A Study On Wu Shu's "Arm Record"

Wu Shu(1611-1695),also named Q iao Wu,whose alias is Xiu Ling and pseudonym is Cang C henzi,is a poet,historiographer and martial artist.He's born in Taicang,Jiangsu in the late Ming and early Q ing dynasties.AS a significant iconic figure of Chinese martial art,(??ma??martial art)Shu put his theories of martial ate that are based on his decades of experience in his representative work--<Arm record>,which plays an important role in the history of development of ma and has great impact on compiling book of ma.Besides elaborating his points and expressing his original insights in different aspects,Shu systematically analyzed the generations of spear skill as well as integrated and classified the ma in this great book that is rich in content with explicit structure.Moreover,is it a great work of spear skills that has summarized generations of previous work and collected abundant dates,making its significant influence on the development of ma and high rese arch value of this field.In this paper,methods including documentary study,history research,historical comparison are used to study the research value of < Arm record >.Important subjects ranging from the biographical information on shu and the origin of shu's ma experience to brief introduction of shu's works are mentioned to introduce shu.Next,the introduction of the background and writing process of < Arm record > is constructed on six parts that respectively are :domestic strife and foreign invasions are frequent;shu was taught spear skills by Jing Yan;shu was taguht sword skills by Yu Yang and had some achievement;shu meet was taught by the successor of spear skill of Emei School that he happened to meet;shu was taught spear skills written in <menglutang> by a monk of Shaolin School;shu compiled his experience and knowledge of spear skill in a book at his age of 67.The core of < Arm record > is mainly studied from three aspects:the publishing and spreading of < Arm record >;the structural system of the book;the major contents of it.The following is to describe social value of <Arm record> that includes :its richness in exploring sprite;preserving and developing national culture;making the past serving the present;taking over the quintessence and being valuable historical materials.Meanwhile,the academic status of <Arm record> can't be ignored:recommended by experts,it's recognized and accepted by the academic community.What the research of <Arm record> indicates will be discussed as follow:1.Shu is equipped with many ma skills by learning the strength of other martial artist.2.Shu is expert in spear skills and he interpreted and classified different schools of spear skills based on the previous works and his own experience.What he has done is the important historical materials of the development of martial art.3.Combining others' strong points with his own knowledge and experience,shu formed a set of unique system of spear skill,which contributes to him as an excellent and remarkable martial artist.4.Shu takes over the quintessence while he also emphasized the exploration and innovation,which contributes to his style of swear skill that is practical and functional.5.As the historical mark of flourishing period of ma,the achievement that shu has made in swear skill also plays an important role in the development of modern theoretical system of martial art.