9781422286722

W O M E N ' S H E A L T H A N D F I T N E S S

no matter how proficient you become, there is always another level to- ward which to aim. While runners and weight trainers will learn one set of techniques, which they will practice with little variation for the rest of their training careers, martial artists can progress to more and more complicated techniques in their arts, or learn new fighting styles. A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHINA'S MARTIAL ARTS The Chinese “hard,” or “external,” fighting arts that we know as kung fu have their origins in the teachings of a sixth-century Indian Buddhist monk named Bodhidharma (Tamo in Chinese). Bodhidharma traveled from India to China to teach a new form of Buddhism that would one day become Zen Buddhism in Japan. After a meeting with the Chinese emperor in 520 B.C., Bodhidharma retired to the Shaolin monastery, where he found the monks to be holy in mind, but extremely weak in Training for health and fitness varies widely between East and West. In the West, there are specialized exercises for strength, stamina, and flexibility, while in the East, the martial arts provide an integrated approach to fitness.

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