A Story

武 = force; military, martial, footprint, steps (止 meaning stop + 戈 dagger-axe, spear, lance)

術 = art; skill; method; tactics (行 walk + 木 wood)

Can consider 武術 as a word for "martial arts", as in the art or skill of movement.

During the New Year of January 2021, my dad had on TV a Youtube video of a sports competition of lion dances. This involved teams of two per lion (one on the head and one on the rear) performing WILD acrobatic jumps, somersaults, backflips on elevated poles. Dad said, this is "武術", the art of moving.

3.20.23 - Sifu notes that we might consider "martial arts" to be "fighting", but actually it means to "not fight".

When you look closer at the radicals used in the characters, you can also interpret the use of "stop" and "weapons/fight" radicals to mean "not fight" or to mean the defensive use of fighting.

武術 is also transliterated or known as "wushu" in Mandarin, written as 武术 in simplified Chinese. You might see some people/places refer to Chinese martial art movies as "wushu", using the Mandarin term. Personally, I refer to most Chinese martial art movies as kung fu films - 功夫片.

Date Added: 3/19/2023
Last Updated: 6/22/2023