The history of wushu. Along the Path of the Dragon

The first archaic forms of martial arts that appeared in ancient China originated in the Xia, Shang and Zhou eras.

These forms, with the advent of bronze weapons, evolved into martial art techniques and began to be used for training troops (Jun-lien). During the Zhangguo era (Warring States 770 BC - 221 BC), the demand for martial arts increased due to ongoing conflicts between appanage princes, who often kept martial arts instructors in their retinue. The first written mentions of forms of motor activity that vaguely resembled wushu are found in ancient literary monuments of China. In the Han era monument “Shijing” (Book of Songs), in the “Ode on Slanderers,” there is a line “Wu quan wu yong,” which can be translated as: “He who does not master the art of the fist cannot be brave.” During the Tang and Sunn periods (618-1279), forms of wushu began to be gradually systematized. For example, the Song general Yue Fei, according to legend, taught his soldiers the Yuejiaquan style he created. Another legend says that Yue Fei masterfully mastered the spear technique, on the basis of which the Xing’yiquan style was subsequently created.

The development of wushu reached its peak during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The author of the Ming era, Qi Jiguang, left the first work systematizing various styles and directions of wushu - “Jixiao xinshu” (a new study on martial arts), which listed the main types of wushu. By that time, military exams in Wushu had been introduced. Unlike military wushu, which was focused mainly on the applied aspect applicable in battle, wushu, which developed outside military circles, in the process of evolution, gave impetus to the development of a huge number of styles and movements based on different principles and different philosophical schools. With the advent of firearms, the value of wushu as a military art decreased markedly, and wushu gradually turned into a comprehensive system of personal improvement, with a deep philosophical basis. The main function of wushu during this period was to improve the individual skill of the practitioner and bring it into line with the value characteristics of “sanjiao” - the three main philosophical schools of China - Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. It was during this period that such fundamental theoretical treatises of Wushu appeared as “Quan Yi Shu Zhen”, “Baguaquan Xue”, “Taijiquan Xue”, “Xing’yiquan Xue” by Sun Fuquan, “Chenshi Taijiquan Tushuo” by Chen Xin, “Taijiquan Jing” by Wang Zongyue et al. During the period of the Yihetuan uprising, wushu turned into a powerful ethnically integrating factor: to fight the foreign powers that had captured China and divided it into spheres of influence, detachments of peasants, led by wushu masters, arose throughout the country. Such groups, called yihequan (fists of harmony and justice), practiced esoteric forms of wushu, with a strong mystical component. After the Xinhai Revolution, the number of Wushu practitioners began to decline, but since 1928 a new flowering of this ancient art began. “Jing Wu Hui” - the Fighting Spirit Association - is created in Shanghai, wushu training centers are created throughout the country and competitions begin to be held. In 1936, China sent a team of Wushu masters to participate in demonstration performances at the opening of the Olympics in Berlin.

What is wushu - martial art, sports, healing and health-improving gymnastics, psychotraining, philosophy, system? First of all, this is the path to personal improvement, to the harmony of a person with the world around him. The term "wu shu" translated from Chinese means "martial art". The name wushu itself appeared only at the beginning of our century; before that, the terms “qin-yun”, “ji-yun”, etc. were used.

Wushu literally means martial arts. Like any other art, wushu originally arose from a craft consisting of hunting and self-defense skills. The impetus for the emergence of such a system was the idea not only to have good weapon, but also to master the skill of its use.

Already at the end of the second century a harmonious system appeared individual training warriors, called ui. This term was used for a number of centuries, subsequently becoming synonymous with the word wushu. Wuyi included wrestling (juedi), hand-to-hand combat (shoubo) and weapon techniques (the so-called “18 martial arts”, consisting of the ability to use nine short and nine long types of weapons). The training was based on sets of formal exercises (taolu), which were performed individually and with partners.

Over the course of a number of centuries, Wushu (Ui) improved, incorporating methods of mastering various weapons and one’s own body, as a result becoming a kind of synthesis of things that are both heterogeneous and mutually complementary, and turning into not a simple combat system, but a path to perfection itself .

There are currently several hundred in China different styles Wushu, which includes hand-to-hand combat and techniques for working with a variety of weapons. The division of styles and techniques comes from reference to the territory of their origin. The main centers of emergence of various schools and directions were: southern and northern Shaolin, and the territories of the Wudan and Emei mountains.

