Golden Eagle Martial Arts Federation Federacion Internacional de Artes Marciales
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Chinese Martial Arts
By Charles Xue For Golden Eagle Martial Arts
Chinese martial arts have a long history. They were created, accumulated, and enriched by the Chinese people over a period of many thousands of years. In the primitive society, people needed to go hunting and fight against other tribes, and they learned to use weapons of primitive forms; besides, the need to strengthen their physique gave rise to the early stage of martial arts. In the slave and feudal society, martial arts gained steady development and improvement—people not only learned the art of fist fighting but also developed the art of using sword and knife. By the time of Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, Chinese martial arts entered the unprecedented stage of development. They enjoyed more and more categories and schools, and they were divided into inner style and external style: inner style refers to such boxing styles of Taichi Boxing, Pakua Palm, and Xingyi Boxing; external style refers to vigorous boxing such as Shaolin Boxing and Chang Boxing (Long Boxing). Martial arts were closely associated with military affairs, personal skills, and fitness. Currently martial arts are very popular in China and they have become a part of sports and culture. Under the leadership of China Federation of Martial Arts, cities and provinces all over China have established their respective martial arts branches, and martial arts schools as well as training programs can be seen throughout China. In China, many people like to learn and practice martial arts; even foreign visitors come to China from far away to learn martial arts, through which they can strengthen their health, learn the skills of self-defense, nurture their inner strength as well as enrich their lives. They can also learn the virtue of martial arts: develop a sense of justice, respect the old and protect the young and weak, and self-discipline. What are martial arts comprised of? They encompass a great variety of things. Based on the form and law of their movement, they are generally divided into two categories of “set moves’ and “fighting moves,” and each contain many different forms. The set moves mainly include the art of fists (boxing), weapons, two-men confrontational exercise, and collective demonstration. The fighting moves mean that two men, under the same conditions and according to the set rules, are engaged in physical confrontation mocking real fighting situations. The art of boxing mainly includes Long Boxing, Taichi Boxing, South Boxing, Xingyi Boxing, Pakua Boxing, Tongbi Boxing, Shaolin Boxing, Ditang Boxing, and Xiangxing Boxing, etc. Taichi Boxing is soft and gentle; the moving of fists and arms is continuous. Because physically it is not so demanding and is good to health and fitness, it is well liked by the people—especially the old people. Xiangxing Boxing imitates the various attributes and forms of animals, e.g., Tiger Boxing, Snake Boxing, Monkey Boxing, Grasshopper Boxing, and Eagle Claw Boxing, etc. Sometimes, the boxing shows the special manner of human beings. For example, one who practices Drunk Boxing will act like a drunkard and walk with erratic steps. In some Chinese movies, a good Drunk Boxing player can fight while holding a cup containing liquor in his hand. He is so good that the liquor will not spill during the fight. In recent years, more and more Chinese movies and TV mini-series that have been shown in China contain historical subjects with martial arts scenes. This is a good thing because it will promote and popularize martial arts and carry forward the Chinese tradition.
In recent years, China has tried to promote martial arts all over the world. It has sent numerous martial arts delegations to foreign countries to make a demonstration and assigned many teachers to teach martial arts abroad. In 1985, China organized and held its first international martial arts tournament in Anhui Province. After that, martial arts federations were founded in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Asian Martial Arts Championship was held respectively in 1987, 1989, and 1992 in Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. In 1991, Beijing hosted the First International Martial Arts Championship and, after that, world martial arts championship has been held every other year periodically. This shows that Chinese martial arts have gained popularity throughout the world.
