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This article provides brief introductions to the Wushu styles and terminology
used throughout this website.
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 One
of the most popular internal Wushu styles, Bagua is famous for its entwining
footwork and snake like body twisting. The Bagua practitioner will require
great agility to execute the turns and intricate steps this style contains.
A graceful yet powerful style, Bagua is well known for its benefits to one’s
health.
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 One
of the styles combined into the Chang Quan system, Cha Quan is characterised
by rhythmic movements and coordinated hand and foot techniques. An efficient
style, Cha Quan is extremely graceful and exacting, emphasising fast
strikes, strong stances and cleanly defined attacks.
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 This
is the back bone of modern Wushu, being derived from a dozen or so different
schools of Martial Arts. Chang Quan, also known as Long Fist, is recognised
for its characteristically long range attacks, with fast movements, high
jumps and powerful strikes. It also combines this hardness with balances and
graceful postures.
Being suited more to faster and flexible individuals, Chang Quan is more
often performed by younger athletes.
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This style originated from Northern China and pays heavy emphasis on kicks,
with the hands being used more for protection rather than attack. The most
famous of these kicks is probably the Mandarin Duck kick. Many Chuo Jiao
practitioners also practice Fanzi Quan, combining its fast fist strikes with
the many kicks of Chuo Jiao.
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 Another
short weapon like the Jian, the Dao is known for its powerful and fast
attacks. The Dao, often known as Sabre or Broadsword, is extremely vigorous
and has a lot of chopping and hacking techniques in its repertoire. Suited
to the faster, stronger individual, Dao also requires good hand to eye
coordination.
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A physically demanding style, Ditang Quan contains a number of acrobatic
actions taken from other styles like Zui Quan for example. The practitioner
tumbles, falls, flips and in the midst of this shoots out martial attacks.
Due to the dangerous nature and gymnastic requirements of this style it is
predominantly practiced by younger athletes.
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 Dui
Lian is when two or more athletes perform a simulated sparring match. This
can be empty handed, armed, or a combination of both. Examples would be
Qiang versus Dao, San Jie Gun versus Dao, or Jian versus Jian.
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 Fanzi
Quan is well known for its lightning fast fist strikes, delivered in rapid
succession with barely a moments rest in between. Fanzi Quan requires speed,
agility and extremely good dexterity to be performed effectively.
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 The
earliest of all weapons, the Gun is often called the “Father of all
weapons”. Due to its practicality this weapon has always been very popular,
being able to combine moves from the Qiang and Dao in its own forms. Gun is
played fast, characterised by the speed with which its attacks are dealt.
The Gun is one of the four main weapons practiced today for modern Wushu,
the other three being Jian, Qiang and Dao.
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 Possibly
the most widely practiced Wushu weapon, the Chinese Jian or Straight Sword
is often referred to as the “Gentleman of all weapons”. Its moves are fast
but graceful, hard but flexible, with attention being paid to both motion
and stillness. There are various forms of Jian, Zui Jian (Drunken Sword)
being one of the most popular.
The Jian, one of the Chinese short weapons, can take only a few months to
learn, but requires a lifetime to master.
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This term is used to group together all the basic Wushu moves, stances and
training drills. It includes within it all the elements of Ti Tui and Ya
Tui, plus moves such as Xuan Feng Jiao, Xuan Ze and Ce Kong Fan. Basic
drills like Gong Bu Pu Bu are also referred to in this general term.
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Another flexible weapon like the San Jie Gun, the Jiu Jie Bian or 9
sectioned whip features extremely fast swinging and winding actions,
requiring that the athlete has exceptional hand coordination skills. Also
combining some of the tumbling elements of other styles like Ditang for
example, Jiu Jie Bian requires courage to master.
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 A
Nan Dao is broader and thicker than the Dao, requiring more strength to
wield. This weapons emphasises deep stabs and cuts, using the power derived
from the low Nan Quan stances. This weapon is best used by solid
individuals.
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 The
Southern Staff, Nan Gun, is thicker than its Northern cousin, the Gun, and
its application is also very different. Nan Gun is characterised by its
strong stances and forceful strikes, being based upon the fundamental
elements of Nan Quan. Along with Nan Quan, this style is best suited to
powerful individuals.
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 Derived
from several schools of Martial Art in Southern China, Nan Quan or more
literally Southern Fist, is a fast and powerful style, including low stances
and rigid limbs. This form of Wushu is best suited to fast, strong
individuals, as it requires great strength and fitness to perform
proficiently.
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 The
Qiang, or Spear, has long been one of the most favoured war time weapons,
known as the ‘King of all weapons”. Like the Jian, Qiang requires both fast
and graceful movements and agile footwork. Qiang play contains several
intricate actions, requiring great skill to master, making Qiang one of the
more difficult weapons to master.
The Qiang is known as a long weapon, as generally it is longer than the
height of the practitioner.
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 Like
its cousin the Gun, this flexible weapon is characterised by fast sweeps and
crushing blows, but due to its multiple sections has additional defensive
actions that it can perform. The San Jie Gun, or three sectioned staff,
demands a lot of skill to master, requiring great dexterity to coordinate
its movements.
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Shuang Bian is the skill of using a pair of Jiu Jie Bian at the same time,
requiring that the practitioner must have excellent skill and awareness of
this flexible weapon. When combined with the tumbles and rolls inherent in
this style, this dangerous pair of weapons require a high degree of
handedness.
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 Shuang
Dao is the skill of using a pair of Dao together, emphasising fast strikes
and stabbing actions. This style requires a lot of dexterity and
coordination in order to perform the fast and powerful actions required with
both hands simultaneously.
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 Shuang
Jian is the skill of using a pair of Jian at the same time, making it one of
the most graceful and dexterous forms of Wushu. Various forms of Shuang Jian
exist, the most well known probably being Long Tassel, where the tassels
attached to the end of the Jians are of equal length to the Jians
themselves.
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 An
internal Wushu style, Taiji Quan is well known for its health benefits
throughout the world. There are various styles of Taiji Quan, for example
Yang, Wu, Sun and Chen, all of which have their own characteristics. More
recently, simplified versions of these styles have been created in China to
promote the practice of Taiji Quan, for example the 24 and 42 step forms.
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 Tong
Bei Quan, also know as “Back-through” boxing, is thus named due to the fact
that the power is generated in the back and passed through the shoulders and
arms to deliver the blow. A fast and hard hitting style, Tong Bei Quan
requires the practitioner to have good coordination and a well conditioned
physique.
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This term refers to the essential kicking or leg raising elements of Wushu
Ji Ben Gong. There are four basic types, these being Zheng Ti Tui (front
stretch kick), Ce Ti Tui (side stretch kick), Wai Bai Tui (outer kick), Li
Her Tui (inner kick). Kicks are also performed with the hand slapping the
foot. These kicks are termed Dan Pai Jiao, Wai Bai Tui Ji Xiang and Li Her
Tui Ji Xiang.
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The general term for leg stretching, this is an essential part of any Wushu
athlete’s Ji Ben Gong. There are numerous methodologies employed for
stretching, all of which can be referred by this generic term.
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Zui Quan or Drunken style is a difficult style to master, requiring the
athlete to seemingly appear drunk, but at the same time be able to unleash a
series of fast, powerful attacks. Zui Quan requires a great deal of
coordination, strength and flexibility.
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