Martial Arts

Three of the most significant Chinese martial arts traditions include Chuan Fa, Kung Fu, and Wushu. Chuan Fa has also become part of the Japanese martial arts tradition, where it is known as Kenpo, also spelled Kempo. Chuan Fa translates as "fist law," and Kempo means "fist law" in Japanese. However, "the Chinese system from which Kenpo was derived underwent so many changes that, while most of the Kenpo techniques can be found scattered among the hundreds of Chinese fighting systems, there is no single system in China today that resembles Kenpo," (Tracy).

The origins of Chuan Fa are steeped in legend. Buddhist temples in China have recorded a history of how Chuan Fa first developed after an Indian Buddhist monk traveled to China around 520 BCE. An Indian Buddhist master Prajnatara instructed his student Bodhidharma to travel to China "re-teach the principles of Buddhism and share the...
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