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NATIONAL ACADEMY OF KUNG FU WUSHU - YI QUAN

HISTORY OF KUNG FU

FOUR PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF KUNG FU :

 

1) From antiquity to the 12th century :

This first period, very long, goes from Chinese antiquity until the 12th century. It is a period when Wushu follows an anarchistic and spontaneous evolution.



General Yue Fei


2) 12th to 18th century

From 12th to 17th century, Kung Fu exists by the practice with the monastery of Shaolin.
During the 12th century, the General Yue Fei creates the Xingyiquan. At the time, it develops especially the art of the spear.
The men who then practised the martial arts in China were often warriors, or generals. The practice was intended to improve resistance and endurance of the body for better fighting. The gymnic and connected superfluous movements did not exist. The meditation and slow work were the base of an astonishing body health, twinned with a frightening effectiveness.
The 17th century constitutes the crucial and tragic turn of Kung Fu. Under the emperor Kang Xi (1662-1722), of the dynasty of Qing, the connected movements appear, the equivalent of current Tao-Lu. Their purpose are to mask the true practice of Wushu to the eyes of the authorities and also to enrich some professionals who benefit from the ignorance of the mass about the practise. It is during this same period that the intellectuals of the Court, often not-practising, separate Wushu in "external" and "internal".

3) 18th century to 1949
The third period goes from the end of the 18th century to 1949. The " art of the Chinese fist " is pulled about between the tendency started previously, the series of connected movements, and the evolution of the large practise, laic experts of Xingyiquan, Baguaquan and Taijiquan.
Others try to back up all that practice of the monastery of Shaolin, place where apparently the monks jealously keep old techniques which have nothing to do with Tao-Lu.

4) From 1949 until now
The fourth period extends from the advent of the People's Republic of China in 1949 until now. Kung Fu must serve the people and the State. Modern and gymnic Wushu appears, which practically cuts all the bridges with the formerly practice. Some experts resist this beachcomber vague, others leave the country.