The common understanding of martial arts is that it is the art of attack and defense, or Gong Fu- in other words, a mere fighting skill. However, at its most profound level, it is the art of not fighting; in fact, it really means a method to stop fighting. To help us understand this, we can briefly analyze the Chinese term for martial arts-Wu Shu.
Wu is commonly translated as “martial.” The character is constructed of two radicals: one means stop and the other means weapon. The original meaning of Wu is “to stop fighting.” Shu means an art, technique or method. In other words, Wu Shu really means the art of technique of not fighting at all.
The most skilled martial artists not only find it unnecessary to kill, but will also stop others from fighting. Martial Arts were created and perfected long ago; they are modeled after patterns of basic life. The prehistoric Chinese lived in accordance with nature, hunting for their livelihood and even sometimes fighting for their lives. For this it was necessary for them to understand their intentions, potential and of course their own bodies. The se people also had to understand their enemies-their strengths, their techniques, and the means by which they might best be controlled. On the other hand, ancient China was beset by wars between the varied states and tribes. Living in such conditions compelled these people to create training techniques for self-defense and sometimes for attack.
The Sages or the great Shamans who lived during this time also created movement to help others understand the Universal Way. They discovered that the virtue or function of Heaven is to protect and preserve all life and to give birth to the ten thousand things, so the spiritual goal of the martial artist is to follow the Heavenly way, the way for peace. These movements were intended to bring people closer to the Dao because martial arts could be used to save a life or bring peace in war. (This sort of war, let us remember was only waged to help maintain the greater peace)
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