Technique Classification

　

In ancient China, due to varying geological makeup and geographical environments, phrases such as “Southern Style Boxing and Northern Style Kicking”, “Southern Staff Skills and Northern Spear Skills”, and “Family Style Chuan and Outsider Style Chuan” came into being to describe Martial Arts.  Likewise, many schools of Chuan (fist boxing), such as Shaolin, Wutan, Taichi, Meihua, and Jinwu, evolved into existence, each with its own unique training techniques.  However, with the passage of time, Martial Arts gradually developed into a sort of athletic sport.  By 1949, Martial Arts had rapidly progressed with the sporting trends, as people organized and classified traditional Martial Arts into text, to be passed along to posterity for study.  During the 1950s, various national organizations in China arise in recruiting experts to define standard routines for novice, second (intermediary), and first (advanced) levels of Taichichuan, Changchuan, and skills of knife, spear, sword, staff, and fist boxing, which served to promote standardization of these martial art forms.  As movements of these techniques became uniform, the tendency for specialized competitions grew stronger. Therefore, two ways of contest came about: “Traditional Martial Arts” and “Competition of Standard Routines”. 

To put it simply, “Traditional Martial Arts” is distinguished by its many schools, similar to the notion of a family tree.  Meanwhile, “Competition of Standard Routines” is for further promoting Martial Arts, as well as for regulating it so that contests could be conducted.