Kung Fu, Kung Pao. What does Kung mean?

AlwaysWondering - 2007-09-19 19:41:38 - Martial Arts

if kung fu is martial arts and kung pao is spicy food, what does kung mean?? does it mean kick? like in kick fighting and in kick a.. spicy?

Best Answer:

there are different meanings for kung. in kung fu it means acheivement or merit.

Answer:

there are different meanings for kung. in kung fu it means acheivement or merit.

Kung means practice or work. Gong is basically the same word.

Man that's a lame question

Chinese martial arts describes the enormous variety of martial arts styles originating in China. Kung fu and wushu are popular terms that have become synonymous with Chinese martial arts. However, the Chinese terms kung fu (pinyin: gōngfū) and wushu have very distinct connotations. Each term can describe different martial arts traditions and can also be used in a context without referencing martial arts. Colloquially, kung fu (or gong fu) alludes to any individual accomplishment or cultivated skill. In contrast, wushu is a more precise term that refers to general martial activities. The term wushu has also become the name for a modern sport similar to gymnastics involving the performance of adapted Chinese bare-handed and weapons forms (tàolù) judged to a set of contemporary aesthetic criteria for points. Within China, the practice of traditional martial arts was discouraged during the turbulent years of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1969-1976). Like many other aspects of traditional Chinese life, martial arts was subjected to a radical transformation by the People's Republic of China in order to align it with Maoist revolutionary doctrine. The PRC promoted the committee-regulated sport of Wushu as a replacement to independent schools of martial arts. This new competition sport was disassociated from what was seen as the potentially subversive self-defense aspects and family lineages of Chinese martial arts previously exhibited by the Boxer Rebellion. Rhetorically, they also encouraged the use of the term "Kuoshu" (or Guoshu meaning "the arts of the nation"), rather than the colloquial term gongfu, in an effort to more closely associate Chinese martial arts with national pride rather than individual accomplishment. In 1958, the government established the All-China Wushu Association as an 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. The suppression of traditional teaching was relaxed during the Era of Reconstruction (1976-1989), as Communist ideology became more accommodating to alternative viewpoints. In 1979, the State Commission for Physical Culture and Sports created a special task force to reevaluate the 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 the People's Republic of China. Changing government policies and attitudes towards sports in general lead to the closing of the State Sports 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. As a result of these changing sociological factors within China, both traditional styles and modern Wushu approaches are being promoted by the Chinese government. If you ask a citizen of mainland China if he or she "knows Kung Fu," they will probably stare at you with a blank expression. If you ask if he or she "knows wu shu", they will smile and, often, will be willing to give you a demonstration. In the west, particularly in Hollywood, the word Kung Fu has been linked to a specific style of Chinese martial arts, although this is a misnomer.

Strangely enough, often words spelled the same way in English are pronounced differently in Chinese. It might be a difference of tone, or inflection, but I don't think the two "Kung"s spoken of here are the same word in Chinese.