Kung Fu

Almost all cultures have roots in some sort of self defence system and yet there is relatively little research in this area, outside of a sports related environment. This project investigated different applications of strikes from Kung Fu practitioners that have not been addressed before in the literature. Punch and palm strikes were directly compared from different heights and distances , with the use of a load cell, accelerometers, and high speed video. The data indicated that the arm accelerations of both strikes were similar, although the force and resulting acceleration of the target were significantly greater for the palm strikes. Additionally, the relative height at which the strike was delivered was also investigated. The overall conclusion is that the palm strike is a more effective strike for transferring force to an object. It can also be concluded that an attack to the chest would be ideal for maximizing impact force and moving an opponent off balance.

Almost all cultures have roots in some sort of self defence system and yet there is relatively little research in this area, outside of a sports related environment. This project investigated different applications of strikes from Kung Fu practitioners that have not been addressed before in the literature. Punch and palm strikes were directly compared from different heights and distances, with the use of a load cell, accelerometers, and high speed video. The data indicated that the arm accelerations of both strikes were similar, although the force and resulting acceleration of the target were significantly greater for the palm strikes. Additionally, the relative height at which the strike was delivered was also investigated. The overall conclusion is that the palm strike is a more effective strike for transferring force to an object. It can also be concluded that an attack to the chest would be ideal for maximizing impact force and moving an opponent off balance. Key PointsIt has be...

This study observed several manifestations on how violence is present in society. In this perspective, sports practice (including Kung-Fu) becomes not only a ludic and healthy environment, but also a disciplinal and educational one. Such an environment collaborates to the reduction of the referred manifestations in the society. By studying Kung-fu martial arts one can find several philosophical  teachings  that  contribute  to  emotional  control of egocentric behavior. As a consequence, this martial art is transformed into a valuable tool for education on behalf of a harmonious society.

Several terminologies have been widely used in the martial universe because they have led to dubious (even unintentionally) understandings about the characteristics and peculiarities of the practices involved. This opens the door to difficulties of understanding and study, misinterpretations on the subject and in more radical situations and socially extended, instigates prejudice by practitioners, scholars and sympathizers. This study aims to review and reinterpret important concepts of the martial universe under philosophical-cultural analysis focused on ethics and aesthetics, since they are fields that have influenced and still influence the martial universe. Conceptual terms will be observed under the lens of hermeneutics. Specifically, the objective was to (i) differentiate the practices of the martial universe from a conceptual categorization (taxonomy) with criteria related to the cultural characteristics and philosophical principles emitted in the practices; (ii) to highlight and endorse the category "martial art" as a practice immersed in pacifist philosophical values; and (iii) to highlight and contextualize the Kung-Fu position in this taxonomy as "martial art" exposing its pacifist philosophical idiosyncrasies. Transformations of the thoughts and nomenclatures used in the martial universe were observed along with changes in human thought. It is argued that the existence of ethical and aesthetic values contained in the concept "martial art" and "Kung-Fu" has been evidenced.

A martial-arts master escapes from a prison camp in wartime China and flees to Malaya. His hopes for a quiet life are dashed when he saves a bus driver from a lynch mob. The master agrees to impart his secrets to five disciples. Although the organisation they found becomes internationally renowned, the arts are almost entirely lost as the initiates succumb to internal squabbling and greed.

New in Singapore, Chris Murray tracks down Chan See-meng, favourite disciple of the great Chee Kim Thong. Through dusty Malaysian villages and Shaolin Temple in China, the adventure that begins with gruelling practice on Chan's rooftop leads Chris in the footsteps of the masters. As he becomes absorbed in the esoteric depths of Five Ancestors Fist, he investigates the journey of Zen martial-arts from ancient temples to modern gymnasia. Can the traditional arts can survive in modernity?

An intimate memoir with historical scope, Crippled Immortals unites a cast of legendary heroes and slack-jawed monks, Indian yogi and Tibetan lamas, bluffers, gangsters, and champions who have been touched by Old Man Chee's arts. The practitioner’s path to enlightenment is always arduous, often hilarious, and sometimes heart-breaking. True adepts talk with their fists, but the strength that endures lies in the bond between master and disciple.

A short paper comparing the Jackie Chan vehicle "Rush Hour" and Takeshi Kitano's "Brother", two 1990s action films based on black-Asian collaboration in Los Angeles. Building on Mita Banerjee's reading of minstrelsy at the heart of "Rush Hour", I show how "Brother" presents a black-Asian partnership with far more agency for its participants.

