The most popular martial arts(武术) today originated in Asia, especially in China. Many martial arts were invented because people needed to defend themselves or protect others. Nowadays, people learn martial arts as a way of keeping fit or as a competitive sport, but they are still very useful for self-defense.
Martial arts are often referred to as either the soft ones or the hard ones. These term simply a way of dealing with your opponent's force. Soft martial arts, such as tai chi, teach you to use your opponent's force to defend yourself. Soft styles allow you to use flowing movements and timing to avoid your opponent's attacks. These martial arts are soft for the defender but not for the attacker! On the other hand, hard styles, such as kung fu, teach you to defend yourself using force. Techniques involve blocking, posturing, powerful hitting and kicking. Hard martial arts techniques are more effective if you are more skillful, more powerful and faster than your opponent.
Perhaps one of the best known Japanese martial arts today is karate. But did you know that its roots are derived from Fujian Province? In the 4th century, a community of Chinese migrants from Fujian settled in what was then the kingdom of Okinawa. The Chinese migrants used to gather in a park to enjoy cultural activities—one of which was kung fu. This soon caught the attention of local youths, who started learning kung fu from their Chinese neighbors.
In fact, Chinese influence on martial arts was not limited to kung fu. The very first Korean military training guidebook was based on a Chinese version. During the Japanese invasion of Korea in the 16th century, the Korean army needed an effective way to train a large number of troops. They adopted a training methodology(方法) from a Chinese military book called Ji Xiao Xin Shu, written by the famous Chinese general Qi Jiguang.
