“Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting”

1974 (8^th Grade)

Kathy Chaloupka, our middle school gym teacher, would spend three months each fall teaching all forms of dance including the Waltz, the Bus Stop (Disco), Country Swing and anything else that was popular at the time.  At first the kids scoffed at the notion of dancing in gym class, but after the first few days it became the highlight of the afternoon for many of us.  For some of us, we saw it as a sanctioned event for us to hang and dance with our girlfriends without the usual “ribbing” from our friends or consternation form the teachers.

As young teenagers we all became very proficient at dancing in all the various styles.  Disco was just getting started as the latest dance rage in the early 1970’s and when the class got to that dance style many of us believed that there was nothing to be taught to us that we did not already know.  Our waltzing skills carry us forward throughout our lives, not that we have much call for that dance style these days.  As for the Country Swing, turns out the basics she taught in elementary school were the building blocks to a great life of “swinging” that I still do to this day.

Near the end of the fall quarter Ms. Chaloupka split us into groups of three or four and instructed us to come up with our own dance routine to share with the rest of the class on our final week.  I was paired up with Dean Stapleton and Gary Hudson.  Gary had all the right moves and wanted us to do a routine to a song that was big in the day, “Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas.

With a little debate Dean and I agreed to go with it and it was up to Gary to come up with the moves.  By the time it was all finished; with a few extra hours in the gymnasium after school we had a routine.  It included a lot of Disco moves, summersaults and what little we knew of Kung Fu moves.  “Us cats were fast as lightning with expert timing….”

On the day of the class presentation we were lucky enough to go last, Kathy had secretly seen our routine, and we pulled it off.  Little did we know that Kathy even signed us up to do it again for the entire school at the next “Pep Rally.”  Again it went off without a single mistake.

Ever since I decided to write this story I have had the song stuck in my head and I offer the same to you,

“Everybody was Kung Fu fighting
Those cats were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening-hell yes!
But they fought with expert timing

Oh–ho-ho-ho Kung Fu Fighting
Hands and feet as fast as lighting

Oh-ho-ho-ho-huuh!
Oh-ho-ho-ho-ha!
Oh-ho-ho-ho-ha
Keep on-Keep on-Keep on
Oh-ho-ho-ho
Yeah-Yeah”

Enjoy!