On Kung Fu and Science

Recently, I started practicing wushu which is the Chinese word for traditional Kung Fu and I am completely taken aback by the sophistication of scientific thoughts behind these martial arts.
It is important to notice that the basis of entire great Chinese culture is rooted in Kung Fu the meaning of which in Chinese is "hard work". It could take a life to attain perfection in the martial arts. Years of dedication and practice is quite essential in learning any form of Kung Fu just like if one wants to learn to play violin or wants to study disciplines like theoretical computer science or any branch of advanced mathematics. Todays Kung Fu represents hundereds of years of accumulated human knowledge for combat. Most of the punching and kicking or grappling techniques are using laws of mechanics to deliver more power with least amount of effort.
There are also techniques for confounding the enemy by complex movements. I see them as heuristics. Almost all types of Kung Fu are using some kind of minimum energy priciple for delivering attacks or for defence. Contrary to the common belief that Kung Fu demands very high level of flexibility, it actually have varieties of techniques where one can learn fairly deadly techniques without using any move which requires flexibility like a professional gymnast. Definitely, being a gymnast will help one to learn those spectacular moves. However, in actual combat, often the gymnast like moves can be risky and can consume a lot of energy. Part of the internal training in Kung Fu deals with making one focused and in maintaining a calm composure conserving energy for a combat situation.