Kung Fu Training in China: Shaolin, Wudang and Tai Chi Explained

Yes — visitors can train in Chinese martial arts, and two sites anchor almost every trip: Shaolin Temple (少林寺) in Henan, home of Chan Buddhist external kung fu, and Wudang Mountain (武当山) in Hubei, home of Taoist internal arts such as tai chi. Schools near both run beginner courses lasting a few days to several weeks, and no prior experience is required.

Shaolin or Wudang: which one should you choose?

Chinese martial arts are called wushu (武术) at home; "kung fu" (功夫) is the term that travelled abroad with the films. Both cover dozens of traditions, but two destinations dominate visitor demand, and they are genuinely different experiences.

• Shaolin (Henan, northern China) — external, "hard" styles: stances, kicks, staff and sabre forms, conditioning, jumping and tumbling. Fast, athletic, physically demanding. Paired with Chan (禅, Zen) Buddhism.
• Wudang (Hubei, central China) — internal, "soft" styles: tai chi (太极拳, taijiquan), bagua zhang (八卦掌), xingyi quan (形意拳) and breathing work known as qigong (气功). Slow, low-impact, balance- and breath-led. Paired with Taoism.
• Emei (Sichuan) — a third, smaller stream blending hard and soft, historically associated with women practitioners. Easy to add to a Chengdu itinerary, but far less set up for short foreign courses.

What is Shaolin Temple, and what can you actually do there?

Shaolin Temple was founded in 495 CE, during the Northern Wei dynasty, on Mount Song (嵩山) near Dengfeng (登封) in Henan Province. The Indian monk Bodhidharma (达摩) arrived roughly three decades later and is traditionally credited with bringing Chan Buddhism to the site. The temple is UNESCO-listed, inscribed in 2010 as part of the Historic Monuments of Dengfeng.

Worth your time inside the complex:

• The main halls, including the Arhat Hall and Chuzu Temple (初祖庵), said to hold the oldest surviving wooden structure in Henan.
• The Pagoda Forest (塔林) — a walled grove of roughly 250 brick funerary pagodas built for eminent monks over many centuries, and the most photogenic part of the site.
• The daily kung fu demonstration in the performance hall: forms, weapons and hard-qigong set pieces. It is a show, not a class — but it is the closest most day visitors get to the martial side of the temple.
• Damo Cave (达摩洞), uphill behind the temple, where Bodhidharma is said to have meditated. A climb, and quiet.

A sightseeing visit runs about three to four hours. Training is a separate thing: the temple is a working monastery, so foreign students study at the wushu schools clustered around Dengfeng at the foot of Mount Song — not inside the monastery, and not as ordained monks. Be sceptical of any operator selling "training inside the temple" or a monk certification. For temple context, see our top Buddhist monasteries and temples in China.

What is Wudang Mountain, and what do you learn there?

Wudang Mountain sits in Danjiangkou, Shiyan City, in northwestern Hubei — about 35 km southeast of Shiyan and roughly 450 km from Wuhan. Its highest point, Tianzhu Peak (天柱峰), reaches 1,612 m, and the scenic area covers around 312 square kilometres. The mountain's temple complex was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1994 as the Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains, and it was patronised as an imperial mountain under the Ming dynasty.

Main sites, roughly in the order most visitors walk them:

• Prince Slope / Fuzhen Temple (太子坡) — a large, well-preserved temple complex built into a steep slope.
• Ramble Valley (逍遥谷) — where the Wudang martial arts performances are staged.
• Purple Clouds Palace (紫霄宫) — the big imperial-era Taoist temple group, and the calmest place to sit still.
• Nanyan Temple (南岩宫) — built onto a cliff face; the most dramatic architecture on Wudang.
• The Golden Summit / Golden Palace (金顶) — the bronze hall on Tianzhu Peak, on foot or by cable car.

Wudang tradition credits its internal arts to Zhang Sanfeng (张三丰); historians treat that as legend rather than documented history, which makes the living tradition on the mountain no less real. In practice you will be taught standing and breathing work first, then a simplified tai chi form, then push hands (推手) if you stay long enough. Tai chi was added to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020. Wudang is also one of the four sacred Taoist mountains: four famous Taoist mountains in China.

What does a typical training day look like?

