Shaolin kung fu training

from beginning to the highest level of the monks of Shaolin temple

Shaolin () kung fu ()/wushu () contents are:

1. basic skills (: ji ben kung): stamina and flexibility&balance (: tong zi kung);1
2. power skills (: qi kung):
a. internal (: nei) qi kung meditation, develops energy inside the body, 2
b. external (: wai) qi kung routines, develop energy and its coordination with body movement, 4
c.

the 72 skills (: qi shi er kung), martial power exercises of Shaolin monks;3

3. combat skills ( : quan fa): various combat styles (: quan), each with several forms (: tao lu)
and their barehanded, weapon, or barehanded vs weapon combat (: san da) methods.1
Shaolin kung fu training schedule depends on you. Shaolin kung fu exercises can be done anytime, all
together or in different sessions, day or night, and anywhere, anywhere a bull lies down, which means
in a small room, on a roof, anywhere. a typical schedule recorded in Shaolin temple texts is: monks train
every day except for one or a couple of days a week to rest. they get up before sunrise. then do qi kung
meditation for a half hour. then they usually do basic training, before breakfast, by a quarter to a half of
an hour of warm-up and endurance training and a half hour on Tong Zi kung. they practice an external
qi kung routine every day, which usually takes less than a quarter of an hour. every monk also selects a
few ones of the 72 skills to master, each skill can be practiced at any time, day or night, and each may take
a few minutes, but some skills take up to a half hour every day. combat skills are usually learned and
trained in afternoons for an hour or so. after 100 days of training skills emerge, after 3 years initial
mastery is attained, but complete mastery takes decades.

Shaolin kung fu (instructionals) (at YouTube.com): hundreds of full video tutorials by Shaolin temple inheritors.

books: Yang Jwing-Mings Qigong for Health and Martial Arts, Qigong Meditation: Embryonic Breathing, Qigong
Meditation: Small Circulation, and his other Qi kung books.

books: Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin and 72 Consummate Arts Secrets of the Shaolin Temple.
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1. Shaolin ji ben kung (basic training)4

a.

warm-up makes stretching and other exercises much easier and more efficient, and prevents

injuries to muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Shaolin monks warm up with loosening up the 9 main joints
and the relevant minor joints of the body, for example finger joints, in beginning of any training session.
pictures show the typical loosen-up method for every joint. repeat each one several times, for example,
9 times to this and 9 times to the reverse direction. this routine takes less than 5 minutes:

arms:

rotate hands around the

rotate forearms around the

rotate arms around the

wrists

elbows

shoulders

rotate ankles around

rotate knees around

rotate hips around

rotate upper body around the

twist shoulders around the

rotate head around the

waist

back

neck

legs:

trunk:

at the end, loosen up whole body and shake all extremities.

b.

endurance exercises develop stamina. after the loosen-up begin endurance training lightly, for

example by jogging, then gradually make the exercises as quick and heavier as possible to beyond your
endurable level. you will improve day by day. there are various kinds of endurance exercises, do some
of these exercises every day for a quarter of an hour or so: jog, run forward, sideways, backward, zigzag,
stationary run, high-knee run, sprint, squat, squat walk, squat hop, jump, high jump, long jump, roll,
somersault, slap kicks, jump kicks, pushups, and many other endurance maneuvers.
4

Shaolin monks raining video tutorials (at YouTube.com).

2

Shaolin tong zi kung (childish skills)5 is the set of Shaolin kung fu flexibility and balance skills.
Tong Zi kung is better to be trained since childhood, though it can be mastered at any age, young or old,
some people have mastered it at the ages of more than 50. if one masters Tong Zi kung, being as soft as
cotton and as light as a swallow, they will feel like being given a second childhood. the saying is that
Tong Zi kung has 18 postures. in this section, 18 (start & 8 flexibility & 8 balance & end) main postures
and their most usual variants are shown.

starting posture: : qi shi, salute!

flexibility postures:
c.

stretching exercises are described for every posture; this is a complete set of Shaolin stretching

exercises. begin each stretching exercise lightly by holding the position and doing a few, like 3~5, light
stretching pulses to wake up the muscles, then hold the position and stretch continuously in position for
9 deep lower-abdominal breaths or so; then relax for some seconds to begin the next exercise. this way,
each exercise takes 1 minute or so, and the whole stretching training takes a quarter of an hour a day. do
all the exercises every day to the mastery level, when you can do the Tong Zi kung flexibility postures with
ease. this takes 3 years of training or so. at that level, you can abandon ordinary stretching exercises and,
instead, do Shaolin Tong Zi kung meditative or combative (videos at YouTube.com) routines.

