Wushu
| Beginning as an ancient Chinese form of self defence, Wushu literally means "martial arts" and encompasses the forms popularly known in the West as Kung-fu and Taichi. Over the last thirty Years Wushu has developed from a combat style into a dynamic performance orientated art. It emphasises speed, balance, co-ordination and presentation, resulting in an athletic and aesthetically powerful competitive sport.
In China, Wushu is a way of life and an integral part of Chinese culture. It is practised by people of all ages and backgrounds for self-defence, health and mental discipline. |
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| What makes Wushu so unique? | |
| Unlike other popular fighting styles, Wushu epitomises the "art" in martial arts. Wushu uses natural, aesthetic movement to exhibit traditional martial techniques. Functional routines can be performed by individual exponents, in pairs or in groups; bare-handed or armed with traditional Chinese weaponry. Wushu's rich content, style, speed and power, meticulous attention to detail and level of difficulty ensure it to be the most exciting and dynamic of the martial arts. | |
| Wushu Training | |
| Wushu training aims to improve whole-body fitness, not merely concentrating upon one portion of the physique. Traditional stance training improves strength, stamina and flexibility, whilst speed, control and balance are developed through repetition of movements including kicking and open hand techniques. The practice of series of movements and techniques improves co-ordination, speed and aerobic fitness. | |
| The five basic stances in Wushu are: | |
| horse-riding stance, front(bow) stance, cross-over(drop) stance, sit(crouch) stance and empty stance. There are three basic hand shapes in Wushu: the fist, palm and hook. | |
| Whilst there are many styles encompassed within Wushu, there are six fundamental systems that provide the basis for learning all the other myriad forms. These are: | |
| Competition Wushu is non-contact and non-combative. Competitors demonstrate their martial skills in forms or routines, some of which are entirely compulsory, others can be designed by the competitor(s) but must contain a number of compulsory techniques. | |
Taichi Popularly known as a form of relaxation and exercise, Taichi is also a serious martial art. Behind it's soft, graceful and flowing movements lies hidden strength and great physical and mental control, the movements themselves are all traditional defensive and offensive techniques. Of great importance in Taichi is breathing control in order to develop qi (chi). There are several schools (styles) of Taichi, including: Chen (the original from which all the others came), Yang, Wu and Sun. The most popularly practised form of Taichi is the Yang style and it's derivations, the Beijing 24, 48 & 42 forms, and the 32 & 42 Taiqijian (sword) forms. Related to Taichi are a number of other styles that are also known as "internal" martial arts. Xing-yi and Bagua (8 Diagrams boxing) are two of such styles |
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