Hundreds of different styles of Chinese martial arts Chinese martial arts, sometimes referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu (Chinese: 功夫 pinyin: gōngfu), are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in what is today the country of China.These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families& have developed over the past two thousand years, many distinctive styles with their own sets of techniques and ideas. There are themes common which allows them to be group according to generalized "families" (家, jiā), "sects" (派, pai), "class" (門, men), or "schools" (教, jiao) of martial art styles. There are styles that mimic movements from animals and others that gather inspiration from various Chinese philosophies or mythologies. Some styles put most of their focus into the belief of the harnessing of qi In traditional Chinese culture, qi is an active principle forming part of any living thing energy, while others concentrate solely on competition or exhibition. This rich variety of styles has led tp the creation of numerous classification schemes.^[1][2]

Geographical location such as regional affiliation is one well known example. A particular Chinese martial arts style can be referred to as either a northern fist (北拳) or a southern fist (南拳) depending on its point of origin. Additional details such as province or city can further identify the particular style. Other classification schemes include the concept of external (外家拳) and internal Nèijiā is a broad term used mistakenly in the West as a synonym for the more specific Wǔdāngquán styles, named for their association with the Taoist monasteries of Wudangshan range, Hubei Province in Chinese popular legend. These styles are enumerated by Sun Lutang as Tàijíquán, Xíngyìquán and Bāguàzhǎng, but must also include Bājí (内家拳). This criterion concerns the training focus of a particular style. Religious affiliation of the group that found the style can also be used as a classification. The three great religions of Taoism, Buddhism and Islam have associated martial arts styles. There are also many other criteria used to group Chinese martial arts; for example, imitative-styles (像形拳) and legendary styles; historical styles and family styles. Another more recent approach is to describe a style according to their combat focus.

Geographical classifications

The traditional dividing line between the northern and southern Chinese martial arts is the Yangtze River The name Yangtze River, as well as other similar names such as Yangtse River, Yangzi River and Yangtze Kiang, is derived from Yangzi Jiang (simplified Chinese: 扬 .^[3] A well known adage concerning Chinese martial arts is the term "Southern fists and Northern kicks" (「南拳北腿」). This saying emphases the difference between the two groups of Chinese martial arts. Although such differences are not absolute and there are many Northern styles that excel in hand techniques and conversely, there are many different type of kicks in some Southern styles. A style can also be more clearly classified according to regional landmarks, province, city and even to a specific village.

Northern styles

Northern styles/Běi pài (北派) feature deeply extended postures — such as the horse, bow, drop, and dragon stances — connected by quick fluid transitions, able to quickly change the direction in which force is issued.^[4][5][6]

In general, the training characteristics of northern styles put more focus on legwork, kicking and acrobatics. Some say this is because the northern Chinese were generally taller than those living in southern China, and such training takes advantage of their greater range of motion, especially in their legs. Others claim that the terrain of northern China is more suitable to kicking techniques, or that the cold of the northern Chinese winter caused the practitioner to emphasize leg techniques rather than hand skills. Still others suggest that jump kicking techniques were developed to fight Mongolian horseman who used "very short stirrups". Regardless of the reason, Northern styles exhibit a distinctively different flavour from the martial arts practised in the South. The influence of Northern styles can be found in traditional Korean martial arts Korean martial arts are the martial arts that originated from Korea, or were adapted and modified in Korea. Some well known Korean martial arts are hapkido, kuk sool won, taekwondo, and Tang soo do. There has also been a revival of Korean sword arts as well as knife fighting and archery. In modern times, Korean martial arts are being practiced and their emphasis on high-level kicks. ^[7]

