Wushu martial arts, also known as kung Fu, is one of the common demonstrations of Chinese culture. Yes, Kung Fu and Wushu are one and the same. In China, it is popularly called as Wushu while Chinese Kung Fu was popularized by Jet Li and Jackie Chan in their movies.
Wushu is not just a sporting exercise but an artistic form as well. Over time, it has become a formal branch of study in the performance arts by the Chinese.
Wushu has actually evolved and shifted its emphasis from combat to performance. Nowadays, it is practiced not only for self-defense skills, but mostly for mental discipline, physical health, recreational purposes and competition.
Wushu Benefits
The benefits of having Wushu training are numerous. Such sport greatly improves one's overall flexibility, especially in leg and hip. It also focuses on improving balance and coordination. Each movement in the routine usually involves the entire body, and not just specific body part like arm or leg.
On the aesthetic side, Wushu training helps develop good posture, displaying martial spirit and intent.
Wushu Fighting Techniques
Wushu is mainly characterized by dynamic and graceful motions along with its aerial kicks, rolling techniques and weapons. Strikes in this sport consist of fingers, fists, elbows, forearms, shoulders and more. Practically any part of the body can be used to strike. However, the flowing beauty of Wushu masks its potentially destructive power.
The most common used stances in Wushu are horse stance, cat stance and back stance.
Horse stance is a low sitting and rather stable stance. And as you go lower into your horse stance it becomes even more stable for either attacking or defending.
In cat stance, you place your feet close to one another, while sinking your body slightly. You then bend your front knee so that your weight is slightly more on your back leg. From this stance, you are positioned to launch rapid and short front leg kicks.
The back stance is basically a defensive stance. Almost all of your body weight is given to your back leg in this position. Such posture is excellent for avoiding an attack and then launching a swift counterattack using the front leg.
Moreover, the kicks in wushu are quite basic and direct to the target. Such kicks are characterized by a circular motion that gives added power and velocity, making them harder to block. The simplicity of Wushu kicks actually makes it effective. See Wushu basic block techniques.
Modern Wushu Martial Arts
Today, this sport places great emphasis on forms. The methods in modern Wushu training aim to achieve a high degree of competency, which is different to the traditional martial arts.
Modern competitive Wushu forms focus more on standard posture and have a strict rhythm. The aesthetic quality of movements is now more important than the combat practicality. For more information visit Orange County MMA. Start your martial arts endeavor and check out
Wushu - Chinese Martial Arts
Wushu is a synonym for martial arts (wu = 武 = martial + shu = 术 = arts) and covers all Chinese martial arts styles, such as Taolu (forms), Sanda (chinese kickboxing), Shuai jiao (chinese wrestling) and traditional animal and weapon styles.
Basics
- Basic Wushu Stances
- Horse Stance (ma bu)
- Bow Stance (gong bu)
- Cat Stance (xu bu)
- Flat Stance (pu bu)
- Rest Stance (xie bu)
- Wushu Kicks
- Front Stretchkick (zheng ti) >> New
- Inside Circle Kick (li he)
- Outside Circle Kick (wai bai)
- Side Stretchkick (ce ti)
- Slapkick (dan pai jiao)
- Toe Fist Kick (dan ti)
- Heel Palm Kick (dan ti chong zhang)
- Basic Wushu Sweeps & Kicks
- Side Kick (ce shuai tui)
- Front Sweep (qian sao)
- Back Sweep (hou sao)
- Basic Wushu Jumps
- Flying Frontkick - TKFJ (teng kong fei jiao)
- Whirlwind Kick - XFJ (xuan feng jiao)
- Lotus Kick - TKBL (teng kong bai lian)
- Cartwheel without Hands - CKF (ce kong fan)
- Cartwheel without Hands Twist - CKF360 (ce kong fan zhuan ti san bai liu)
- Butterfly Kick - XZ (xuan zi)
- Butterfly Twist - XZZT (xuan zi zhuan ti san bai liu shi du)
- Additional Instructions
- How to Combine Wushu Jumps
- How to Learn Wushu Jumps - Training Methods
- Standing Lotus Kick
- Split Kick
- Kip Up (li yu da ting - aka skip up)
- Front Flip Back Crash (qian ka shuai bei)
- Flying Cross-Leg Kick 360 to 540 (teng kong pan tui 360 du, 540 du)
- Flip Flop - Headspring (tou shou fan)
- Wall Flip
- Cork Screw (cork twist - Di Tang and XMA tutorial)
- Back Handspring with Landing on the Stomach
- Artistic Gymnastics
Styles
- Modern Wushu - Competitive - Hand and Weapon Styles
- Longfist (chang quan - wushu)
- Staff (gun shu - wushu)
- Broadsword (dao shu - wushu)
- Spear (qiang shu - wushu)
- Straightsword (jian shu - wushu)
- Southern Style (nan quan - wushu)
- Tai Ji (tai ji quan - wushu)
- Traditional Wushu Hand Styles
- About Traditional Hand Styles (chuan tong quan)
- Drunken Style (zui quan)
- Ba Gua Zhang
- Xing Yi Quan
- Ba Ji Quan
- Fan Zi Quan
- Tong Bi Quan
- Praying Mantis (tang lang quan)
- Eagle Claw (ying quan)
- Monkey Style (hou quan)
- Crash Style (di tang quan)
- Traditional Wushu Weapons
- About Traditional Weapon Styles (chuan tong wu qi)
- 3-Sectional Staff (san jie gun - wushu)
- Whipchain (jiu jie bian - wushu)
- Pu Dao
- Double Straightsword (shuang jian - wushu)
- Double Broadsword (shuang dao - wushu)
- Double Hooks (shuang gou - wushu)
- Double Whipchain (shuang bian - wushu)
- Ropedart (sheng biao - wushu)
- Monkey Staff (hou gun - wushu)
Knowledge
- About Wushu
- Wushu Terminology
- Wushu Training Routines
- Warm-Up and Stretching before Training
- Short Exercises (Modern Wushu)
- Wushu Rules
- Short Forms and Exercises (taolu, zuhe, qibengong)
Advice
- In China, everybody starts with Longfist (chang quan). The basic jumps and kicks are the very first things to be learned. Then the 5 Stances form and a form called Gui Ding Quan. After that, you choose of you want to learn Staff and Broadsword or Spear and Straightsword. It usally takes years until students are allowed to learn traditional hand styles and weapons. Even if you are not young enough to start with the acrobatic jumps used in modern wushu, you should practice the basics and know how the jumps work.
- Build up flexibility first. The stretchkicks have to be practiced at least 4 times per week.
- Artistic gymnastics can be very helpful for everybody who is interested in modern wushu.
Suggestions
- Sanda - Wushu Kickboxing
- Shuai Jiao - Chinese Wrestling
- Qi Gong - Internal and External
- Artistic Gymnastics - Acrobatics, Flips, Apparatus
- Stretching
- Weight Training
- Increase Speed and Vertical Leap - Track & Field Section
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