Chinese martial arts

Chinese martial arts, also known as wushu (traditional Chinese: 武術; simplified Chinese: 武术; pinyin: wǔshù), and popularly as kung fu (Chinese: 功夫 pinyin: gōngfū) consists of a number of fighting styles that were developed over the centuries. Example of fighting styles include Bagua, Drunken Boxing, Eagle Claw, Five Animals, Hsing I, Hung Gar, Lau Gar, Monkey, Bak Mei Pai, Praying Mantis, Fujian White Crane, Wing Chun and Tai Chi Chuan. Those fighting styles can be classified according to common themes that are identified as "families" (家, jiā), "sects" (派, pai) or "schools" (門, men) of martial art. Example of themes are physical exercises that mimic movements from animals or a history and training method that gather inspiration from various Chinese philosophies, myths and legends. Some styles has their training focus on the the harnessing of qi power and is labeled internal (内家拳), while others concentrate on improving muscle and cardiovascular fitness and is labeled external (外家拳). Geographical association, as in northern (北拳) and southern (南拳), is another popular method of categorization. Each fighting style offers a different approach to the common problems of self-defense, health, and self-cultivation from a Chinese perspective.
China has one of the longest histories of continuously recorded martial arts tradition of any society in the world,[dubious – discuss] and with hundreds of styles probably the most varied. Over the past two thousand years, many distinctive styles have been developed, each with its own set of techniques and ideas.[29] There are also common themes to the different styles, which are often classified by "families" (家, jiā), "sects" (派, pai) or "schools" (門, men) of martial art styles. There are styles that mimic movements from animals and others that gather inspiration from various Chinese philosophies, myths and legends. Some styles put most of their focus into the harnessing of qi energy, while others concentrate solely on competition and exhibition. Each style offers a different approach to the common problems of self-defense, health and self-cultivation.