Martial arts have a long history in China, and its emergence stems from the gradual accumulation of skills such as chopping, chopping, and stabbing in hunting and production activities. These primitive forms of attack and defense skills are low-level and have not yet separated from the category of production skills, but they are the foundation of the formation of martial arts techniques.

In the era of clan communes, tribal wars often occurred, and as a result, people's experiences in fighting on the battlefield were constantly summarized. The more successful strikes, stabs, punches, and legs were imitated, taught, and practiced, and martial arts gradually formed.

Every move of Chinese martial arts reflects the wisdom of the nation, embodying the essence, energy, and spirit of the Chinese people in every move. In every technique and theory, there is a hidden and rich cultural carrier of China's long-standing historical civilization.

Chinese martial arts seem to be increasingly forgotten and marginalized. In fact, the spiritual core of Chinese martial arts is the national soul of the Chinese people who strive for self-improvement and remain humble and unyielding, symbolizing the romantic sentiment of the Chinese people towards chivalry and righteousness, which must be passed down from generation to generation.

In this issue of Qingqiao magazine, Zhang Jianjun, Chairman of the Macau Chinese Traditional Sports Association, conducted a guest interview at Ningdian. He was born into a martial arts family and learned from his father, Mr. Zhang Kejian (who was once awarded the title of "Grandmaster" by Wuhan Sports Institute). He is an important inheritor of traditional Chinese martial arts.

Zhang Jianjun, who used to be a coach of the National Muay Thai team, is skilled in martial arts and equipment combat. Currently, he also holds positions such as a specially appointed professor at the Wudang Mountain International Martial Arts College of Wuhan Sports Institute and deputy director of the Short Soldier Professional Committee of the Ethnic Traditional Sports Branch of the China University Sports Association.

Let's learn about Chinese martial arts and feel the spiritual core of the Chinese nation together with Zhang Jianjun.

Are you also influenced by your family as you were born into a martial arts family and eventually embarked on the path of practicing martial arts?

This must be true, because during my time of birth, from the late 1960s to the 1970s, I grew up without any entertainment activities as diverse as now. What environment did I grow up in? I just watch dozens of apprentices practicing martial arts with my father every day, and grow up to be in my teens like this.

On Sundays, there were no private cars in that era. Everyone rode bicycles and gathered in the park in Lanzhou to practice martial arts together. By noon, everyone gradually dispersed, which was the main reason why I decided to take the path of practicing martial arts.

Another reason is that when my father was young, around the 1950s and 1960s, he was an excellent athlete on the national team. At that time, the influence of the Chinese martial arts team was quite significant. His social circle and living environment were basically centered around martial arts.

I grew up in the martial arts industry since I was young, which made me feel like someone who has pursued a different career is deviant from the norm. Additionally, I truly love martial arts, which are very attractive to boys.

Practicing martial arts is a very arduous task. Will your father be very strict with you during the process? Previously, I learned that you had a family motto, "A lion fights a chicken with all its might." How did it inspire you?

We are usually father and son, but in martial arts, we are both masters and disciples. He is very strict with me, and sometimes he may treat some disciples better than me. My father was born in that state for martial arts. Due to excessive strictness, I was rebellious for a period of time.

The saying "When a lion fights a chicken, it must be done with all his might" was first proposed by my father from the perspective of practicing martial arts. Sometimes, I engage in confrontational exercises, just like playing games for fun. He strongly opposes this, saying that you should take it seriously and give your all, regardless of the opponent's level. He said that lions and tigers are much stronger than chickens, but when they take action, they will give their all and do anything, no matter how big or easy it is, as long as they are done, they must give their all.

This sentence actually has the traditional wisdom of China. From a combat perspective, if you don't give it your all and act recklessly, the result may be destroyed in an instant. This often happens in combat, for example, when I am strong but my opponent is not strong enough, I tend to use my moves casually. At this point, you may not know that the opponent may have an opportunity to counterattack. If it is in the era of cold weapons combat, one move's negligence can lead to your death.

