The Chinese martial arts training systems have a lot to offer a person who is looking for tradition, health, fitness, functionality & fun.

Chinese martial arts are some of the oldest martial arts studied today. Traditionally it has been taught that martial arts came from India and the Shaolin monks were taught combative self defense techniques and health exercises. 

Principles Of Chinese Martial Arts

There are a large variety of styles in the Chinese arts and each art focuses on different strengths and specialities, but all techniques are based on the same principles.

These principles include: hard & soft energies, circular movements, strong emphasis on striking, throws, joint locks and a large variety of weapons.

The Chinese arts also put an emphases on using open hand techniques, circular foot work, redirection of force, ability to change height quickly and values health and longevity in addition to combat ability.

The Chinese arts deemphasis ground fighting. Most styles that have a strong combative & military foundation do everything they can to stay on their feet and take the other person down. Going to the ground in real combat is the worst place you could be. Just imagine weapons or multiple attackers and you get the idea.

Side bar: Ground defense is a necessary skill and all practical martial arts styles include this important knowledge and ability.

If weapons are available then they use weapons. If body armor is being used and they have no weapons, striking is not practical so throwing and breaking would be the primary focus.

Many times circumstance and environment decides what techniques are to be used. The ability to adapt to changing circumstances is paramount when it comes to combat.

The Chinese arts are very broad in their scope and have a lot to offer. The main thing is that you have to decide why you are training & what your specific goals and outcomes are.

In the U.S. Wushu is more of a sport and a performing style. Exercise is always a benefit with all styles of martial arts from China but Wushu’s focuses on the art more then the martial. If you are looking for combat or defense then Kung Fu is the best choice. I will discuss the different Kung Fu styles and what they focus on in a future article.

Kung Fu (Gung Fu) is the self defense style in the U.S. for Chinese martial arts. Many commercial schools in the U.S. call their art Kung Fu but they are really teaching Wushu. If you want the Wushu benefits and self defense then you will have to take some private lessons in addition to the group classes  and ask your instructor for practical self defense and combat instruction.

One thing you will notice is that the practical techniques have none of the fancy and flashy moves in them. This does not mean that an advanced practitioner could not make something flashy work for real but it takes along time and practice to be able to do this and the risk of making a mistake goes up considerably. In street combat there is little margin for error. It is best to keep the fancy, cool looking movie stuff for the training hall were there is a padded floor.