Posted on Monday, 10th November 2008 by Captain Chris
Wushu literally means “martial art” in Chinese, and though it can be used when referring to almost any martial arts style it is most often used to refer the modern exhibition sport created by the authority of the People’s Republic of China. Prior to the communist take over the country there were many Chinese martial arts forms and Kung Fu was used as a general term that included them all. Created in 1949 it was the communist government’s attempt to give the people national sport. In a free country, a sport becomes a national sport out of popularity, but in China the government forced the change on the people and removed both self defense and spiritual aspects from traditional martial arts.
Wushu is made up of two disciplines Taulo and Sanda. Taulo is more like gymnastics than any martial art. It includes routines that are performed up to twenty minutes and can include traditional Chinese weapons like swords, butterfly knives, and staffs. Performers will perform many impressive jumps and flips in the air, but will not fight any opponents. Points are rewarded for performing moves correctly, and the program is broken up into barehanded, short weapons, and long weapons portions. If practitioners do meet on the mat there actions are already scripted. Sanda is based off of Chinese boxing and wrestling styles and is more combat oriented and has been called Muay Thai kickboxing, but with grappling. Though it is derived from several combat styles it is still a combat sport.
The hand movements are called Ba Ji, tumbling moves are Di Tang, and Tung Bi is full arm movements. The animal katas are called Xing Yi. The weapon katas for Wu Shu T’ung includes a large number of different types of swords, the nine-section whip, three section staffs, spears, and other ancient Chinese weapons. The central Committee of National Physical Culture must accredit all students and teachers who must embody the ideals of communism.
In 1998 the government attempted to take the politics out of the sport, but little has changed with the actual style. The sport requires a great deal of flexibility those who participate are great athletes, but they aren’t street fighters. Wushu is just the latest of many styles that has been produced in China, but it is a government imposed cultural martial art and combat sport not a form of self defense.
Tags: Wushu Martial Arts
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