Among China's well kept secrets, one caught the imagination of Americans - Chinese wushu. Wushu is an important component of the cultural heritage of China, with a rich content that has remained untarnished over the centuries. Literally translated, "wu" is military, "shu" is art. Wushu therefore means the art of fighting, or martial arts.
Previously, wushu figured significantly in the simple matter of survival through China's many wars and political upheaval. Today, wushu has been organized and systematized into a formal branch of study in the performance arts by the Chinese. It reigns as the most poular national sport in the country of 1.1 billion people, practiced by the young and old alike. It's emphasis has shifted from combat to performance, and it is practiced for its method of achieving heath, self-defense skills, mental discipline, recreational pursuit and competition.
To describe wushu, it is best to understand the philosophy of its teaching. Every movement must exhibit sensible combat application and aestheticism. The wealth of wushu's content, the beauty of wushu moments, the difficulty factor, and the scientific training methods are the song of the elements that set wushu apart from martial arts. Routines are performed solo, paired or in groups, either barehanded or armed with traditional Chinese weaponry. In short, wushu is the most exciting martial art to be seen, felt, and ultimately practiced.
How is wushu related to kung fu and taijiquan? "Wushu" is the correct term for all Chinese martial arts therefore kung fu and wushu were originally the same. During the last thirty years, wushu in Mainland China was modernized so that there could be a universal standard for training and competing. In essence, much emphasis has been placed on speed, difficulty, and presentation. Consequently, wushu has become an athletic and aesthetic performance and competitive sport, while "kung fu" or traditional wushu remains the traditional fighting practice. Taijiquan is a major division of wushu, utilizing the bodies internal energy or "chi" and following the simple principle of "subduing the vigorous by the soft."
Although still in budding stages in many countries, wushu is an established international sport. In 1990, wushu was inducted as an official medal event in the Asian Games. Since then World Championships have taken place with 56 nations participating. Wushu is also vying for the Olympic games in the 21st century.

KUNG FU & WUSHU (China) :-

The term "Kung Fu" came into popular use in the west because of its use in television and movies, but it is not technically the correct term for a style of martial arts. The proper term is "Wushu" and generally anything that is called "Kung Fu" by westerners is really Wushu. Wushu is perhaps the foundation of all east Asian fighting systems- some authorities date its beginnings all the way back to 3000 B.C., others claim it was brought to China from India along with Zen Buddhism by a man named Bodhi Dharma around 500 B.C. Either way, there is little argument that the Shaolin temple in China (where Bodhi Dharma was said to have taught the monks) was the centre of martial arts development for hundreds of years. It was from the Shaolin temple that Wushu spread throughout southeast Asia and branched into the Korean, Japanese, Okinawan, Thai, Vietnamese, Philippines, and Indonesian styles that we see today. Wushu itself has fragmented incredibly, with as many as 1500 styles practiced. These cover all ranges of any spectrum you care to imagine, and defining even the most popular styles would be too large of an undertaking to be practical. A beginner who wishes to study Wushu should make a list of the things that they are looking to get out of martial arts and contact training centers by telephone to avoid wasting time going to visit training centers that may not even have an approach compatible with that individual. Though many styles defy these categorizations, a good starting-off point may be to ask the training centre if it teaches an internal or external style of Wushu. Internal styles- focus on life energy, circular techniques, uses hands more, Taoist philosophy, may also teach healing arts External styles- focus on muscular force, linear techniques, uses feet more, Buddhist philosophy, may also teach speed and strength conditioning .

TAI CHI (China) :-

Although Tai Chi (also commonly spelled "Taiji") is technically a form of Wushu, it merits its own listing because it differs from most other forms in significant ways. Tai Chi is made up of slow movements and breathing exercises designed to allow the chi (life energy) to flow freely throughout the body. This, in turn, reduces tension, clears the mind, helps blood circulation, improves posture, and promotes good health in many other ways. The central concept of Tai Chi is that the mind, body, and spirit must work together to defeat an enemy- and enemies can be violent attackers, physical ailments, or mental illnesses. Chi is developed in most forms of martial arts- called "ki" (pronounced "key") in Japanese and Korean styles- but is not focused on as much in any style as it is in Tai Chi. Though the movements of Tai Chi are an effective means of self defense in their own right, a practitioner who has studied for a number of years can control her or his chi to the point of being able to use it as a weapon by "discharging" it into an attacker. This release of power is forceful enough that small women can knock enormous men off their feet without the use of muscular strength. Similar Styles:. Qi Gong (also commonly spelled "Ji Gong" or "Chi Kung") - Also technically a form of Wushu, Qi Gong is made up of slow movements designed to allow the Chi to flow more easily. Shintaido - Japanese style developed in the 1960's around the same principles as Tai Chi. .

Wing Chun (China) :-

Wing Chun is a southern style of Chinese kung-fu, and the most influential Chinese martial art in modern times. Wing Chun emphasizes self-defense reduced to its most streamlined rudiments, simultaneous attack and defense with multiple straight-line strikes at extremely close range. Each punch, poke, strike, slap, or kick in the system has been designed to serve as a defense; similarly every block, deflection, or evasion has been designed to double as an attack. Rapid hand techniques combined with low kicks tend to be featured in an aggressive array of constant forward pressure.

San Shou (China) :-

San Shou is a new style of wushu (Chinese martial art). It is a consolidation of Chinese martial art theories and techniques into a new form that consists of rules and the ability to execute techniques at full power. It is a complete system of realistic unarmed combat covering the skills of striking, grappling, wrestling, ground fighting, and weapon defenses. San shou is a kickboxing style, it consists of standard kicks and punches, but then it enters into entrapment, which leads to throws or takedowns. Another added feature is that a competitor can push or throw his opponent off a lei tai (platform), adding excitement to the bouts.
Modern San Shou developed into a sport about the same time as modern Wushu during the 1960's by the Chinese Government. In order to define a standard kung fu fighting style, the great masters from all over China were given the task of organizing the huge heritage of Chinese martial arts in to a system of rules in which different styles could complete. Protective equipment was also added to further reduce the risk of serious injury. Lately, the Chinese government have promoted San Shou into a nation-wide sport and held formal national and international championships every year.