1
lazy monk praises Buddha
: lan seng bai fo

1, advanced single-arm variant

Buddhist child shows the way
: fo tong zhi lu

exercise: both hands fixed on wall in behind, squat down to stretch the shoulders and arms.
5

Shaolin monks Tong Zi kung tutorials (at YouTube.com).

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2
arc backward
: xia yao

2, on-head variant

2, advanced variant
on-knees

2, advanced variant on-chest

hide flower under the leaf
: ye di cang hua

exercise: feet apart, arc backward, try to land both palms on the floor at behind.

3
head through the legs

3, simpler variant
golden rooster pecks at rice
: jin ji shi mi

exercise: feet apart, bend forward, try to pass your head and shoulders through your legs.

exercise:
stand, turn both
toes inward as far as possible,
bend down.
exercise:
stand, turn both
toes outward as far as possible,
sit down.
4
sun and moon
: ri yue

5
golden tortoise
: jin gui

5, single-leg variant
cross the river on a reed stem
: yi wei du jiang

6, prerequisite variant, single/double leg

green dragon coils in the nest
: qing long pan wo

6, lying variant

6
golden rooster stands on one leg
: jin ji du li

exercise: sit down or stand up, try to hook your feet behind your neck, do with both legs.
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7, prerequisite variant
front clasp Buddhas foot
: bao fo jiao
single/double leg

7, prerequisite variant 7, lying variant

7
front split
front split and
front skyward step
: shu cha
clasp Buddhas foot : chao tian deng
: die cha bao fo jiao

exercise: clasp Buddhas foot: one leg squats, other leg straight in front on heel with toes upward, hands
clasp and drag toes of the straight leg to you, bend forward and press your head to the leg; switch legs. at
advanced level, you can assume front clasp Buddhas foot as a prerequisite for posture 7.
try front split, legs straight; switch legs. at advanced level, you can assume posture 7 itself.

8, prerequisite variant
side clasp Buddhas foot
: bao fo jiao

8, prerequisite variant
side split
: heng cha

8
8, lying variant
side split and
side skyward step
clasp Buddhas foot : chao tian deng
: die cha bao fo jiao

exercise: clasp Buddhas foot: one leg squats, other leg straight to side on heel with toes upward, hands
clasp and drag toes of the straight leg to you, bend sideward and press your ear to the leg; switch legs. at
advanced level, you can assume side clasp Buddhas foot as a prerequisite for posture 8.
try side split, legs straight. at advanced level, you can assume posture 8 itself.

combination of split and 2

green dragon swings its tail
: qing long bai wei
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balance postures:
d.

balance exercises need calmness and perseverance. to learn some of them one is better to use

supports at the beginning levels, like the help of their hands, leaning to a wall, etc. in Tong Zi kung balance
training, assume a few of these postures for a while, like for 36, 72, 108, or more breaths every day.

9
child/arhat praises Buddha
/: tong zi/luohan bai fo

10
child praises Bodhisattva Guan Yin
: tong zi bai guan yin

9, another variant

9, simpler, double-leg variant

on horse stance
: ma bu

11, lying variant

sleeping arhat
: luohan shui jiao

11, sitting variant

sleeping fish carries Buddha
: wo yu zai fo
aka
naughty child praises Buddha
: wan tong bai fo

12
swallow-posture balance
: yan shi ping heng
aka
dragon explores out of the sea
:
jiao long tan hai

14, prerequisite variant

single-arm support
: dan bi fu cheng

14
meeting a Buddhist ascending to heaven
: ying fo sheng tian
6

14, another variant

meditation in midair
: xuan kong da zuo

14, advanced variant

double-arm support
: shuang bi fu cheng
aka
kneeling elbows hang body
: gui zhu xuan shen

14, advanced variant

15
upside down balance on hands

15, advanced variants*

upside down two-finger meditation
: dao li er zhi chan

16, prerequisite variant

upside down monument
: dao zai bei

combination of 14 and 6
twin dragons play with a pearl
: xuang long xi zhu

*15, prerequisite variant

arhat watching troops formation
: luohan guan zhen

16
upside down monument
: dao zai bei

ending posture: : shou shi

Amituofo! _/\_
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incomplete sections

2. Shaolin Qi kung (powers training)

a. Shaolin Qi kung meditation
Qi kung meditation is based on deep lower-abdominal (: dan tian) breathing
Nei (internal) qi kung: sitting qi kung meditation
Wai (external) qi kung: si duan kung, ba duan jin, yi jin jing, shi er duan jin, luohan shiba kung

b. Shaolin kung fu 72 consummate skills

the 72 skills of Shaolin temple have close relation with Qi kung. every monk selects a few skills and
practices them.

