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.
Quan fa (拳法) is another Chinese term for Chinese martial arts. It means "fist principles" or "the law of the fist" (Quan means "fist" and fa means "law", "way" or "study"). The name of the Japanese martial art Kenpō is represented by the same characters.
Read more about this topic: Kung Foo