spj, i believe he may be now even more confused.
It is not always best to point a firehose at a teacup.
spj, i believe he may be now even more confused.
It is not always best to point a firehose at a teacup.
Kung Fu is good for you.
yeah,i am lol.i still dont really know if wushu is a style of kung fu or another name for kung fu/chinese martial arts??
OOPs.
wushu is not a specific style. It simply transliterates as wu/martial shu/arts
kungfu is also a touch of a misnomer as well. Kungfu is not a specific style, but rather it is a blanket term for chinese martial arts in general.
specific styles have specific names.
the term wushu is usually associated with contemporary iterations of martial arts modified for performance purposes as in displays of forms.
the term kungfu can actually be applied to anything. It essentially refers to time and effort. The more time and effort you put into something, the better you will be at it, hence a person 'has' kungfu as opposed to 'does' kungfu.
so, I like to use the examples of Ernest Hemingway had kungfu in writing or Julia Childs has Kungfu in cooking and so on.
so, one can have Kungfu in their wushu as well.
If you click the Kungfu magazine.com link at the top and check out some of the info such as "what is kungfu" and how to pick a school and so on, you will likely get a better understanding. I think there is even a glossary of terms that will be helpful as well.
spj's info is good, but I think because of the depth of his own understanding it's hard for him to not hand out meat when he should be feeding with milk.
Kung Fu is good for you.
Wushu is a generic term for martial arts. However, in the US (i don't know about everywhere) it is synonymous with the flashy modern version of the chinese martial arts. Before it was called wuyi and before that it was called chuan fa. All of these terms mean one thing. Chinese martial arts as a general concept. If you are talking about a specific type of CMA just call it by its name like tonglong chuan, chang quan, choy lee fut (or however its spelled), wing chun (or however that is spelled too), hung gar, etc. the term kung fu is used a lot in america but not so much in China. They call all kung fu wushu. hope that helps.
Modern wushu may mean new composite routines or competition routines.
Traditional wushu may mean old or original routines.
for example, tai chi composite 24, 48 forms, chen tai chi competition 48 forms etc.
are modern ones.
Chen Tai Chi old frame or new frames old routines will be traditional wushu forms that are not modified or shortened.
--
thanks,now i know.
Let's be honest, Wushu doesn't mean those things anymore than "gay" means to be happy. The meaning has changed.
Wushu means the gymnastification of martial arts into flowery form. For example, backflips and tornado kicks have been added to the taiji form for the next olympics.
This is not Taiji. Taiji is the pursuit of integrating the whole body, so every part contributes to striking -- from heal to finger tip. It's also a style based on principles of non-resistance, or better yet, giving the attacker what they want but in a way they don't expect so as to take advantage of them. This principle, if internalized, will balance out the odds for the old fighting the young.
How many people in their mid-40's can do a back hand spring or tornado kick.
Chinese martial arts is getting ruined with this crap.
ray pina hit the nail on the head.
You missed the point. Maybe your teacher is acceptional.Originally Posted by MasterKiller
Tornado kicks and back flips have no part in traditional taiji, I would go so far as to argue they have no place in traditional form (though I think there was a tornado kick in my Lau Gar form) and even further that traditionally there was no form as we know it today .... most likely form was a cannon of mechanic drills to be practices alone, in line with Hsing-I walk training.
But I'll go even further and detest the word traditional all together. I see so many videos of "traditionalists" doing form .... they all suck! Where is the good stuff? Where is the power?
On one hand you have guys doing "traditional," and to me its an antique.
Then you have guys doing this gymnastics and calling it traditional.
Don't mean to rant, I just find this whole thing blasp****us, turning meaningful skills into flowery nonsense. I can't consider myself a martial artists anymore.
Last edited by Ray Pina; 05-22-2006 at 12:17 PM.
um if you look into some of the traditional styles like monkey and eagle claw, there are backflips and such in thier forms.
its obviously shown more in modern wushu forms, but it does exist in the traditional stuff too. to say it doesnt is wrong.
*edit
but yet i see your point when there are people who "throw" those moves into the forms and they dont belong there. and as for flips in taiji i dont know about that. tornado kicks are in a lot of forms. can be seen a lot in the 10 sets of northern shaolin.
bei shaolin a.k.a bak sil lum has fairly acrobatic kicks throughout the entire series of forms for the most part. This is considered a very traditional style.
Cha Chuan is very much the same way and is regarded as a well from which a lot of modern wushu has been drawn from.
Not to mention, while one may see a little intent in a form demonstration, it is difficult to 'see' power. That's something one feels when it applied to them in context...such as getting hit.
form is to kungfu as hammer and nail is to finished house.
Kung Fu is good for you.
imo, when speaking of traditional chinese martial arts. it is traditional to be able to do arial techniques, flips, drops and such.
these types of maneuvers are not the focus of such practitioners but they are part of the package.
once you learn to do a backflip, as long as your in shape still, you will always be able to do it. it doesnt take much time from training to learn and drill this skill.
the filps, jumps, arials, drop kicks, etc. are part of a lot of very old cma. they are something that a classically trained (depending style of course) chinese martial artist would be capable of performing if needed.
many styles will slowly incorporate more acrobatic movements in thier sets as you progress in the art.
granted it is up to the discretion of the artist as to where to put said techniques. some places they just do not belong.
A man has only one death. That death may be as weighty as Mt. Tai, or it may be as light as a goose feather. It all depends upon the way he uses it....
~Sima Qian
Master pain, or pain will master you.
~PangQuan
"Just do your practice. Who cares if someone else's practice is not traditional, or even fake? What does that have to do with you?"
~Gene "The Crotch Master" Ching
You know you want to click me!!