In terms of work, all your previous grades may have been wasted due to one negligence. This family motto makes me attach great importance to everything I do, plan basic ideas in advance, and cultivate a good habit for myself.

My father's family teachings have been very helpful to me, not only in all aspects of martial arts.

Do you think the development of martial arts should focus more on competitive aspects or practical combat? In your mind's martial arts, which angle should it ultimately return to?

From the Qing Dynasty to the late period, Chinese martial arts basically transformed into sports.

From a sports perspective, such as Sanda and Muay Thai, they both belong to competitive sports, but from another perspective, they also belong to combat. If during the competition, it belongs to competitive sports, such as when encountering danger in daily life and using this skill to resist and defend oneself, it is also a practical combat.

So from these two aspects, no matter how martial arts are practiced, its essence should still be fighting. Whether it's sports competitions or practical skills in daily life, martial arts are all centered around combat. There are many functional values of martial arts, such as drills, performances, fitness, health preservation, and even cultural exchanges. Martial arts can also provide people with a pleasant viewing experience. The core and value of martial arts are equally important.

Chinese martial arts, to this day, is no longer a military skill in the era of cold weapons, but a combination of combat techniques and routine exercises. There is a concept called "Dancing in pairs and combining in pairs, with parallel movements and paths". This idea was formed from the late Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty and gradually continued, interpreting the development direction of Chinese martial arts.

Many of our traditional martial arts moves originate from nature. Do you think that practicing martial arts is to break through our limits psychologically and physiologically, or is it a practice that connects with nature?

The so-called breakthrough of psychological and physical limits is actually closer to the thinking mode of modern competitive sports. The Chinese way of thinking is that martial arts should follow nature, and its ultimate goal is to pursue the Tao. Our martial arts do not have a large-scale competitive sports platform, and most martial artists need to understand and master it on their own.

The origin of Chinese martial arts lies in the biomimetic nature, which is where we are ahead of Western martial arts. For example, I would like to mention two of the most famous concepts in the West today. One is core strength training, which is essentially the Dantian training of the Chinese people. We use experiential reasoning as the training method, while Westerners use physiological anatomy as the basis and combine it with some scientific experiments to demonstrate it. The second one is the very popular fascia training, in fact, Chinese martial arts has long emphasized fascia training.

The mother culture of Chinese martial arts is traditional Chinese culture, which includes traditional philosophy, traditional Chinese medicine theory, Taoist culture, Western martial arts and competitive sports. It is another set of sports theory system constructed using anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, modern sports training, etc.

I believe that under the influence of traditional culture, Chinese martial arts pursue the unity with nature. This way of thinking cannot be said to be superior to the West, but can only be said to be a comparable way of thinking.

Martial arts is the exercise of the body, because the body and mind are integrated, and during the physical exercise, the state of mind also changes. It can be said that after a strong body, the depth of thought and soul should be higher.

The philosophical thinking of martial arts is twofold, the first being self-cultivation. In Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, there is a very classic saying that goes, "Without faith, integrity, benevolence, and bravery, one cannot pass on military and swordsmanship." Only those who possess integrity, integrity, benevolence, and bravery can inherit and develop military and swordsmanship, which is what martial arts pursue.

The second one is Mencius' philosophy, which states that "power cannot be subdued, and poverty cannot be moved.". At the most critical moment of the Chinese nation's crisis, the spirit of martial arts will emerge to inspire everyone. I remember a scholar once said a sentence, he said that the better living ethnic groups on Earth are all martial arts loving ethnic groups. There is indeed a certain truth that if this nation does not embrace martial arts, there will be no "support" in its heart.

Advanced moves, strong body, and powerful inner strength should complement each other.

Is there any special difference between Chinese martial arts and other martial arts techniques in the world? Will the future development of martial arts lead to a world of harmony?

