Chinese martial arts

The major traditions

Chinese martial arts (武术, wǔ shù; or 功夫, gōng fū) divide into many schools. The major distinction:

• External styles (外家) — focused on speed, power, hard physical training. Shaolin kung fu is the canonical example.
• Internal styles (内家) — focused on internal-energy cultivation, slower, philosophy-adjacent. Tai chi, baguazhang, xingyi.

Shaolin

The Shaolin Temple in Henan is the traditional home of Chinese kung fu, dating from the 6th century. The current temple is part working monastery, part martial-arts demonstration centre. Around the temple, the Songshan area has many martial-arts schools — some serious, some tourist-oriented, training Chinese and international students for periods from a week to multiple years.

Wudang

Mt Wudang in Hubei is the traditional home of Daoist internal martial arts — taichi, baguazhang, xingyi, plus the Wudang sword form. Active monastic and lay schools train at the mountain. Multi-day visitor courses are widely available.

Tai chi

Tai chi (太极拳, tài jí quán) is the most internationally diffused Chinese martial art, generally practised today as a low-impact health and meditation exercise rather than as combat training. The five major family styles:

• Chen — the original; combines slow movements with sudden bursts of force. Chen Village (Henan) is the family origin.
• Yang — the most widely practised; gentle, flowing, accessible.
• Wu — derived from Yang; smaller frame.
• Sun — combines tai chi with baguazhang and xingyi.
• Hao — least common.

Wushu

Modern Wushu (武术) is the standardised performance and competition form developed since the 1950s. It includes:

• Taolu — choreographed forms with stylised movement.
• Sanda — full-contact sparring, similar to kickboxing.

Where to see

• Shaolin Temple — daily kung fu demonstrations.
• Mt Wudang — daily tai chi demonstrations.
• Beijing Temple of Heaven at sunrise — tai chi and other practices in the public park; locals welcome visitors who want to learn the basic moves.
• Wong Tai Sin Temple (HK) — regular early-morning practice sessions in the surrounding park.
• Wushu performances at the major variety shows in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong.

Where to learn

For a serious training experience:

• Shaolin Temple area schools — multi-week to multi-year programs. Yuntai Mountain Kungfu School, Shaolin Tagou Wuyi School (the largest, 30,000+ students), Shaolin Wushu Guan. Training day 5–7 hours, with academic Chinese-and-philosophy classes for international students. ¥10,000–¥30,000 per month including lodging.
• Mt Wudang schools — Wudang Taoist Wushu Academy, Wudang Tai Chi Academy. Similar pricing.
• Tai chi classes in tier-1 cities — Beijing, Shanghai have dozens of instructors and schools. ¥800–¥3,000 per term for group classes.
• Public parks — the Temple of Heaven mornings are free; bring water and follow the locals.

What's authentic, what's tourist

• The Shaolin demonstration shown to busloads of tourists is choreographed and performance-oriented; the kung fu is real but the show is a show.
• The serious Shaolin training is in the surrounding schools, not the temple itself.
• The Wudang tai chi demonstrations in the temples are mostly genuine tai chi simplified for a tourist context.
• The morning park practitioners in any Chinese city are a representative cross-section — some serious, some social, all welcoming to a respectful visitor.

Cultural notes

• Don't ask 'is this real fighting?' — the answer is more nuanced than that.
• The 'kung fu fighter' Western archetype is well-understood by Chinese practitioners as a simplified Western stereotype.
• The relationship between martial arts and Buddhism (Shaolin) and Daoism (Wudang) is genuine but historically negotiated rather than ancient and continuous.

Chinese martial arts in daily life

The most common martial-arts practice in contemporary China is not kung fu or wushu but tai chi — practiced in parks, community centres, and public squares by tens of millions of people as a morning health routine. The average tai chi practitioner in a Beijing park is not training for combat and is not a martial artist in any conventional sense; they are doing a low-impact morning exercise with philosophical and meditative dimensions that they value as health maintenance.

Wushu at the competitive level is an Olympic discipline (demonstration since 1990; bid for full inclusion ongoing). Sanda (free-fighting) is a legitimate combat sport with professional circuits in China. Neither has strong Western cultural visibility compared to Brazilian jiu-jitsu or Muay Thai, but both are practised at high technical levels.

Chinese martial arts outside China

The influence of Chinese martial arts internationally runs primarily through two channels: the kung fu film tradition (Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and the Hong Kong martial-arts cinema wave from the 1970s) and the diaspora schools established by emigrants in Southeast Asia, the Americas, and Europe. Many of the 'Chinese martial arts schools' outside China teach lineages that have evolved distinctly from contemporary mainland wushu — including Wing Chun, Southern Mantis, and Hung Kuen, styles that are more prevalent in Guangdong/Hong Kong-rooted diaspora communities than in mainland competitive circuits.

Historical weapons and museum collections

Chinese martial arts evolved around an extensive traditional weapons repertoire — the 18 traditional weapons include spear, glaive (guandao), staff, sword (jian), sabre (dao), iron rod, crossbow, and hook swords, among others. The National Museum of China (Beijing) and the Palace Museum have weapons collections that illustrate the range and refinement of Ming and Qing martial equipment. The Shaolin Temple museum has a section dedicated to the development of Shaolin martial arts and its historical context.

The Chinese straight sword (jian, 剑) is specifically associated with refined martial arts and Daoist cultivation — it appears in traditional paintings of immortals and scholars, and carries cultural weight as an instrument of both fighting and aesthetic practice. The curved sabre (dao, 刀) is the military weapon; more practical, less culturally weighted.