would one day be known around the world as the Zen master, Kitabu Roshi. This was the first book of the poet and Zen master Vernon Kitabu Turner, published when he was 26 years old. The cover showed him sitting on above a stream in half-lotus, a nod to his Zen practice but the title of the book with the words, "Kung Fu" had grreater hynotic power during the age of Bruce Lee, than the title poet. Yet, he is no less a poet today.