Jiefangjun

If you are a fan of martial arts films, Jet Li, or have seen the Shaolin Monks perform one of their stage shows, you will have seen the Chinese martial art of “Wushu”. Although the official line is that this is a “traditional” form of combat, the current practice of wushu is actually a hybrid form constructed of various styles, some documented historically in ancient manuscripts, others passed through various iterations of specific styles. Initially a generic Mandarin terms for “fighting arts” (the term “kung fu” simply meaning excellence through hard work), wushu was largely introduced as a formalised style in response to political concerns stemming from the Cultural Revolution.

Although the history of Chinese martial arts, in particular the legendary Shaolin Monastery (which may have in fact been a number of different monasteries which all taught Buddhism) has been fraught with conflict and destruction, it was the Communist Revolution that went the furthest in extinguishing traditional martial arts in China.

Prior to the ascendency of the Maoist regime, there were uncountable styles and variations taught throughout China. Early “internal” systems such as Tai Chi, Ba Gua and Hsing-I predated the Shaolin monks and were based on a Taoist principle. The Shaolin monastery was Buddhist, and became famous for the animal styles it taught there. Following the destruction of the monastery (or monasteries, depending on which historical tales you look at), the surviving monks went into hiding, teaching their styles which became subject to further modification and variation by successive generations. Added to this were the infinite number of “family” styles which developed almost independently of each other in the thousands of villages and towns, all of which used different methods of combining strikes, kicks, holds, grappling and joint locks to form a style that was usually a closely-guarded family secret, taught only to family members when they came of age.

Unfortunately, the idea of soldiers, priests and peasants alike training to become proficient in armed and unarmed combat did not appeal to many of the ruling classes. Popular legend has it that the monks who survived the destruction of the Shaolin monastery went into hiding as beggars, travelling performers, acrobats and the like, in order to train up a militia in their combat style and overthrow the Qing dynasty who ordered the destruction of the Temple. These combat-proficient groups formed secret societies which, although they never did organise to overthrow the Qing, did go on to become the basis of the Triad gangs, many of whom used their martial training for criminal activities.

With the ‘cultural revolution’, fighting styles that had at their base religious doctrine such as the Buddhist Shaolin or the Taoist Hsing-I and Ba-Gua were anathemic to the Communist principles. Also regarded as potentially threatening were the traditional family styles that placed value on genealogical inheritance, rather than the State. Shaolin monks were whipped through the streets of Chine, wearing placards denouncing their “crimes” and many martial art masters who taught their own traditional styles were either rounded up and executed, or simply fled China to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore where many continued to teach to keep the style alive.

Others were forced to keep their knowledge secret, and unable to teach their inherited knowledge to successors for fear of being denounced to officials, their art died with them.

Fast forward to the early eighties and the Chinese government realised that it had committed a serious blunder, and a large part of its cultural heritage had been destroyed. A survey was commissioned to audit the existing surviving styles and document through video recordings the varieties that were still extant in the country. This may have been influenced by the Western writer and martial arts enthusiast Robert W. Smith, who had travelled extensively throughout China filming, photographing and interviewing surviving masters of different styles. His books, largely published by Pitman press, were some of the first introductions a Western audience had to eastern martial arts, and his cine-film footage of some of the practitioners is the only surviving record of many of them.

Reviewing the assembled material, the Chinese government codified the set of movements into a system they called Wushu. As well as preserving some of the more spectacular and traditional forms practiced in various styles, it also set an authoritarian standard, so the art could be practiced and perfected without need to involve aspects which were problematic to Party Ideology.

As a fighting art, some would consider Wushu as somewhat impractical and traditional practitioners have a phrase “flowery fists and embroidery kicks” that is often applied to other styles that look spectacular, but lack practical force and application.

One the one hand, there is much to be said for the demonstration value of Wushu. Like any physical art it requires a high degree of physical training and flexibility in order to excel, making it at least as effective as any other combat discipline in promoting physical strength, stamina and overall health. Traditional arts too, had their demonstration aspects. Although it was important to “toughen up” in order to be able to take a punch or kick in a fight, some styles would go to extremes and practice “iron shirt” methods that were used in public displays to break bricks and poles, or bend steel rods or even have the master press their bodies against spear points or broken glass. Such demonstrations continue to be a huge crowd-drawing spectacle and are a good method of demonstrating a style’s effectiveness and drumming up trade for recruits.

The physical spectacle of Wushu with its dramatic jumps and flying kicks certainly lends itself to display. Jet Li was a teenage champion in competition demonstrations, and most forms of kung fu that are used in the movies these days are heavily derived from Wushu techniques. As for the practical application of it,. I’m not sure how long in a real fight you have to perform a spin kick, but you certainly don’t want to be on the receiving end of a spinning foot . . . even as a “flowery” style of kung fu it carries enough impact force to still break something important!

Robert W Smith and footage of Chen Man Ching

Wushu demonstration

“Iron shirt” breaking demonstration

Trevor Munday works for a credit card company and has studied traditional Chinese martial arts for several years.