The essence of genuine martial arts is to be victorious in martial affairs, i.e. war. Even Sun Tzu begins with an injunction to avoid conflict if possible. It is common sense that true victory would avoid war altogether, but failing that, one would need to be superior in martial prowess to vanquish the threat posed by an enemy.
How the non-confrontational aspect of the Chinese tradition renders their martial arts superior is the degree to which that idea is carried through to actual combat. The use of negative energy and reliance upon strength that characterizes most cultures' systems is a handicap in the face of systems designed to employ the aggressor's strength against them. What appears to be passivity (as in tai chi) is simply a greater understanding of the natural laws that govern any kind of physical activity. I understand that some non-Chinese systems give a certain credence to this fact, but only the Chinese have ever integrated the principle from the ground up. Musashi understood (per Book of Five Rings) but that was an induction he arrived at after years of fighting, and not something he was initially taught. In contrast to that, the arts developed at Wudan Mountain are a non-confrontational system from the word go, and I would put my money on a master of that art before a master of any other school.
