To Do and To Be:The Truth-Exploration of Traditional Chinese Martial Arts

In order to seek the answers to such fundamental questions as what martial arts are and for what people do martial arts,this paper starts from the Chinese-culture-centered era when martial arts were taught separately from literal pedagogy,and finds the historical source of modern Chinese martial arts and the truth-exploring process of doing martial arts. Martial artists take movements as the objects from which they try to seek truth. They categorize these movements into four types and develop the truth-exploration ways which include changing natural movements,scrutinizing three-section-four-end theory and practicing through time and space.In these ways,the practitioners physically transform their characters and eventually become being which is judged by martial morals and persistent Kungfu. To do and to be do not only make socialized people into martial artist;and further,the cultural identity and cultural marks are formed with movements which are quite different from those of commoners,soldiers and literalists.