What is Wushu (Kung Fu)?
Jet Li performing Raise Knee and Set-Up Block with Broadsword (提膝架刀)
The style of Chinese Martial Arts that we teach is contemporary Wushu, or more commonly known as “Kung Fu” in the west. This form of martial arts is derived from various styles of Chinese martial arts throughout China. Mainly divided into three forms: Long Fist (northern style), Southern Fist (southern style), and Taijiquan (or Tai Chi).
This particular sport was developed in Mainland China in the late-1950s by the Chinese State Commission for Physical Culture to create standardized forms of the major forms of Chinese Martial Arts. The first sets to be standardized was Long Fist (长拳/長拳) which is based on Shaolin Boxing (少林拳), Blossom Fist (花拳), Flower Fist (华拳/華拳), Red Fist (红拳), and Cha style Boxing (查拳). It also came with 4 standardized weapon forms: Cudgel/Staff (棍术), Broadsword (刀术), Straightsword (剑术), and Spear (枪术).
Southern Fist was later added with a variety of curriculums from different martial arts masters, and in the early 1990s there were official standardized forms for Southern Fist (南拳), which combined the 5 major southern family styles: Hong (洪), Cai (蔡), Li (李), Liu (劉), and Mo (莫), two standardized weapon forms: Southern Staff (南棍) and Southern Broadsword (南刀).
Taijiquan (or Tai Chi) is another style that’s included with the sport of Wushu, usually consisting of 24-Form Taijiquan, Taiji Sword, and 42-Form Taijiquan which combines 4 of the Major Taiji styles (Yang/杨, Chen/陈, Sun/孙, and Wu/吴). More about Taijiquan in the What is Taijiquan? page.
Wushu or Kung Fu?
Chinese martial arts is commonly known as “Kung Fu” in the west, however the sport is called Wushu (武术), which literally means “martial skill” in Chinese. Composed of two characters, the first is 武 (Wǔ) means martial, it can be broken down further into “stop“ (止) and “spear” (戈), and can be interpreted as “stopping conflict.” The second character, 術/术 (shù), means “skill, craft, art.”
The word “Kung Fu” or in pinyin Gōngfū (功夫) which means “skill achieved over a long period of time”. The first character is composed of “work” (工) and “power” (力), and the second is “夫” which in this context means time. The phrase Gong Fu can apply to any skill, such as cooking, painting, music, etc. It’s not exclusive to Chinese martial arts.