Spelling

Part of the confusion around this term comes from the many ways the Chinese characters can be romanised, as Chinese romanisation systems have evolved much in the past years.

Here are some of the most common versions in use today:

• Kung fu is undoubtedly the most widely spread. It uses the Wade-Giles romanisation system; a system that many consider obsolete today.
• Gongfu is the Hanyu Pinyin romanisation. Even though Pinyin is currently the official system of romanisation of the People's Republic of China, the spelling "gongfu" is not widely used. Pinyin is, however, a popular system used for many other similar Chinese terms, such as Qigong (instead of Ch'i Kung in Wade-Giles).
• Gungfu or gung fu is a Cantonese version using Yale romanisation. This spelling was made popular by Bruce Lee during the 1970s.