Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Wushu at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games

at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games took place in the , in Ermita, Manila, Philippines.

The event was held from November 28-30.

literally means "martial art". It is a more precise term than the widely used term kung fu, which can mean either martial art or "''skill''": a craftsman or artisan could be said to have good "kung fu" in the way in which they carry out their craft; in the same way, a wushu practitioner can also be said to have good "kung fu" in their wushu practice. In the broadest sense, the word wushu may refer to any martial art in the world, though in practice it often refers to all categories of Chinese martial arts, traditional, contemporary, hard and soft. Today, the terms "modern wushu" or "contemporary wushu" refer to forms that are practised for health, exhibition and competition. Common "hard" or external styles of contemporary wushu are southern fist, ''Nanquan'' and long fist, ''Changquan''. Common "soft" or styles are Taijiquan, and .

Wushu is practised in forms which comprise basic movements particular to each style and can be changed for competitions to highlight one's strengths. Competitive forms can vary in length from 1 minute, 30 seconds for the hard styles to over five minutes for internal styles.

Medal winners

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