Conventionally, there is a division into “external” and “internal” schools. According to legend, this division was first introduced by the Taoist monk Zhang Sanfeng in the 12th century. He taught that "external" styles are based on development physical qualities, and "internal" - on use vitality(qi) and waiting as the main technique. Later it became popular to compare the “external” styles with a mountain river overcoming obstacles, and the “internal” ones with a flat one bending around them.

There is an opinion that such a division arose as a result of the opposition of Shaolin Wushu (with its legendary physical training) to a number of other techniques. Perhaps that is why in the future “internal” styles were associated with the Taoist tradition, and external ones with the Buddhist one. But by and large, this division is very arbitrary, since in any “external” style or direction, internal work is given a very significant place, and any “internal” school cannot do without a complex of exhausting physical exercise.

The learning process in the “internal” and “external” schools was not limited to the study of various techniques, but was designed for many years, and represented broad program, the main goal of which was the improvement of body and spirit, the improvement of personality. It is quite difficult to define what Wushu is. If in the West Wushu is perceived either as a martial art, or as a sport or recreational gymnastics, then for China it is something more. At different periods of history, Wushu included methods of fighting, methods of healing and healing, meditative and spiritual practices, folk holiday rituals, circus performances and dances in imitation of animals, even breathing exercises. But most importantly, at all times Wushu was perceived as “wonderful and refined”, as a “secret art” (miao and xuan shu). It was realized in a “spiritual blow” (Shen Quan), bestowing true mastery” (Zhen Gong Fu), “good power” (De). It is easy to notice that all this is like a kind of sacred “character given from Heaven” of Wushu. It is no coincidence that today In traditional schools, martial arts training is said to be “practice to achieve mastery” (lian gong), as opposed to sports sections, where they simply “train.” All this only confirms the connection of the Wushu tradition with spiritual and religious systems.

Wushu served as the source and, at the same time, the matrix for all martial arts in East Asia. It is in China that the roots of karate and judo, aikido and Korean Hwarangdo, Japanese sumo and Vietnamese Vietvo Dao are found. Consequently, by studying Chinese martial arts, we can see, as it were, the “protoform” of Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and even some Indonesian martial systems. True, not everyone loudly declares this today. But the fact remains a fact - even in such a purely Japanese form martial arts, like karate, at first the names of techniques and complexes were borrowed from China.

If Japanese martial arts spread throughout the world along the “official” line, and the growth of their popularity is still promoted by thoughtful government policies, then Chinese Wushu penetrated into other countries primarily through communities of Chinese emigrants. It was from them that the West learned about Chinese Wushu. Since foreign Chinese came mainly from the south of China, and many were also members of secret societies, a term common in this environment and synonymous with wushu - gongfu - began to be used to designate martial arts. Due to the peculiarities of transcription, its sound was somewhat distorted, and the world learned about the martial art of kungfu. At first, kung fu was taught in the West mainly by the Chinese, and a little later they were joined by Europeans. For a long time, such teaching was rather unsystematic, and kungfu meant not so much the Chinese martial arts themselves, but rather all those methods of fighting and healing that did not fall under the clear system of karate. Naturally, it was not without the creation of new “styles” and “schools”. Most of them were outright counterfeits of oriental exoticism, but some turned out to be very successful inventions, although they had little contact with Chinese tradition.

People started talking about Chinese martial arts back in the 60s. 20th century, but the real boom came around the beginning of the 70s, when the number of kungfu halls began to grow rapidly.

At first, kungfu was perceived only as an antithesis or addition to karate - “even better,” as Western magazines like “Inside Kungfu” and “Karate” wrote about it. I wonder what for a long time The West did not even know what Chinese martial arts were called, so the name “Chinese boxing” appeared, and the famous popularizer of martial arts, Ed Parker, generally wrote about Chinese karate.

The situation changed noticeably in the late 70s. It was then that the first, albeit insufficiently professional, but educational works on the history and spiritual tradition of Wushu began to appear, displacing the tabloid literature about “deadly touches and energy blows.” So it gradually became clear that Wushu is a phenomenon of a higher order than just martial practice.

With the creation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, a real turning point occurred in the development of wushu: wushu is recognized as an official sport and is included in the program of All-China competitions. In 1958, the All-China Wushu Association was created, which was tasked with developing rules and a competitive standard for sports schools and wushu sections. “Evening parties” are being created all over the country. sports schools wushu” (by wushu xuexiao), wushu departments are opened in physical education institutes, and wushu is included in the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the People's Republic of China as a mandatory program.

