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What's the first picture that comes in your mind when think about Martial Arts in China , of course, the Bruce Lee or Jacky Chan films! With movements as sharp as a knife and as swift as wind, the martial arts actions superstars have captured the hearts of millions around the world. Welcome to China, the home of Wushu! Wushu stands for Martial Arts, Wu meaning martial and Shu meaning arts. If you are thinking about getting to know something about ‘kung fu' too then you will be disappointed. Did you know that “kung fu” is not an art form but an adjective used to indicate proficiency in any field? So, now you know. Very soon Wushu or the Martial Arts in China will be included in the Olympic Games. Martial Arts in China have been a necessity, a tradition and a sport. Today we see it only as a sport but hundreds of years back when it was first established, Wushu was a way of self defense, a war art, used by the soldiers. There are two divisions of Martial Arts in China, which are soft arts and hard arts the Kung Fu, which has now grown into an art form, is taken to be the latter. It all depends on the purpose of the student and the attitude of the teacher. On the other hand, Tai Chi is considered to be a soft art, giving more importance to the smoothness, breathing and poise of the movements. Since 1991, the International Wushu Festival and Taiji boxing Festival, is held in China every year. This had been started to give impetus to the spread of Shaolin Wushu and Taiji Boxing in the western countries. This festival has been an important part of the Chinese tradition since then
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