I dont see any MMA fighters that specialize in Kung Fu. I have suspect that Kung Fu is not true combat sport as glamourized in the movies but more spiritual a la Tai-Chi, Yoga, Meditation, etc.... Any opinions?
The word Kung Fu as stated previously, basically means "skill." If you are referring to martial kung fu there are literally hundreds of different types of martial arts in China. There are grappling, both standing and ground, there are "hard" striking arts similar to muy thai, and there are "soft" sometimes internal arts as well. The truth about Chinese martial arts is that most every element of physical combat is present in one form or another. research done by historians and scientists have shown that something like 90% of the world's martial arts have either been influenced by, or originated in China.
Look up San Shou and San Da, bot Chinese kung fu styles with a much longer history of "sport combat" than MMA/UFC. Also look up Shuai Jiao, a standing grappling Chinese art again with a sport combat history.
Happy Training!
its not a combat sport..., cas its not a sport... wushu is a sport. kung fu is a general term for chinese martial arts (that originally did not mean martial arts) just because its a martial art does not mean it has to be used in mma... MANY martial arts cannot be used in mma, weather they are too brutal, use "dirty tricks" or small joint manipulation (wrist and finger locks... and ankle locks i think) or maby the philosophy forbids it... many people view mma as a disgrace to true martial arts... or maby they feel it promotes unrealistic fighting.. .my point is there are more than one type of martial arts there is sports,combat,life protection,peace preservation,spiritual, self defense and tons of others and an infinite number of crisscrosses and mixes and such... and the only people who do it for sport and money and fame like that... are the sports people.... please dont disregard the existence of none sport focused martial arts
Kung fu is a traditional art form that focuses more on defensive rather than offensive, but as far as combative sport, it definitely is. The skills learned in kung fu incorporate throws, take downs, striking, kicking, joint locking, ground defenses and much more. The versatility of kung fu is well established; the combative side of it is just learning the applications which is taught at good kung fu schools.