Kung Fu
For individual Kung Fu styles? Click the triangle by the "Kung Fu" menu item on the left of this page to reveal the styles.
When looking for a specific Kung Fu style, be sure to look at similar sounding styles. Western spellings are approximations and the same style can be spelt different ways. For instance, "chuan", "kwen" & "quan" are all western attempts at the chinese word for "fist."
Also, there may be multiple names for the same, or close variant style.
There are a vast array of Kung Fu styles (118 here). Ranging from acrobatic to close range. I'm sure you'll find something to your liking. I think chinese martial arts are fascinating.
Chinese martial arts, sometimes referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu (Chinese: gōngfu).
Traditional martial arts in China can be traced back to the Zhou dynasty, which occurred in 12th century BC. According to Chinese legend, the Yellow Emperor, introduced and popularized the earliest forms of Kung Fu, or Chinese Martial arts, for war tactics, as this emperor was a military general.
Kung Fu and the description of many physical, spiritual and mental techniques found themselves in print with the introduction of The Art of War written by Sun Tzu - and two centuries later the Tao Te Ching credited to Lao Zi. These books described many different values that are applicable to the Chinese Martial Arts system. Practitioners also have a large choice of schools around the world to choose from.
While many styles of Kung Fu are founded upon the same beliefs, there are variations of each style in terms of principles and techniques. A lot of the styles incorporate techniques from animals as well as Chinese philosophies. Take for instance Southern style, or monkey style, in comparison to Northern style, or sword style. Northern styles emphasize the fluidity of the body and fast movements, while southern style employs hand techniques and footwork.
With regards to the Shaolin style of wushu, it is regarded as the first institutionalised Chinese martial art. However, the oldest evidence of Shaolin participation in combat is a stele from 728 CE that attests to two occasions: a defence of the Shaolin Monastery from bandits around 610 CE, and their subsequent role in the defeat of Wang Shichong at the Battle of Hulao in 621 CE.