武术 terminology

[xiaojiang216]

大家好，

太极拳，长拳，空手道，in English we call these "styles". However sometimes they are also referred to as "forms". This creates the confusion which led me to my question.

What is the word for "style" as in a "style of martial arts"? Also, what is a "form" as in "a perscribed sequence of martial arts movement"?

I have come up with the following so far:

Could "style" be 招式?

Could "form" be 套路?

非常感谢大家！

[imron]

门派 is used to refer to different styles, either inside a given martial art, or across different martial arts. It often refers to a style as taught by a given master, as all of his disciples/students and all of their students will belong to the same 门派 (assuming of course they don't alter/change the way they practise the style).

Different styles within the same martial art (e.g. Taiji) can also refered to as 式 e.g. 陈式太极拳， 杨式太极拳，吴式太极拳。Sometimes this is written as 氏 e.g. 陈氏太极拳，杨氏太极拳， 吴氏太极拳. I don't know how this applies to other martial arts beyond Taiji.

You can refer to a given form (i.e. a sequence of moves within a style) as 套路. Sometimes they're also referred to as 架子, although this refers more to the external appearance of the form.

A given move either within a form or learnt separately, is commonly called 招式, or often simply just 招。 Sometimes (again at least within Taiji) different moves can be referred to as 式, although when talked about like this, they are often preceded by a number e.g. 陈式太极拳第一路，第二十二式， would refer to the 22nd move in the first form of Chen-style Taiji. When talking about moves, it is not ok to use 氏 instead of 式. More commonly, a given move is referred to just by its name.

Finally, 功夫 is not a style of martial art, it basically just means "skill", and although it's often used as a general way to describe all martial arts, it can also refer to any other skill learnt through training and hard work. 太极拳，长拳，空手道 are all 功夫. Note: in English, Kungfu is often used to refer to martial arts of Chinese origin, but in Chinese people don't seem to make that distinction with the word 功夫。

[Altair]

I think that the term 太极拳 refers not only to the martial art as a whole, but also to the particular form, 套路, or sequence that is emblematic of the particular style (门派). The same goes for 太极刀 or 太极剑. These terms can refer both to the overall system and to the particular representative form sequence. I don't know whether this usage applies to other martial arts, especially those that have multiples forms of relatively equal significance.

For me, the term 架子 would seem to mean more the external appearance of an individual posture, rather than an entire form, but I am not sure of this. The term 架 by itself would equate with "frame." A form could be performed in more than one 架 (架子?), e.g., in a big, medium, or small frame.

As for a term like 杨氏太极拳, I have always assumed that it meant: "The Yang Family's Taiji Barehand (system/form), whether or not actually taught by family members. Similar, I have assumed that 杨式 literally meant "Yang Style." You also see the term 杨家, which I think means the same thing as 门派, but perhaps implying a larger following.

I did not realize that 式 could mean an individual posture, but have seen it used to refer to a single repetion of a posture that is normally repeated in a form, for instance, when a posture is performed to the left and right, one after the other. Another word for "posture" is 势, but this also has a much larger range of potentially relevant meanings (e.g., "power configuration"), at least as applied to Taijiquan (formerly called the 十三势) or to 风水 theory.

Doesn't 招 equate more with "move" (in Chess, as well) than with "posture," at least in Taijiquan?

By the way, "posture" in a martial sense can also be 姿势, which is more restricted in meaning than 势 and probably a better fit with the true static implications of the English word.

[xiaojiang216]

imron, altair, 非常感谢你们的帮助，我很感激！你们两个人对中文了解得这么详细！

大家很棒，倍儿棒！再次感谢大家的帮助。

[Koneko]

We used to call 套路, "pattern" in Taekwondo

[imron]

For me, the term 架子 would seem to mean more the external appearance of an individual posture, rather than an entire form

Yep, agreed, but (at least in Taiji) occasionally you'll hear it used like "他只会练架子，不会推手“, or "他只会练架子，里边没有东西", referring more to the form as a whole. Also, for example, in Chen-style Taiji there are those who make a distinction between 老架 and 新架, with 架 referring to the entire sequence of movements.

As for a term like 杨氏太极拳, I have always assumed that it meant: "The Yang Family's Taiji Barehand (system/form), whether or not actually taught by family members. Similar, I have assumed that 杨式 literally meant "Yang Style."

Yes, I've also seen such distinctions made, however I've also seen 式 and 氏 pretty much freely interchanged by practitioners of a given style when referring to that style, with perhaps the latter being used to add more of an elegant/traditional feel to a piece of writing. Also, in spoken Chinese, you can't really distinguish between either of them, so I don't think it's a problem to call both XXXX-Style - though there are those who for political reasons try to force a distinction between the two.

I did not realize that 式 could mean an individual posture, but have seen it used to refer to a single repetion of a posture that is normally repeated in a form

.

Most books or instructional resources will refer to individual moves in this manner.