Although the archives of the Qing Dynasty bear witness to the dismemberment execution of Feng Keshan (冯克善), the idea that he survived through daring vicissitudes has spread in martial circles. In particular, this story was examined within the Han family. 1 Han Jianzhong for example reports

Chinese lion dance is an increasingly popular cultural practice that has continued to evolve in countries where Chinese diaspora have settled, including the United States.  Lion dances can generally be categorized under Northern or Southern traditions, but both have come to symbolize power, majesty, and good fortune.

Avant-propos : en mai 1933, le général nationaliste Han FuQu (韩复渠, 1890-1938) organisa à JiNan le premier concours de sélection d'arts martiaux (GuoShu-国术) de la province du Shandong. Li Shuwen fut invité à l'événement, ainsi que d'autres maîtres célèbres tels que Deng HuanYing (邓寰瀛, un expert en boxe Shaolin), Gu RuiNian (顾瑞年, un expert de Shuaijiao de Baoding) et Gao YunFeng (高云峰, également appelé Gao FengLing-高凤岭, un expert de l'école Wudang TaiYimen). Les journaux DaGungBao (大公报) et YiShiBao (益世報) publièrent à cette occasion plusieurs articles sur l'événement, dont certains sont traduits ci-dessous.
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In May 1933, the nationalist general Han FuQu (韩复渠, 1890 - 1938) organized in JiNan the first martial art (GuoShu - 国术) competitive examination of the Shandong province. Li Shuwen was invited to the event, along with other famous masters such as Deng HuanYing (邓寰瀛, a Shaolin boxing expert), Gu RuiNian (顾瑞年, a Baoding Shuaijiao expert) and Gao YunFeng (高云峰, also called Gao FengLing-高凤岭, an expert of the Wudang TaiYimen school). The DaGungBao (大公报) and YiShiBao (益世報) newspapers published several articles on the event on this occasion, some of which are translated below.

La mayoría de las acciones realizadas en Deportes de Combate requieren que los atletas lleven a cabo gestos que demandarían niveles de movilidad por encima de la media.
A lo largo del presente artículo se presentará una mirada integradora, en donde se buscará ofrecer al lector de una serie de herramientas para una implementación segura y eficaz de los entrenamientos asociados a la mejora de la flexibilidad en Deportes de Combate.

How to learn kung fu at home, What is kung fu ? About the chinese Kung Fu Styles,kung fu styles (Martial Arts) is a series of fighting styles ,are also inherently circular in nature.that appear to have no endpoint. exercises that stretch and tone the body through internal training. Improves general health,Improve your tai chi techniques, All skill level.
https://learn-shaolinkungfu.com/kung-fu-styles/shaolin-kungfu/

Almost all cultures have roots in some sort of self defence system and yet there is relatively little research in this area, outside of a sports related environment. This project investigated different applications of strikes from Kung Fu practitioners that have not been addressed before in the literature. Punch and palm strikes were directly compared from different heights and distances, with the use of a load cell, accelerometers, and high speed video. The data indicated that the arm accelerations of both strikes were similar, although the force and resulting acceleration of the target were significantly greater for the palm strikes. Additionally, the relative height at which the strike was delivered was also investigated. The overall conclusion is that the palm strike is a more effective strike for transferring force to an object. It can also be concluded that an attack to the chest would be ideal for maximizing impact force and moving an opponent off balance. Key PointsIt has be...