The group of Northern martial arts includes many illustrious styles such as Baguazhang Bāguàzhǎng is one of the major Chinese martial arts of the Wudang school. It is also one of the three main internal styles, or nèijiā. Bāguà zhǎng literally means "eight trigram palm," referring to the trigrams of the Yijing , one of the canons of Taoism, Bajiquan Bājíquán is a Chinese martial art that features explosive, short-range power and is famous for its elbow strikes[citation needed]. It originated in Hebei Province in Northern China[citation needed], but is also well-known in other places today, especially Taiwan. Its full name is kai men baji quan (開門八極拳), which means "open gate, Chāquán Chāquán is a Chinese martial art that features graceful movements and some acrobatic aerial maneuvers. Chāquán also includes a large range of weapons, Chuojiao Chuōjiǎo is a Chinese martial art that comprises many jumps, kicks, and fast fist sequences. The fist and feet work in unison and strike continuously forward, like “falling meteorites”, never giving the opponent a moment to recover. The qinggong portion of this style's training involves a practitioner jumping against a wall with heavy, Eagle Claw Eagle Claw is a style of Chinese martial arts known for its gripping techniques, system of joint locks, takedowns, and pressure point strikes, which is representative of Chinese grappling known as Chin Na. The style is normally attributed to the famous patriotic Song Dynasty General Yue Fei. Popular legends states that he learned martial arts from, Northern Praying Mantis Northern Praying Mantis is a style of Chinese martial arts, sometimes called Shandong Praying Mantis after its province of origin. It was created by Wang Lang (王朗) and was named after the praying mantis, an insect, the aggressiveness of which inspired the style. One Mantis legend places the creation of the style in the Song Dynasty when Wang and Taijiquan Tai chi chuan (literal translation "Supreme Ultimate Fist") is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for both its defense training and its health benefits. It is also typically practiced for a variety of other personal reasons: its hard and soft martial art technique, demonstration competitions, and longevity. As a consequence, a. Chángquán is often identified as the representative Northern style and forms a separate division in modern Wushu The sport of wushu is both an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts. It was created in the People's Republic of China after 1949, in an attempt to nationalize the practice of traditional Chinese martial arts. Most of the modern competition forms were formed from their parent arts (see list below) by curriculum.

Southern styles

Southern Chinese martial arts (南派) features low stable stances and short powerful movements that combines both attack and defense. In practice, Nan Quan focus more on the use of the arm and full body techniques rather than high kicks or acrobatic moves. There are various explanations for those characteristics. Some suggest that the physical stature of the Southern Chinese is responsible. The Southern Chinese are generally shorter in contrast to the Northern population and as a result the Southern styles are generally short, direct and powerful. Similarly, it is speculated that the dense urban population and its humid climate made focusing on close-quarter hand techniques more practical then the kicking techniques of the North. Still others suggest that the Southern styles focus on practical fighting techniques that can be mastered in a short time because Southern styles were founded and used by Chinese rebels.^[8] The influence of Southern styles can be found in Goju Ryu Gōjū-ryū , (Japanese for "hard-soft style") is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial arts book Bubishi (Chinese: wu bei ji), used by Okinawan masters during the 19th and 20th centuries. Go which means hard,, a karate Karate (Japanese pronunciation: [kaɽate] ( listen), English: /kəˈrɑːtiː/), was developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called te (手?, literally "hand"; Tii in Okinawan) and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow style from Okinawa Okinawa Prefecture is one of Japan's southern prefectures, and consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over 1,000 km long, which extends southwest from Kyūshū (the southwesternmost of Japan's main four islands) to Taiwan. Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of the largest and most populous island, Okinawa.^[9]

