Its complexity and limitations bring a lot of troubles to the construction and teaching of Wushu theory, whether it is Wushu textbooks or Wushu seminars. It was once defined as sports. Does Wushu only have sports attributes because it is managed by the sports department? Of course not.
This paper attempts to objectively trace its origin and evolution, explore its cultural background and characteristics, analyze its social function and value, and compare the laws and principles of sports from the perspectives of history, sociology and culturology.
(A) Wushu and military skills can not be mentioned in the same breath.
The concept of anything is not static. The content and form of martial arts are different from those written a long time ago, but their essential attributes should be the same. In history, different nouns have been used to belong to the concept of Wushu. For example, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was a "technical attack"; There was a word "Wu" in the Han Dynasty. In the early Qing Dynasty, people used the word "Wu" in Selected Works. During the Republic of China, it was called "national art"; After the founding of New China, it was renamed "Wushu". According to written records, the fighting actions in the form of confrontation in ancient Wushu include wrestling, corner touching, hand wrestling, sumo wrestling, fencing, better, javelin throwing and so on. The routine movements of dance training forms include individual and collective exercises such as "grid dance", "spear dance", "sword dance", "halberd dance", "double halberd dance", "walking halberd", "making gun" and "making fist", as well as "gun against card" and "sword against sword".
Historically, in order to meet the needs of survival, competition and security, the skill forms in hunting and war are homologous and isomorphic with the early technical forms of Wushu, and even intertwined in a certain period. However, their cultural connotations and value functions are essentially different. What is important in war is the formation and cooperation of groups. Personal technical role is very secondary. However, Wushu is a kind of cultural form based on individual behavior and folk spontaneity, which shows various social values and functions such as self-defense, fitness, entertainment and performance. In the whole process, Confucianism, Taoism, Taoism, Buddhism, folk religion and various folk cultures in ancient China have influenced and infiltrated it to varying degrees. It can be said that the primitive form of Wushu is almost not much different from that of other parts of the world at the same time, but it is very different in modern times. Importantly, since the pre-Qin period, the long-term accumulation of economic classics and culture in feudal society gradually separated it from the form of hunting and military skills, and became a form of military skills and an independent form of human movement and cultural carrier. Therefore, we should have a clear understanding that martial arts cannot be confused with military skills. As early as the Ming Dynasty, Qi Jiguang, a war general, advocated that soldiers should practice guns and sticks in order to improve their physical fitness. He thinks that war skills are "rushing in together" and "poking and poking". How can they be "alive and kicking" and "posture and posture"?
(B) "Wushu" can not replace "Wushu"
Since the development of Wushu, the role of sports has become increasingly prominent. The development of Wushu by the sports department has made its content, form and means more sports-oriented. In recent years, its definition is summarized as: Wushu is a traditional sports event in China, which is both internal and external.
However, in a broad sense, the definition of Wushu is not covered by sports; From its function, it is not limited to sports, and the definition of Wushu can be analyzed from three aspects.
1) Wushu is a traditional martial art in China.
It originated from practical technology in hunting and war. With the continuous summary and development, to meet the needs, great changes have taken place from form to content, but the essence of fighting and attacking remains unchanged. "Wushu takes attack and defense as the main content", which expresses its essential attribute. Whether it is routine or fighting, it is inseparable from attack and defense. This feature makes it different from dance, acrobatics and other forms of human sports, as well as gymnastics and other sports.
Of course, martial arts is not unique to China. It is a skill and culture that inevitably appears from the instinctive needs of human beings to the needs of civilization. There are all over the world, such as gladiator, boxing, fencing, Thai boxing, karate, taekwondo, Sambo, wrestling and so on. , also has the attributes of attack and defense. What is important is that the Chinese nation, the descendants of the Chinese people, have long summed up their traditional fighting skills in their own land according to their own practice and needs, such as kicking, kicking, shoveling, cutting, bouncing, sweeping, hanging, swinging, hitting, bouncing, stepping and pouting. In addition, the methods of capture, downhill, bridging and eighteen kinds of martial arts are unique. The offensive and defensive attributes of Wushu reflect the connotation of Wushu concept.
