Styles of Chinese martial arts

Common card · No. 314443

There are hundreds of different styles of Chinese martial arts, each with their own sets of techniques and ideas. The various movements in kung fu, most of which are imitations of the fighting styles of animals, are initiated from one to five basic foot positions: normal upright posture and the four stances called dragon, frog, horse riding, and snake. The concept of martial arts styles appeared from around the Ming dynasty. Before the Ming period, martial skills were commonly differentiated mainly by their lineage. There are common themes among these styles which allow them to be grouped according to generalized "families" (家; jiā), "fractions" (派; pài), "class" (门; mén), or "schools" (教; jiào) of martial art styles. There are styles that mimic movements from animals, or otherwise refer or allude to animals or mythical beings such as dragons, and others that gather inspiration from various Chinese philosophies or mythologies. Some deeply internal styles tend to focus strongly on practice...

Read on Wikipedia · Image CC BY-SA 3.0