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Wushu Stances
Stances are a highly fundamental part of all Chinese Martial Arts. Wushu is characterized by low, wide stances designed for mobility and protection. Stability is another key concern of Chinese martial arts, and the wushu stances reflect this sensibility. There are five key stances utilized in both contemporary wushu and traditional wushu. Many others exist, and different styles of wushu prescribe a particular protocol for "correct" stance. Contemporary wushu stances In contemporary wushu there are five basic stances: "Gong Bu" (bow stance), "Ma Bu" (horse stance), "Xie Bu" (rest stance), "Pu Bu" (flat stance), and "Xu Bu" (false stance). Mǎ Bù (馬步) Ma Bu, known as "horse stance" or "horse-riding stance" Qí Mǎ Bù (騎馬步), is a fundamental stance found in nearly all styles of wushu. In actual attack and defense, Ma Bu is sometimes viewed as a transitional stance, from which a practitioner may quickly switch to other stances. The stance typically begins with the feet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stance (martial Arts)
In martial arts, stances are the distribution, foot orientation and body positions (particularly the legs and torso) adopted when attacking, defending, advancing, or retreating. In many Asian martial arts, the most widely used stance is a shallow standing squat. This position is generally employed as it is a neutral and agile position from which both attacks and defences may be launched. It provides for the delivery of force when attacking and stability when defending. Stances vary greatly in their application and form. In general, stances may be described in a number of ways: Open or closed This refers to the lateral distance between the lead and rear foot. In general, open stances are more stable than closed stances. However, open stances leave one vulnerable to groin attacks and expose a larger portion of the body to an opponent. Long or short This refers to the distance from the lead foot to the rear foot. Short stances make the user very agile, but can be unstable. Long st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Changquan
Chángquán () refers to a family of external (as opposed to internal) martial arts (kung fu) styles from northern China. The forms of the Long Fist style emphasize fully extended kicks and striking techniques, and by appearance would be considered a long-range fighting system. In some Long Fist styles the motto is that "the best defense is a strong offense," in which case the practitioner launches a preemptive attack so aggressive that the opponent doesn't have the opportunity to attack. Others emphasize defense over offense, noting that nearly all techniques in Long Fist forms are counters to attacks. Long Fist uses large, extended, circular movements to improve overall body mobility in the muscles, tendons, and joints. Advanced Long Fist techniques include qin na joint-locking techniques and shuai jiao throws and takedowns. The Long Fist style is considered to contain a good balance of hand and foot techniques, but in particular it is renowned for its impressive acrobatic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Changquan
Chángquán () refers to a family of external (as opposed to internal) martial arts (kung fu) styles from northern China. The forms of the Long Fist style emphasize fully extended kicks and striking techniques, and by appearance would be considered a long-range fighting system. In some Long Fist styles the motto is that "the best defense is a strong offense," in which case the practitioner launches a preemptive attack so aggressive that the opponent doesn't have the opportunity to attack. Others emphasize defense over offense, noting that nearly all techniques in Long Fist forms are counters to attacks. Long Fist uses large, extended, circular movements to improve overall body mobility in the muscles, tendons, and joints. Advanced Long Fist techniques include qin na joint-locking techniques and shuai jiao throws and takedowns. The Long Fist style is considered to contain a good balance of hand and foot techniques, but in particular it is renowned for its impressive acrobatic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shuai Jiao
Shuai Jiao () is the term pertaining to the ancient jacket wrestling wushu style of Beijing, Tianjin and Baoding of Hebei Province in the North China Plain which was codified by Shan Pu Ying (善撲营 The Battalion of Excellency in Catching) of the Nei Wu Fu (内務府, Internal Administration Unit of Imperial Household Department). In modern usage it is also the general Mandarin Chinese term for any form of wrestling, both inside and outside China. As a generic name, it may be used to cover various styles of wrestling practiced in China in the form of a martial arts system or a sport. The art was introduced to Southern China in the Republican era (see Republic of China (1912–1949)) after 1911. History Over 6,000 years ago, the earliest Chinese term for wrestling, "jǐao dǐ" ( 角抵, ''horn butting''), refers to an ancient style of military Kung-Fu in which soldiers wore horned headgear with which they attempted to butt, throw and defeat their enemies. Ancient Chinese imp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fujian White Crane. Karate is now predominantly a striking art using Punch (combat), punching, kicking, knee (strike), knee strikes, elbow strikes and open-hand techniques such as Knifehand strike, knife-hands, spear-hands and palm-heel strikes. Historically, and in some modern styles, grappling, throws, joint locks, restraints and kyusho-jitsu, vital-point strikes are also taught. A karate practitioner is called a . The Empire of Japan annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879. Karate came to mainland Japan in the early 20th century during a time of migration as Ryukyuans, especially from Okinawa, looked for work in the main islands of Japan. It was systematically taught in Japan after the Taishō ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rooster
