Kung Fu is not necessarily a single martial art alone, however, the term is often used to represent the whole of Chinese martial arts. Depending on the area, Kung Fu can also be called gongfu or Gung Fu and encompass several fighting techniques known to the Chinese people. This can perhaps be a result of the fact that the art was primarily known as “Chinese boxing” up until the 1960’s, during which the term was technically coined by a missionary in the Western world known as Jean Joseph Marie Amiot.

Originally, Kung Fu was a reference to one’s training through martial arts – the type of martial arts did not matter, however, as the body, spirit and mind all go through the same transformation. Regardless of the type of Chinese martial art (or Chinese boxing) that Kung Fu refers to, the principles that lie within remain the same. Students of Kung Fu will learn to master time, motivation and self-discipline – the most important of which is motivation. Motivation must be willing – someone doing something as a result of force cannot be wholly motivated and success can never be reached this way – and therefore Kung Fu can never be reached.

Over time, Kung Fu began to develop into its own art, an art that encompassed many moves from different variations of Chinese martial arts including many types of kicks, punches and strikes. Surprisingly, the modern forms of Kung Fu were mainly founded and developed by Westerners, as Ancient China did not have a singular martial art known as Kung Fu. Some people speculate that the term “Kung Fu” was given to martial arts as seen in movies (such as those with popular martial artist Bruce Lee) so that Westerners would have more of a sense of the art itself. Although in earlier times, Kung Fu did not reference any one particular art, it is now a term very well known in many countries as the popularity of Chinese martial arts has spread greatly.