O presente trabalho de pesquisa procurou investigar as transformações observadas, ao longo do tempo, nos conteúdos de natureza não-corporal (em especial, os religiosos) pertencentes ao universo semântico de uma arte marcial oriental transplantada para o Brasil. A arte marcial pesquisada foi o Kung-Fu do estilo Shaolin do Norte, originária da China e introduzida no país, em 1960, pelo mestre chinês Chan Kowk Wai. Seu principal diferencial em relação às demais artes marciais orientais transplantadas para o Brasil se refere à coexistência de aspectos fundantes étnicos e transculturais. Essa “transplantação de dupla paternidade” – definida pelo ingresso de técnicas corporais tradicionais e de elementos não-corporais transculturais – determinou características  específicas relacionadas à adoção, entendimento, representação e significação da História, dos mitos
de criação e da religiosidade envolvidos com a arte marcial.
Para investigar a evolução do “subuniverso Kung-Fu” em seus aspectos não-corporais, buscamos trabalhar com duas linhas, uma de caráter teórico-bibliográfico e, outra, de caráter empírico. A primeira linha relacionou os principais elementos que compõem o “universo teórico” do Kung-Fu, em especial o do estilo Shaolin do Norte: História da arte marcial; relação entre arte marcial e imigração; representação e auto-representação da arte e dos praticantes; iconografia religiosa. A segunda linha se ocupou de investigar as transformações no universo não-corporal do estilo a partir de entrevistas com quatro gerações de praticantes, formadas por dois mestres chineses, dois professores brasileiros e seis alunos brasileiros.
O cruzamento das informações permitiu concluir que a arte marcial chinesa praticada no Brasil, principalmente em seu entendimento filosófico, ético e religioso, vem adquirindo
características cada vez mais locais. A fim de compreender o porquê dessa transformação e de projetar um cenário futuro do nosso objeto de estudo, fizemos uso de um constructo teórico baseado na chamada “Teoria da Transplantação Religiosa”, de Martin Baumann, e na chamada “Construção Social da Realidade”, de Peter Berger e Thomas Luckmann.

Translated by Storti Enrico from the chapter Shaolin Dazhan Wudang 少林大战武当, in the Small Historical Memories 短史记, a book written by Chen Xubin 谌旭彬 and Yang Jintao 杨津涛 and published in 2021 When I find a complete article like this on a topic, I can't do anything else if not try to translate it in the best possible way, even when I wanted to write something of my own. And this case is one of them. I would point out that the translator entered the footnotes as additions to the text, while the article puts the notes at the end and marks them with a circled Number.

O mosteiro de Shaolin é provavelmente um dos mais famosos templos budistas do mundo. A razão não está ligada a contribuições doutrinárias de seus monges residentes, tampouco às tradições que associam o mosteiro à figura de Bodhidharma (Ta Mo), o fundador lendário da Escola Chan. A fama de Shaolin se assenta sobre as artes marciais: muitas das tradições marciais chinesas consideram o mosteiro como seu lugar de nascimento.

Il Taijiquan nasce e si sviluppa come arte marziale tradizionale, e può essere considerato nel suo aspetto ortodosso come un sistema di addestramento e condizionamento fisico atto allo sviluppo di qualità e destrezze in ambito marziale.
Tra i suoi esercizi fondamentali annovera l’esecuzione a solo di alcune serie di movimenti concatenati in modo continuo, lento, fluido ed intenso l'uno all'altro, con elementi eseguiti rapidamente e con l’espressione di grande forza esplosiva, tutti eseguiti contemporaneamente ad un sistema di respirazione profonda, diaframmatica inversa, con concentrazione mentale sia per l'esecuzione dei movimenti permeandoli d'intenzione e forze, sia per la coordinazione delle catene cinetiche che sussumono i meccanismi peculiari dello stile.
L'analisi delle fonti dedicate ad uno studio scientifico sperimentale del Taijiquan documenta l'interesse per questa disciplina a partire dagli anni ottanta , ed in accordo con la tradizione cinese che annovera il Taiji come disciplina salutare, i recenti studi hanno riconosciuto in questa pratica, semplificata e ridotta alla mera attività fisica leggera, la sua essenza strumento di attività fisica capace di produrre un condizionamento, un allenamento fisico la cui intensità dipende da vari fattori .
Gli studi dimostrano che la variazione nell'approccio all'allenamento comporta sostanziali differenze nell'intensità dell'esercizio fisico.
Ad esempio le analisi sperimentali sulla frequenza cardiaca di gruppi praticanti il Taiji tradizionale della famiglia Yang e le forme da esso derivate di 简化太极拳Jianhua Taijiquan - Il Taijiquan semplificato, appartenente ad un contesto di 国标武术Guobiao Wushu – arti marziali standard nazionali, ha dimostrato che la qualità di esercizio di quest’ultima tipologia di Taiji sia d'intensità minore a quanto la strumentazione permetta di rilevare per l’allenamento al Taiji tradizionale, così come gli studi hanno dimostrato che i prodotti dell'allenamento del Taijiquan dipendano anche dalla postura e dalla durata della pratica .
La metodologia utilizzata dagli addetti ai lavori per la raccolta dei dati e per la loro analisi rispetto ad uno studio scientifico-sperimentale finalizzato a determinare l'impatto del Taiji sul fisico dell'essere umano consiste in varie strategie per il monitoraggio costante della frequenza cardiaca, del volume di ossigeno nel sangue e dal totale consumo calorico speso durante la sessione di pratica .
Nel Taijiquan ortodosso di Chenjiagou la natura posturale in semi-squat delle posizioni, l’intensità e fluidità viscosa delle transizioni tra una posizione e l'altra, la durata degli esercizi caratterizzanti una tipica sessione di allenamento, la peculiare alternanza con più o meno frequenza in ciascuna sequenza di movimenti di rapidissime fasi esplosive concatenate ed eseguite in espirazione a fasi lente e fluide in respirazione diaframmatica inversa, registrata attraverso una strumentazione focalizzata alla misurazione della frequenza cardiaca ed al consumo calorico, restituisce rilievi che mostrano sia la natura aerobica dell'allenamento al Taiji, sia un importante lavoro in zona anaerobica, risultati che in accordo con la letteratura scientifica dedicata , dimostrano l’effettiva capacità di questo esercizio fisico nel produrre incremento delle capacità funzionali del praticante, tanto a livello medico quanto nel condizionamento marziale .

