Krzysztof Brzozowski

Jin in kung fu – physical basics

Traditional wushu and the way of its teaching is full of mythological issues. Because of that the training process is not always clear enough. That is the bad marketing for Chinese martial arts these days. The proper systematization and standards of teaching are of key importance. Many schools concentrate on teaching forms (mainly for sport competition) without understanding of movements and their application. Traditional martial arts training consists of a few elements, namely: forms practice, application, qigong, hardening, and the most important sparrings. All these features combined with understanding of biomechanics and at least basics of physics give a comprehensive knowledge of what kung fu/wushu is. Nowadays, literature explanations should be passed to students together with scientific interpretation. For example, developing of high momentum punches resembles strikes of a thunder or adopting some stances is like rooting. The article touches the basics of physics of jin which is one of the most common elements in traditional wushu. All fundamental physical quantities such as: momentum, kinetic energy and velocity are explained. Additionally, the last one for punches was studied since it is a component of mentioned above.

Shaolin kung fu/wushu: a treasure of the Chinese Nation

The history of Chinese martial arts is both turbulent and interesting as the history of China itself. They played a crucial role during turning points on many occasions. This treasure of national importance almost vanished due to the events of the Cultural Revolution. The article presents a shortened history of the traditional Shaolin kung fu. The role of Bodhidharma – an Indiam Buddhist who settled in a temple is also explained. Additionally, there is an attempt of explaining the terminology, precisely kung fu or wushu, what is correct? Also the characteristics of Shaolin martial arts are given. All is concluded with the description of imitative boxing and its technical principles. Namely, they are the Five Animals style including the crane, tiger, leopard, snake and dragon, mantis, monkey and others. A very peculiar example of this kind of styles is the drunken one. This technique is explained in details. When dealing with traditional wushu one must be aware of the fact that it is an endless and hard way of self-improvement and development. And the final success is not only connected with sport achievements.