Brief Introduction to the Chinese Martial Arts

Chinese Martial Arts is well-known all over the world. Chinese Wushu is an offical name for Chinese Martial Arts, which was renamed by International Wushu Federation. Some wushu lovers often use other names such as kung fu, gongfu, Shaolin kung fu etc. Many wushu fans start to know Chinese wushu from Shaolin Kungfu. However, Shaolin Kungfu is only one of the schools among hundreds of schools or styles of wushu in China. This article will introduce some of the detail of Chinese wushu. Some wushu words are quite difficult to translate into English because the language has evolved to fit the culture, which includes martial arts. Many of the wushu words deeply reflect the color and history of Chinese culture. There may be mistakes in our English articles-- Please feel free to sent your valuable advice to promote our level of translation

Chinese wushu has more than 2000 years history. It was first created by ancient people for the special environment at primitive times. Chinese wushu has many different styles with their own characteristics such as nationality, artistic quality, application, and entertainment. The foundation of Chinese Wushu theory is typically based on Chinese Traditional Medicine and philosophy. It emphasizes the coordination between hands, eyes, force, vigor, spirit, and stance. It also stresses concept of unification such as: the balance between Yin and Yang, integrating your body with your thinking, the telepathy between nature and human, appearance and spirit, and cultivating internal and external together.

Chinese wushu, regarded as a national traditional phenomenon of culture in China, has been deeply edified by the philosophy, aesthetic, art and literature of China during the course of its development and evolution. Many masters in the past dynasties utilized the traditional culture to enhance wushu theory and explain wushu techniques. More than 100 styles of wushu have been created by masters who came from different nations and history. This article is a view for global wushu lovers to understand Traditional Chinese Wushu.

Schools or styles of Traditional Chinese Wushu
The structure of Chinese wushu schools or styles is more complicated than any other branch of martial arts in the world. It has three different methods to sort out Chinese Traditional Wushu based on religion, location and technique characteristics.

Wushu Schools and its color on religions:
During the development of wushu schools, it was deeply effected by the feudal system and family-like structure. At the beginning of creation for one school of wushu, the school was controlled by a small group of people or one clan, while feudal dynasties and noble families had more connection with ancient thoughts of religions for their own benefit. They utilized their advantage to develop and protect religious-based wushu. The three biggest schools of religion-based wushu have been around for many hundreds of years-- Shaolin School, Wudangshan School and Emei School.

I-Shaolin Wushu
Shaolin Temple dates to about 540 A.D., and is located in Dengfeng City, Zhengzhou, Henan province (in central China). The temple had been built years before in the remains of a forest that had been cleared or burned down. At the time of the building of the temple, emperor's gardeners had also planted new trees. Thus the temple was named Young Forest (Chinese sound as Shaolin).

At that time, as monks were not in good physical condition, most of their routine paralleled that of the Irish monks of the Middle Ages, who spent hours each day hunched over tables where they transcribed handwritten texts. Consequently, the Shaolin monks lacked the physical and mental stamina needed to perform even the most basic of Buddhist meditation practices. One missionary from India countered this weakness by teaching them moving exercises, designed to both enhance chi flow and build strength. These sets, modified from Indian yogas (mainly hatha, and raja) were based on the movements of the 18 main animals in Indo-Chinese iconography (e.g., tiger, deer, leopard, cobra, snake, dragon, etc.), and would for the eventual beginnings of Shaolin Kung Fu. It is hard to say just when the exercises became "martial arts". The Shaolin temple was in a secluded area where bandits would have traveled and wild animals were an occasional problem, so the martial side of the temple probably started out to fulfill self-defense needs. After a while, these movements were codified into a system of self-defense.

As time went on, this Buddhist sect became more and more distinct because of the martial arts being studied. Martial arts had existed in China for centuries. But within confines of the temple, it was possible to develop and codify these martial arts into the new and different styles that would become distinctly Shaolin. One of the problems faced by many western historians is the supposed contradiction of Buddhist principles of non-violence coupled with Shaolin's legendary martial skills. In fact, the Shaolin practitioner is never an attacker, nor does he or she dispatch the most devastating defenses in any situation. Rather, the study of kung fu leads to better understanding of violence, and consequently how to avoid conflict. Failing that, a Buddhist who refuses to accept an offering of violence (i.e., an attack) merely returns it to the sender. Initially, the kung fu expert may choose to parry an attack, but if an assailant is both skilled and determined to cause harm, a more definitive and concluding solution may be required, from a joint-lock hold to a knockout, to death. The more sophisticated and violent an assault, the more devastating the return of the attack to the attacker. Buddhists are not, therefore, hurting anyone; they merely refuse delivery of intended harm. That is the reason for the Shaolin kungfu styles, its defense movements are much more than the attack ones.

From current statistics of Shaolin Temple there are 121 sets of Quanshu, 80 sets weaponry, 37 pairings, and 17 other sets together form Shaolin Kungfu. These sets include names such as Hong Quan, Meihua Quan, Luohan Quan, Tongbei Quan, Shaolin Wutang Sword, Xinyi Quan, Mantis Quan, 72 skills, Tiger Quan, Monkey Quan, Snake Quan etc.. It is the largest system of Chinese Traditional Wushu. It is also divided into North Shaolin and South Shaolin (South part of China and North part of China)

II-Wudang Wushu
Wudang Wushu originated from Wudang Mountain, Junxian, Hubei Province, well-known as the Chinese Holy Land of Daoism. The styles were practiced by Taoists, created by the end of Yuan Dynasty and flourished during the Ming Dynasty.

