Wushu (武術 or 武术; Hanzi: wǔshù) literally means "the art of fighting / self-defense". This is another term from kung fu which was popular before which means "expert" in certain fields so in martial arts there is often the term kung fu wingchun hungar kungfu and others which means wing chun experts hunggar experts and so on.

The word Wushu comes from two words namely "Wu" and "Shu". The meaning of the word "Wu" is the science of war while the meaning of the word "Shu" is art. So that Wushu can also be interpreted as art for war or martial arts (Martial Art). But the art of war is not only an art of movement but includes a broader range of things namely the art of moving troops arranging logistics regulating strategies and so on. So for the word Wushu the most appropriate meaning is martial arts or Martial Art.

In wushu we also learn art sports health self and mental. Studying Wushu is not only limited to things related to physical movements and violence but also involves the mind. Studying Wushu means that we also learn to process breathing understand the anatomy of our body and also learn potions or drugs to strengthen the body and for treatment. All kung fu or traditional Chinese martial arts both hard and soft can be called Wushu. Wushu hard includes the Nanquan southern boxing and the Changquan long boxing. Soft Wushu includes Taiji boxing Baguazhang palm and Xingyiquan boxing. The Wushu martial arts that have been developed by ethnic Chinese who settled in the Southeast Asian region (especially Indonesia) are often referred to as Kuntao.