In 1979, the State Committee for physical culture and sports, the PRC instructs a group of specialists to work on compiling an encyclopedia of schools and varieties of wushu. This work, which lasted almost 6 years, made it possible to record about 500 different styles of wushu on videotape and create a register of masters traditional types wushu and publish the “Big Encyclopedic Dictionary of Chinese Wushu,” which lists all currently recorded types of wushu.

In 1986, under the All-China Wushu Association, the “Institute for the Study of Wushu of the People's Republic of China” (Zhongguo Wushu Yanjiu Yuan) was created, whose task is to develop, prepare and publish educational materials in Wushu, training of trainers and teachers, improvement of competition rules.

Established in 1991 International Federation wushu and the inclusion of wushu (taolu) in the program Olympic Games 2008 opens a new page in the history of this sport.

Many people know about the Shaolin Monastery in China; films have been made about it and written in books and newspapers.

Everyone knows that the monks of this monastery possessed unusual martial arts.

So, the birthplace of the martial art of Wushu is the Chinese province of Henan. Namely, the origin took place in the famous Shaolin monastery.

What it is

Wushu, translated from Chinese, means “to stop aggression or martial art”; in the West it is called kung fu. A person who masters Wushu techniques is called a Wushuist.

The creator of this unique martial arts was the former patriarch Bodhidharma in the mid-6th century AD, he was also the creator and laid the foundations for the Chen sect, called Zen in Japan.

When Bodhidharma came to the Shaolin Monastery, he began to talk about the new teaching.

And then he saw in the first lesson that many students were weak in body and spirit, that is, they fell asleep during classes.

And so he decided to create a physical and psychological preparation special exercises entitled “18 movements of the hands of Arhats” (Arhat is a superman or demigod, translated from Sanskrit - worthy).

In these 18 simple combinations, first they stood up on defense, then they struck, and in the end there were a lot of combinations, about several thousand.

Even before the creation of Wushu in the 2nd - 3rd century, a famous physician named Hua-to developed therapeutic exercises– Games of five animals, which included a bear, a bird, a tiger, a monkey, a deer, that is, an imitation of these animals.

But it was also used not only in medicinal purposes, but also in combat. When he died, he left behind a huge and scientific legacy.

This gymnastics also exists on this moment, you can watch it in this video:

Styles

Soon, the Shaolin monks began to develop styles of animals and insects, imitating the elements of water, wind, fire and air.

Now there are several thousand styles of Wushu. For example, the names of famous wushu styles - the most famous is Taijiquan (Great Limit Fist), it includes slow and plastic movements that fascinate with their beauty, the beauty of these movements is not only external, but also internal, that is, a person feels all the beauty in his body.

There is also a style of wushu Tanglangquan or Mantis style created by master Wang Lan from Shandong province.

Tanglangquan includes fast movements, flexibility, and grips.

Using it, you will know all the beauty, and to know it, you need desire and willpower, then you will reach the heights of perfection itself.

Now the martial art of wushu exists almost everywhere, some use it for combat, and others for medicinal purposes. Wushu is also a kind of gymnastics. There is also the sport of wushu sanda - free contact combat.

You can start practicing it if you want to get to know it better, here is the title of the book - author I-Shen - “We start wushu gymnastics from scratch.” Read, enjoy and be healthy!

Watch a video about the martial art of Wushu:

We can say that Chinese martial arts are business card China. Many people all over the world know or have heard something about the legendary Shaolin Monastery and its famous monks - masters of Shaolin kung fu. In China itself, martial arts (in the broad sense of the word) are closely associated with the lives of almost all segments of the population. In any Chinese city, in the morning and evening in the parks you can see groups of people of all ages and professions engaged in one or another practice. For some, this is a way to maintain health and develop physical fitness, for some it’s an opportunity to spend time outdoors in the company of like-minded people, for others it’s training for the sake of combat use and self-defense, and for some, Chinese practices are a path of self-development and a whole philosophy of life. Of course, Chinese martial arts are much more than sports or recreational gymnastics. This is a whole layer of culture that has developed over thousands of years along with the development of China and its ancient traditions.

