武术-An Introduction To Chinese Martial Arts
武术（Wushu) refers to all Chinese martial arts. Its origin may be traced back 5000 years ago. I’m not quite clear about the real origins but i’ve heard a likely story : a group of Chinese men (monks?) were crossing the desert when they were assaulted by thieves, and had their valuables stolen. These men, who swore that it would never happen again, developed a style of fighting to subdue these thieves should they meet again on the next crossing.
To the Chinese, martial arts is not only for sport and war. It is a way of living for some families. These families may be know in their areas as families of martial arts 武术世家. Some are trained in martial arts from a tender age, both guys and girls. Female warriors are more common in the Chinese than anywhere else. Wushu may be learned purely for health, and also for the cultivation of one’s character. Therefore one could link a person’s character with his or her attainment of wushu skills (The martial arts skills may be in insulted together with the character). Although many skills have been lost today, the importance of martial arts to the Chinese have never decreased. Even today, China’s “national art” still remains as Wushu.
Chinese Wushu is very diversified. All skills are good when you have mastered one. There are different schools of martial arts, along with different weapons in the world of Chinese Martial Arts. Still, the most famous and prominent has always been Shaolin. People commonly say ” all the martial arts of the world originated from Shaolin” . Well, no offences meant. Back then, when interactions was rare between countries, China was regarded as “the world” to the Chinese. Even now, a lot of people who don’t travel regard their country as their world. Anyways, back to Shaolin. In Shaolin alone, there are 72 martial arts skills. And each would take years upon long years to master.
There are a variety of weapons Chinese use. The sword, the spear and the rod are the most common. There are also the whips, butterfly swords and the nunchakus, and other types. I’m afraid the magnitude of varieties are too vast to cover in just a few posts. Therefore, I’ll be working on the most prominent ones first.
In all, Chinese martial arts are still among the most respected systems today. The number of people taking up Chinese martial arts are increasing, and is of multi-cultures. Its not impossible to find a American who is an expert in wushu today.
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