An Introduction to the Chinese Wushu Duanwei System

The Chinese Wushu Duanwei System is a hierarchical system which the Chinese Wushu Association formulated to evaluate the professional level of wushu practitioners. Based on this system, a series of Textbooks was compiled to ensure a unified standard of education and evaluation. In order to promote the popularization of Wushu and develop different schools, every effort was made to establish an agreed set of standards in the hope of guiding wushu practitioners to master wushu and its empty hand and weapon techniques through gradual improvement and attainment of Duan levels. In many ways, the Duanwei system can be compared to the Japanese Martial Arts Dan System – a system that has become an international benchmark for its practitioners.

The evaluation targets of the Chinese Wushu Duanwei System embrace wushu ethics and etiquette, theory, technique and skills. For high Duanwei levels applicants also need to display their achievements in wushu theory and their contributions to the development of wushu. To assist practitioners, the Textbooks are broken down into a series of course books as follows：4 theory textbooks including Wushu Ethics and Etiquette, The History of Chinese Wushu and An Introduction to Chinese Wushu; Chinese Wushu Duanwei System Examination:Problems and Solutions; 20 textbooks embracing styles including Changquan, Shaolinquan, Taijiquan(Chen-style,Yang-style,Wu-style,Wuu-style,Sun-style,He-style), Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, Tongbiquan, Chuojiao, Fanziquan, Bajiquan, Tanglangquan, Wuzuquan, Yongchunquan, Wushu for Fun (pre-duan Textbook), Wushu Gongfa, Wushu Self -defence and three weapon courses including Jianshu, Duangun, Erjiegun.

According to the Chinese Wushu Duanwei System, the professional level of players can be graded from low to high as follows: primary Duan (levels 1~3), middle Duan (4th~6th Duan) and advanced Duan (7th~9th Duan). There is also a pre-duan System which has three levels. The Duan level should follow a corresponding standard, therefore, formulating a unified evaluating standard and distinguishing standards for different levels was extremely important. When formulating the unified technical standard, it was decided that a traditional practice form for single practice, dual combat and real-world application be used as the basis of the technical content. To that end, each level has its own form. Each form can be used firstly as solo practice, next as choreographed fighting with a partner, and finally each move in the form can be studied for its real-world martial application. This progression follows the methods of traditional wushu training which combines practice and fighting, and embodies the essence of wushu. The practitioner can master the techniques and also understand their meaning.

In order to clarify the differences between Duan levels, each level is standardized in respect to the technical elements, total number of movements and degree of difficulty, always following the principle of gradual and systematic study.

The standard at each level increases by the addition of more technical elements. Five technical elements including "punch, kick, grasp, position, and wrestle" are embodied in all schools of styles and weapons. The technical elements of the first five Duan Wei gradings are increased level by level. The technical content of the 6th Duan is a comprehensive application of the five technical elements previously mentioned. For example, "punch" is the only technique of attack and defence in the 1st Duan; in the 2nd Duan, "kick" is added. The rest are as follows:
punch…………………………………………………technical element of 1st Duan
punch, kick……………………………………………technical elements of 2nd Duan
punch, kick, grasp…………………………………… technical elements of 3rd Duan
punch, kick, grasp, position………………………… technical elements of 4th Duan
punch, kick, grasp, position, wrestle…………………technical elements of 5th Duan
combining all of the above……………………………technical elements of 6th Duan

Following on from this, the total number of movements is increased at each level. This is done to complement the increased number of techniques being added.

Finally, the degree of difficulty of the movements is steadily increased. For instance, "punch" is the simplest and most widely used technical element in Wushu. It is a common technical element in all six Duans. However, the manifestations of "punch" includes the straight punch, cutting strike, push, upward cut, upward push, and downward swing punch in four directions. The movements are graded from simple to complicated and divided into six levels. In this way different degrees of difficulty are added to each movement as the level increases.

The technical content of Wushu for Fun (pre-Duan), Wushu Gongfa and Wushu Self-defence are also compiled in accordance with the above principles, which ensures a unity of style and a consistency between different styles and the corresponding textbook references for the same Duan level.

The Duan level standards are set according to the principle of gradually increasing the technical elements and the total number and difficulty of the movements level by level. This means that learners can easily distinguish the difference between each Duan level, and after being promoted to a higher Duan level, the players can master the technical system of the styles learned. In addition, because the Tutorial Series is compiled with this unified style, regardless of what styles one is learning, the learning process is the same, which means that after a learner reaches a certain Duan level of one style; he can transfer to another style for a higher level.

The standardization in the Chinese Wushu Duanwei System lays the foundation for a smooth implementation of its examinations, and also contributes to the development of wushu and its spread in China and abroad. In addition, standardization is a basis for diversification. In the 1950s the 24 Simplified Taijiquan was compiled by the Chinese Wushu Association and started the all-round development of Taijiquan in its different styles. This is a prominent example showing that standardization can lead to the flourishing of all schools of wushu throughout the world.

The final framework for the Duanwei System is based on resolutions made at the National Wushu Duanwei Work Conference in October 2007, which was chiefly concerned with the shifting of Duan evaluation to a more graded testing system. In 2008, the Wushu Research Institute of the General Administration of Sport of China employed a succession of more than 100 representatives of Wushu, including recognised experts, scholars and remote masters, and launched the evaluation of the Duanwei System and the compiling of the corresponding courses. In July, 2008, the courses were examined by the Chinese Wushu Association, whose assessment committee validated it to meet all the criteria. It was processed by the compilers on the basis that the content should agree with the style while the diagrams should meet the specified standards. After being drafted by the experts and processed by publishing editors, teaching films were formally produced; technical pictures shot, and manuscripts published. The current series of courses was composed by adopting the knowledge and wisdom of a great number of experts and scholars, and is a masterpiece which combines the implementation and inheritance of the Chinese Wushu Duanwei System with the spreading of Wushu.

Unfortunately, the official Chinese Wushu Duanwei Textbooks are only available in Mandarin. We have been informed that the Chinese Wushu Association is currently working on preparing a set of English translations but it may take some time.

The Duan Wei System contains a wealth of knowledge and resources that are the cornerstone of any wushu style. The system provides a lot of good material for instructors who wish to teach it as well as for wushu-tai chi practitioners’ personal development.

(From an article prepared by the Wushu Research Institute of the General Administration of Sport of China – February 2009)