wushu

noun wu·shu \ ˈwü-ˈshü \

Definition of wushu

: Chinese martial arts

wushu was our Word of the Day on 01/08/2010. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of wushu from the Web

The two sports, which are extremely popular in Japan, are joined by bowling, roller sports, sport climbing, wushu, squash, karate and surfing (which will be considered as first-time Olympic sports) on the list.

— cheryl wray | cwray@al.com, AL.com, "Team USA Olympic softball team coming to Tuscaloosa, Auburn this Summer," 12 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'wushu.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

The name of the martial art wushu derives from the Beijing dialect of Chinese, where it was formed by combining the words for "martial" or "military" ("wǔ") and "art" ("shù"). This form of hand-to-hand combat (known more familiarly as "kung fu") was highly developed in China by the 3rd century B.C.E, and it is credited with influencing other martial arts that arose within Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Modern wushu, however, has separated itself from traditional kung fu to emphasize aesthetics and performance. One of the more well-known divisions of wushu is tai chi, the ancient discipline of meditative movements practiced as a system of exercises.