Tai chi chuan (traditional Chinese: 太極拳; simplified Chinese: 太极拳; pinyin: tàijíquán; Wade-Giles: t’ai4 chi2 ch’üan2) is an internal Chinese martial art often practiced for health reasons. Tai chi is typically practiced for a variety of other personal reasons: its hard and soft martial art technique, demonstration competitions, health and longevity. Consequently, a multitude of training forms exist, both traditional and modern, which correspond to those aims. Some of tai chi chuan’s training forms are well known to Westerners as the slow motion routines that groups of people practice together every morning in parks around the world, particularly in China. more…
Archive for the Category »Wushu Styles «
Thursday, May 28th, 2009 / Armando Alvarado
Category: Wushu Styles
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Saturday, May 16th, 2009 / Armando Alvarado
Nanquan (Chinese: 南拳; pinyin: Nánquán; literally “southern fist”) refers to those Chinese martial arts that originated south of the Yangtze River of China, including Hung Kuen, Choi Lei Fut, and Wing Chun. more…
Category: Wushu Styles
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Thursday, May 14th, 2009 / Armando Alvarado
In the Chinese martial arts, imagery of the Five Animals (Chinese: 五形; pinyin: wǔ xíng; literally “Five Forms”)—Tiger, Crane, Leopard, Snake, and Dragon—appears predominantly in Southern styles, especially those associated with Guangdong and Fujian Provinces.
Category: Wushu Styles
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Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 / Armando Alvarado
Chángquán (traditional Chinese: 長拳; simplified Chinese: 长拳; pinyin: Chángqúan; literally “Long Fist“) is a general term for external (as opposed to internal) Northern Wushu. It is one of the types of Wushu kung fu.
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Friday, May 08th, 2009 / Armando Alvarado
There are several Chinese martial arts known as Snake Boxing or Snake Style (Chinese: 蛇拳; pinyin: shéquán; literally “snake fist”) which imitate the movements of snakes. Proponents claim that adopting the fluidity of snakes allows them to entwine with their opponents in defense and strike them from angles they wouldn’t expect in offense. Snake style is said to especially lend itself to applications with the Chinese straight sword. The snake is also one of the animals imitated in Baguazhang and Xingyiquan. The sinuous, fluid motion of the snake lends itself to the practical theory that underlies the “soft” martial arts. more…
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Thursday, May 07th, 2009 / Armando Alvarado
Zui Quan (Traditional and Simplified Chinese: 醉拳; pinyin: Zuì Quán, literally Drunken Fist, also known as Drunken Boxing or Drunkard’s Boxing) is a concept in traditional Chinese martial arts, as well as a classification of modern Wushu forms. Zui Quan is sometimes called Zuijiuquan (醉酒拳, literally “Drunken Alcohol Fist”).
Category: Wushu Styles
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