1
2
3
4

Elementary exercises:
1.

hung gold coin (: xuan jin qian):

2.

hung Buddha's pearl (: gua fo zhu):

3.

1000 sheets of paper (: qian ceng zhi):

4.

RuYi circle (: ru yi quan):

5.

hung cotton ball (: xuan mian chui):

6.

strike wooden dummy (: da mu ren):

7.

kick wooden pole (: ti mu zhuang):

8.

kick hung weights (: ti chen chui):

72 skills/arts/methods/techniques kung/yi/fa/shu ///:

36 external 36 internal

1.
2.

swim (: qiu shui) aka going into waves (: lang li zuan): in

3.
4.

spears and knives cannot wound ( : qiang dao bu ru): soft but has outer power: Yin&Yang:
soft

5.

dodge and fight ( : shan zhan) aka sand bags ( : sha bao): ext . it develops maneuvering

agility. hang sand bags of smaller than 3 kg, or other objects like metal coins, small stones, knives,
etc., with strong but flexible string at the height of the shoulders. in case of hanging knives, the
exercise is called ( ; jin dao huan zhang). smaller objects are harder to hit and control. stand
in the center of the structure. first, hang 1 bag and strike at it so that it swings out and when it
returns back strike at it again with greater force. deliver 100 blows or more a day without pause.
after mastering it with 1 bag, proceed with 2 bags, with simultaneous or successive blows. then
proceed with 4 bags at front, rear, left and right sides. begin with orderly successive blows, then
proceed to random blows with different parts of your body. gradually proceed to fight with 10~14
bags, at full motion, while you walk, run, jump, fall, dodge, etc.
6.

meteor poles ( : liu xing zhuang): & 1000 sheets of paper ( : qian ceng zhi) aka standing
like a pile and beating a pile (zhan zhuang da zhuang): ext

7.

serial hits ( : pai da): ext. It strengthens all parts of body against enemy blows. The trainee takes

a piece of hard wood and delivers successive blows with it at all parts of his body, i.e., the arms, legs
(front and inner sides, outer and back sides), chest and stomach, both sides o f the chest and waist,
back and waist. He can also hit all sides of his head. He starts with light blows and makes the blows
heavier gradually. He makes 100 blows or more at each of these parts. He can train himself 2 times
every day, e.g., once in the morning and once in the evening. After a year, instead of a wood, He uses
a brick and trains as before. He will use a piece of iron, e.g., a rod or hammer, after another half a
year. After another half a year, which is 2 years total, he is expected to reach mastership.
8.

iron head (: tie tou): ext.

9.

enlightened (: luohan): in

10. tortoise back (: gui bei): ext

11. metal bell cover (: jin zhong zhao): ext+in
12. iron robe (: tie bu shan): ext
13. iron belly (: tie dai) aka iron ox (: tie niu): ext
14. cloth bag (: bu dai): in+some ext elements
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15. jade belt (: yu dai) aka continuous round of the universe (qian kun juan), ext+in, The trainee hugs

a tree firmly by both his thighs and ringing his arms round it, and tries to uproot it. After a year he
can shake the tree forcefully. After another year, the tree gradually wilts. At the 3rd year, the force
may uproot or break the tree trunk. The hug the tree (: bao shu) skill is mastered with success.
The trainee may then continue doing the exercise with pillar-like stones of 200-250 kg. Stones are
slippery and it is more difficult to raise them. He trains himself until he can easily raise and lower
the stone. He then will try to hold the stone suspended for as long as possible. After 2 years, he will
try to walk while holding the stone.
16. 500-kilo sluice shutter (: qian jin zha): ext
17. raise pot (: shang guan): ext
18. sack of iron (: tie dai) aka sack of iron beads (; tie zhu dai): ext.
19. stone padlock (: shi suo): ext
20. frog (: ha ma): ext
21. separate water (: fen shui): ext
22. lash power (: bian jin): ext
23. eagle wings (: ying yi): ext
24. Bawang's elbows (: ba wang zhou): ext
25. iron arms (: tie bi): ext
26. twin locks ( : shuang suo): ext. The trainee hits all parts of both his forearms to each other, like

