Terminology
Kung-fu and wushu are terms that have been borrowed into English to refer to Chinese martial arts. However, the Chinese terms kung fu and wushu listen (Mandarin); Cantonese: móuh-seuht) have distinct meanings; the Chinese literal equivalent of "Chinese martial art" would be Zhongguo wushu (Chinese: 中國武術; pinyin: zhōngguó wǔshù).
Wǔshù literally means "martial art". It is formed from the two words 武術: 武 (wǔ), meaning "martial" or "military" and 術 (shù), which translates into "discipline", "skill" or "method."
The term wushu has also become the name for the modern sport of wushu, an exhibition and full-contact sport of bare-handed and weapons forms (Chinese: 套路, pinyin: tàolù), adapted and judged to a set of aesthetic criteria for points developed since 1949 in the People's Republic of China.
Read more about this topic: Chinese Martial Arts