Are the eighteen traditional martial arts really powerful? Or is it a show-off gesture?

China Wushu culture is extensive and profound. In modern times, due to the emergence of martial arts dramas and the exaggerated performances of a group of kung fu stars, Chinese people mistakenly think that China Wushu is unique and really powerful. Eighteen kinds of traditional martial arts are so superb in the interpretation of film and television dramas that Chinese people have formed a superstition about traditional martial arts.

As for traditional martial arts, is it really powerful or a gesture? I think we should look at this problem from two aspects:

First of all, the traditional Wushu concept is to keep fit and cultivate one's morality, not to fight hard. Under the guidance of the concept of fitness and martial arts, it is doomed that ancient martial arts do not aim at actual combat, and naturally they do not pay much attention to its application in actual combat, which is why those respected martial arts masters are mediocre in modern fighting and even crushed by unknown fighters. Because traditional Wushu pays attention to free and easy posture and graceful movements, it is more of a performance, and it can also be said that there are more gestures.

And the performance in combat is a combination of strength, speed and experience. Without strong muscles and quick reaction speed, without battlefield experience, there is no muscle memory in actual combat. It is also expected that the performance in the battle will be average. Therefore, it is only the wishful thinking of some people to say how powerful traditional martial arts are.

Of course, although traditional Wushu is not the first choice in actual combat compared with modern fighting, it is beyond doubt that people who practice traditional Wushu are far above ordinary people in terms of physical flexibility, strength and speed.

To sum up, the eighteen martial arts of traditional martial arts are more about the coordination of the body, and it is not too much to say that it is a gesture. Because of the guiding ideology in the process of practicing martial arts, although some people say that the lethality of ancient traditional martial arts should not be underestimated, it is only a legend after all, and no one has really seen it. Moreover, from the mechanical point of view in modern physics, it is against the basic principles of mechanics to say anything soft or hard, so I think traditional Wushu is more of a performance.