Martial Arts Etiquette

Martial Arts Etiquette and Corporate Etiquette

Chinese Martial Art masters insist that a student should learn to know the etiquette before learning martial arts. There are various rules for manners and behaviors before or after the exercises. They embody the modesty and manners of the performers, mark a good start of a practice routine to be executed, demonstrate the aims of the different schools of boxing, and give an outline of its soul and spirit. It is the long tradition of Chinese Martial Art to have correct guiding thoughts and noble morality, stress civilization and manners, and learn hard to improve one's skills and cultivate moral character. Etiquette means a salute or greeting before a martial arts routine. Their forms vary in different schools but they have one thing in common unity and modesty.
A Martial Art performer greets the audience or opponent before commencing actual routines, which harmonizes the atmosphere, as in the case of an chairman or a lecturer before opening the board meeting or starting his lecture.

Here are some key points of the Martial arts performers greetings
Bowing, as generally used by ancient Chinese martial artists of all schools. It's serious, solemn, but simple, and it can be taken by performers with or without a weapon in hand. The performer stands upright, looks at those he salutes, bends over and bows his head as an expression of reject The performer resumes the standing position after the salute.
Palms joining is a basic greeting form mainly taken by Buddhists, and Buddhist followers, but is also popular among Martial Art performers due to the influence of the Shaolin school. The performer puts his palms together vertically in front of his breast, bows his head a little, doses his eyes, bends over in a standing position or crosses his knees while sitting, as an expression of sincerity. Among the greeting forms are Hand raising, Palming and Lianhua greetings. For standardizing Martial Art greetings, the Chinese Martial Art Association has set the fist-holding greeting as the official greeting form for both Martial Art masters and pupils in competitions, training and performance.
A fist holding greeting is executed as follows Make a fist with the right hand, put it against the center of the left palm with the left thumb bent and the four other fingers of the left hand stretched, push the two hands forward with the palms facing those greeted, arms in an embracing position and shoulders dropped down. The greeting should be done with ease and confidence.
The bent left thumb indicates that the performer is not arrogant or high-handed; the left hand's four fingers coming together means an integrity of moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic education, a must for a Martial Art performer to be noble-minded. The right fist indicates valor and vigor; the fist is stopped by the left palm which means being brave but not wishing to make trouble or breaking the rules. In executing a fist-holding greeting, one should commit special attention to its

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