Around the middle of the 20th century, Chinese practices began to actively spread beyond the Celestial Empire. Now the Chinese styles of Wushu and Taijiquan are known all over the world, a huge number of people practice them, and in many countries there are schools created by Chinese masters or their students. More and more more people have the opportunity to touch this amazing knowledge, experience this experience and make their life a little better, a little more harmonious. And as a result, the whole world is gradually becoming better. Isn't this an incentive to study? J

The Chinese language is very difficult for Westerners to understand. Many terms and expressions are difficult to translate into foreign language, because they contain deep meanings that are understandable only in the context of Chinese culture and tradition. In martial arts, there are at least three commonly known terms, the meanings of which are sometimes confused - wushu, kung fu and tai chi. Let's figure out what it is.

Term "wushu" (武术, wǔshù, literally “military / martial art”) is usually used as a general name for all martial arts in China. The following areas of Wushu can be distinguished:

• • Sports wushu (wushu-taolu) is a sport in which competitions at various levels are held. Athletes compete in performing complexes (taolu, 套路 - a set of paths), as well as various mandatory elements;
  • Sanda (Sanshou), literally means “free punches” (or “free hands”) - “Chinese boxing”, a modern form of contact martial arts in China. It was developed by the Chinese military based on various styles of traditional wushu, as well as self-defense methods and elements of other martial arts;
  • traditional wushu is traditional Chinese martial arts that have developed over the centuries, usually in monasteries (in particular, traditional styles include those developed in the Shaolin monastery, in the Taoist monasteries of Wudang, etc.). Traditional Chinese martial arts tend to be the essence of martial arts and deep philosophy.

Term "kung Fu" (功夫, gongfu) has a broader meaning in China. The word kung fu (or gongfu in Chinese) can be translated as “skill,” “hard work,” or simply “time.” That is, kung fu can be used in any activity - martial arts, cooking, construction and anything else, if a person has been practicing for a long time and has achieved mastery. However, in the West, this word is usually associated with the martial arts of China.

Taijiquan (太极拳, tàijíquán) – literally: “fist of the Great Limit”, Chinese martial art, a type of wushu (or kung fu).

What is special about Taijiquan compared to other styles of traditional kung fu and are there any fundamental differences between them?

Taijiquan is an ancient martial art, which is based on the ancient Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang - two opposites, two poles, always existing in pairs and never separately, constantly changing and flowing into each other. Strength is created from inner peace and the ability to control Qi energy. In this case, the emphasis is not on attacking and striking, but on gently redirecting the enemy’s force.

The same can be said about traditional kung fu, in particular Shaolin kung fu. Shaolin Kung Fu is a holistic system that combines martial art and Chan philosophy. This system includes not only technically complex movements and complexes, but also gentle methods of internal work and energy cultivation. In essence, there is no difference between internal and external. Any external manifestation of strength is based on internal work (neigong). One of the basic principles of Shaolin kung fu is that there is Chan in every movement. "Chan" (禪, chán) is the central concept of Chinese Buddhism, Chan Buddhism. It can be literally translated as “contemplation.” However, in the Chinese tradition, this word has a much deeper and more voluminous meaning, which is almost impossible to convey in words, but can only be felt with the heart.

This is maximum fullness and emptiness at the same time, this is peace of mind and inner strength. To know Chan means to know your inner nature and learn to act in accordance with it. Shaolin Kung Fu is when martial art and Chan are inseparable. “Every shot is a smart shot. Smart means there is Chan inside.” Historically, Shaolin monks used kung fu only as a defense and were not allowed to attack first.

Thus, Taijiquan and Shaolin Kung Fu are two branches of traditional Wushu. They differ externally, but not internally. It is possible that the roots of these trends are intertwined in the depths of Chinese history and have the same beginning. Both are systems of self-development, which occurs thanks to the awareness and inner work of the practitioner. Victory over an opponent is not as important as victory over oneself. In the study of both Tai Chi and Kung Fu, the Teacher plays a fundamental role. “From heart to heart” is the main method of transmitting teachings in the Shaolin tradition. The same principle is fully applicable to the study of Tai Chi. Finding a real Teacher is a necessary condition for practicing traditional Chinese martial arts, regardless of the chosen direction.

04/29/2018 Oleg Mironenko 1196 views

From century to century, the Shaolin monks honed their skills. Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters

To move like the wind, to be heavy like a mountain and light like a swan's down - this art is taught to Wushu masters.

