What Kung Fu Style Should I Learn

One press picks a style of kung fu, with what it is known for.

What Kung Fu Style Should I Learn

Show all 63
  1. NanquanThe southern styles as a class: short hitting and distinct arm movements; also a wushu event.

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How it works

Kung fu is hundreds of styles, not one. Press the button for one of 63 styles of Chinese martial arts, from Wing Chun and Shaolin to Hung Ga and Baguazhang, each with what it is known for.

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Southern fists, northern kicks

A style is called northern or southern by where it began, with the Yangtze River as the traditional dividing line. An old saying sums up the difference: southern fists and northern kicks. It is not absolute, and many northern styles excel with the hands.

The internal styles

Tai chi, xingyiquan and baguazhang are grouped as internal styles, the arts named after the Wudang Mountains. Tai chi has five traditional schools: Chen, Yang, Wu (Hao), Wu and Sun. Chen is the oldest and Yang the most widely practiced.

  • A style is only an option if someone teaches it near you, so look up local schools before you settle on one.

Questions and answers

What kung fu style should I learn for close range?

Wing Chun is a close-quarters system with rapid punches. Bajiquan is known for short-range power, with elbow and shoulder strikes. Bak Mei and Southern Praying Mantis are southern styles built on close-range striking.

Which kung fu styles are named after animals?

The five traditional animal styles of the south are Tiger, Crane, Leopard, Snake and Dragon. Others include Northern and Southern Praying Mantis, Eagle Claw, Monkey kung fu and Dog kung fu.

What is the difference between kung fu and wushu?

Wushu is the Chinese term for martial arts. Modern wushu is the standardized sport drawn from many styles: athletes perform judged routines called taolu, or fight full-contact in sanda.

What are the five family styles of southern kung fu?

Choy Gar, Hung Ga, Lau Gar, Li Gar and Mok Gar, each named after a family. Hung Ga is one of the most widely practiced southern styles.

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All 63 kung fu styles

Northern styles 23

  • Bajiquan Explosive short-range power, with rapid elbow and shoulder strikes.
  • Black Tiger Fist From Henan: wide-ranging footwork, acrobatic kicks and low, wide stances.
  • Changquan (Long Fist) A family of northern styles with fully extended kicks and strikes; also a wushu event.
  • Chaquan A Long Fist style with graceful movements, some aerial acrobatics and many weapons.
  • Chuojiao Many jumps and kicks with fast fist sequences; practiced mainly in northern China.
  • Ditangquan Ground tumbling boxing from Shandong: tumbles, falls, somersaults and aerial moves.
  • Duanquan Short-range boxing from Hebei: compact routines, low stances and quick movements.
  • Eagle Claw Known for its grips, joint locks, takedowns and pressure point strikes.
  • Fanziquan Short, very fast routines built on attack and defense with the hands.
  • Huaquan A Long Fist style with smooth, connected movements, believed to come from Mount Hua.
  • Luohanquan Arhat fist, named after Buddhist holy figures: the oldest style of Shaolin kung fu.
  • Meihuaquan (Plum Blossom Fist) From the northern provinces: five static postures mixed with light, rapid footwork.
  • Mianquan A northern style, most likely from Hebei, in which softness turns to hardness.
  • Mizongyi (Lost Track) A northern Long Fist style based on deception and mobility.
  • Northern Praying Mantis From Shandong and named after the insect; one of the best-known northern styles.
  • Northern Shaolin The external arts of northern China, above all those of the Shaolin Monastery in Henan.
  • Piguaquan Explosive long-range power from rotating arms, with many palm techniques; from Hebei.
  • Shaolin kung fu The largest and most famous style, developed at the Shaolin Temple in Henan.
  • Shuai jiao Chinese jacket wrestling, from Beijing, Tianjin and Baoding in the north.
  • Tan Tui Springing Leg: routines found in many northern styles, named after a front snap kick.
  • Tien Shan Pai A northern style that stresses rhythm, with high kicks, low sweeps, locks and throws.
  • Tongbeiquan Popular in northern China and known for meeting an opponent from maximum distance.
  • Ziranmen (Natural Boxing) A northern internal style, taught together with qigong breathing techniques.

