What is Wushu?
Wushu (武术), more commonly known was “Kung Fu (功夫),” is a term that refers to Chinese martial arts, with the standardization of Chinese martial arts by the People’s Republic of China in the 1950s, Wushu became a term that refers to the sport of Modern Wushu. Our school teaches both traditional forms of Wushu as well as the standardized competition routines approved by the International Wushu Federation (IWuF).
南拳北腿
"Southern Fists, Northern Legs”
Northern and Southern styles of Chinese martial arts have unique characteristics, we teach our students Long Fist or Changquan (长拳), as well as Southern Fist or Nanquan (南拳).
Long Fist (长拳)
Long fist originally referred to styles found across Northern China that were characterized by stretched movements, leaping, and stressing leg movements. However in modern Wushu, Long Fist refers to the style standardized in the late 1958 for competition, creating the fist Compulsory Long Fist, also known as Jia Zu Chang Quan (甲组长拳) or Group A Long Fist, combining elements of traditional styles like: Cha Quan (查拳), Hua Quan (花拳), Hong Quan (红拳) and Shaolin Quan (少林拳).
Some routines that we teach include:
Elementary Long Fist or Chuji Changquan (初级长拳), also known as Group C Long Fist, which is a competition event.
Fist Generation Compulsory Long Fist (第一套规定长拳), also known as Group B Long Fist, based on Yuan Wen Qing’s optional Long Fist routine, became standardized in the late 1980s for the 1987 First Asian Wushu Championships.
Southern Fist (南拳)
Southern Boxing or Southern Fist was a term that referred to styles found in Southern China which are characterized by their steady horse stance, short range punches, few kicks and use of the “Bridge” (桥) or forearm techniques. For Modern Southern Fist, it first became a competition event in 1960, usually taking elements of the five major families of Southern Boxing: Hong (洪), Li (李), Liu (刘), Cai (蔡), Mo (莫). Despite attempts to create a curriculum by Southern Martial Arts Masters like Zhu Ruiqi, Wang Peikun, and Chen Changmian, the first official competition routine was created in 1987 for the First Asian Wushu Championships.
Some routines we teach include:
Elementary Southern Fist or Chuji Nanquan (初级南拳), also known as Group C Southern Fist, which is a competition event.
Fist Generation Compulsory Southern Fist (第一套规定南拳), also known as Group B Southern Fist, based on Chen Li Hong’s optional Southern Fist routine.
