Spirituality – Chinese Martial Arts – Kung Fu

Chinese Martial Arts

Chinese martial arts, which are called kung fu (Pinyin: gong fu) or wushu, are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as “families” (jia), “sects” (pài) or “schools” (mén) of martial arts. Examples of such traits include physical exercises involving animal mimicry, or training methods inspired by Chinese philosophies, religions and legends. Styles that focus on qi manipulation are called internal (nèijiaquán), while others that concentrate on improving muscle and cardiovascular fitness are called “external” (wàijiaquán). Geographical association, as in northern (beiquán) and “southern” (nánquán), is another popular classification method.

Terminology

Kung fu and wushu are loanwords from Chinese that, in English, are used to refer to Chinese martial arts. However, the Chinese terms kung fu and wushu; (Cantonese: móuh-seuht) have distinct meanings. The Chinese equivalent of the term “Chinese martial arts” would be Zhongguo wushu (Pinyin: zhongguó wushù).

In Chinese, the term kung fu refers to any skill that is acquired through learning or practice. It is a compound word composed of the words (gong) meaning “work”, “achievement”, or “merit”, and (fu) which is a particle or nominal suffix with diverse meanings.

Wushù literally means “martial art”. It is formed from the two words (wu), meaning “martial” or “military” and (shù), which translates into “discipline”, “skill” or “method.” The term wushu has also become the name for the modern sport of wushu, an exhibition and full-contact sport of bare-handed and weapons forms, adapted and judged to a set of aesthetic criteria for points developed since 1949 in the People’s Republic of China.

Quan fa is another Chinese term for Chinese martial arts. It means “fist principles” or “the law of the fist” (quan means “boxing” or “fist” [literally, curled hand], and fa means “law”, “way” or “study”). The name of the Japanese martial art Kenpo is represented by the same characters.

Legendary Origins

According to legend, Chinese martial arts originated during the semi-mythical Xia Dynasty more than 4,000 years ago. It is said the Yellow Emperor Huangdi (legendary date of ascension 2698 BCE) introduced the earliest fighting systems to China. The Yellow Emperor is described as a famous general who, before becoming China’s leader, wrote lengthy treatises on medicine, astrology and the martial arts. One of his main opponents was Chi You who was credited as the creator of jiao di, a forerunner to the modern art of Chinese Wrestling.

Luc Paquin