the two arms of a scissor. This is very painful. After a long time, he will feel no pain, and the forearms,
while colliding with each other, make a dull sound. Afterwards, he proceeds by training his hands as
well, his fists, palms, fingers, by hitting them mutually to each other. After a while, when a hollow
sound is heard while doing this exercise, this level of mastership is over. Finally, he will hit his arms
against his raised shins, raising the left and right knee in turn, to keep balance between hard and soft
in his arms.
27. hard and soft (: gang rou): ext+in
28. horse saddle (: ma an): ext
29. bullet fists (: dan zi quan): ext
30. Yin hands ( : yin shou) aka Yin fists ( : yin quan) aka mysterious air punch (: xuan kong
quan) aka well fist (jing quan); if done by punching to a candle instead of a well chasing the wind
palms (: zhui feng zhang) aka sun-rays hands (: yang guang shou): in
31. pushing mountain palms (: tui shan zhang): ext

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32. bamboo leaf palms ( : zhu ye shou) aka copper sand palms ( : tong sha zhang) aka palm
rotating sand (fan sha zhang): ext
33. iron sand hands ( : tie sha zhang) aka black sand hands (hei sha shou): ext. The trainee fills a

canvas bag with one or a few kilograms of iron sand or iron chips, or another hard sand-like material.
He puts this bag on a bench, a short wall, or on a hard ground and delivers successive blows with the
palm and the back of his hands at it. He may also use the lower edge of his hands. The blows should
be light at first and become heavy gradually. After training during 100 days, good results are reached,
but complete mastership takes one or a couple of years. After that, he is expected to be able to brea k
several bricks or stones with his hands.
34. hands of 5 poisons ( : wu du shou) aka 5 poisons chase sand palms ( : wu du zhui sha
zhang) aka palm of 5 thunders aka Yin hands: ext+softness Yin
35. mantis claws (: tang lang zhao) aka diamond hand (jingang shou): ext+in
36. chop-devil swords ( : zhan mo jian) aka Bodhisattva Guan Yin's palm ( : guan yin zhang):
soft which developed outer power: Yin
37. rubbing palms (: he pan zhang) aka golden dragon hands (: jin long shou): ext
38. whirlwind palms ( : xuan feng zhang) aka cinnabar sand palms ( : zhu sha zhang) aka
plum-blossom palms (: mei hua zhang) aka red sand palms (: hong sha zhang): in
39. one-finger meditation (: yi zhi chan): in
40. one diamond finger (: yi zhi jin gang): ext
41. poke stone (: dian shi): ext
42. metal spades ( : jin chan) aka immortals hands ( : xian ren zhang): is external but also has
internal aspects. The trainee delivers forceful stabbing blows with his fingertips, with the four fingers

straight and close together, at hard objects, like walls, tables, benches, trees, etc., every day. After a
long time, he is expected to be able to make small dents in wooden objects. If he can make a hole in
a wooden object, the first stage is over. Then he will do the exercise on a stone as before. With time,
after many blows, he is expected to make a deep dent on the stone.
43. locking fingers (: suo zhi): in+ext
44. pull out nails ( : ba ding):

ext. It develops the locking force of the fingers. The trainee knocks a

number of nails with length of about 10 cm into a thick wooden board or a tree. He grabs a nail with
the fingers and tries to pull it out. The grab can be done with 2 fingers, the thumb and the index
finger, or with 3, 4, or all the 5 fingers. If he can pull out the nails, he has reached the first level of
mastership. Then, he pours salt water on the nails to become rusty and then trains himself as before.
At the highest level of mastership, he is expected to be able to pull out the rusty nails.
45. carry 500 kilos (: ti qian jin) aka water chestnut (shi bo qi, bi qi): ext
46. pull out mountain (: ba shan): hard strengthens internal+develop soft Yin: hard Yang + soft Yin
47. eagle claws force (: ying zhao li) aka dragon claws (long zhao): in&ext
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48. pinch flower (: nian hua): soft exercise for external strengthening: Yin soft
49. metal sand hands (: jin sha zhang) aka rub and pierce (: mo cha): ext+in
50. guitar (: pi pa) aka 3 Yin fingers (san yin zhi) aka springy fingers (zhi tou tan): ext
51. slithering snake (: she xing) aka jumping centipede (: wu gong tiao): ext
52. crouching tiger (: wo hu) aka sleeper (shui) aka feline (mao): ext
53. knock groins (: men dang) aka golden cicada (jin chan): in
54. draw in Yin (: xi yin): in
55. stone pole(s) ( / : shi zhu zhunag): hard but strengthen internal. The trainee practices the horse-

