********************************************
(“chinese martial arts”, often labeled under the umbrella terms kung fu (/ˈkʊŋ ˈfuː/; chinese: 功夫; pinyin: gong fu) and wushu (武术), are the several hundreds of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in “china”)
(these fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as “families” (家; jiā), “sects” (派; pài) or “schools” (門; mén) of ‘martial arts’)
(examples of such traits include shaolinquan (少林拳) physical exercises involving ‘5 animals’ (五形) mimicry, or training methods inspired by chinese ‘philosophies’, ‘religions’, and ‘legends’)
(styles that focus on ‘qi manipulation’ are called internal (内家拳; nèijiāquán), while others that concentrate on improving ‘muscle’ and ‘cardiovascular’ fitness are called “external” (外家拳; wàijiāquán).
(‘geographical association’, as in northern(北拳; běiquán) and “southern” (南拳; nánquán), is another popular ‘classification method’)
******************************************************************
XXX
**********************************************************************************************
(***BACK TO “MARTIAL ARTS (TYPES)”***)
**********************************************************************************************
********************************************
********************************************
**********************************************************************************************
********************************************
********************************************
**********************************************************************************************