2) Wushu is a traditional sport in China.
This point has been clearly put forward in the definition, expressing its sports attribute. This is not only because for thousands of years, people have taken it as a means to strengthen their health and improve their quality from the perspective of cultural needs and social functions, and played its role in fitness and education; Moreover, in modern times, its role in military training has decreased, while its role in sports has increased. In the era of modern civilization, sports have become sports. Especially after the founding of New China, the government defined Wushu as a sport, and carried out popularization and competitive competitions. Competition rules make Wushu routines and Sanshou more obviously show the nature of sports.
As far as Wushu is concerned, it is a way of fighting for human beings, which can include two natures: life-and-death and competitive contest. Then, as a traditional martial art in China, Wushu also includes methods to kill opponents or make them lose their resistance, which is contrary to the essence of sports, so that people generally abandon those methods that cause injuries, disabilities and deaths outside martial arts, or evolve into routine forms of personal practice or tacit cooperation. This also reflects that Wushu, as a traditional concept of attack and defense, contains elements other than sports. This martial arts skill is still retained and adopted by the public security, judicial and military reconnaissance departments. For the general public, the sports attribute of Wushu is the main one.
The definition takes martial arts as the main content, and the explanation is not entirely martial arts, such as the connection and transition movements in routine sports, "shape shaping" and so on. There are also some routines whose martial arts significance is not outstanding, but their fitness and ornamental functions are obvious. In Sanshou, actions harmful to health and life are regarded as fouls and are not allowed to be adopted or restricted.
Logically speaking, China traditional sports is the superior concept of Wushu, and Wushu routines and fighting are the extension of this concept. More accurately, Wushu in sports should be called Wushu.
3) Wushu is one of the traditional cultures in China.
When we understand the concept of Wushu, we should not only regard it as a technical skill or human action, but also realize its rich cultural connotation. In the process of human civilization, the emergence of Wushu is inevitable. It can be said that the initial stage is almost the same, but the development is very different so far. The uniqueness of Wushu is inseparable from its cultural atmosphere. In the long course, he was deeply influenced by China's traditional philosophy, political ethics, religious etiquette, military thought, literature and art, medical theory and social customs. The unique way of thinking, moral concept, aesthetic taste, psychological model, value orientation, outlook on life and cosmology of the Chinese nation are all reflected in Wushu.
The definition of "internal and external training" simply reflects their cultural attributes, which makes Wushu surpass the general skill and technical level, and also surpass the western competitive sports with physical fitness as the main form. It is based on philosophy, supported by "dynamic", "static" and the golden mean, and embodies profound and rich cultural connotations, such as the concept of overall movement, the concept of yin and yang change, the theory of form and spirit, the theory of motion and static, the theory of rigidity and softness, and the theory of excess and deficiency. , and formed a unique martial arts culture system, which not only has the same characteristics of human sports and fitness, but also has the unique characteristics of oriental culture. It is the expression and carrier of China culture in the human movement, and reflects the brilliance of oriental national culture from one side.
The connotation of "both internal and external cultivation" can be summarized into four aspects: Wushu pursues external physical fitness and internal charm, so as to have both form and spirit; In Wushu training, "inside" and "outside" are equally important. The so-called "external training of bones and muscles, internal training of breath"; Wushu's "three-in-one" and "three-in-one" are combined inside and outside, and follow up from top to bottom, pursuing a high degree of direct control and unity, which embodies the overall concept of sports; Wushu pursues both internal and external cultivation, which requires the combination of Wushu morality and boxing theory, technology and cultivation, and becomes the highest realm of Wushu education. It is true that the phrase "practicing both inside and outside" vividly expresses the traditional cultural attributes of Wushu.
(3) Summary
Martial arts and military skills come down in one continuous line, but they cannot be confused.
Wushu is a sports concept, which cannot cover the concept of Wushu.
Wushu is a way of social existence and one of the carriers of national culture, but it does not exclude the important aspect that it has sports attributes.