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User:Phalanxpursos/Wushu

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Wushu (simplified Chinese: 武术; traditional Chinese: 武術; pinyin: wǔshù; literally means "martial arts".

Concept of Martial Arts

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Wushu (武术) can be translated as Martial Arts and is constructed from 2 Chinese characters, Wu () which means martial and Shu () which means art. The Chinese character Wu ( 武) is constructed from two seperate characters Zhi () and Ge (), the character Zhi (止) means "to cease", "to end" or "to stop". The character Ge (戈) means "spear", lance", "javelin" or "sword" and refers to weapons in general, the original meaning of the word Wushu (武术) literally should be translated as end the usage of weapons (止戈为武) or stop the violence. That is why martial arts should be used for self defense only and not showing off, Chinese martial arts is created solely for the perpose of ending a fight and not starting one. It's use is for defensive perposes only and not offensive, this concept was misinterpreted by the commercial television which made violence popular under the term Kung Fu (功夫). Kung (Gong, ) can be translated as energy and Fu () as time, the term Kung Fu roughly can be translated as "hard work" and is considered solely as fighting skills.

Concept of Martial Morality

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Wude () can be translated as Martial Morality and is constructed from 2 Chinese characters, Wu () which means martial and De () which means morality. Wude (武德) deals with 2 aspects; morality of deed and morality of mind. Morality of deed concerns the relationship towards your friends, family and all other people in society, morality of mind self-cultivates the inner harmony between the emotional mind (Xin, ) and the wisdom mind (Yi, ). The ultimate goal is reaching no extremity (Wuji, ), where both wisdom & emotions are in harmony with eachother. Preventing a fight is so much better than ending one, martial morality deals with the subject of how to prevent a fight (防戈为德). Wude (武德) is regarded by many martial artists to be the most important aspect of Chinese martial arts, always set a good example towards others in terms of good behaviour. That is why a true martial artist will not use their martial knowledge for showing off, because that will only set a bad example towards others. Good martial arts teachers will lead their students towards a morally correct path, to help build a strong foundation for your future.


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