Martial Arts and Their Greatest Fighters

Martial Arts and Their Greatest Fighters — page 7 — RITUART AND THEIR GREATEST FICERS One popular legend holds that Buddhist monks in China developed kung fu around 500 CE after learning the skill from Indian monk and Zen Buddhism founder Bodhidharma Fighting systems were devel oped in Asia thousands of years ago by military organizations and secret societies Most of the East Asian systems were heavily influenced by ancient practices that origi nated in India and China MARTIAL ARTS IN CHINA Although many in the West think of Chinese martial arts as kung fu that phrase simply means skill It can be used to describe a talent for painting cooking or any other activity In modern China wushu is the term used to cover all the martial arts Wushu originated in China at least 2 500 years ago There are hundreds of styles Eastern religions have had strong influ ences on wushu Wushu can be a combination of combat techniques It may be practiced as exercise or as a performing art The varieties of wushu are typically con sidered either external or internal The external arts are known for their powerful 12

Martial Arts and Their Greatest Fighters — page 8 — AN OVERVIEW OF MARTAL ARTS kicks and punches and speedy movements Internal arts tend to be less combative and oriented toward self defense Some forms of wushu take their inspira tion from animals such as the monkey or eagle and attempt to imitate their fighting styles Many forms allow for the use of weap ons such as swords or staffs UNG FU Kung fu is a spiritual form of exercise requir ing concentration and self discipline It is a mostly unarmed mode of personal combat often tied to karate or tae kwon do The term kung fu can also suggest careful preparation for the performance of any skill performed instinctively without thought process or emotion Kung fu can be traced as a martial art to the Zhou dynasty II 255 BCE and even earlier The various movements in kung fu mostly imi tate the fighting styles of animals They feature one of five basic foot positions normal upright posture and the four stances called dragon frog horse riding and snake There are hun dreds of styles of kung fu Armed and unarmed techniques have been developed 13

Martial Arts and Their Greatest Fighters — page 9 — MARITUALLARTS AND THEIR GREATEST FIGHTERS YIN AND YANG The terms yin and yang originated in ancient Chinese philosophy Yin and yang mean lit erally the dark side and the sunny side of a hill In Chinese and much other Eastern thought they represent the opposites of which the world is thought to be composed dark and light female and male Earth and heaven death and birth matter and spirit Each makes up for what the other lacks The wholeness of the world would be incomplete if one was lacking Together the yin and yang are depicted as a circle one half dark and the other half light this symbol appears on the flag of South Korea Within the dark half there is a small light cir cle and within the light half there is a small dark one This suggests that though opposites there is a needed relationship between the two Neither exists in and of itself alone TA CH C HUAN Tai chi is called chuan also tai chi or Chinese boxing It is drawn from the principles of taiji Taiji brings yin and yang together in harmony yin as the passive principle and yang as the active principle Tai chi chuan 14

Martial Arts and Their Greatest Fighters — page 10 — AN OVERVIEW OF MARTIAL ARTS A Taoist monk wearing white on Mount Wudang in China s Hubei Province leads exercises in tai chi chuan Karl Johaentges LOOK Getty Images is considered a martial art and may be used with or without weapons Exercise to promote health was practiced in China as early as the 3rd century By the 5th century monks at the Buddhist monastery of Shaolin were performing exercises imitating the five creatures bear bird deer monkey and tiger By the early Ming dynasty begin ning in 1368 the yin and yang principles had 15

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