riding stance (Ma Bu) every day in many repetitions. With time, his legs become stronger and he
does the exercise in less but longer repetitions. After a long time, he can stay in the stance
continuously for one hour. The first goal is reached. Then he will dig two poles of the thickness of
about one third of a foot sole into ground, and will do the exercise on top of them. It is much harder
now, but after 3 months, painful feelings disappear and he may again gradually increase the time of
the exercise. Afterwards, he proceeds with putting a weight of 10-15 kg on both of his thighs. Every
3 months he will add another 5 kg or more until the weight reaches 50 kg, and he can do it
continuously for half an hour on top of the poles. His body is now rooted like a mountain. This takes
5-6 years or more.
56. iron knees (: tie xi): ext
57. kicking legs (: ti tui):
58. iron sweeping broom (: tie sao zhu) aka iron leg (tie tui): ext
59. kick wooden pole ( : ti mu zhuang) aka pole of cypress ( : bai mu zhuang): ext. The trainee

finds a long pole which is rooted and dug into the ground. He kicks and pushes the pole with both
his legs in succession everyday. This is painful, but the pain gradually disappears after a half a year.
After a year, the legs become powerful. Then, instead, he will proceed by kicking a bigger thing, like
a sheer rock or a small wall, weighing 250-350 kg. This is painful again, but pain disappears over
time. If his kick, as expected, can displace the stone to a distance of several feet, the success has been
achieved.
60. shooting feet (: zu she): ext
61. light body (: jin shen): in
62. pass on string (: yi xian chuan): in
63. plum-blossom poles (: mei hua zhuang): in
64. flight walking ( : fei xing) aka flight over the earth aka solitary walk of 1000 LIs aka night walking:
in. The trainee ties some small weight to each of his legs and runs as quick as possible on a flat ground
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for as long as he can. Every few days, he adds about 50 g to the weight until it reaches 2-2.5 kg on
each leg. After a few years his body agility becomes great. He continues on by training on uneven,
rugged grounds instead. If at nights, he can run on a rugged ground with stones, rocks, and cliffs as
easily and fast as on a flat ground, the full success has been achieved. If he walks without the weight
on his body, he will see the lightness and extreme ability of his body to run fast and jump over
obstacles.
65. run on boards (: pao ban):
66. fly to roofs and walk on walls ( : fei yan zou bi) aka 8 steps in the horizontal position (heng
pai ba bu): in
67. deft jumps (: cuan zong): in
68. high jumping (: tiao yue) aka higher and further (: deng gao chao yuan): in
69. pass through the curtain (: chuan lian): in
70. reveal truth (: jie di): ex+in
71. flip and soar (: fan teng) aka leather strips (pi tiao): in
72. lizard climbs wall ( : bihu you qiang) aka climbing a wall (pa bi) aka hung picture (gua hua):
in: ext softness&in hardness

in case of injuries, bleeding, fractures, etc, wait until after the healing, then continue on.
iron sand hand: each palm 30~50 times, 100 days; 50 times after 100 days.
sand claw: rice, 50~100 times (until claws get numbed), 2~3 months; then with sand; then iron, 30~50 times, 1
year; 50~130 times; then wall, more than 100 times a day, after a long time one can make a hole in the wall.
punch: 0-100 times, 3~5 months; more than 100 times; after the pain vanishes, 3~4 sessions daily, each session 50
times, 3~4 month later can break brick; then with stone, continue 10, 20, or 30 years.
head: both fists punch head, morning and evening 30~50 times, 3 months; 100 times, 1 year; 300 times 1 year;
continue 3~5 years; then hit head with a staff 45 cm long 5 cm thick, grab it with both hands, slow to fast, light to
heavy, morning and evening, 30~50 times, 3 months; 50~100 times 1 year; 100~300 times 3 years; after success
hit head to wall, 10~15 times, light to heavy, slow to fast, 3 months; 50~100 times 6 months; 100~300 times 3
years.
jump: hole 30 cm, 3~5 minutes; morning and evening 15~20 times, until about 1.5 meters.

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