Premessa Questo lavoro è un approfondimento di ciò che ho scritto in Wikipedia ed in Dizionario di Wushu in Facebook. Non rende onore alla complessità ed alla varietà del Bāduànj n. Mi soffermerò ǐ prevalentemente su "Otto Pezzi di Broccato in Piedi" e "Otto Pezzi di Broccato da Seduti". 八段錦 bāduànj n = otto pezzi di broccato ǐ è il nome di un esercizio di qìgōng (气功) La prima menzione scritta al termine Bāduànj n compare in un testo scritto durante la Dinastia Song ǐ del Sud (1127-1279) da Hóng Mài 洪迈, cioè lo "Yíjiānzhì 夷坚志". Il libro racconta: "Nel settimo anno di governo dell'imperatore Zhènghé 政和 (1118),L Sìj ǐ ǔ 李似矩 è stato nominato funzionario del governo con la responsabilità di riferire sulla vita quotidiana dell'imperatore. Egli nel cuore della notte sperimentava la meditazione seduta (起坐), tecniche di respirazione e massaggio (嘘吸按摩), movimenti che sono chiamati bāduànj n" ǐ L'ideogramma "bā 八" (otto) contenuto nel nome non indica semplicemente le "otto parti" o "sezioni" dell'esercizio o "otto azioni", ma indica anche che il suo metodo di lavoro ha molti tipi di fattori essenziali. Per esempio "Otto linee per conformarsi alla vita-Il Metodo D oy n degli otto ǎ ǐ Pezzi di Broccato" (遵生八笺·八段锦导引法) scritto da Gāo Lián 高濂 durante la dinastia Ming, afferma: "praticandolo tutte le mattine, crea una miscela di Cielo e Terra. I cicli in sequenza si scambiano, gli Otto Trigrammi sono un buon motivo"(子后午前做，造化合乾坤。循环次第转，八卦 是良因) Un riferimento alla creazione di un tipo di "Otto Pezzi di Broccato da Seduti" è descritta in una raccolta di testi dell'Epoca Ming (1368-1644), il "Zhèngt ng Dàozāng"(ǒ 正统道臧). Questo testo riferisce che durante la Dinastia Tang (618-907) Zhōng Líquán 钟离权 creò il "metodo degli Otto Pezzi di Broccato di Zhōng Lí"(钟离八段锦法). Il "bāduànj n" si divide in due tipologie, cioè "stile seduto"(ǐ 坐式) e "stile in piedi"(立式) e la versione più recente è stata codificata dalla "Amministrazione Generale Cinese dello Sport"(中国国 家体育总局) nel 2003.

This work is the translation and enrichment of an Italian text of 2010. It is a reconstruction of the 1936 expedition to Berlin by a demonstration team from Wushu that relies mainly on Chinese sources, reported in written articles awaiting the 2009 Beijing Olympics. For this reason the tones are often hagiographic and celebratory. The interesting description of the techniques is expressed in a poetic and grandiose way, but also quite precise and recognizable. The report of the German Olympic Committee (1937) would seem to confirm this narrative and the fact that the Chinese demonstration was truly special.
The debacle of the sports delegation once again leads to a humiliation of the Chinese people (sick man of Asia), avenged through the strength and mastery of the athletes of Guoshu. There’s no shortage of mysteries, like the ninth man on the team.

