What is the difference between kung fu and wushu?

Answer 1

After many successful Chinese Kung Fu movies by Bruce Lee ( presenting Kung Fu to the world ) and Jacky Chan ( introducing the concept of Shaolin ) and in particular Jet Li in the movie Shaolin Temple, Officials in Beijing ( means Northern capitol originally know as Peeking ) started to realize the potential of Shaolin as marketing tool, but also as heritage! However, the fear and distrust of Shaolin, its Kung Fu and power was deep. They knew that they needed some type of 'replacement', some type of art other than Tai Chi and Chi Kung that was hard, external and athletic to fill this emptiness. This was the replacement of Kung Fu by Wu Shu, an acrobatic art using Kung Fu movements and implements.


A respected Chinese official was given the task of breathing life back into Shaolin. As with many Chinese decisions, it was both a pragmatic decision as well as financial and historical. The key was to have an art that was dynamic and in spirit of Shaolin but not Kung Fu. Wu Shu was ideal for this purpose. it embodied the spirit of Shaolin by providing all the requirements for health and wellbeing as Kung Fu but focused more on flow and athleticism rather than technique and fighting. Wu Shu has grown and developed, with the many versions and adaptations of Kung Fu - in some cases there is very little difference between the two.

There was a problem though, as Shaolin and it's idea was already 'occupied' by a whole thriving industry called Shaolin Village and many so called Shaolin temple training Schools. The re-opening of the Shaolin temple by the "Grand Abbot" Master Su Xi who's kindness and dedication seem so much similar as the original founder of Shaolin, gives hope to a new era of Shaolin teaching and Spirit. But for all his good teaching and kindness, he was also being used.

Animal Wu Shu is being practiced, but not the Shaolin 5 Animals but a new breed of modern, very athletic and well developed Animal styles including;


Monkey
Eagle
Crane
Snake
Mantis

The current Abbot of Shaolin the venerable has been in place for 10+ years now. He or the Chinese government have just cleared all the schools and the village surrounding Shaolin allowing only one to be there, the official Chinese Government Shaolin Temple training School. All schools, some numbering up to 8000 students, have been moved to the nearby major city of Kerfeng ( possibly wrong spelling, right sound ). Shaolin and the area around it is being prepared to be possibly a tourist and martial art trap or a heritage site. Time will tell.

The most curious thing about Wu Shu is that they actually import Muay Thai fighters to train Wu Shu fighting. In a way it is in tradition of 'learning' from the enemy. For many centuries leading up to the 20th, Kung Fu fighters and Muay Thai fighters challenged each other to prove which style was superior. This was a regular challenge between the two traditional styles and fighters for the honour of the style and country. Death in these was not unusual.
If you need more details check the web.as below :
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Thank you .Master Robert and Dagmar.

Answer 2

Basically Wushu is a variation/style of Kung Fu but is more acrobatic and looks very showy - it is used a lot on films as it looks so nice. Other Kung Fu styles such as Wing Chun or Praying Mantis don't look as arty but are just fighting styles that get the job done. Good Kung Fu does not look good but serves a purpose. I am not saying that Wushu is not a good defence tool as I have never studied it, but primarily it looks very nice.

Answer 3

I have studied Chinese language, martial arts, etc., and I see wrong answers. Kung or gung means work, and fu means master. This phrase means to master some skill by working hard to do so. It signifies Great Achievement and can be applied to any field, although it is often applied to martial arts. An Emperor's chef achieved kung fu in cooking. I acieve it in painting. Wu means martial, military, war, and shu means arts or skills. In Red China, Wu Shuis practiced. There are five disciplines in it. Chuan fa is fist work. Bo is staff. There are two swords-darn do and darn gim. One is straight and one is curved. the fifth discipline is the spear. Kung fu and wu shu are somewhat synonymous, but technically, wu shu is the proper term for martial arts. One of my Japanese gals has the surname Takeda. In Chinese, it'd be Wutien meaning Warfield.

Answer 4

actually both are the same, it is just the chinese dialect and locality of the word being used. example, the hong kong, taiwan, china, malaysia, singapore, and any other countries which have chinese people in it will have a slight variation in their dialect. it might be all mandarin, cantonese,hokkien, hakka or even others, it also might have a slight difference. it is something like american english and uk english for example.

but, Wushu or Kung Fu, both means the same thing "Martial Arts". Wu-shu if directly translated will be "Combat/dance - Art".

Tai Chi and Wing Chun is an example of Chinese Martial Arts.

Answer 5

Wushu pork is something you can eat .... never tried to eat a kung fu student though

Answer 6

Robert is absolutly right, but to extend on his statement (so i can throw in my two cent and possible win som epoints). you think of it like this. out of china comes Kung fu (any martial arts with roots in china). there are many stlyes of Kung fu including hung gar, choy li fut, and wushu.
(more information)
In china back in the day, people were seperated and the law wasn't present in every town and villiage (much like the old west of america). the towns people would have to protect them selves against thugs and such. some were taught sho lin kung fu, others developed their own. through constant strugle with these hoodlems the styles developed. because there were many of these cases happening there were many styles that were developed. so to say that there are only some round number of styles of kung fu is rediculous. there could have been hundreds of styles. That is why i decided to tell you this story versus trying to tell you all the different styles that still exist today.

Answer 7

i would consider any chinese martial art as kung fu. there are two meanings to wushu. the first is "martial art," which basically means kung fu. the second is just doing fancy yet useless forms, which is not meant for fighting.

Answer 8

"Kung Fu" means "Excellence in Knowledge" and is commonly used by people in the world as a generic term for Chinese martial arts. But, it does not really have anything to do with martial arts. Someone could theoretically have a "Kung fu" in penmanship, or anything - even martial arts.

More correctly, Chinese martial arts is called "Chuan-fa," which literally means, "Fist Method," but usually refers to the empty-handed fighting technique of China.

"Wu Shu" means, "War Art," and is the official name accepted by The People's Republic Of China, for their martial arts.

R. McLain

Answer 9

Wushu is a style of Kung Fu. Like in Karaté, you have various style : Shotokan, wado Ryu ....
Answear from a belgian guy ... :)

Answer 10

There is no difference. They are both a generic term for Chinese Martial Arts.