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Kung Fu
The word Shaolin is derived from Shaoshi Mountain and “lin”, the Chinese
word for forest.
This describes the geographic area of the first temple built in the Henan
Province around 495 A.D.
32 years later, an Indian Buddhist priest named
Bodhidharma came to the temple, but was turned
away by the head abbot, Fang Chang
Bodhidharma was determined and went to a nearby
cave and meditated
Nobody knows exactly why, but Bodhidharma was then allowed into the
temple and he soon noticed that the monks were in poor physical health
He began teaching them moving
exercises designed to enhance Chi
flow and build strength.
They consisted of 18 actions known
as the 18 Lohan movements or forms.
These 18 forms later evolved into 54 forms and then into 108 forms.
These movements were the start of Shaolin Ch’uan or Shaolin Fist,
later know as Kung Fu.
Over the years, due to repeated attacks and periods of inactivity due to
reigning Imperial and regional leaders who feared the monks, other temples
were incorporated into Shaolin.
Meditation is the essence of Chan Buddhism and Shaolin Kung Fu and it is the
soul of Bodhidharma’s teachings
Meditation simply means to be fully aware of the moment.
It is done in a number of different postures such as sitting, standing, head stand,
and Iron Bar, which is stretching out between two benches with your head on one
and your heels on the other.
These postures were usually held for several hours at a time and some monks
achieved such high levels of sitting practice that they would meditate for a week
straight with no break for sleep.
Some monks have skills so high that they abstain from lying down ever again
and at the highest level, some even die in state, which means to pass on in
seated meditation with out falling over.
Breathing is an important part of meditation and there are
two basic types of breathing.
The first is Hou T’ien Chi, the “breath after your birth”.
Conditioning and stretching are essential to all Martial Arts, including Kung Fu.
External styles vary into the hundreds and the majority of them
are based on animal movements.
The Southern Shaolin styles, which are predominantly hand technique oriented,
consist of Southern Praying Mantis and the 5 animals that make up the Five
Animal Fist: Tiger, Dragon, Leopard, Snake and White Crane.
And the Northern Shaolin styles, which put more emphasis on
kicks and foot techniques. It consisted of Northern Praying
Mantis, Black Crane, and Black Tiger.
Southern Praying Mantis rarely emphasizes one type of technique.
The Mantis hook is employed, but so are numerous other trapping and
controlling maneuvers.
The typical closed fist of other styles is absent from the southern sect,
which instead favors the mantis fist, a modification of the leopard punch,
but concentrating all of the striking force through a single finger.
Stances are low to moderate, but firmly anchored to the ground and
there is tremendous use of the knees, elbows and low, powerful kicks.
Southern Tiger utilizes a hard, external approach to combat
that meets force with force and is very likely to maim or kill an
opponent because of the nature of the counterattack.
It’s primary hand weapons are the closed fist and tiger claw.
While kicking maneuvers are usually low to middle range kicks of great power.
One studies Tiger to develop bones, muscles and tendons.
It includes throws and locks but is missing the intricate forms so that it
could be studied by the general populace or military personnel.
The movements are a collection of the ancient crane
style, some tiger and the motion of snake.
Because the exercises were intended to teach
character and spirit, the style inherited the stork
stance long before white crane kung fu itself was
introduced into China.
Black Tiger kung fu originated in the Henan
Shaolin Temple.
It has more emphasis on footwork than
the Southern Shaolin kung fu forms and
bears some resemblance to Eagle style.
The list of animal styles goes on and on, one for just about every
animal imaginable, such as dog style, monkey, frog, and eagle.
There are also other styles attributed to
the Shaolin such as Wing Chun.
Wing Chun is arguably the most famous single style within the Shaolin system. It
was made known to the west by Bruce Lee and James Lee in the late 1960’s in
what was the single most influential introduction of Chinese kung fu outside China
Despite Lee’s rapid evolution of a personal
style away from traditional Wing Chun, his
association with that style was a major factor in
its continued success over the years.
Wing Chun was developed by a Shaolin
“nun” and there are three different forms.
The first requires use of his or her
imagination in the practice and
application of techniques.
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