Chinese kungfu (Gongfu), or Chinese martial art, is a sport peculiar to China, which combines physical exercise with personal combat skills. The martial art originated from labor, and developed later out of the needs of fighting and training. In the long years of development, Chinese martial art generated various styles and systems. The most famous among them are: Shaolin Boxing, Taiji Boxing, Xingyi Boxing, and Drunken Boxing.

Shaolin Boxing originated and prospered in Shaolin Temple, a Buddhist temple in the Songshan Mountain of Henan Province, central China. The temple was first built in AD 495, and reduced to ruins several times in history. But Shaolin Boxing has prospered all the time. With simple, firm and vigorous movements, this form of martial art won the love of Buddhist monks and followers, as well as ordinary people. It includes several hundred formulas of fighting, using the fist, saber, staff and sword. Shaolin Boxing is quite influential throughout China.

Taiji Boxing, originally known as Chen's Boxing, was invented by Chen Wangting in Chenjiagou Village, Wenxian County of Henan Province. Chen developed this form of martial art amid poetic village life, and integrated it with the Boxing Classic of Qi Jiguang (1528-1587), a general of the Ming Dynasty known for his heroic deeds in fighting Japanese bandits who invaded China's coastal areas. Later masters of Taiji adopted the theory of yin and yang and the five elements from the Book of Changes, making it the most popular form of martial art,  characterized by deliberately slow, rhythmic movements that are circular and continuous. Chinese statesman Deng Xiaoping once wrote an inion, "Taiji Boxing is good," to promote

the sport.