Shaolin Kung Fu

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Shaolin Kung Fu
Chinese: 少林功夫
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Shaolin Kung Fu refers to a collection of Chinese martial arts that claim affiliation with the Shaolin Monastery. Of the tens of thousands of kung fu wushu styles, several hundred do, in fact, have some relationship to Shaolin; however, aside from a few very well known systems, such as Shaolin Five Animal, the 108 Movements of the Wooden Man Hall, Enchanted Staff, White Eyebrow, etc., it would be almost impossible to establish a verifiable connection to the Temple for any one particular art.

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[edit] Internal and external arts

Huang Zongxi described Chinese martial arts in terms of Shaolin or external arts versus Wudang or internal arts in 1669. [1] It has been since then that Shaolin has been popularly synonymous for what are considered the external Chinese martial arts, regardless of whether or not the particular style in question has any connection to the Shaolin Monastery. Some say that there is no differentiation between the so-called internal and external systems of the Chinese martial arts[2][3], while other well known teachers have expressed differing opinions. For example, the Taijiquan teacher Wu Jianquan:

Those who practice Shaolinquan leap about with strength and force; people not proficient at this kind of training soon lose their breath and are exhausted. Taijiquan is unlike this. Strive for quiescence of body, mind and intention.[4]

In 1784 the Boxing Classic: Essential Boxing Methods made the earliest extant reference to the Shaolin Monastery as Chinese boxing's place of origin.[5][6] Again, this is a misconception, as Chinese martial arts pre-date the construction of the Shaolin Temple by at least several hundred years. [3][7]

[edit] Origin

[edit] Legend (Bodhidharma)

According to the Jingde of the Lamp, after Bodhidharma left the court of the Liang emperor Wu in 527, he eventually found himself at the Shaolin Monastery, where he “faced a wall for nine years, not speaking for the entire time”.

According to the Yì Jīn Jīng,

after Bodhidharma faced the wall for nine years at Shaolin temple, he left behind an iron chest. When the monks opened this chest they found two books: the “Marrow Cleansing Classic,”[8] and the “Muscle Tendon Change Classic”, or "Yi Jin Jing"[9] within. The first book was taken by Bodhidharma's disciple Huike, and disappeared; as for the second, the monks selfishly coveted it, practicing the skills therein, falling into heterodox ways, and losing the correct purpose of cultivating the Real. The Shaolin monks have made some fame for themselves through their fighting skill; this is all due to their possession of this manuscript.[10]

[edit] History

The attribution of Shaolin's martial arts to Bodhidharma has been discounted by some 20th century martial arts historians, first by Tang Hao on the grounds that the Yì Jīn Jīng is a forgery.[11] The oldest available copy was published in 1827[12] and the composition of the text itself has been dated to 1624.[10]

Huiguang and Sengchou were involved with martial arts before they became two of the very first Shaolin monks, reported as practicing martial arts before the arrival of Bodhidharma.[13] Sengchou's skill with the tin staff is even documented in the Chinese Buddhist canon.

Records of the discovery of arms caches in the monasteries of Chang'an during government raids in 446 AD suggests that Chinese monks practiced martial arts prior to the establishment of the Shaolin Monastery in 497.[14] Monks came from the ranks of the population among whom the martial arts were widely practiced prior to the introduction of Buddhism. There are indications that Huiguang, Sengchou and even Huike, Bodhidarma's immediate successor as Patriarch of Chán Buddhism, may have been military men before retiring to the monastic life. Moreover, Chinese monasteries, not unlike those of Europe, in many ways were effectively large landed estates, that is, sources of considerable regular income which required protection.

In addition, the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue, the Bibliographies in the Book of the Han Dynasty and the Records of the Grand Historian all document the existence of martial arts in China before Bodhidharma. The martial arts Shuāi Jiāo and Sun Bin Quan, to name two, predate the establishment of the Shaolin Monastery by centuries.[15]

[edit] Tang Dynasty (618–907)

The oldest evidence of Shaolin participation in combat is a stele from 728 that attests to two occasions: a defense of the monastery from bandits around 610 and their role in the defeat of Wang Shichong at the Battle of Hulao in 621.

Like most dynastic changes, the end of the Sui Dynasty was a time of upheaval and contention for the throne. Wang Shichong declared himself Emperor. He controlled the territory of Zheng and the ancient capital of Luoyang.

Overlooking Luoyang on Mount Huanyuan was the Cypress Valley Estate, which had served as the site of a fort during the Jin and a commandery during the Southern Qi.[16] Sui Emperor Wen had bestowed the estate on a nearby monastery called Shaolin for its monks to farm but Wang Shichong, realizing its strategic value, seized the estate and there placed troops and a signal tower, as well as establishing a prefecture called Yuanzhou.[16] Furthermore, he had assembled an army at Luoyang to march on the Shaolin Temple itself.

The monks of Shaolin allied with Wang's enemy, Li Shimin, and took back the Cypress Valley Estate, defeating Wang's troops and capturing his nephew Renze.