Expect an early, structured, repetitive day — closer to boarding school than to a gym holiday. Most short courses run two training blocks, morning and late afternoon, with a long midday break. Mornings start with basics: stretching, stance holding, footwork, then form work drilled in sequence. Afternoons add weapons and conditioning, or sitting and breathing practice at Wudang.

Two practical warnings. Days two and three hurt: stance holding loads muscles most travellers never use, and soreness is normal, not a sign you are doing it wrong. And the etiquette is real — you address your teacher as shifu (师父), you line up, you do not walk out mid-session. Traditional schools frame this under wude (武德), martial virtue: skill without restraint is worthless.

Nobody learns kung fu in a week. What a short course delivers is a correctly taught foundation and a form you can keep practising at home.

Do you need to be fit, young, or able to speak Chinese?

You do not need to be young. Tai chi and qigong are low-impact and practised across all age groups in China — you will see this every morning in any city park. Shaolin-style training is genuinely athletic, so if you are over 50 or carrying a knee or back problem, the internal arts at Wudang are the better fit. Beginners' classes exist at both, and schools will scale intensity if you tell them your limits — and your old injuries — before the first session.

Chinese is not a prerequisite. Martial arts teaching is overwhelmingly demonstrative — the teacher shows, you copy, the teacher corrects your position by moving your limbs. English-speaking coaches and interpreters exist but vary a great deal by school, so confirm the language arrangement before you book rather than assuming it.

What to bring: loose cotton or quick-dry trousers and t-shirts you can sweat through daily, a warm layer for cold mountain mornings, flat thin-soled shoes (cloth martial arts shoes are sold locally and cost very little), tape or a brace for a weak joint, and your own medication. Our China packing list covers the rest.

How different is real kung fu from the movies?

Enough that it is worth resetting expectations. Screen fighting is choreography shot for the camera: wire work, cuts, reversed footage. Real training is repetition of small mechanical details — where your weight sits, where your knee points — with no shortcut, no one-strike knockout technique and no undefeated master. Demonstration teams do perform genuinely difficult feats of conditioning and acrobatics, but those come from childhood-onward training by full-time athletes, not from a tourist course. What the films got right is the culture: hierarchy, patience, and training that is for the person rather than the fight.

When should you go?

Spring and autumn are the sensible windows for both mountains — roughly March to May and September to November. Summer in Henan and Hubei is hot and humid, which makes hard training miserable and crowds worse. Winter is cold on Wudang and outdoor sessions get short, though the mountain is quiet.

Both sites are reachable without flying domestically. Shaolin sits between two high-speed-rail cities, Zhengzhou and Luoyang, each roughly an hour and a half away by road. Wudang is normally reached via Wuhan or Shiyan. Book rail with your passport and check current schedules — our China train travel guide covers booking, stations and boarding.

FAQ

Q: Can foreigners train at Shaolin Temple itself?
A: Not as monks or inside the working monastery. Foreign students train at wushu schools in and around Dengfeng, at the foot of Mount Song, and visit the temple as part of the trip. Treat any offer of "training inside the temple" or monk ordination as a red flag.

Q: Is one week long enough to learn anything?
A: Long enough to learn basics properly — stances, footwork, one short form — and to take home something you can keep practising. Not long enough to reach any meaningful level of skill.

Q: Should I choose Shaolin or Wudang if I only have time for one?
A: Shaolin for hard, athletic external styles in a Chan Buddhist setting; Wudang for tai chi, qigong and low-impact internal work in a Taoist setting. Doing both in one short trip is a poor idea — the two systems teach different body mechanics, and you end up learning neither well.

Q: Can women train at these schools?
A: Yes. Mixed classes are standard, and the Emei tradition in Sichuan is historically associated with women practitioners. Teachers adjust technique for build and reach rather than running separate curricula.

Q: Do I need a visa to visit China for a short course?
A: Entry rules depend on your nationality and change often, so check before booking — see do I need a visa to visit China. A short recreational course is not the same as enrolling in a long study programme, which has its own entry requirements.

Last Updated: September 2026
Author: WeTrip Travel Experts
Related Pages: Four Famous Taoist Mountains, Top Buddhist Monasteries and Temples, China Train Travel Guide, Best Time to Visit China