The term Southern styles typically applies to the five family styles of Southern China: Choy Gar According to legend, the monks of the Shaolin Monastery not only developed philosophies and meditations, but they also studied the art of combat.[citation needed] (蔡家), Hung Ga Hung Ga 洪家, Hung Kuen 洪拳, or Hung Ga Kuen 洪家拳 is a southern Chinese martial art associated with the Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung, who was a master of Hung Ga (洪家), Lau Gar (刘家), Li (Lee) Family The Li family is originally from Lanzhou in the Gansu province of China. Legend has it that prior to Li Sou's development of Wu Xing Chuan , he had learned various palm techniques that had been passed on to him by another member of the Li family. These techniques were called the Divine Immortal Palms, and consisted of Iron Bone Shattering Palm, (李家) and Mok Gar It gained fame three generations later, in the Qing Dynasty, with Mok Gin Kiu/Mo Qing Chiu莫清矯 who learned supposedly from a famous kicker, Choy Kao Yee. Mo's reputation was so high after defeating many other boxers that the style, formerly known as Southern Shaolin Quan, was renamed for the Mo family (Mok Gar). Different generations through (莫家).^[10] Other styles include:Choy Li Fut Cai Li Fo or Choy Li Fut (Cantonese), both written 蔡李佛, is a Chinese martial art founded in 1836 by Chan Heung (陳享). Choy Li Fut was named to honor the Buddhist monk Choy Fook 蔡褔 (Cai Fu) who taught him Choy Gar, Li Yau-San 李友山 who taught him Li Gar, and his uncle Chan Yuen-Wu 陳遠護 who taught him Fut Gar, to honor the, Fujian White Crane White Crane Boxing is a Southern Chinese martial art which originated in Fujian (福建) Province and is now practiced throughout the world. According to oral traditions, the creation of this style is attributed to Fāng Qīniáng (方七娘; Amoy Min Nan: Hng Chhit-niâ), a female martial artist. The characteristics of this style are deep rooted, Dog Style Kungfu, Five Ancestors Wuzuquan also known as Ngo Cho Kun is a southern Shaolin martial arts based on the techniques of five different styles such as: Baihe, Qitian, Taizu, Luohan and Dazun. There are several versions of Wuzuquan’s history, with some putting the founding of the art around 1300 AD, while other put it as late as the 1800s, Wing Chun Wing Chun , also romanized as Ving Tsun or "Wing Tsun" (and sometimes substituted with the characters 永春 "eternal springtime") is a concept-based Chinese martial art and form of self-defense utilizing both striking and grappling while specializing in close-range combat, Hakka Hakka Kuen is a general term describing a variety of Chinese martial arts originating from the Hakka community of Southern China and is considered to be an important style within Southern Chinese Martial Arts, Southern Praying Mantis Southern Praying Mantis is a Chinese martial art native to the Hakka (客家) communities of Southern China. Despite having the name “Praying mantis”, this style is completely unrelated to the Northern Praying Mantis style. In terms of history and techniques, the Southern Praying Mantis is more closely associated with fellow Hakka styles such Bak Mei Bak Mei is said to have been one of the legendary Five Elders — survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Temple by the Qing Dynasty imperial regime (1644–1912) — who, according to some accounts, betrayed Shaolin to the imperial government. He shares his name with the Southern Chinese martial art attributed to him and Dragon The movements of the Dragon style of Shaolin Boxing are based on the mythical Chinese dragon. The Dragon style is an imitative-style that was developed based on the imagined characteristics of the mythical Chinese dragon. There are five Animals of Shaolin Boxing; the other four styles are Tiger, Crane, Leopard, and Snake. There are sub-divisions to Southern styles due to their similar characteristics and common heritage. For example, the Fujian and Hakka martial arts can be considered to be one such sub-division. This groups share the following characteristics that "during fights, pugilists of these systems prefer short steps and close fighting, with their arms placed close to the chest, their elbows lowered and kept close to the flanks to offer them protection".^[11] Nanquan Nanquan refers to those Chinese martial arts that originated south of the Yangtze River of China, including Hung Kuen, Choi Lei Fut, and Wing Chun (Southern Fist) became a separate and distinct component of the current Wushu The sport of wushu is both an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts. It was created in the People's Republic of China after 1949, in an attempt to nationalize the practice of traditional Chinese martial arts. Most of the modern competition forms were formed from their parent arts (see list below) by training. It was designed to incorporate the key elements of each major Southern style.^[12]

Other geographical classifications

Chinese martial arts can also be identified by the regional landmarks, province, city or even village. Generally, this identification indicates the region of origin but could also describe the place where the style have established a reputation. Well known landmarks used to characterize Chinese martial arts include the famous mountains of China. The Eight Great Schools of Martial Arts (八大門派), a grouping of martial arts schools used in many wuxia novels, is based on this type of geographical classifications. This group of schools include: Hua Shan (華山), Éméi Shān (峨嵋山), Wudang Shan (武当山), Mt._Kongtong (崆峒山), Kunlun Mountains The Kunlun Mountains is one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending more than 3,000 km (崑崙山), Cangshan (蒼山), Mount Qingcheng (青城山) and Mount Song Mount Song, known in Chinese as Song Shan , is one of the Five Sacred Mountains of Taoism and is located in Henan province on the south bank of the Yellow River in China. Its summit is 1,500 meters above sea level Shaolin (嵩山少林). Historically, there are 18 provinces (省)in China. Each province have their own styles of martial arts. For example, in Xingyi, there are currently three main branches: Shanxi Shanxi (Chinese: 山西; pinyin: Shānxī; Wade–Giles: Shan-hsi; Postal map spelling: Shansi) is a province in the northern part of the People's Republic of China. Its one-character abbreviation is Jin (晋 pinyin jìn), after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period, Hebei Hebei (Chinese: 河北; pinyin: Héběi; Wade-Giles: Ho-pei; Postal map spelling: Hopeh) is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "冀" (pinyin: jì), named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province (zhou) that included what is now southern Hebei. The name Hebei means & and Henan Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the eastern central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is 豫 (pinyin: yù), named after Yuzhou Province (豫州 Yù Zhōu), a Han Dynasty province (zhou) that included parts of Henan. The name Henan means "south of the (Yellow) River" (Huang He). Each branch have unique characteristics but they can all be traced to the original art developed by Li Luoneng and the Dai family. A particular style can also be identified by the city where the art was practised. For example, in the North, the cities of Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking (pronounced /piːˈkɪŋ/ or /peɪˈkɪŋ/), is a metropolis in northern China, and the capital of the People's Republic of China. Governed as a municipality under direct administration of the central government, Beijing borders Hebei Province to the north, west, south, and for a small section in the east, and or Tianjin Tianjin (Chinese: 天津; pinyin: Tiānjīn; Wade–Giles: T'ien-chin; [tʰi̯ɛn˥˥ t͡ɕin˥˥]; Postal map spelling: Tientsin) is a metropolis in Northeastern China and one of the five national central cities. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is thus under direct administration of the have created different martial arts branches for many styles. Similarly, in the South, the cities of Shanghai Shanghai is the most populous city in China and one of the most populous cities in the world. A global city, Shanghai exerts influence over global commerce, finance, culture, art, fashion, research and entertainment. The city is located at the middle portion of the Chinese coast, and sits at the mouth of the Yangtze, Canton Guangzhou (simplified Chinese: 广 and Futshan all represented centers of martial arts development. Older martial art styles can be described by their village affiliation. For example, Zhaobao style tai chi (趙堡忽靈架太極拳) is a branch of Chen Tai Chi originating from Zhaobao village.