Without the fort at Cypress Valley, there was nothing to keep Li Shimin from marching on Luoyang after his defeat of Wang's ally Dou Jiande at the Battle of Hulao, forcing Wang Shichong to surrender.

Li Shimin's father was the first Tang Emperor and Shimin himself became its second.

Thereafter Shaolin enjoyed the royal patronage of the Tang

Though the Shaolin Monastery Stele of 728 attests to these incidents in 610 and 621 when the monks engaged in combat, note that it does not allude to martial training in the monastery, or to any fighting technique in which its monks specialized. Nor do any other sources from the Tang, Song and Yuan periods allude to military training at the temple.

According to Meir Shahar, this is explained by a confluence of the late Ming fashion for military encyclopedias and, more importantly, the conscription of civilian irregulars, including monks, as a result of Ming military decline in the 16th century.[17]

[edit] Ming Dynasty (1368–1644)

From the 8th to the 15th centuries, no extant source documents Shaolin participation in combat; then the 16th and 17th centuries see at least forty extant sources attest that, not only did monks of Shaolin practice martial arts, but martial practice had become such an integral element of Shaolin monastic life that the monks felt the need to justify it by creating new Buddhist lore.[17] References to Shaolin martial arts appear in various literary genres of the late Ming: the epitaphs of Shaolin warrior monks, martial-arts manuals, military encyclopedias, historical writings, travelogues, fiction, and even poetry.[17]

These sources, in contrast to those from the Tang Dynasty period, refer to Shaolin methods of combat unarmed, with the spear, and with the weapon that was the forte of the Shaolin monks and for which they had become famous, the staff.[17][6] By the mid-16th century military experts from all over Ming China were travelling to Shaolin to study its fighting techniques.

Around 1560 Yú Dàyóu travelled to Shaolin Monastery to see for himself its monks' fighting techniques, but found them disappointing. Yú returned to the south with two monks, Zongqing and Pucong, whom he taught the use of the staff over the next three years, after which Zongqing and Pucong returned to Shaolin Monastery and taught their brother monks what they had learned. Martial arts historian Tang Hao traced the Shaolin staff style Five Tigers Interception to Yú's teachings.[citation needed]

The earliest extant manual on Shaolin Kung Fu, the Exposition of the Original Shaolin Staff Method[18] was written around 1610 and published in 1621 from what its author Chéng Zōngyóu learned during a more than ten year stay at the monastery.

Conditions of lawlessness in Henan—where the Shaolin Monastery is located—and surrounding provinces during the late Ming Dynasty and all of the Qing Dynasty contributed to the development of martial arts. Meir Shahar lists the martial arts T'ai Chi Ch'üan, Chang Family Boxing, Bāguàquán, Xíngyìquán and Bājíquán as originating from this region and this time period.[17]

[edit] Pirates

In the 1540s and 1550s, Japanese pirates known as wokou raided China's eastern and southeastern coasts on an unprecedented scale.

The geographer Zheng Ruoceng provides the most detailed of the 16th century sources which confirm that, in 1553, Wan Biao, Vice Commissioner in Chief of the Nanjing Chief Military Commission, initiated the conscription of monks—including some from Shaolin—against the pirates.[17] Warrior monks participated in at least four battles: at the Gulf of Hangzhou in spring of 1553 and in the Huangpu River delta at Wengjiagang in July 1553, Majiabang in spring of 1554, and Taozhai in autumn of 1555.[17]

The monks suffered their greatest defeat at Taozhai, where four of them fell in battle; their remains were buried under the Stūpa of the Four Heroic Monks (Si yi seng ta) at Mount She near Shanghai.[17]

The monks won their greatest victory at Wengjiagang.[17] On 21 July 1553, 120 warrior monks led by the Shaolin monk Tianyuan defeated a group of pirates and chased the survivors over ten days and twenty miles.[17] The pirates suffered over one hundred casualties and the monks only four.[17]

Not all of the monks who fought at Wengjiagang were from Shaolin, and rivalries developed among them. Zheng chronicles Tianyuan’s defeat of eight rival monks from Hangzhou who challenged his command. Zheng ranked Shaolin first of the top three Buddhist centers of martial arts.[17] Zheng ranked Mount Funiu in Henan second and Mount Wutai in Shanxi third. The Funiu monks practiced staff techniques which they had learned at the Shaolin Monastery. The Wutai monks practiced Yang Family Spear (楊家槍; pinyin: Yángjiā qīang).

[edit] Influence outside of China

Some lineages of Karate have oral traditions that claim Shaolin origins.[19] Martial arts traditions in Japan and Korea, and Southeast Asia cite Chinese influence as transmitted by Buddhist monks.