It is generally accepted that all types of Chinese martial arts arose on the basis of military equipment that was developed in the Shaolin Monastery. Actually this is not true. In reality, Chinese Wushu is divided into many styles and schools. And not all of them were practiced and studied by the monks of the monastery. His world famous shaolin art hand-to-hand combat owes much to Hollywood, although the monks themselves did a good job for the glory of Shaolin.

The term “wushu” can be translated from Chinese into Russian as “martial arts”. Today the Wushu world is split. Her Majesty Ideology intervened, as always. In the last century, some Chinese communist politicians considered that traditional wushu was a relic of the past and called for the creation of mass wushu, beginning to implement their plans. This is how wushu gymnastics appeared, which has nothing to do with martial arts. Any tourist who finds himself in China never ceases to be amazed when he notices with what zeal and diligence the Chinese practice wushu gymnastics. All you have to do is wake up early and walk through some park...

Just wushu

Traditional wushu is still not gymnastics, but a complex martial art. It includes not only preparation for hand-to-hand combat and the ability to handle various types of weapons. The training system in all styles is approximately the same: first, the base is “given” - the basics of technical and physical training; further – learning techniques and working them out practical application; and only then - psychological training, preparing a fighter for real fights.

Most styles end with the word "quan", meaning "fist". However, in many schools fists are given a secondary role. Then they can end in “jan” (“palm”) - for example, baguazhang (“palms of the eight trigrams”), or “jiao” (“foot”) - chuojiao (“stuck feet”).

Wushu gymnastics has nothing to do with martial arts. Photo: Mohammad Ismail/Reuters

Chinese Wushu originated around the first millennium BC. At that time, China was not yet a unified state. Each petty prince wanted to subjugate his neighbor. Every now and then bloody skirmishes occurred. It is quite obvious that wushu “grew” from a system of training warriors. Its first stage was military dances that imitated battles. So the warriors practiced a number of combat techniques.

The Chinese rulers quickly realized that the effectiveness of combat (and then clashes with the enemy occurred regularly) increases many times over if the fighters have not only skills in handling weapons, but also hand-to-hand combat techniques.

For a long time, military and martial arts were not separated, but from the 6th-7th centuries the situation changed: the former became the privilege of the elite, the latter - the common people. The result was a unique symbiosis of military techniques, folk mysticism and Taoist views - a unique system of wushu, which includes not only martial arts, but also entire systems internal training human, psychopractice and the so-called “regulation of the circulation of internal energy “qi”.

Gradually, the nature of martial wushu changed. Specialists began to appear whose level of skill was superior to Wushu warriors and palace specialists. First of all, this concerned hand-to-hand combat. Commoners often could not afford expensive weapons - so they honed their skills differently, making do with a rudimentary pole or without it at all, that is, with their fists.

Skills can be honed with soccer ball. Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters

By the end of the 19th century, Wushu became a mass phenomenon. More and more schools appeared. Many of them were more like secret communities, where the entire arsenal of means of combat was collected bit by bit, techniques were honed, and tactics were developed.

Legendary monastery

As for the oldest branch of Wushu - Shaolin art - it originated in the Sunshan Shaolin Monastery in Henan Province. One day, the Indian Buddhist preacher Bodhidharma (the Chinese called him Putidamo or simply Damo) appeared there. This event took place in the 6th century. The first thing Damo did... sat down for 9 years was to meditate in a pose called biguan in order to seriously think about how to help the monks. When Bodhidharma “woke up”, he wrote several texts. Two of them can be called medical reference books. One (“I Jin Jin”) talks about exercises that help develop physical strength. Another (“Xi Sui Jing”) talks about meditation, breathing and circulation. Most likely, it was Damo who “introduced” into the monastic environment, along with silent contemplation, the practice of regular physical exercise. The first Wushu complex that began to be studied in Shaolin - “Eighteen Arms of Arhats” (an arhat is a follower of the Buddha who has reached the fourth stage on the path to nirvana) - was also apparently taught by Damo. In this treatise (“Shi Ba Luo Han Shou”) he outlined his experience, which he received in India, being a member of the Kshatriya caste (warriors and rulers). The text describes self-defense techniques. It is not known whether Damo taught wushu, but the “Four Deeds” prescribed by him included “retribution for evil.”

