What is the difference between Chinese Wushu and Shaolin Wushu?

Chinese Wushu, also known as "national art" or "martial arts", is a traditional Chinese sport. Its content is the kicking, hitting, wrestling, taking, dropping, striking, chopping, stabbing and other movements in accordance with certain rules of the composition of unarmed and equipment of a variety of offensive and defensive combat kung fu, routines and single-position exercises. Chinese Wushu is not only a form of traditional Chinese sports, but also a complete cultural ideology, which embraces various components and elements of traditional Chinese culture, such as classical Chinese philosophy, ethics, aesthetics, medicine, military science, etc., and is permeated with the essence of traditional Chinese culture. Wushu has an extremely broad mass base and is a valuable cultural heritage that has been accumulated and enriched by the Chinese people in their long-term social practice.

Wushu was initially used as a means of military training and was closely connected with ancient military struggles, and its technical characteristics are obvious. In practical terms, its aim was to kill, injure and subdue the opponent, and it often forced the opponent to lose his ability to resist by the most effective methods of technical combat. These techniques are still used in the military and public security. As a sport, Wushu still has the characteristics of attack and defense techniques, but the techniques are embedded in combat sports and routines. Combat sports focus on the characteristics of the martial arts attack and defense fighting, in terms of technology and practical skills are basically the same, but from the concept of sports, it is subject to the rules of the competition, in order not to harm each other as a principle. Such as in the Sanshou in the martial arts in some of the traditional methods of practical skills for the restriction, and strict provisions of the striking parts and protective gear, short arms in the use of the apparatus has also made the corresponding changes, and push hands are in the special technical provisions of the competitive confrontation. Therefore, it can be said that the martial arts combat sports have a strong offensive and defensive skills, but also with practical skills are different.

The classification of Chinese martial arts is divided by region, by mountains and rivers, by family name or internal and external family, and by technical characteristics. According to its form of movement can be divided into two categories: set movement and combat movement. Sets of sports, is to combat action as the material, to attack and defense in retreat, static and static rapidity and speed, rigidity and flexibility of the change of the law of the movement of the whole set of practice form. According to the form of practice can be divided into single practice, practice and collective exercise three types. Single practice includes unarmed boxing and equipment. Sparring includes unarmed sparring, equipment sparring, unarmed and equipment sparring. Group drills are divided into unarmed sparring, equipment or unarmed and equipment.

B. Shaolin Wushu:

Although the world knows that "the world's kung fu is out of Shaolin, and Shaolin kung fu is the best in the world," in the past, people recognized Shaolin kung fu more from the technical level, and it is usually called "Shaolin Wushu. "Shaolin Wushu". Abbot Shi Yongxin said that the term "Shaolin Wushu" could not encompass the rich cultural value of "Shaolin Kungfu" accumulated in the 1500 years of history of Shaolin Temple. Therefore, the need to re-establish the Shaolin Temple as the "Shaolin Kung Fu" historical source of the status of the correct interpretation of the "Shaolin Kung Fu" complete connotation.

Songshan Shaolin Temple, founded in 495 AD, is the birthplace of Chinese Buddhism "Zen", where successive generations of monks have created the Shaolin Kung Fu as a way of transmission by word and example. As one of the most popular and widely spread expressions of traditional Chinese Buddhist culture, Shaolin Kung Fu has developed over 1500 years of history and gradually formed a complete and systematic system of Zen martial arts culture, which has become the authentic Chinese martial arts and the representative of Eastern Zen martial arts culture.

According to the records of the fist spectrum handed down from Shaolin Temple, there are 708 sets of Shaolin Kungfu***, among which, there are 217 kinds of traditional Shaolin Kungfu only classic sets, internal stances, medical secrets, Shaolin qigong, 108 strokes of Luohan Sanshou, etc., which are the essence of Zen martial arts culture passed down by the masters and disciples of the Shaolin monks. And the Shaolin Fist, Shaolin Stick, 72 stunts, Dharma Yi Jin and Marrow Cleansing Sutra, etc., have long been familiar to the Chinese world at home and abroad.

Abbbot Shi Yongxin said, the real "Shaolin Kung Fu", is in the Songshan Shaolin Temple specific Buddhist cultural environment in the historical formation, to the King of the King of the tightrope faith as the core, to the Shaolin Temple monks practicing martial arts as a form of expression, and fully reflect the wisdom of the Zen tradition of Buddhist cultural system. However, for the sake of practice and competitive sports, the world often equates Shaolin Wushu with Shaolin Kungfu, and its spiritual and cultural connotations are gradually missing, and the true Shaolin Kungfu is less and less known. And some fake "Shaolin Wushu", but also affect the reputation of Shaolin Kung Fu.

Shi Yongxin believes that "Shaolin Kung Fu" has a religious and cultural function is the basic, the first; "Shaolin Kung Fu" as a martial art, only the technical level, is only one of the specific manifestations of the spirit of Buddhism, is the second. Kungfu is cultivation, Zen, Shaolin monks practice martial arts, is a kind of cultivation. "The religious nature of Shaolin Kung Fu, which is expressed at the functional level, is not found in other martial arts. This is the essential difference between Shaolin Kung Fu and other martial arts.

Shaolin Temple attaches great importance to the study of "Shaolin Kung Fu" religious and cultural functions and values. According to reports, the temple has established a professional martial arts monks, Shaolin martial arts books and audio-visual library, Shaolin Cultural Research Institute, systematically carry out Shaolin Zen, martial arts, medicine, art and other Shaolin cultural research. It also promotes Shaolin Kungfu at home and abroad by organizing international academic seminars on Shaolin Kungfu, and cooperating with cultural and art groups to produce Shaolin Kungfu stage plays and Shaolin Kungfu cartoons.

At present, "Shaolin Kungfu" has become a brand of Chinese traditional culture with wide appeal and influence. President of the China Academy of Art, Mr. Wang Wenzhang, believes that the Shaolin culture formed by more than 1,500 years of history and cultural precipitation, including Zen, martial arts, medicine and art, especially the Shaolin Kungfu culture, which is the core of the belief in the Buddhist God of Protection and the wisdom of Zen Buddhism, is a treasure of the traditional culture of the Chinese nation.