Martial Arts Mecca

What is Wushu? 

Wushu, while deadly, was also designed to be beautiful to behold. A lot of the fighting moves you see in Hollywood movies are derived from wushu. Wushu is also a full contact martial art. Many of the matches are fought bare handed, while most throws and take downs are allowed.

Since 1991, the International Wushu Federation has held a full contact competition. This competition draws thousands of competitors from around the world.

Wushu is a mishmash of different martial art forms. For instance, wushu uses elements of kung-fu and taijiquan. By themselves, both fighting styles are effective, but when put together, the end result is truly devastating to opponents.

Wushu also has elements of weapons training. The most often used weapons include the staff, spear and double edged sword. In a way, wushu has almost anything a martial artist could want. If you enjoy close combat, wushu is great. Want to learn about weapons? Then again, wushu is ideal.

Since the first competition held in 1991, wushu has gained in popularity. People are becoming more aware of this ancient fighting art, and it's only a matter of time before it becomes an Olympic sport. In fact, a tournament is being held in Beijing in 2008. This tournament is meant to highlight the wushu fighting style, and give spectators a chance to watch and enjoy, in the hopes that it will garner enough attention to be included in the next Olympic games.