Southern styles 22

  • Bak Mei (White Eyebrow) Powerful short-range striking with compact, direct movements; it spread from Guangdong.
  • Chow Gar One of the four major schools of Southern Praying Mantis, with an emphasis on close range.
  • Choy Gar A southern family style of the 1600s, mixing rat and snake styles: swift feet, rapid strikes.
  • Choy Li Fut Founded in 1836: southern arm and hand techniques joined to northern footwork.
  • Dog kung fu From Fujian: it specializes in takedowns, joint locks and fighting from the ground.
  • Five Ancestors (Wuzuquan) A southern art built from five styles, among them Fujian White Crane and Monkey.
  • Five Animals The five traditional animal styles of the south: Tiger, Crane, Leopard, Snake and Dragon.
  • Fu Jow Pai (Tiger Claw) From a temple in Guangdong, modeled on an attacking South China tiger.
  • Fujian White Crane From Yongchun in Fujian; the fighter imitates a bird’s pecking and flapping wings.
  • Fut Gar Buddhist Family Fist: punches, palm strikes and low kicks, with evasive footwork.
  • Hung Fut A southern style of the early 1800s, with ten animal styles and a left-handed staff.
  • Hung Ga Low, stable stances and powerful attacks with the arms; its roots lie in Southern Shaolin.
  • Jow-Ga From Guangdong: described as the head of Hung Ga and the tail of Choy Gar.
  • Leopard kung fu One of the Five Animals: speed and angular attack, with the half-open leopard fist.
  • Li Gar (Li family kung fu) One of the five southern family styles: short-bridge, with long, changeable footwork.
  • Mok Gar One of the five major family styles of southern China, from Guangdong.
  • Nanquan The southern styles as a class: short hitting and distinct arm movements; also a wushu event.
  • Southern Dragon (Lung Ying) A style from the Hakka heartland of eastern Guangdong, based on the Chinese dragon.
  • Southern Praying Mantis A Hakka style of close-range hand and arm techniques; unrelated to the northern mantis.
  • Tibetan White Crane Origins in 15th-century Tibetan culture, with deep roots in Guangdong and Hong Kong.
  • Wing Chun Close-quarters southern style: rapid punches, with attack and defense at the same moment.
  • Yau Kung Mun ‘The style of flexible power’: a low, stable horse stance, with most kicks kept low.

Internal styles 11

  • Baguazhang Eight trigram palm: trained by walking a circle, with evasive, circular footwork.
  • Chen-style tai chi The oldest known style of tai chi: silk reeling, fast and slow motions, bursts of power.
  • Liuhebafa Six-Harmonies Eight-Methods Boxing, an internal art credited to a Taoist sage of Mount Hua.
  • Pushing hands A two-person routine of the internal arts, also played as a sport akin to judo and sumo.
  • Sun-style tai chi Smooth, flowing tai chi with high stances and none of the crouching and leaping.
  • Wu (Hao)-style tai chi One of the five primary styles of tai chi, created in the mid-1800s in Hebei.
  • Wu-style tai chi One of the five main styles of tai chi, second in popularity after Yang style.
  • Wudangquan The class of arts named after the Wudang Mountains: tai chi, xingyiquan and baguazhang.
  • Xingyiquan Form-Intention Fist: seemingly linear movements and explosive power at short range.
  • Yang-style tai chi The most popular and widely practiced style of tai chi in the world.
  • Yiquan Founded by a xingyiquan master; yi means intent. Its training includes standing postures.

Animal and imitation styles 4

  • Drunken boxing A name for styles that imitate the movements of a drunk person; unusual body movements.
  • Emeiquan Arts of Mount Emei in Sichuan, swift and flexible, known for animal-based methods.
  • Monkey kung fu Ape and monkey-like movements, with acrobatics such as flips and handsprings.
  • Snake kung fu A Shaolin style that imitates the movements of snakes.

Sport, wrestling and locks 3

  • Chin Na The joint locks of Chinese martial arts, standing and on the ground.
  • Modern wushu The standardized sport: judged routines called taolu, and full-contact sanda.
  • Sanda China’s official full-contact kickboxing sport: punches and kicks with throws and takedowns.