In order to truly understand an art or discipline, we must understand the culture that gave rise to it. And in order to understand the culture, we must cultivate an understanding of the language. Below are common words and phrases used in our school. It is of course impossible to boil down an entire language into a brief informational page, but this can be used as a starting point from which to explore the Chinese language and the words/phrases we use in our daily classes.

Four Tones of Chinese
Some quick notes about pronunciation: standard Chinese - also referred to as Mandrin, or Pǔtōnghuà (普通话) - is a tonal language. Vowels are given tones that change the way the word is said, in turn changing the meaning. This makes the phrase, "It's not what you say but how you say it," very important. There are four tones:
- 1st: This is a higher-pitched, steady tone on the vowel.
- 2nd: This tone starts mid-pitched and rises towards the end of the vowel.
- 3rd: A falling-rising tone, it starts low, dips, and then increases in pitch.
- 4th: Falling tone, usually short, going from a high to low pitch
A word pronounced with the wrong tone changes meaning. But, it should be noted that even though the language is tonal, like most languages, it is also contextual. Though you can be misunderstood by having bad pronunciation of the tones - or at minimum made fun-of 😉 - the words surrounding the mispronounced word give it context, which means you will probably be understood unless you really garble your words.
Stances
马步 (mǎ bù): Horse Stance
半马步 (bàn mǎ bù): Half Horse Stance
弓步 (gōng bù): Bow Stance
仆步 (pū bù): Flat Stance
虚步 (xū bù): Empty Stance ("cat stance")
歇步 (xiē bù): Resting Stance
独立步 (dúlì bù): One-legged Stance
并步 (bìng bù): Ready Stance (feet together)
坐盘 (zuò pán): Sit as a tray/dish
Body Parts
手 (shǒu): Hand
头 (tóu): Head
拳 (quán): Fist
脚 (jiǎo): Foot
腿 (tuǐ): Leg
大腿 (dàtuǐ): Thigh
小腿 (xiǎotuǐ): Calf
腰 (yāo): Waist
肘 (zhǒu): Elbow
腕 (wàn): Wrist
脚踝 (jiǎohuái): Ankle
Counting
一 (yī): One
二 (èr): Two
三 (sān): Three
四 (sì): Four
五 (wǔ): Five
六 (liù): Six
七 (qī): Seven
八 (bā): Eight
九 (jiǔ): Nine
十 (shí): Ten
Wushu Phrases & Techniques
压腿 (yā tuǐ): Stretching
踢腿 (tī tuǐ): Kicks / Kicking
拳法 (quánfǎ): Boxing / punching techniques
步法 (bù fǎ): Footwork / stance practice
里合腿 (lǐ hé tuǐ): Inside Crescent Kick
外摆腿 (wài bǎi tuǐ): Outside Crescent Kick
弹腿 (dàn tuǐ): Snap Kick
拍腿 (pāi tuǐ): Slap Kick
侧腿 (cè tuǐ): Side Kick
活动 (huódòng): Warm up (activity)
休息 (xiūxí): Rest
开始 (kāishǐ) - Begin
停 (tíng) - Stop
左 (zuǒ) - Left
右 (yòu) - Right
散打 (sǎndǎ) - Loose hit / free hit ("sparring")
散手 (sàn shǒu) - Loose hand / free hand
实战姿势 (Shízhàn zīshì) - Fighting Stance (lit. "combat posture" or "real fighting position")
进步 (jìnbù) - Forward step (lit. "progress" or "advance")
退步 (tuìbù) - Back step (lit. "regress")
闪步 (shǎn bù) - Sidestep
冲拳 (chōng quán) - Reverse punch
掼拳 (guàn quán) - Hook punch
抄拳 (chāo quán) - Uppercut
General Phrases
你好 (nǐ hǎo): Hello
你好吗 (nǐ hǎo ma): How are you?
谢谢 (xièxiè): Thank you
不客气 (bù kèqì): You're welcome
再见 (zàijiàn): See You / Goodbye
对不起 (duìbùqǐ): Pardon me / I'm sorry
請 (qǐng): Please (as in "Please, may I ask...", qǐngwèn, 請問)
好 (hǎo): Good
很好 (hěn hǎo): Very good
大好 (dàhǎo): Excellent
加油 (jiāyóu): Make an all-out effort
是 (shì): Yes
对 (duì): Correct
会 (huì): Can (as in "I can...", wǒ huì, 我会)
不是 (bùshì): No
不对 (bùduì): Wrong / incorrect
不会 (bùhuì): Cannot
什么? (shénme): What?