Olympic Athletics in Chinese History: Fence-play and Chinese Swords

Beijing Olympic Games was filled with elements of Chinese culture. The Beijing Olympic Games emblem, golden medal with inlaid jade, design of 'lucky clouds torch', the magnificent Chinese culture portrays on opening ceremony, green flower porcelain and embroidery decorated in subway stations , and so on…… China has a long history of sports from thousands of years ago. many historical allusions ...

HONG KONG - Bruce Lee fans are marking the 35th anniversary of his death with an exhibit featuring movie posters, magazine covers and books about the

HONG KONG - Bruce Lee fans are marking the 35th anniversary of his death with an exhibit featuring movie posters, magazine covers and books about the action star. Also among the 800 items on display are letters written by Lee that detail his life in the U.S., where he attended college and taught kung fu before returning to Hong Kong. Danny Chan, who plays Lee in an ...

Foreign females embrace art of kungfu tea

A giant tea cup draws much attention at a tea culture exhibition held this April in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province. Drinking tea has been an integral part of Chinese culture for thousands of years. BEIJING, Sept. 8 -- Guangzhou's preeminent association for female expats may not be the first place one would expect to find fans of one of its more ...

Chinese Gongfu

Chinese Gongfu is a very important and unique form of Chinese culture. It can be viewed as both a popular and a classical art: today it is very common and widespread; on the other hand, it has had a very long developed history. Not only did it not decline and disappear as many other facets of pre-modern Chinese culture, it even seems to be gaining much recognition, both in its actual practic...

Chinese Kungfu Functions

Chinese Kungfu Functions Wushu boasts versatile functions. of which the most outstanding are: (1) Moral Cultivation As a human practice which stresses cultivation of moral characters and demon-stration of spirit and temperament. Wushu is conducive to developing good manners and con-duct. It also helps adjust one`s psychology. The moral characters and etiquette are held in esteem by all schools...

Chinese Gongfu Terms

中国功夫术语 Chinese Gongfu TermsAerial cartwheel 侧空翻Any two person set 任何一套对练Any two weapon forms 任何两套器械套路Applications 实用技术Back arc kick 后撩腿Back roll over 挺身向后肩颈翻Backward floor sweep kick 后扫堂腿Backward roll 后滚翻Balance on the shoulder and arms 肩倒立Balance while leaning back and extending one leg 仰身平衡Balance while leaning forward and extending one leg 探海平衡Balance with one knee up 提膝亮掌平衡Balance with one k...

Martial Arts: Hard vs. Soft, External vs. Internal

The concept of hard/soft and external/internal martial arts is not one easily described. In terms of styles which most people are familiar with, Karate would be an example of a hard style and Aikido or T'ai Chi examples of soft styles. A hard style is generally considered one where force is used against force; a block is used to deflect an incoming strike by meeting either head on, or at a 90 de...

Artistic Aspects

There can be little doubt, after examining first hand the structure of kung fu, that mastery of it is indeed mastery of a fine art form. It requires a tremendous amount of background, information and disciplines, which would shame our liberal-arts students. The priests of old were adept in all of the following: medicine, music, art, weapons-making, religions, animal husbandry, cartography, langu...

The Martial Aspects

The power of the kung fu practitioner lay in his ability to defend himself against impossible odds and situations. After years of the most diligent practice, these monks became more than merely adept at the ways of survival. But the initial acceptance to be one of the chosen few was difficult. As children, applicants for priesthood were made to do the most menial and difficult work related to t...

What is a martial arts style?

The concept of a style is a rather complicated one, and Chinese martial arts claim as many as 1500 different styles. By "style" we mean a particular school of martial practice, with its own training methods, favored techniques, and emphasis on attack and defense. While it is impossible to quantify differences between most styles, it is easy to see the distinctions between such disparate approach...