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About Kung Fu

Martial Arts Clubs

About Kung FuBy Nancy Tian

Kung fu is well known in the Asian history. Over its long history it has developed as a unique combination of exercise, practical self-defense, self-discipline and art. Many people believe that Kung fu is a term which describes a single martial art, like Taekwondo, Judo, or Aikido. Actually, Kung fu is a general term which includes hundreds of styles of Asian martial arts. Kung fu styles are various, such as Long Fist, Eagle Claw, and Taiji Quan.

Some people mistakenly regard Kung fu as a soft style compared with Karate or other hard styles. This is not true. As a matter of fact, each Kung fu style contains both hard and soft techniques. Also, many people believe that Kung fu is an external style and Taiji Quan is an internal style. While most Kung fu styles emphasize external development, all styles of Kung fu contain both internal and external components.

Kung fu is better than other forms of exercise for promoting health and fitness. In swimming, jogging, and karate, for example, the fitness acquired diminishes as one grows old, however in Kung fu it is enhanced. This is because Kung fu is more than physical exercise; it develops the inner faculties of vital energy and the mind. A Kung fu practitioner will exhibit more zest and vitality in both work and play than anordinary person, and have calmness of mind and clarity of thought even under demanding situations. Many studies suggest that elderly people who exercise can live longer out of hospitals than do ones that don't.

There is a lot of variety or diversity in Kung fu. There are literally hundreds of Kung fu styles. Kung fu breaks down like this there are internal styles, external styles, hard styles, soft styles, northern Asian Kung fu and southern Asian Kung fu. However hard styles are always external and soft styles are always internal styles. Northern Styles tend to be more about distance fighting or sparing and Southern ones tend to be more about close in fighting. Karate is evolved from Southern styles of Kung fu. Northern Asian Kung fu has more kicks and the arts are more sportish while southern Kung fu had more hand techniques.

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Shaolin Style of Kung Fu

Martial Arts Clubs

Shaolin Style of Kung FuBy Tian Heng

The Shaolin style, the temple-derived and the family style are the three styles of Kung Fu. The temple style has always been taught in the temple, while the Shaolin styles perfected by the southern temples include White Crane, Tiger, Dragon, Leopard, Snake, and Southern Praying Mantis. Most of these use hand-based fighting or sparing styles.

The Northern styles, including Northern Praying Mantis, Black Crane and Black Tiger, focus more on kicks and nimble footwork. The movements are representative of the animals that they are named after and concentrate only on the maneuvers of that animal. All the blocks and the attacks imitate the bird or the beast.

Each Shaolin style is therefore as different from the other as the mantis from the tiger. However, the systems are not rigid and there is a mutual give and take. The Northern Praying mantis style, for example, incorporates the Tiger techniques and some amount of Monkey and boiler plate footwork. Each style revolves around a particular training objective. For example, the Dragon style revolves around building alertness and concentration. The Tiger movements focus on developing the bones, tendons and muscles. The Snake movements are used to develop endurance and fluidity. Similarly, the Crane system is used to develop character and spirit.

These Shaolin systems are further divided into the high and low orders. The low systemsuse physical manoeuvres of the Crane, the Cobra and the Tiger. The application of chi in these forms is considerably less.

Snake is an intermediate level between the high systems and low systems. It is a creature of the earth yet somewhat spiritual because it has an element of mystery about it. The snake style therefore has all the physical applications of the low systems however its movements are essentially those of the higher order. Chi is present in the practitioner as his body mimics the coiling, undulating motions of the reptile.

Dragon, Praying Mantis, and Wing Chun are all seen as high systems because of their efficiency and effectiveness of movement and the use of chi to either augment or replace physical techniques. These systems were taught in some measure to all monks as part of their training. The complete systems were, however, revealed to the few who remained in the temple after being granted priesthood.

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Kung Fu Clubs

Martial Arts Clubs

Kung Fu ClubsBy Tian Heng

Chinese kung fu stars have been idols for people around the world. Kung fu can be seen as a symbol of China. Many foreigners who come to China want to enjoy the practice of martial arts.

Recently, with the increasing number of kung fu fans, many clubs have been set up to satisfy their needs. But lots of Asian people do not pay attention to the traditional martial arts (Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for combat) and few of them are interested in learning traditional martial arts?

From Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan, many Asian kung fu stars are welcomed. Bruce Lee became one of the best-known Asian names in the world through his action movies. The kung fu masters are always full of legendary and have many followers.

The clubs in China are attracting many overseas kung fu fans. China has been as the capital of kung fu so many foreigners come to China just for learning kung fu.

Well, it's true that, to some extent, Asian teachers are much better than teachers anywhere in the world because martial art is a small part of culture here. In other countries and regions, martial art is something that peopledo as a hobby. However, most of students in clubs are from Europe, the United States or Taiwan. Few mainlanders would like to learn it, which bother the martial arts (Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for combat) teachers. They are afraid that many martial arts (Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for combat) will disappear after generations.

It is hoped that more Asian will take up martial arts (Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for combat) even just as a hobby. Then, the traditional culture would be kept alive as a livelihood, in place of an exotic skill chic / stylish / trendy / hip / cool among foreigners

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