Qigong is a traditional Chinese exercise system which has many forms and techniques used, applied for health benefits from ancient times to contemporary societies. Globalization and widespread of cultural elements internationally have contributed positively for Qigong practice’s being known more in the West. There are many researches that have been conducted on medical, health aspects of practicing Qigong. In this article the subject is Baduanjin Qigong (Eight Section Brocade) and its socio-cultural dimensions which is going to be discussed from several views. A comprehensive model of Baduanjin will be given and this can be functional to practitioners of Asian martial arts, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and also academics in social sciences, humanities and cultural studies.

Nanjing 1928-First National Examination of Guoshu written by Storti Enrico Translation note: in the course of the article you will often find the terms Ring or Arena that would like to translate the Chinese term Lèitái 擂台. Of the two, perhaps "arena" is the closest to the real situation, although in later races the "platform" for the competition it increasingly took on the appearance of the western boxing ring. In the case of this competition, however, it would seem that the arena is very similar to that of the circus.

This dissertation is an investigation of the percussion used to accompany Chinese martial arts and lion dancing at Toronto, Canada’s Hong Luck Kung Fu Club. It is based on six years of participant-observation and performance ethnography there, as well as a nine-month period of comparative fieldwork in Hong Kong. The diasporic environment presented questions of identity, and the research also engaged with the emerging field of martial arts studies. The discussion’s primary lines of inquiry are the use of percussion-accompanied lion dance and kung fu in the construction of identity for performers and audiences in a multicultural context; embodied knowledge in the movement and music that undergirds a Chinese, martial way of being-in-the-world; and the experience of learning, performing, and observing these practices. This study draws on phenomenology, semiotics, practice theory, and cognitive semantics, which have been tempered by discipleship at Hong Luck. The primary argument of this dissertation is that, despite the challenges of diaspora, Hong Luck’s transmission process uses intense physical training to engrain a distinctly Chinese, martial habitus onto practitioners; this set of dispositions is the prerequisite for becoming a drummer and is sonically—and physically—manifested in percussion-accompanied kung fu and lion dancing with important implications for the identity of performers and patrons. The main thesis is augmented by an argument for experiencing combat skills through music. With over fifty years of history, the ideals of self-strengthening, resistance to domination, and respect for Chinese culture that are embodied in Hong Luck’s practices have had a lasting impact on not only the local Chinatown community, but also the Greater Toronto Area and beyond.

Il Tantui è una scuola o un esercizio di arti marziali Cinesi? Questo scritto cerca di rispondere a questa domanda e si preoccupa di ricostruire il filo comune che collega sia gli esercizi che le varie scuole che si fregiano di questo nome.

Toronto's Hong Luck Kung Fu Club has promulgated martial arts, lion dance and percussion music since 1961. Drawing on my fieldwork there, this paper argues that these practices structure—and are structured by—a combative approach to rhythm. Students begin with martial arts and train without music, but percussion accompanies public demonstrations, creating an unfamiliar situation that I position as a distinct phase of the transmission process. Martial arts performances are both fuelled by musical energy and challenged by the requirement of remaining asynchronous to it. Lion dancers, however, treat drum patterns like signals coordinating manoeuvres on the performance battlefield.

Résumé: Le club de kung fu Hong Luck de Toronto met de l'avant, depuis 1961, les arts martiaux, la danse du lion et la musique à base de percussions. À partir du travail de terrain que j'y ai effectué, j'avance dans cet article que ces pratiques structurent—et sont structurées par—une approche combattive du rythme. Les étudiants commencent par les arts martiaux et s'entraînent sans musique, mais les percussions qui accompagnent les démonstrations publiques créent une situation inédite que je situe comme une phase distincte du processus de transmission. Les performances d'arts martiaux sont alimentées par l'énergie de la musique en même temps qu'elles sont contrariées par l'exigence de rester asynchrones à celle-ci. Par contre, ceux qui effectuent la danse du lion se servent des schémas rythmiques comme de signaux pour coordonner leurs manoeuvres sur ce champ de bataille qu'est la représentation.

