Wushu appeared in ancient china as early as many years ago . Wushu was used for fighting , as a sport and a health exercise .Today both in China and around the world millions of people are fascinated by Chinese Wushu and benefit from it is believed to be effective in preventing & curing some diseases like cold indigestion , eyestrain . Characterized by gentle , rhythmic movements , natural breathing physical & mental coordination it is of particular good to the old and weak , and those suffering from chronic diseases. In the fifth century A.D Bodhid Harma ( called Ta Mo in China ) came today Shaolin monastery and seeing that the monks there were in poor physical condition from to much meditation and not enough movement , his Eighteen forms Lohan exercise . over time those grew to be the precursors of the outer ? extrinsic exercise , his exercises stressed suppleness and elasticity and were opposed to hardness and force . They incorporated philosophy , physiology , psychology geometry and the laws of dynmics. During the Republic of China (1912-1949) there appeared many Wushu organizations in forms of pugilistic sociaties such as the Martial Art society & physical culture society. In 1928 the republic government established the general Wushu institute Nanjing . After its establishment , local Wushu institutes were established in provinces , cities and countries national Wushu meets were held by the central Wushu institute in 1928 . In 1939 the Chinese Wushu delegation was organized to visit southeast Asia . In same year the chinese Wushu team gave a demonstration in Berlin a the XI olympic games . since the founding of the peoples Republic of China , Wushu has become a component of the socialist &the people s physical education and sports , and has developed spectacularly. In 1956 a set of simplified Taichi Chuan & Chang Chuan of simple forms was developed to stimulate its popularization and Wushu became official competition event . The state physical culture and sports commission in 1958 compiled the first draft of Wushu competition rules . Routine exercises such as the simplified Taichi Chuan , Chang Chuan , Broadsword play , sword play , spear play of first class , intermediate class and primary level were published succesifully , which greatly helped the popularity and promotion of Wushu . The state council set up a Wushu Masters degree in 1984 . Approved by the chinese Wushu Research Institute was set up in 1986 as a high standard body for conduting academic and technical researches on Wushu. In 1987 the First Asian Wushu Championships was held in Yokohama, Japan, and the Wushu Federation of Asia established. The second Asian Wushu Championships was held in Hong Kong in 1989. In 1990 at the XI Asian Games in Beijing, wushu was introduced as an official competition event and regions participated in the wushu competition.