Spirituality – Chinese Martial Arts – Kung Fu

Chinese Martial Arts

“Martial Morality”

Traditional Chinese schools of martial arts, such as the famed Shaolin monks, often dealt with the study of martial arts not just as a means of self-defense or mental training, but as a system of ethics. Wude can be translated as “martial morality” and is constructed from the words wu, which means martial, and de, which means morality. Wude deals with two aspects; “morality of deed” and “morality of mind”. Morality of deed concerns social relations; morality of mind is meant to cultivate the inner harmony between the emotional mind (Xin) and the wisdom mind (Hui). The ultimate goal is reaching “no extremity” (Wuji) – closely related to the Taoist concept of wu wei – where both wisdom and emotions are in harmony with each other.

Virtues:

Deed

• Humility: Qian
• Virtue: Cheng
• Respect: Li
• Morality: Yi
• Trust: Xin

Mind

• Courage: Yong
• Patience: Ren
• Endurance: Heng
• Perseverance: Yi
• Will: Zhi

Luc Paquin