Wushu

Wushu" is the Chines term for "martial arts" ("Wu" = military or martial, "Shu" = art). In contemporary times, Wushu has become an international sport under the international wushu federation (IWUF), which holds the world wushu championship every two years as well as other. Wushu has become an official event at the asian games, southeast asian games and the world combat games among other multi-sport events.
Competitive Wushu is composed of two disciplines: taolu forms) and sanda sparring). But it has other disciplines, like self defense, breaking hard objects, and other related practices, that are not performed in competitions.
Taolu involves martial arts patterns, acrobatic movements and techniques for which competitors are judged and given points according to specific rules. The forms comprise basic movements (stances, kicks, punches, balances, jumps, sweeps, and throws) based on aggregate categories of traditional Chinese martial art styles, and can be changed for competitions to highlight one's strengths. Competitive forms have time limits that can range from 1 minute, 20 seconds for some external styles, to over five minutes for internal styles.
Sanda (sometimes called sanshou) is a modern fighting method and a full contact sport. Sanda contains boxing, kicks (kickboxing), and wrestling. It has all the combat aspects of wushu. Sanda appears much like kickboxing, boxing or muay thai but includes many more grappling techniques. Sanda fighting competitions are often held alongside taolu.
In 1958, the government established the umbrella organization to regulate martial arts training. The Chinese State Commission for Physical Culture and Sports took the lead in creating standardized forms for most of the major arts. During this period, a national Wushu system that included standard forms, teaching curriculum, and instructor grading was established. Wushu was introduced at both the high school and university level. This new system seeks to incorporate common elements from all styles and forms as well as the general ideas associated with Chinese martial arts. Stylistic concepts such as hard, soft, internal, external, as well as classifications based on schools such as Shaolin, Taiji, Wudang and others were all integrated into one system. Wushu became the government sponsored standard for the training in martial arts in China.[4] The push for standardization continued leading to widespread adaptation. In 1979, the State Commission for Physical Culture and Sports created a special task force to teaching and practice of Wushu. In 1986, the Chinese National Research Institute of Wushu was established as the central authority for the research and administration of Wushu activities in China.[5]
Changing government policies and attitudes towards sports in general led to the closing of the state spirts commission (the central sports authority) in 1998. This closure is viewed as an attempt to partially de-politicize organized sports and move Chinese sport policies towards a more market-driven approach.[6] As a result of these changing sociological factors within China, both traditional styles and modern Wushu approaches are being promoted by the international wushu federation.