This article examines martial traditions as living inheritances that preserve skills, values, and identity through embodied practice and lineage. Drawing on Shils and Soares, it defines traditional Chinese martial arts as historically rooted systems integrating combat, health cultivation, and philosophy. It proposes five criteria—historical origins, combative practices, longevity practices, philosophical grounding, and lineage continuity. Using Seven Star Praying Mantis Kung Fu as a case study, it shows how transmission and lineage sustain coherence, linking physical skill, ethical formation, and intergenerational continuity.