Recent developments in the 20th century such as Shorinji Kempo (少林寺拳法) practised in Japan's Sohonzan Shorinji (金剛禅総本山少林寺) still maintains close ties with China's Song Shan Shaolin Temple due to historic links[20]. Japanese Shorinji Kempo Group contributions to Song Shan Shaolin Temple in 2003 received China's recognition.[21]

[edit] List of styles presently taught at the temple

  • Xiaohongquan - Small red fist
  • Dahongquan - Big red fist (after Hong Hei Kwang 洪熙官, a Shaolin boxer, not a monk)
  • Tongbeiquan - Through the back fist
  • Liuhebafa Quan - Six harmonies fist
  • Taizu Changquan - Emperor Taizu's long fist( this refers particularly to the 1st Emperor of Sung dynasty who was a military commander)
  • Qixingquan - Seven star fist
  • Da paoquan - Big cannon fist
  • Xiao paoquan - Small cannon fist
  • Changhu xinyi men - The heart will protect the gate
  • Meihuaquan - Plum flower fist
  • Luohan - Arhat (enlightened follower of Buddha) fist
  • Tongzigong - Shaolin child training
  • Dan Dao - Single sabre technique
  • Long – Dragon technique
  • Qi Lu Quan - 8 Animal
  • 72 Shaolin Arts[22]

[edit] See also

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[edit] References

  1. ^ Henning, Stanley (Autumn/Winter 1994). "Ignorance, Legend and Taijiquan". Journal of the Chenstyle Taijiquan Research Association of Hawaii 2 (3): 1–7. 
  2. ^ Francis, B.K. (1998). Power of Internal Martial Arts: Combat Secrets of Ba Gua, Tai Chi, and Hsing-I. North Atlantic Books.
  3. ^ a b Kit, W.K. (2002). Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for Self-Defense Health and Enlightenment. Tuttle.
  4. ^ Woolidge, Doug (June 1997). "T’AI CHI The International Magazine of T’ai Chi Ch’uan Vol. 21 No. 3". Wayfarer Publications. ISSN 0730-1049. 
  5. ^ Zhāng Kǒngzhāo 張孔昭 [c. 1784]. Boxing Classic: Essential Boxing Methods 拳經拳法備要 Quánjīng Quánfǎ Bèiyào (in Chinese). 
  6. ^ a b Henning, Stanley E. (Fall 1999). "Academia Encounters the Chinese Martial arts". China Review International 6 (2): 319–332. ISSN 1069-5834. 
  7. ^ Order of the Shaolin Ch'an (2004, 2006). The Shaolin Grandmaster's Text: History, Philosophy, and Gung Fu of Shaolin Ch'an. Oregon.
  8. ^ 洗髓經; pinyin: Xǐ Suí Jīng
  9. ^ 易筋經; pinyin: Yì Jīn Jīng
  10. ^ a b Lin, Boyuan (1996). Zhōngguó wǔshù shǐ 中國武術史 (in Chinese). Taipei 臺北: Wǔzhōu chūbǎnshè 五洲出版社, 183. 
  11. ^ Tang Hao 唐豪 [1930] (1968). Shàolín Wǔdāng kǎo 少林武當考 (in Chinese). Hong Kong 香港: Qílín tushu. 
  12. ^ Matsuda Ryuchi 松田隆智 (1986). Zhōngguó wǔshù shǐlüè 中國武術史略 (in Chinese). Taipei 臺北: Danqing tushu. 
  13. ^ Canzonieri, Salvatore (February–March 1998). "History of Chinese Martial arts: Jin Dynasty to the Period of Disunity". Han Wei Wushu 3 (9). 
  14. ^ Henning, Stanley (1999b). "Martial arts Myths of Shaolin Monastery, Part I: The Giant with the Flaming Staff". Journal of the Chenstyle Taijiquan Research Association of Hawaii 5 (1). 
  15. ^ Canzonieri, Salvatore. "The Emergence of the Chinese Martial arts". Han Wei Wushu (23). 
  16. ^ a b Shahar, Meir (2000). "Epigraphy, Buddhist Historiography, and Fighting Monks: The Case of The Shaolin Monastery". Asia Major Third Series 13 (2): 15–36. 
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Shahar, Meir (December 2001). "Ming-Period Evidence of Shaolin Martial Practice". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 61 (2): 359–413. doi:10.2307/3558572. ISSN 0073-0548. 
  18. ^ Chéng Zōngyóu 程宗猷 [c. 1621]. Exposition of the Original Shaolin Staff Method 少林棍法闡宗 Shàolín Gùnfǎ Chǎnzōng (in Chinese). 
  19. ^ Bishop, Mark (1989). Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles and Secret Techniques. A&C Black, London. ISBN 0713656662. 
  20. ^ Japan's Sohonzan Shaolin Temple
  21. ^ Shorinji Kempo
  22. ^ Jin Jing Zhong. Authentic Shaolin Heritage: Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin /Tanjin, 1934/ ISBN-13: 978-1847284068
  • Jin Jing Zhong. Authentic Shaolin Heritage: Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin /Tanjin, 1934/ ISBN-13: 978-1847284068 *[1]

[edit] External links

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