Chinese martial arts still have some differences in fighting concepts and technical concepts compared to other martial arts in the world. For example, Chinese people emphasize several aspects in their concepts. The first is a bit of Zhuangzi's philosophy, which is called "skillful fighting power", and does not emphasize that I can punch you "ko".

The second Chinese martial arts emphasizes "control", believing that controlling oneself is the highest level of combat. By using some grappling or technical methods to control the situation where both sides of the opponent lose the least, the opponent can be convinced and gain recognition. Chinese martial arts are not very willing to "fight to death".

The cultural convergence between Chinese martial arts and world martial arts schools ultimately requires a process of integration. But the possibility of complete integration is relatively small, after all, there are still differences in the underlying culture. At this time, everyone will take some of the strengths of the other party, or take a part that the other party can integrate and digest, and turn it into their own.

Chinese martial arts have unique advantages, but also obvious shortcomings. Only through continuous learning, enriching and improving the entire Chinese martial arts cultural system can it maintain strong vitality and possess the ability for sustainable development.

Does martial arts still have strong practical value in modern military?

This can be seen from two aspects. Firstly, Chinese martial arts embody the spirit of valuing martial arts among the Chinese nation. Through training in martial arts, it can improve the mental state of soldiers and make them more courageous. Throughout the great process of the Chinese revolution, it is countless heroes who fearlessly fought against strong enemies, sacrificed everything for the interests of the country and the nation, and interpreted and inherited the spirit of martial arts with their flesh and blood, that has led to our current life.

Secondly, not all military tasks are suitable for modern warfare methods such as thermal weapons and long-range strikes. In certain situations, using cold weapons in combat can prevent the outbreak of large-scale conflicts.

In addition, the physical fitness level of soldiers directly affects their war preparedness ability. Strengthening the training of martial arts skills can enable soldiers to adapt to various harsh battlefield environments in order to better carry out combat tasks.

Under the conditions of modern high-tech warfare, the quality of martial arts skill training and the physical fitness level of soldiers are of vital importance to combat effectiveness and readiness, and are also prerequisites for the maximum power of new weapons.

What other areas do you think we need to continue working hard to make Chinese martial arts closer to the world?

I think Chinese martial arts lacks some content and methods for promoting themselves, and the frequency of promotion is also poor. How to explain the content and methods? It's important to tell our story in a way that others agree with.

Sometimes we always tell our stories from our own perspective, which others may find unacceptable because there are significant cultural differences between the East and the West.

For example, if Europe and the United States recognize competitive sports as a way, we can make martial arts sports to the extreme and try to attract European and American athletes to participate in Chinese martial arts competitions. We also need to make the competition platform and rules more open and international. The routines, exercises, and health preservation theories of Chinese martial arts can be promoted using scientific and rational language and Western scientific thinking.

Sanda in Chinese martial arts is a very good sport in competitive sports, but the rules of Sanda are a product of Chinese culture, emphasizing "cleverness". Westerners may not accept it and may think that this set of rules cannot express the strength of a single punch.

In addition, the rich content of our Chinese martial arts is not enough to rely solely on a bare handed Sanda competitive confrontation. For example, Muay Thai is very free, and there are several types of rules for amateur and professional Muay Thai. There are also 5 rules for free combat, 3 or 4 rules for karate, and 1 rule for Chinese Sanda. Why can't we play 4 or 5 rules?

Chinese martial arts are vast and profound, with over 100 different martial arts styles, and should also be diverse. Additionally, why can't we vigorously develop equipment combat? However, now the China University Sports Association is conducting martial arts competitions such as long and short soldiers, and even long spears. We need to change the current situation where the content of promoting Chinese martial arts in the past was too single, the methods and means were too outdated, or too self-centered.

Chinese martial arts also needs to vigorously promote, support, and encourage the promotion among the people, because sometimes the promotion among the people is based on social connections and connections, making it easy to quickly form a dissemination point in the local area and find a means of dissemination. Compared to official promotion, it has a much stronger sense of identity.