This paper examines the combative benefits of lion dance training in the curriculum of a traditional Chinese martial arts school. It is one result of an ongoing ethnographic study at a Chinese- Canadian kung fu club that is investigating the importance and uses of music in the martial arts. A brief description of the blurred genre combining two dancers in a stylized lion costume and an accom- panying percussion ensemble is provided, before proceeding to a discussion of transferable skills de- velopment. The approach is ethnomusicological, therefore the focus is on rhythm, tempo, and entrain- ment in lion dancing and homologous principles in martial arts. The value of this study is to be found in making explicit the implicit ties between musical proficiencies and combat sport effectiveness, in order to enhance the efficiency of rhythm skills acquisition and application for kung fu practitioners.

El presente trabajo de grado aborda las maneras en que se transmiten y apropian otras formas de pensar, sentir y actuar en el mundo, por medio de las prácticas corporales del Kung Fu. Pretende dilucidar la noción de cuerpo presente en este arte marcial chino, a través de una revisión de su filosofía, tradición y prácticas culturales, y analizar cómo se apropia esta corporalidad Oriental en nuestra cultura Occidental, cuya in-corporación produce transformaciones subjetivas y colectivas. Recoge el análisis bibliográfico, mi propia experiencia como practicante y el trabajo etnográfico realizado en la Academia de Artes Marciales Chinas Huan Long, ubicada en la ciudad de Bogotá. Hace un rastreo documental de los orígenes históricos del Kung Fu como expresión folclórica, militar y deportiva; las características de su práctica (objetos, lugar y entrenamiento); su concepción unitaria de cuerpo, mente y espíritu; la construcción de la noción de comunidad y sujeto; así como sus implicaciones estéticas y ético-políticas en la formación de sujetos que pueden devenir en agentes de cambio social.

Palabras clave: antropología del cuerpo, artes marciales chinas, etnografía encarnada, filosofías orientales, Kung Fu.
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This degree work addresses the maners in which other ways of think, feel and act in the world are transmitted and appropiated through bodily practices of Kung Fu. It seeks to clarify the notion of body in this chinese martial art, reviewing its phylosophy, tradition and cultural practices, and analizing how this Oriental corporeality is appropriated in our Western culture, in-corporation that produces subjective and collective transformations. Includes the literature review, my own experience as a practitioner and the ethnographic work in the Chinese Martial Arts Academy Huan Long, located in Bogotá city. It makes a documentary tracing of the historical origins of Kung Fu as folk, military and sporting activity; its practice characteristics (objects, place and training); its unitary conception of body, mind and spirit; the construction of the notion of community and subject; and the aesthetic, ethical and political implications in the formation of subjects who can become agents of social change.

Key words: anthropology of the body, chinese marcial arts, embodied ethnography, Kung Fu, oriental philosophy.

‘Kung fu’ has become synonymous with the traditional Chinese martial arts in the popular imagination.  Yet some practitioners and writers object to this usage, insisting instead on the adoption of other labels such as ‘wushu.’  Increasingly authors in both the academic and more serious popular literatures are moving away from ‘kung fu’ as it is perceived as both inauthentic and ahistorical.  But is this really the case?  The following article examines the use of ‘kung fu’ in both the Chinese and English language literatures on the martial arts from the middle of the 19th century to the 1960s.  It finds that the term’s adoption as a descriptor of a set of martial practices is older than is generally acknowledged.  There are also specific regional and social reasons why certain Chinese martial artists have chosen to adopt and promote this term in describing their own practice.  Like the traditional Chinese martial arts themselves, the term kung fu has meant many things to various practitioners in different times and places.  By studying the evolution and spread of this terminology, students of martial studies can gain insight into the changing nature of the Chinese martial arts. 


Errata: The reference to James Lee on page 17 should read "James Wing Woo."

