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Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (/ˈkʌŋ ˈfuː/; Chinese: 功夫; pinyin: gōngfu; Cantonese Yale: gūng fū), kuoshu (國術; guóshù) or wushu (武術; wǔshù), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" of martial arts. Examples of such traits include Shaolinquan (少林拳) physical exercises involving All Other Animals (五形) mimicry or training methods inspired by Old Chinese philosophies, religions and legends. Styles that focus on qi manipulation are called internal (内家拳; nèijiāquán), while others that concentrate on improving muscle and cardiovascular fitness are called external (外家拳; wàijiāquán). Geographical association, as in northern (北拳; běiquán) and southern (南拳; nánquán), is another popular classification method.

Terminology

Kung fu and wushu are loanwords from Cantonese and Mandarin respectively that, in English, are used to refer to Chinese martial arts. However, the Chinese terms kung fu and wushu (listen (Mandarin) (help·info); Cantonese Yale: móuh seuht) have distinct meanings. The Chinese equivalent of the term "Chinese martial arts" would be Zhongguo wushu (Chinese: 中國武術; pinyin: zhōngguó wǔshù) (Mandarin).

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 功 (gōng) meaning "work", "achievement", or "merit", and 夫 (fū) which is a particle or nominal suffix with diverse meanings.

Wushu literally means "martial art". It is formed from the two Chinese characters 武術: 武 (wǔ), meaning "martial" or "military" and 術 or 术 (shù), which translates into "art", "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 weapon forms (套路), adapted and judged to a set of aesthetic criteria for points developed since 1949 in the People's Republic of China.

Quánfǎ (拳法) is another Chinese term for Chinese martial arts. It means "fist method" or "the law of the fist" (quán means "boxing" or "fist", and fǎ means "law", "way" or "method"), although as a compound term it usually translates as "boxing" or "fighting technique." The name of the Japanese martial art kempō is represented by the same hanzi characters.

History

The genesis of Chinese martial arts has been attributed to the need for self-defense, hunting techniques and military training in ancient China. Hand-to-hand combat and weapons practice were important in training ancient Chinese soldiers

Detailed knowledge about the state and development of Chinese martial arts became available from the Nanjing decade (1928–1937), as the  Central Guoshu Institute established by the Kuomintang regime made an effort to compile an encyclopedic survey of martial arts schools. Since the 1950s, the People's Republic of China has organized Chinese martial arts as an exhibition and full-contact sport under the heading of  “wushu”.

Legendary origins

According to legend, Chinese martial arts originated during the semi-mythical Xia Dynasty (夏朝) 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 (蚩尤) who was credited as the creator of jiao di, a forerunner to the modern art of Chinese wrestling.

Early history

The earliest references to Chinese martial arts are found in the Spring and Autumn Annals (5th century BCE), where a hand-to-hand combat theory, one that integrates notions of "hard" and "soft" techniques, is mentioned. A combat wrestling system called juélì or jiǎolì (角力) is mentioned in the Classic of Rites. This combat system included techniques such as strikes, throws, joint manipulation, and pressure point attacks. Jiao Di became a sport during the Qin Dynasty (221–207 BCE). The Han History Bibliographies record that, by the Former Han (206 BCE – 8 CE), there was a distinction between no-holds-barred weaponless fighting, which it calls shǒubó (手搏), for which training manuals had already been written, and sportive wrestling, then known as juélì (角力). Wrestling is also documented in the Shǐ Jì, Records of the Grand Historian, written by Sima Qian (ca. 100 BCE).

In the Tang Dynasty, descriptions of sword dances were immortalized in poems by Li Bai. In the Song and Yuan dynasties, xiangpu contests were sponsored by the imperial courts. The modern concepts of wushu were fully developed by the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Reference

1.      Jamieson, John; Tao, Lin; Shuhua, Zhao (2002). Kung Fu (I): An Elementary Chinese Text. The Chinese University Press. ISBN 978-962-201-867-9.

2.    ^ Price, Monroe (2008). Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the New China. Chinese University of Michigan Press. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-472-07032-9.

3.    ^ Van de Ven, Hans J. (October 2000). Warfare in Chinese History. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 328. ISBN 90-04-11774-1.

4.    ^ Green, Thomas A. (2001). Martial arts of the world: an encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 26–39. ISBN 978-1-57607-150-2.

5.     Bonnefoy, Yves (1993-05-15). Asian Mythologies. trans. Wendy Doniger. University Of Chicago Press. p. 246. ISBN 0-226-06456-5