However, it is worth recognizing that as a holistic martial art, wushu arose in Shaolin later. Around the 13th century during the Yuan Dynasty. This event is associated with the appearance in the monastery of four monks, specialists in fist fight: Li Sou, Bai Yunfen, Jueyuan and Li Sou's son, Denghui. Based on the “18 hands of the arhats,” Jueyuan created the “72 hands” complex, which was then significantly expanded - up to 170 techniques. Yunfeng developed the “five-stage combat” system. By the way, he is credited with the invention of the “system of five animal styles”, which became the main ones in Shaolin. However, historical sources do not confirm this - apparently, their appearance occurred in stages and lasted for centuries. The monks observed the behavior and habits of animals, how they fought with their rivals, defeating them. These observations formed the basis for the creation of fighting styles, which over time began to be used in real man-to-man fights.

Gradually, the so-called “animal” styles emerged, some of them developed so successfully that they began to form an entire school - sometimes several styles were formed in one rhinestone, which were noticeably different from each other. For example, within the “snake” style alone there are at least five types of combat: they are based on habits various types snakes - from a boa constrictor to a cobra.

From time to time, fighters from outside came to the Shaolin Monastery, some of them were distinguished by high combat skills - they shared this with the Shaolin monks. In Chinese manuscripts, a story was previously discovered about 18 monks who made a great contribution to the development of wushu technology. Today, classical Shaolin complexes can be called, for example, such styles as Hongquan (Hun's fist) and Tongbiquan (Tong's fist). Shaolin branches were opened in five provinces of China. Southern Shaolin in Fujian province even began to surpass the Northern one in popularity - its monks participated in many battles and local disputes, invariably emerging victorious. It was these monks who successfully resisted the Japanese pirates and expelled them from Chinese territory. However, the northern Shaolin people often found themselves at the center of political intrigue and unrest. For example, they took an active part in the overthrow of the Sui dynasty. The first emperor of the Tang Dynasty came to power not without their help, for which he ordered the monastery to be allocated 600 acres of land. In addition, the monks formed their own detachment of warriors. It served as an elite police unit and protected villages in the area from marauding gangs.

Modern Shaolin monks are also good artists.Photo: Luke MacGregor/Reuters

However, it would be wrong to think that the wushu taught in Shaolin was extremely complex. At that time, there were other, much more sophisticated forms of martial arts in China. Another thing is that in Shaolin they made almost anyone into a fighter. The monks knew how to force careless students to train: they repeated the same exercise for almost days, until it became automatic. As a result, the art of fighting literally penetrated into their flesh and blood.

From century to century, the Shaolin monks honed their skills. Trouble came in 1928, when a great turmoil swept through China like a tornado - the period of “militarist rule.” The territory of the monastery became the scene of a battle, as a result of which it was simply burned down. The monks had no choice but to leave the monastery. Only in 1970 did Shaolin begin to be restored. The Great Helmsman Mao was not a big fan of traditional wushu, but he personally intervened in the situation. He responded appropriately to the arrival in China of the famous Japanese master So Doshin. He had a very specific mission - to tell about his “Shorinji Kempo”, which he successfully practiced. In China, they “kindly agreed” to consider this martial art (which is also a religious movement) a Japanese version of Shaolin Wushu. For some reason, the PRC government got involved - allocated a lot of money for the restoration of the monastery and even found the last surviving monks who had previously studied wushu in Shaolin.

A dozen young wushu enthusiasts were invited to the renovated monastery, who began to train in accordance with the ancient canons. They diligently studied old techniques, and over time acquired students. Then many of them traveled around the world and began to actively promote Shaolin Wushu - “the true gongfu of China.”

Today we are seeing an interesting situation. The ranks of fans of Shaolin Wushu were divided into two camps. Some consider the monks of the Sunshan Shaolin Monastery to be true followers of the precepts of the ancient masters. Others, on the contrary, label them “merchants” who only compromise real Shaolin Wushu. And it is supposedly still alive, but not in this monastery, but, for example, in the areas of Kaifen, Mengxian and some other places. Their argument is quite convincing: they say, no self-respecting master would charge money for a lesson from a naive foreigner who, after two weeks of training, wants to get a certificate stating that he “studied real Shaolin Wushu” in Shaolin. But be that as it may, today the monastery lives and prospers. However, this is a topic for another conversation, to which we will return.

Today, many people, when they hear the word USHU, often imagine completely different contents. For some, these are movements from old films of the 80s and 90s, when at the peak of popularity there were films such as “Hong Gil Dong”, various epics about the confrontation between ninjas and Shaolin, and it’s impossible to list them all! But for some it is health movements, so beautifully and slowly performed by older people in the parks. Many people see this as a system sports combat, effective and dangerous, and there are those who train in highly acrobatic elements, training somersaults and jumps with a turn of 360 and 720 degrees...