The outstanding characteristics for Wudang Wushu came from the application of Daoism. Many styles were created on the basis of human energy to benefit human life such as Taiji Quan, Wuji Quan, Xingyi Quan, Wuxing Quan, Taiji Sword, Wudang Sword etc. These styles’ traits are to defeat hard by soft, to control opponent’s attacking by simple strikes, to attack fast by slow, to make movements with Qi, and to use short release length. It is claimed that Taiji Quan was created at Wudang Mountain, and then spread all over the Middle Kingdom of China. Now, there are many different types of Taiji like Chen Shi, Wu Shi, Li Shi, Yang Shi ect.. they are quite popular all over the world.

III-E Mei Wushu
E Mei Wushu, rooted in E Mei Mountain in Sichuan Province, adopts many advantages from other styles & strikes to establish its own traits. The main techniques are small motions, chop and change, to release force by using the opponent’s force, to take advantage away from the opponent by attacking and defensing, and to defeat the opponent with swiftness. Quan styles of E Mei have Seng Men, Yue Men, Du Men, Zhao Men (the four big family styles), and Hong Men, Hua Men, Zi Men, Hui Men (the four small family styles). It has five big schools such as Huang Lin, Dianyi, Qingcheng, Tiefo and Qingniu. Some styles are quite popular in US, UK, and Russia.

Traditional Chinese Wushu was classified by Location
Some Wushu masters think that there are two kinds of wushu system in China—North Wushu School & North Wushu School:

However, the essences and theories of both schools are nearly the same. The only difference lies on the forms of Kung-fu in practicing or in people’s understanding as a result of regional and cultural variety through the country.

Th most distinguished feature between North School Kungfu and the South is in the application of fighting techniques. In the North, people usually attack others by their kicking. It is ever clearly described in a saying "in any actual fighting, a fighter of the North will certainly use his hands only to protect his body like a gate. It is his kicking used to attack his opponent completely”, While in the South, a fighter is not so good in using his feet, instead, he would use the waist, stance and hand movement to attack another in a short distance with instant and fierce force.

Internal kungfu and external kungfu on technique of practice
Chinese Wushu has two aspects: Internal and external. Internal kungfu trains the Qi (vital energy) and the spirit. External kungfu trains the skin, muscles and bones. External kungfu teaches the mastery of movements and postures, while internal kungfu teaches the mastery of the Qi.

The object of training the Qi is to make the breathing long and regular. Most people breathe about 18 times a minute sitting down, but someone who is good at Kungfu can cut this down to much less frequency. A reduced breathing frequency means strong endurance and a good cardiopulmonary system. Many long-distance runners train themselves with special equipments to reduce their breathing frequency.

Once someone has perfected the internal kungfu, built up his physical strength and learned to control his Qi, then he will be able to concentrate the power of his whole body into every punch or kick, and will naturally acquire an aura of strength and authority. But, in order to be able to really conquer the opponent in a fight, he also needs to master some movements and techniques. These movements and techniques are external Kungfu.

All great kungfu masters use deep breathing techniques Qigong to develop internal force. Without the internal force, the kungfu remains at its external and mechanical level that is considered as rough and low-class by Chinese martial artists.

A kungfu master may appear to be gentle (actually is), yet with his internal force he can cause much injury to his opponent if he wishes. A great kungfu master's internal force does not get diminished when he becomes old, and he can apply it for peaceful use in his daily living. Unlike in many other systems of martial arts where the training itself often results in physical and emotional injuries, Kungfu training promotes health, vitality, longevity and spirituality.

Modern Chinese wushu classification
In order to realize the commercial potential of wushu and unify the criterions of competition, the Chinese wushu community divided and edited Traditional Wushu into simple styles and practical movements purely for contests on stage. This is a good way to promote the development of Modern Wushu in the world, although the reforms have hurt traits of Traditional Chinese Wushu. Because Traditional Chinese Wushu is very hard to shape them into standard movements and strikes for championships just like olympic game: taekwondo and wrestling sumo. Three new styles (San Da, National Forms, Qin Na) were created by the Chinese Wushu community since 1981. The new wushu system has been unified by Chinese Wushu Person as follows:

I-Quan Shu (Quan styles)
Whichever Shaolin Quan, Bagua Quan, Nan Quan, Taiji Quan-- all of Quan from tradtional wushu are called Quan Shu class.

II-Weaponary
Short weapon: Big Knife, Broadsword
Long weapon: Spear, Staff
Double weapon: Broadsword, Hook, Whip, Big Knife
Light weapon: Three Section Staff, Nine Section Iron Whip, Hammer

III-Pairs/Sparring (fighting for two persons)
Bare hand sparring: Sparring Quan, Sparring Qinna, San Da.
Weaponry sparring: Staff, Spear, Three Section Stick, etc.
Bare hand to weaponry: Quan to different weaponry

IV-Group Events
Team Practicing for Quan or weaponry.

V- Skills for attacking & defensing.
Other combating based on some rules and regulations

Although Chinese wushu is getting more and more popular in the world, it is still a huge challenge for Traditional Chinese Wushu to do so. One aspect is that the Chinese government had failed to do its job regarding Wushu for many years. Some policies and measures will still need to be made for development of Wushu, another aspect is that Traditional Chinese Wushu needs to suitable for modern social progress. All this will have a long way to go.