Styles of Shaolin Kung Fu
18 Hands Exercise 72 Fists Boxing 170 Moves Grappling 5 Animal Kung Fu Shaolin Weaponry
18 Hands of Lohan
Bodhidharma is said to have founded the first physical exercises in Shaolin in the 6th Century. As a born Prince and Buddhist Patriarch he would have had knowledge of Yoga and Indian Martial Arts (At one time Indian Martial Arts were the most effective but are lost now) and this would have provided the core for the 18 Hands of Lohan.
Bodhidharma had spent over 40 years in becoming the 28th Patriarch of Indian Buddhism and a further 10 years traveling before reaching Shaolin. The 18 Hands of Lohan (The 18 Exercises of the Enlightened One) would have incorporated the Peaceful & Gentle Nature of Buddhism and included the Essence of Yoga and basics of Tibetan martial arts. It would further reflect Bodhidharma's great experience taking care of himself during his travels.
More info on Shaolin History and Bodhidharma . . .
72 Fists of Shaolin
Around 30 years after Bodhidharma entered the Shaolin Temple, it was burned down. There is very little, almost nothing about this except the record that it was rebuilt again around 600 CE. It was after this rebuilding that Shaolin Kung Fu took on a more martial art turn.
|
Shaolin felt that it need to be it's own protection and with outside help they developed the first full blown martial art system. It was based around 72 Combinations that could be used individually or strung together against multiple opponents and circumstances. Although it was not just based on fists but included defence, kicks and open hands techniques, it was based on applying a finishing technique that incapacitated most opponents. Shaolin still did not attack and thus needed to have a good defence. But one attacked they had multiple solutions that could be used against single opponents or in concert against multiple attackers. Each technique had a key tactic. together these techniques were devastating.
|
The Shaolin Academy has also included the learning of the 36 Stratagems, one of the great 7 books of China on Conflict and Strategy into the 72 Fist Curriculum!
More on 72 Fists . . . . . .
170 Moves of Shaolin
It only took Shaolin 20 to 30 years to develop a style that was too effective to be congruent with Buddhist Principles. The 72 Fists needed to be changed into something that allow more methods of control rather than quick endings. They combined size and control movements with the 72 Fists and the Shaolin 170 Moves style was born!
|
Where 72 Fists sought to make a quick finish to a conflict, 170 Moves seeks to "Hold & Control" an attacker, stopping them from doing any harm to themselves or others. As this can usually only be done with one person at a time, the 72 Fist Kung Fu was still very much needed for multiple opponents. So 170 moves is a joining of a Striking Style and a Holding Style! This was so successful that it became very, very effective. So much so that it lasted well into the 2nd Millennium. |
Shaolin 5 Animal Kung Fu
Around the start of the 2nd Millennium CE, Animal Styles appeared. Although this may not be unusual as humans have often used animals to learn from and metaphors, there was a variable explosion of Animal Martial Arts. Although no clear records exist, it is believed that over 100 Animal, Insect, reptile, bird and such styles were around.
Often, these styles were no more than a few special movements, some 'secret' knowledge or a special combination. But there were also come comprehensive styles such as the 10,000 Bees Stinging Style. It taught the practitioner pressure points and may have been the precursor to Dim Mak and poison Hand.
As Shaolin continued to Invite Specialist into it's walls, it also had quite a few of these styles and techniques. It took them some 100 years to come up with a style that incorporated all this jumble of Animal Styles, a style that comprised of 4 corners;
- The TIGER was for all the direct, simple strong aspects of Kung Fu. For people who are strong and like being direct. Most techniques from Bear, Tiger, Black Tiger, etc., were placed under this general header. It also included Lifting and Throwing Grappling, all 'quick' finish techniques that were simple and easy and Tearing techniques. Tigers main and major target is the Throat for both Striking & Grappling.
- Panther (also Leopard) was the Animal Style was for person who like using their mind to win. Who believed that Strategy is more important than skill. It contained Debilitating and Confusing techniques where many different sub-specializations were possible. This became the 'Ninja' of the Shaolin 5 Animal Style and included all Poison Hand techniques. Elbow/Knee and Shoulder/Pelvis were the main Grappling Target areas.
- Crane was the style for Elegance, evasion, wearing down and for person lacking strength and relying on Elegance, Agility and Evasion. It was the style you learned when you did not want to fight. It is the style you used if you were small, agile and relatively quick in your body movements. Wrist and Finger Chin Na were the more famous aspects of Crane grappling.
- Snake represents all styles that required precision and economy. The Snake was for patient persons who like to avoid conflict at all cost and would only engage if there was no other way. But then it would be lethal, sudden and over. The Snake contained most of the 10,000 Bee style, Grappling techniques that were permanent. The Strong Snake would Capture the attackers breath and keep it with it's grappling or destroy the attackers Energy with it's Striking.
- Dragon was the aspect of the style that dealt with Chi, meditation and right thought! One is called a Dragon when one masters the 4 and ascends to the 5th Style. Bruce Lee was often called the Little Dragon. Although he was a master of conflict and conflict strategy, many believe that he did not achieve full Dragon because of his focus on the physical and conflict.
|
| |
Shaolin Weaponry
Buddhism forbids the harming of any sentient life form. It recognizes the damage that the taking of a life has on the human spirit and soul. It is therefore so utterly foolish to think that Shaolin used weaponry as a matter of course in their daily lives. Although, they needed to be able to defend against weaponed attackers!
|
Shaolin spend several hours each day on physical training, 6 days a week, most days each year, most years of their lives! A Shaolin student training 3 to hours a day for just five years would have trained the equivalent of a person training 30 years, 3 times a week for 1½ each session. They did this though throughout their lives as Kung Fu was not just for self defence but for Health and Well Being. Even Shaolin needed variety to maintain this. And you needed to know the possibilities and limits of a Weapon to understand how to defend against it. Shaolin would have trained a variety of different weapons to represent the many, many different weapons being used. There would have been the usual Staff, Broad Sword, Spear and Straight Sword. But they would also needed skills in weapon throwing (knife, star, spear), Flexible weapons (chain, rope, whip), hidden weapons and 'not weapons', items that are normally not weapons that could be used as weapons! | |
It is in this spirit and for the fun of it, that the Shaolin Academy trains in traditional Chinese Weaponry!
Traditional Chinese Weaponry Introduction . . . . . .
More on Shaolin Weapon History . . . . . .
More on Shaolin Weapon Styles . . . . . .
(please click on the line above for copyright notice and conditional release)
 About Chinese Weapons |
 The History of Chinese Cold Weapons |
 The 1st Weapon Family |
