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The Evolution Of Kung Fu Styles

By Patty Goff


Kung Fu is a word that is commonly used by the Chinese people to refer to any study that requires one to be patient and to use energy and time. In the west however, this word is commonly used to refer to the Chinese martial arts. It is associated with a lot of fighting styles that are usually categorized into different traits referred to as families. There are hundreds of kung Fu styles that were created more than one thousand years ago.

Even though there have been fresh styles formulated in the past, most are just modifications of old methods that have been in existence for a very long while. They vary in various places since many people believe that they should reflect the different manners that different individuals live. The first group is the hard and the soft methods. The soft ones include the techniques of distracting momentum to interfere with the stance of the enemy. After the enemy loses their poise, beating them in the match becomes quite easy.

In the soft kind of fighting, the fighter is required to use a lot of skills and internal force. The hard ones on the other hand only need one to be strong. They require too much force for one to win in these fights. The kind of force that the fighters use, these techniques can also be classified according to the type of motion used. There are linear and circular techniques which attack directly and to the side respectively.

There are also the internal and external techniques. The internal ones mainly focus on the intangible factors such as body control, meditation, mind control and also perception. These techniques can also be referred to as the mystical techniques and they are also a part of the soft techniques. The external ones however work through the release of body force. In these types of techniques, a lot of body strength and posture is required.

One of the aspects that the masters of martial arts use to invent new styles is the environment. For instance, they can make observations in the behavior of animals and later invent a new fighting style from that. For example, there is the monkey style that was adopted from the monkeys.

The amount of kung Fu methods that are available is infinite. Among the most popular methods known by many comprise of the white crane, praying mantis, the dragon style etc. From their labels, one can easily tell that they were invented from the activities of some organisms. There are nonetheless others that were simply invented with no inspiration.

Any person who wishes to get more acquainted with the fighting techniques of martial arts can easily achieve their goal by visiting a kung Fu master. They will be taught all the techniques that have managed to survive in the past times. They will help them to improve their spiritual selves and also be better at fighting and controlling their emotions.

In the past, the martial arts were invented mainly for self-defense and spiritual purposes. However, today they are used as a game where the trainees fight in different fighting competitions in diverse locations around the world.




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