Chinese kung fu
| Chinese martial arts | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 武術 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 武术 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | "martial techniques" | ||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | wǔshù |
| IPA | [ù.ʂû] |
Chinese martial arts, often named under the umbrella terms kung fu (/ˈkʊŋ ˈfuː/; Chinese: ; pinyin: gōng fu; Cantonese Yale: gūng fū) and wushu (武术; wǔshù), are the several hundred fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" (家; jiā), "sects" (派; pài) or "schools" (門; mén) of martial arts. Examples of such traits include Shaolinquan (少林拳) physical exercises involving Five Animals (五形) mimicry, or training methods inspired by Chinese philosophies, religions and legends. Styles that focus on qi manipulation are called internal (内家拳; nèijiāquán), while others that concentrate on improving muscle and cardiovascular fitness are called "external" (外家拳; wàijiāquán). Geographical association, as in northern (北拳; běiquán) and "southern" (南拳; nánquán), is another popular classification method.
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