Learnt with a coach

Wushu at home

A mat and room to kick for stances, kicks and jumps; weapons, acrobatics and sanshou contact only with a teacher.

8 cards at home 4 for the club

What should we practise today?

Tell us where you are and who is playing. You get one card and the reason.

Where are you?

Who is playing?

Start a session

New to wushu? The game in a minute

Read this once before the first card.

The sport in short: The sport form of Chinese martial arts. It has two parts: taolu, which is performing set routines of stances, punches, kicks, jumps and balances (later also with weapons such as the sword and spear), and sanshou (also called sanda), which is a contact combat sport with punches, kicks and throws.
How taolu is judged: A routine is performed alone on a carpet, often to a time limit. Judges score it on three things: the quality of the movements, the overall performance (power, rhythm, spirit), and the difficulty of the jumps and balances. The highest score wins.
How sanshou works: Two athletes in protective gear score points in short rounds for clean punches, kicks and throws, on a mat or a raised platform. Children learn sanshou only at a club, with a teacher.
Rules children break first: Loosen up before kicking or jumping.
Kick only in the air or at a soft cushion held still.
Land jumps softly on a mat.
No weapons, flips or sparring without a teacher.
At home you start with: The horse, bow and rest stances, the hand shapes and the straight punch, front kicks, the side kick and snap kick, leg lifts and soft jumps, how routines are scored, and linking stances into a chain. Routines, weapons and sanshou are learnt with a teacher.

Words you will hear (21, in plain language)

Taolu: Set routines (forms) performed alone and judged.
Sanshou: The contact combat part of wushu.
Changquan: Long fist, a northern style with long, open movements; southern fist, a style with low stances and strong hand work.
Horse stance: Feet wider than the shoulders, knees bent as if sitting on a horse, body upright.
Bow stance: A forward lunge, front knee bent, back leg straight, both heels down.
Rest stance: One foot crossed behind the other, sitting low onto the back knee.
Empty stance: A stance with almost no weight on the front foot; a very low stance with one leg straight along the floor.
Fist: The three hand shapes: a closed fist, an open flat hand, and the fingertips pinched together with the wrist bent.
Straight punch: A punch from the waist, the fist turning flat as the arm straightens.
Front kick: A straight-leg kick swung up in front of the body.
Side kick: The knee lifted, then the leg pushed out to the side.
Snap kick: The knee lifted, then the lower leg snapped out level.
Leg lift: Raising one leg toward the forehead or the ear and holding it.
Tuck jump: Jumping with the knees pulled up; jumping with the legs split wide.
Whirlwind kick: Advanced spinning jump kicks learnt with a teacher.
Chain: Moves linked one after another.
Facing: The direction the body and eyes point in a routine.
Sword: Two of the weapons used in taolu, only with a teacher.
On guard: The ready stance in sanshou, hands up.
Protective gear: The head guard, gloves, body protector and mouthguard worn for sanshou.
Judging: Quality of movement, overall performance and degree of difficulty.

Try it, nothing to buy

Mark the space once. Every card starts from it.

A suggested first ten sessions (optional)

The cards, level by level

Nobody is late. A beginner of any age starts at Basic.

Basic 8 cards · show· hide Three stances, the hand shapes and a punch, straight-leg front kicks, a side kick and a snap kick, and soft jumps.

Move on when b2, b4 and b5 self-checks are met.

Intermediate 3 cards · show· hide Linking moves into sequences, then rotating jumps, a graded routine, weapon basics and sanshou basics, with a teacher.

Move on when the teacher says so.

Advanced 1 cards · show· hide High-difficulty jumps and landings, weapon mastery, routines built for the judging rules, and sanshou tactics.

a1 Competition At a club what the coach teaches, what to ask

Teaching this at home

Contact, falls, weapons or heights. At home only games and knowledge; the skill is taught at a club.

You do not need to know the sport. Each card tells you where to stand, what to say and what to look at. Pick one thing to say in a session and say only that. The first week looks messy; that is normal. End every session on one that works.

Cards marked At a club are taught by a coach. They tell you what the coach teaches, what is safe at home, and what to ask the club before your child joins.

How to warm up before playing is at workonfitness.com. The rules of the game are at sportsmaze.com.