Mixed Martial Arts vs. Street Fighting In view of the invincible Conor McGregor's demolition by the larger, but well-used, Nate Diaz, maybe it is time to revisit the difference between the sport of mixed martial arts and real fighting in as much as Conor apparently felt he wasn't bound by the usual constraints of a sport defined by a large set of rules. To do so, we must visit the rules and regulations of the UFC and MMA generally. First we'll examine the definitions. In the first paragraph, we have a contradictory use of the term " limitations " and " without limitation ". Obviously they can't have it both ways. If there are limitations, there cannot be " without limitation. " So we have a problem right from the get-go. We also see the the term, " unarmed combat " , is rather limited, as lots of techniques besides blows can reasonably be expected to inflict injury. Non-striking techniques in grappling, such as strangles, chokes, and joint destructions, are not blows but can be just as devastating as a strike. And it doesn't mention death, which might also be reasonably expected from a blow (or non-striking) technique. Aside from those discrepancies, " unarmed combat " doesn't make any reference at all to a lack of non-natural weapons, such as knives, clubs, guns, etc., which are the distinguishing feature of unarmed combat. Of course, the idea of a commission making regulations is completely contradictory to the concept of free-fighting, where any commission of " meeting of the minds " would likely be trying to develop ways to truly remove limitations, rather than impose them. Next we need to mention the weight divisions of which there are at least 11. Of course, they are also divided between men and women, which is wholly unrealistic in real life. In fact, most aggression outside of the ring is visited by men on women, as it is usually safer and easier than attacking another man. In general, women are weaker, slower, and altogether less athletic than men at the same weight, thanks to sexual dimorphism in the human species and the far higher level of testosterone in men. Even within the same sex, the lowest weight division among men is less than half the weight of the highest weight division. Again, in real life, a predatory assailant is most likely to prey on another individual perceived as much weaker/smaller and/or incapacitated in some way (for instance, a child, elder, or disabled) or a combination of all of these. By contrast, in an MMA bout, a 1 pound difference between combatants is the most permitted….ever. (Or so they claim. Recent bouts have allowed significant weight differences in order to avoid cancellation of the bout.) Catchweight bouts may be permitted, but they must still specify a weight. In spite of any " outs " within the rules, one doesn't see a massive difference in weight between 2 contracted parties. Although MMA contests are held in a ring or fenced area, it is primarily to prevent the contestants from falling out of the ring and hurting themselves or others. Even so, the floor must extend at least 18 " past the ropes or cage in order to protect the contestants and the foam padding must also cover these 18 " outside of the ring. Similarly the ring

Introduction: Wushu, Chinese martial art, consists of modern and traditional groups of styles. Previously it was researched that modern and traditional martial arts have different outcomes. Since traditional wushu is said to be rooted in Chinese values, its environment is a unique place to research psychological collectivism. Moreover, mental toughness is a new topic in the field of martial arts, and its connection with psychological collectivism was only researched on the society, not personality level. Methods: This mixed methods research consisted of qualitative Study 1 and quantitative Study 2. Study 1 aimed to understand, what is the experience of psychological collectivism in traditional wushu training. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight European adult participants of traditional wushu and were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. In the Study 2, 277 European adult respondents (111 modern wushu and 166 traditional wushu practitioners) filled in the Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire and Psychological Collectivism Questionnaire. To research the relationship of practicing modern or traditional wushu with psychological collectivism and mental toughness, several steps were taken. First, the Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were run to test both models. Next, the final model was tested using Structural Equation Modelling. Model comparisons, path analysis and effects were completed. Results: In Study 1, five themes emerged from the data. The first described how kung fu (traditional wushu) provided structure and direction for the interviewees. Also, it described how practitioners better adapted to the outer world and their ability to switch from being gentle to being ruthless. The second theme described perception of time. The third one explored the kung fu community, provided a probe into the group identity, and looked at how positioning closer to the master provided better learning options; the community served as the knowledge keeper. The fourth theme explored bridging gaps in communication. Finally, the fifth theme discovered seriousness of the practitioners, who had to endure mentally and physically torturous training. In Study 2, during the structural equation modeling the final model was confirmed as well as differences in the two groups of modern and traditional wushu. Moreover, it was found, that the number of joined competitions or years of training did not result in a significant path with mental toughness, but perceived level of skill did. The relationship between psychological collectivism and mental toughness was found only in the traditional wushu group, limited to a marginal p level. Conclusion: Psychological collectivism was explored in traditional wushu and helped to understand the structure and functioning of the wushu community. The seriousness of its members served as a commodity, to negotiate better position in the group. In the quantitative study, this seriousness seemed to be connected with the perceived level of skill. This variable resulted in the significant path with mental toughness. It is suggested that the social environment of the serious practitioners, who put themselves through demanding training, helped to develop mental toughness. This development is not based on the number of years in training, but rather on the way the practitioners perceive themselves.