External and Internal

The distinction between external and internal (外内) martial arts comes from Huang Zongxi Huang Zongxi , courtesy name Taichong (太冲), was the name of a Chinese naturalist, political theorist, philosopher, and soldier during the latter part of the Ming dynasty into the early part the Qing's 1669 Epitaph for Wang Zhengnan.^[13] Stanley Henning proposes that the Epitaph's identification of the internal martial arts with the Taoism Taoism refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions that have influenced Eastern Asia for more than two millennia, and have had a notable influence on the western world particularly since the 19th century. The word 道, Tao (or Dao, depending on the romanization scheme), roughly translates as, "path" or "way& indigenous to China and its identification of the external martial arts with the foreign Buddhism Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by adherents as an of Shaolin The Shaolin Monastery or Shaolin Temple is a Chán Buddhist temple at Song Shan near Zhengzhou City Henan Province in Dengfeng, China. It is led by abbot Venerable abbot Shi Yǒngxìn. Founded in the 5th century, the monastery is long famous for its association with Chinese martial arts and particularly with Shaolin Kung Fu, and it is the Mahayana—and the Manchu The Manchu people are a Tungusic people who originated in Manchuria (today's northeastern China). During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels (such as general Wu Sangui), they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which established a Qing Dynasty The Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the last ruling dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 (with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917). It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China to which Huang Zongxi was opposed—may have been an act of political defiance rather than one of technical classification.^[14] Kennedy and Guo suggests that external and internal classifications only became popular during the Republican period. It was used to differentiate between two competing groups within The Central Guoshu Academy.^[15] Regardless of the origin of this classification scheme, the distinction becomes less meaningful since all complete Chinese martial art styles have external and internal components. This classification scheme is only a reminder of the initial emphasis of a particular style and should not be considered an absolute division.

External styles

External style (外家; pinyin Pinyin , or more formally Hanyu Pinyin (汉语拼音 / 漢語拼音), is currently the most commonly used romanization system for Standard Mandarin (标准普通话 / 標準普通話). Hànyǔ (汉语 / 漢語) means the Chinese language, and pīnyīn (拼音) means "phonetics", or more literally, "spelling sound" or ": wàijiā; literally "external family") are often associated with Chinese martial arts. They are characterized by fast and explosive movements and a focus on physical strength and agility. External styles includes both the traditional styles focusing on application and fighting, as well as the modern styles adapted for competition and exercise. Examples of external styles are Shaolinquan Shaolin Kung Fu refers to a collection of Chinese martial arts that claim affiliation with the Shaolin Monastery. Of the tens of thousands of kung fu and wushu styles, several hundred might have some relationship to Shaolin; however, aside from a few very well known systems, such as Xiao Hong Quan, the Da Hong Quan, Yin Shou Gun, Damo Sword, etc.,[, with its direct explosive attacks and many Wushu forms that have spectacular aerial techniques. External styles begin with a training focus on muscular power, speed and application, and generally integrate their qigong aspects in advanced training, after their desired "hard" physical level has been reached. Most Chinese martial art styles are classified as external styles.

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