We even conducted a special survey where we asked the question: “What is USHU???” The broadcast with this survey can be viewed on our YouTube channel right here:

It's actually simple. If you want to engage in this art, or perhaps want to send your child to USH, then you definitely need to understand what you can learn in this or that section.

For example, a person, having seen enough of the well-trained fighter Zabit Magometsharipov, a native of the USHU, one of best fighters UFC, goes to study in the WuShu section. But by chance he ends up in a place where they are working in a completely different direction. At a minimum, this person will be disappointed after a while... Or if anyone is looking for healing techniques, but ends up in a section where they are training a sports match - the result will clearly be negative. And perhaps, completely disappointed, people will no longer return to this wonderful art.

To prevent this from happening, you must initially understand both your goals and the directions that USU offers. And in this case you will not be disappointed! Because everything you want, you will definitely find in this art! The main thing is to come to the right place!

Let's finally come to the end of this issue.

But the truth is that today the USU does not represent a single space. As already mentioned, evolutionarily it was divided into 3 large directions.

Let's start in order.

Remember the old films that filled the cinema, where monks met ninjas in battle, flying warriors fought off thousands of arrows, and disappearing and teleporting fighters generally amazed our imagination!? If you don’t remember, then watch the films “Hong Gil Dong”, “Ninja vs Shaolin”, etc...

And modern cinema does not stand still. In order to be an actor in a film as a kungfu fighter or another style of fighter, certain training is needed. How colorful the moments of fights are filmed, what cool tricks the heroes do...

But this is the first direction - sports taolu. This is the direction with which in China in recent times they tried to replace all USHU. What are the reasons for these iterations? We won't consider it now. The fact remains that during the so-called Cultural Revolution, everything related to traditions and real military training was practically uprooted; everything that was connected with wushu as an integral system of training a person capable of making independent decisions, based on the concepts of military morality.

But the people’s love for Wushu could not be removed, and the wise leadership of the Central Committee of the Party of the People’s Republic of China resolved the issue radically - Wushu was created for the people, it was even called GOSHU, which meant Statecraft!

Special styles were created, the features of which were artistry and the ability to move beautifully. Today, this area has developed so much in its specialization that athletes are developing incredible dizzying acrobatic elements. The level of body control has increased to colossal heights. Somersaults and jumps, speed and artistry are at their best here. What else do you need for a movie?

But this system itself has become truly self-sufficient in order to improve in it. Professionals in this area really amaze with their coordination, jumping ability and acrobatics.

This is exactly where we have sports taolu. This is a training system where the main goal of training is to learn how to get into stances, develop beautiful readable movements, and form beautiful clear shapes of the arms and legs. However, in combat terms, everything is not so beautiful. And you need to clearly understand: this is not training to fight - this is training to show off beautifully.

And here we smoothly move on to the second direction - these are diametrically opposed goals and training. The name of this branch of USHU is .

Sanda is precisely a system of sports combat, where the basis of preparation is timing training, the ability to strike, move and work against a living opponent in the ring or a special platform. Here, efficiency in 1v1 combat is the basis of the training process. It is efficiency that is placed above artistry and beauty of movements. This is the training of a fighter.

Compared to the sports Taolu section, there are completely different movements, different movements, different body work. It's like 2 ends of one very long stick.

The more professional you are in any of these areas, the further from the middle of the stick you move towards the edge. You can never hold on to 2 ends at the same time.

And often people who are involved, for example, in sports taolu, looking at sanda players simply say: “But this is not WUSHU at all!” And vice versa. Those who practice sanda often do not understand at all what athletes do in the sports taolu section...

But in fact, these are just 2 different areas in which you can improve for a very long time. And in each of them you can achieve amazing results! You just need to clearly understand your goals and what goals the chosen direction pursues.

And here we move on to the third section, the one from which the first two came. This is the root or, so to speak, the connecting link.

This traditional USHU or better said, traditional styles of Wushu. This is the knowledge that was accumulated by Masters and passed on from generation to generation, selecting the most effective and best techniques. The basis of training in this direction is, undoubtedly, efficiency. And here we see the similarity of Sanda’s direction, which took efficiency as the basis of the training process.

