Chinese Martial Arts

Chinese Martial Arts
Sources:
http://www.nardis.com/~twchan/liang.html An Introduction of Chinese Martial Arts

http://martialarts.about.com/od/styles/a/ Let's learn about Chinese Martial Arts.
Chinese martial arts
Chinese Martial arts is important in China including Taichi, Kongfu, Wushu and others. This Article mainly talks about Taichi, Kongfu and Wushu.

Kung fu is primarily a striking style of martial arts that utilizes kicks, blocks, and both open and closed hand strikes to defend against attackers. There are a martial art like Kungfu appears in the Yellow Emperor(2698BC)
 The basic goals of kung fu are to protect against opponents and disable them quickly with strikes. There are over 400 styles of Kungfu and it has a long history. But the major styles are for example the Shaolin, Long fist, Wing Chun and the Choy Li Fist. Shaolin first came to China During the years between 58-76 A.D. An Indian monk have played an important role there. It is a great traditional martial arts and many people are still studying it. The Long Fist Kung Fu was first developed during the 10th century. Like other martial arts, there are hands and feet striking skills in Chang Quan. Chang Quan boxers tend to fight from a distance, to the extreme of their wingspan.
There are also philosophy in Kung Fu. Qi is one of the concepts of Taoism. It is a kind of energy force in people's body. There are breathing activities in Kung Fu, that is use of Qi.

Tai Chi is considered a soft martial arts style with roots deeply entrenched in Chinese history. It means supreme ultimate fist. The goals of tai chi are often tied to health and meditation. It can help people to deal with stress. The origin of Taichi was known as the Taoist monk Zhang Sanfeng (12th century) is legendarily given credit for learning Tao Yin breathing exercises from his Taoist teachers. Eventually, Zhang Sanfeng brought these teachings together to form tai chi, including the original 13 movements.
Taichi is also known as its philosophy. The philosophy of Taichi combines Taoism, Buddism and Confucianism.It is a good way for people to be healthier, especially old peoples. The golden mean of the Confucian school and the peace relationship between human and nature are similar to Confucianism. Like Wuwei,Yingyang in Taoism is used in Taichi. In Taichi, people should not be nervous although he or she is endangered, and that is important in Buddhism.

Wushu is actually a general concept, it means fighting skills, but it is different to Kungfu. Wushu has about nearly 5000 years history. These days, the term wushu is mostly used to describe an exhibition and combat sport. The history is similar to Kungfu. Ever since the Zhou Dynasty, which ended in 771 B.C., practical Wushu training has included basic skills, such as strength training, fencing, As was indicated earlier, the history of the Chinese martial arts are somewhat clouded in mystery. The Eight strength of Wushu is Hands, Eyes, Body Technique, Steps, spirit, Breath, Strength and ability.
But then, many things were destroyed and Wushu became a sport. The all China Wushu Association was set up. Now there are Wushu Competitions like long-weapon, short-weapon and barehanded. Wushu competitions are generally divided into two disciplines- taolu (forms) and sanda (sparring). Taolu or forms are preordained movements designed to defend against imaginary attackers, and Sanda is about  standing or striking combat. The history of Wushu is really different than other Martial arts.

I like Chinese martial arts because its different types. There are some for defending others, for sports and some is for health. And there's also many types in each separate part. I also like the long history of martial arts, they often lasts for thousands of years. It is somewhat useful, whatever if it is a sport or a skill. And there are many Chinese cultures inside it. The philosophy of Kung Fu contains Taoism, Confucianism as so on. It is a key to Chinese culture.