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult male bird, and a younger male may be called a cockerel. A male that has been castrated is a capon. An adult female bird is called a hen and a sexually immature female is called a pullet. Humans now keep chickens primarily as a source of food (consuming both their meat and eggs) and as pets. Traditionally they were also bred for cockfighting, which is still practiced in some places. Chickens are one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, with a total population of 23.7 billion , up from more than 19 billion in 2011. There are more chickens in the world than any other bird. There are numerous cultural references to chickens – in myth, folklore and religion, and in language and literature. Genetic studies have pointed to mult ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kick
A kick is a physical Strike (attack), strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee (strike), knee strike). This type of attack is used frequently by hoof, hooved animals as well as humans in the context of stand-up fighting. Kicks play a significant role in many forms of martial arts, such as capoeira, kalaripayattu, karate, kickboxing, kung fu, Mixed martial arts, MMA, Muay thai, pankration, pradal serey, savate, sikaran, silat, taekwondo, vovinam, and Yaw-Yan. Kicks are a universal act of aggression among humans. Kicking is also prominent from its use in many sports, especially those called football. The best known of these sports is association football, also known as soccer. History The English verb :wikt:kick, to kick appears only in the late 14th century, apparently as a loan from Old Norse, originally in the sense of a h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Praying Mantis
Northern Praying Mantis () is a style of Chinese martial arts, sometimes called Shandong Praying Mantis after its province of origin. It was created by Wang Lang (王朗) and was named after the praying mantis, an insect, the aggressiveness of which inspired the style. One Mantis legend places the creation of the style during the Song dynasty when Wang Lang was supposedly one of 18 masters gathered by the Abbot Fu Ju (福居), a legendary persona of the historical Abbot Fu Yu (福裕; 1203–1275), to improve Shaolin martial arts. However, most legends place Wang Lang in the late Ming dynasty. Features The mantis is a long and narrow predatory insect. While heavily armoured, it is not built to withstand forces from perpendicular directions. Consequently, its fighting style involves the use of whip-like/circular motions to deflect direct attacks, which it follows up with precise attacks to the opponent's vital spots. These traits have been subsumed into the Northern Prayin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yang-style Taijiquan
Yang family-style () T‘ai-Chi Ch‘üan (Taijiquan) in its many variations is the most popular and widely practised style in the world today and the second in terms of seniority among the primary five family styles of T'ai Chi Ch'uan. History The Yang family first became involved in the study of t'ai chi ch'uan (taijiquan) in the early 19th century. The founder of the Yang-style was Yang Luchan (楊露禪), aka Yang Fu-k'ui (楊福魁, 1799–1872), who studied under Ch'en Chang-hsing (1771–1853) starting in 1820. Yang became a teacher in his own right, and his subsequent expression of t'ai chi ch'uan became known as the Yang-style, and directly led to the development of other three major styles of t'ai chi ch'uan (see below). Yang Luchan (and some would say the art of t'ai chi ch'uan, in general) came to prominence as a result of his being hired by the Chinese Imperial family to teach t'ai chi ch'uan to the elite Palace Battalion of the Imperial Guards in 1850, a position ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baguazhang
Baguazhang or Pakua chang () is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the Wudang school, the other two being T'ai chi and Xing Yi Quan. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice (or neijia quan). ''Bāguà zhǎng'' literally means "eight trigram palm", referring to the bagua "trigrams" of the ''I Ching'' (''Yijing''), one of the canons of Taoism.Lie, Zhang. “Classical Baguazhang Volume V: Yin Style Baguazhang.” Trans. Joseph Crandall. Pinole, California: Smiling Tiger Martial Arts 1995. History The creation of Baguazhang as a formalized martial art, is attributed to Dong Haichuan (), who is said to have learned from Taoist and Buddhist masters in the mountains of rural China during the early 19th century. Many Chinese authorities do not accept the Buddhist origin, instead maintaining that those teachers were purely Taoist in origin, the evidence lying in Baguazhang's frequent reference to core concepts central to Taoism, such as Yin and Yang theory, I Ching ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
T'ai Chi Ch'uan
Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called "shadowboxing", is an neijia, internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. Tai chi has practitioners worldwide from Asia to the Americas. Early practitioners such as Yang Chengfu and Sun Lutang promoted the art for its health benefits beginning in the early 20th century. Its global following may be attributed to overall benefit to personal health. Many forms are practiced, both traditional and modern. Most modern styles trace their development to the five traditional schools: Chen-style t'ai chi ch'uan, Chen, Yang-style t'ai chi ch'uan, Yang, Wu (Hao)-style t'ai chi ch'uan, Wu (Hao), Wu-style t'ai chi ch'uan, Wu, and Sun-style t'ai chi ch'uan, Sun. All trace their historical origins to Chen-style t'ai chi ch'uan#Chen Village (Chenjiagou), Chen Village. Concepts ''Yin'' and ''Yang'' The concept of the ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song often came into conflict with the contemporaneous Liao, Western Xia and Jin dynasties in northern China. After retreating to southern China, the Song was eventually conquered by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The dynasty is divided into two periods: Northern Song and Southern Song. During the Northern Song (; 960–1127), the capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (now Kaifeng) and the dynasty controlled most of what is now Eastern China. The Southern Song (; 1127–1279) refers to the period after the Song lost control of its northern half to the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song Wars. At that time, the Song court retreated south of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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