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Chinese Wushu intro

Origins: China. Modern Wushu was created to
standardize and nationalize the many types ofShaolin  Chuan
Chinese martial arts. Wushu is a general term
that simply means martial arts, but mostTai  Chi  Chuan
often when referring to wushu one is
referring to contemporary or sport wushu. ForHsing  I  Chuan
the purposes of this profile, I will
concentrate  on  sport  wushu.Ba  Gua  Zhang
Wushu is the national sport of China and hasWeapon Styles: Common weapons seen in
spread around the world. There is sometimes acompetition  include
philosophical divide between practitioners of
sport wushu, specifically those who only workBroadsword
forms or Taolu, and traditional practitioners
who practice the combative aspects of theStraight  Sword
martial  arts.
Three  section  staff
The Two Sides of Contemporary Wushu: Wushu
consists of two major areas of practice -long  staff
forms, or taolu, and sparring, or sanda
sanshou.whip  chain
Taolu or Forms: Taolu is the portion of therope  dart
sport that has begun to explode in popularity
worldwide. Wushu forms are explosive,meteor  hammer
energetic and expressive. The forms contain
an impressive ebb and flow to them. Theirtiger  hooks  (hook  sword)
artistic and gymnastic qualities are very
impressive. The speed, agility andDoubled versions of the swords, chains or
flexibility of top level wushu athletes istiger  hooks
something  that  any  athlete  can  admire.
Wushu and the Olympics: Supporters of wushu
Sparring or San Da: The other side ofhave been fighting to be included into the
contemporary wushu is competitive sparring,Olympics as a demonstration sport, with hopes
also knows as sanda or sanshou. This involvesof becoming a medal sport like Tae Kwon Do
full contact fighting with safety equipment.and Judo. The sport made it to the final
The fighters utilize kicks, punches andselection committee but failed to make it
throws  in  a  scored  match.into the 2008 Summer Olympics. This
disappointed the many teams from all over the
Sub-styles: Wushu is as diverse and varied asworld who had held team qualifier events and
the traditional Chinese martial arts. Wushuhad been training with the hope of one day
competitions have divisions for everythingbeing Olympic athletes. In an effort to
from the fast, hard and acrobatic to soft andshowcase wushu to a huge international
slow tai chi (although the tai chi performedaudience, the Chinese decided to hold a large
in competition is infinitely more athletic ininternational competition in Beijing to run
nature than the typical form you may see donewith  the  Olympic  Games.
by senior citizens in your neighborhood
park).The Future of Wushu: Contemporary wushu will
continue to change and grow, but to what end
Empty Hand Styles: Empty hand styles includeis not certain. As wushu continues its path
towards Olympic medal sport designation, it
Chang  Chuan  (long  fist)will have to become more and more
standardized and sport-like, further removing
Nan Chuan (southern fist, also a broad termit from its martial history. The same has
that includes many styles. A common form seenhappened with Tae Kwon Do and Judo, as we see
is  a  tiger/crane  set)schools that focus solely on the Olympic
versions of those sports and have very little
Ditang  Chuantraditional combat training left in them.
Hopefully traditional kung fu or wushu
Tai  Zu  Chuanschools will be able to fill the need for
tradition and leave sport wushu schools free
Tong  Bei  Chuanto develop and grow into a whole new art form
and sport.
Fan  zi  Chuan



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