However, speaking about effectiveness, it should be said that effectiveness in traditional areas is not only associated with the ability to fight with one or several opponents. Efficiency also applies to health practices. Techniques for bringing consciousness into a calm and balanced state also occupy a significant place in the transmission of traditions.

All these techniques are aimed at self-development and nurturing in a person the necessary moral, ethical and, of course, physical qualities.

For a person who has knowledge of martial arts, but has not absorbed the moral values ​​of Ude, can be very dangerous to society.

Therefore, tradition is the place where the Teacher-Student relationship is still preserved, initiation into followers and keepers of style traditions takes place. And everything is exactly as in the books about the ancient heroes-Masters, which all the children read in childhood.

Fortunately, recently the Chinese government has come to its senses and began to revive traditional Wushu. However, a lot has been lost. But still there were Masters who were able to create both the sports school of Sanda and preserve traditional knowledge. Today, like decades ago, they carefully pass them on to those who are ready to receive them.

It wasn't without problems, of course. The popularity of low-quality films of the 80s gave rise to many schools where outright fakery was passed off as mastery. This is what happened all over the world and in the post-Soviet space as well. We had a huge number of schools, called “family” or “clan”, or something else. However, at best, the creator of such schools had little training in karate, sports wushu taolu, perhaps boxing... Since there was no way to check where he got his knowledge, everything was very simply closed with words like: “the Master himself gave it to me”... And the “Masters” themselves, even if they were of Asian appearance, were often, so to speak, self-called “guardians of clan and family traditions”... Followers spent years, decades, studying such sacred practices. The result is simple. It simply doesn't exist. And, unfortunately, today there are still a lot of such schools and masters who pass off their homemade products as real kungfu. But this is a separate topic.

This all had a very negative impact and is still affecting the truly great art of Wushu. Ignorance and misunderstanding of the basics and basis of styles leads to changes in the very training process. And a lack of understanding of goals and objectives generally leads to the most disastrous results.

That is why the traditional direction is the most difficult. In fact, this is where the seemingly impossible merges - beauty and efficiency. After all, beauty is also one of the attributes of Wushu. Only how much this beauty differs from what is familiar to us - we will learn about this from another article.

Let's get back to styles. In fact, there are not countless of them. And not even thousands and thousands, but only 129 styles, the traditionality of which has been confirmed during many years of research in China itself. This was done specifically to try to protect the truly traditional movement from quackery.

In fact, there are not many true specialists in traditional styles around the world. However, they all honor and preserve traditions, and just like many centuries ago, they pass on knowledge to their students. So it’s actually much more difficult to find a real Master in a traditional direction than a coach in sports areas. And becoming a dedicated disciple or a keeper of traditions is a very difficult task. The demands placed on candidates are too high.

So, what do we have in the end?

And the fact is that before you go to practice martial arts, you need to clearly understand what goals you are pursuing. Then you need to understand which direction is taught at the school where you applied. Don't be shy to ask questions to the coach. It is important to understand what direction is practiced in a given place.

And only the following can be practiced:

1. Sports taolu, which includes the specially created styles of Chanquan and Nanquan. Also sport complexes with weapons, long or short. All these are performances specially selected for competitions, distinguished by ultra-clean movements, colorful and high acrobatics at a serious level of preparation.
2. The art of sports combat. This is a technique of free combat on a special platform or in the ring according to certain rules, which in fact in many ways distinguish this area from other related types of martial arts. This direction is characterized by high efficiency and a fairly wide variety of fighting techniques.
3. Traditional styles of Wushu, where you will study the real style of martial art, which came from time immemorial and retained all the elements of effectiveness regarding combat, healing and practices for the development of consciousness. Here you will have to painstakingly work on the base, studying complexes of different directions - both combat and health-improving. This is perhaps the most difficult direction. And here are the most pitfalls. One way or another, get ready for hard work.

It should be noted that the time of competition left its mark on traditional styles. Almost every style has specific complexes that are studied specifically for competitions. They are already more like sports taolu. Because, in most cases, for ease of evaluation, they are formed so that they resemble sports ones. Of course, in terms of combat, not all movements can be applied here. This is also something to keep in mind if you begin to study the tradition.

There is also very complex issue about how effective the methodology for studying taolu complexes is in general. But this is also a topic for a separate article!

As you can see, WUSHU today allows EACH of us to find the right direction! So don’t hesitate and come to the training! Because no matter how much we read, no matter how much we think... nothing can replace real practice!

And a video with an answer to the question - what is USHU for modern man can be viewed here: