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Shaolin kung fu—more precisely Sh??ol??nqu??n or Sh??ol??n w??sh??—are those Chinese martial arts that trace their origins to Shaolin, be it the Chan Buddhist Shaolin|Shaolin temple and monastery in Henan Province, China; another temple associated with Shaolin, or even wandering Shaolin monks. More restrictive definitions include only those styles that were conceived on temple grounds or even just the original Henan temple proper. The broadest definition includes just about all "external" (as opposed to "Neijia|internal") Chinese martial arts, though this has much to do with the attractiveness of the Shaolin "brand name". Although there have been several periods of governmental repression of Buddhism in which monasteries lost any official legal status (most recently after 1949), Chinese monasteries, like their Western world|Western Monastery|counterparts, traditionally offered Sanctuary#Sanctuary in medieval law|sanctuary from the reach of the authorities. Those who took advantage of this were not always violent criminals (though many were) but often those who found themselves on the losing side of a power struggle, including soldiers and others with experience of combat. The tumultuous nature of Chinese history guaranteed that such men would be in frequent need of sanctuary. Whether for redemption or for refuge, Chinese generals and officers would often retire to the monastic life. Historical records state that, at the Shaolin monastery as at others, the monks accepted these men into their order. One such soldier-turned-monk may have been Huike, second Patriarch of Chan Buddhism. It is currently believed that Sh??ol??n w??sh??, with its focus on religion and philosophical thought, developed from an interplay between the military personnel who were housed at the temple and the Buddhist monks. Within the refuge of the monastery, unlike on an unforgiving battlefield, they could, confident in their safety, exchange expertise and perfect their techniques. The Shaolin martial arts would not be what they are had the temple not served as a clearing house for martial arts knowledge. Prior to the Tang Dynasty (618–907), the entire corpus of the Shaolin martial arts comprised 18 empty-hand techniquesref|??????????????? refined and developed from the wrestling and boxing the monks practiced, and another set of empty-hand techniques derived from the movements of animals and human laborref|?????????, plus P??ochu??, a style imported whole from outside the temple. The warrior pilgrims taught as well as learned, showing the holy men of the Henan temple new staff techniques that could be applied to the Monk's Spade as well as common objects. Combat veterans introduced the monks to the use of real weapons such as the Qiang (spear)|qi??ng (spear), the dagger, the Dao (sword)|d??o (sabre), the ji??n (straight sword), and the axe, all of which the monks had heretofore abjured. As they evolved and disseminated, the Shaolin martial arts branched off into countless variations, each with as much or as little claim as the next to be called "pure" Shaolin. Conversely, T??ij??qu??n, the Yin Fu style of B??gu??zh??ng, and possibly X??ngy??qu??n, which are Neijia|never classified Shaolin, nonetheless inherited many of their postures from Shaolin. The North China and South China|regional differences between schools of Shaolin correspond to the regional differences between Chinese martial arts in general: "N??nqu??n b??itu??." The South punches, the North kicks (literally "Nanquan|Southern fist, Northern leg"). Most representative of Northern Chinese martial arts are those styles classified Changquan|Ch??ngqu??n (literally "long fist") which includes P??ochu??, Ch??qu??n|?????? (Ch??qu??n) (Cha Yuanyi style), T??iz?? Ch??ngqu??n (Emperor Taizu long fist), F??nziqu??n|????????? (F??nziqu??n) (literally "tumbling fist"), "red fist" H??ngqu??n, "flood fist" H??ngqu??n, "Chinese fist" Hu??qu??n, and "flower fist" Hu??qu??n, among others. Ch??ngqu??n also includes the strictest, "Henan only" definition of Sh??ol??nqu??n. The youngest Ch??ngqu??n style listed is "flower fist" Hu??qu??n, which dates to the early Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). Most Southern styles claim a comparatively young provenance, often tracing their origins to anti-Qing rebellions, those styles associated with Shaolin in particular. The Southern Chinese martial arts are embodied by the styles that belong to the related Fujian (Fujian White Crane, Five Ancestors, Wing Chun) and Hakka (Southern Praying Mantis, Dragon Kung Fu|Dragon) families of martial arts. As Leung Ting, the head of the WingTsun branch of Wing Chun, put it, the common features of the Fujian and Hakka martial arts are "that during fights, pugilists of these systems prefer short steps and close fighting, with their arms placed close to the chest, their elbows lowered and kept close to the flanks to offer it protection" (Leung, 1978, p. 30). By contrast, Northern Chinese martial arts feature long steps, e.g. the horse, bow, and drop stances. However, on an unsteady surface like the deck of a rocking boat, such extended postures are easily unbalanced, especially when moving quickly between them, as Northern styles do, let alone their characteristic jumping, kicking and acrobatics. Comparatively high and narrow as well as distinctively pigeon-toed, the "goat-squeezing" stanceref|??????????????? of Wing Chun and the San Chian#The Sanchin stance|San Chian stance of White Crane and Five Ancestors allow a practitioner of these styles to adjust his center of gravity more quickly, easily, and responsively, resulting in greater balance and stability. Unsurprisingly, tradition associates Wing Chun with boats plying the rivers and coasts of southern China. Even though Cantonese styles such as Choy Lee Fut and the Wong Fei-Hung lineage of Hung Kuen are classified as Southern and feature a characteristically Southern emphasis on the arms, their stances and routines, like those of Northern Chinese styles, are respectively wider and more complex than those of Fujian and Hakka styles. High, narrow, pigeon-toed stances are more prominent in "old" or "village" styles of Hung Kuen but also appear in its Iron Wire Fist empty-hand routine. At one point or another, Shaolin origins have been claimed for all of the aforementioned Southern styles by way of a southern Shaolin temple and are most prominent in the oral histories of Hung Kuen, Wing Chun, and Choy Lee Fut. The traditional location of a southern Shaolin temple in Fujian Province comes from the Qing bai lei chao (1917) by Xu Ke. Some accounts even state that there was more than one Shaolin temple in the area. Any such temple may not have been a "Shaolin" temple per se—references to other Shaolin temples are largely if not entirely absent from the records of the original Henan temple—but a Buddhist temple with a strong reputation for martial arts, leading to an association with Shaolin. Competing claims have made been that various temples near Putian, Quanzhou, or Fuqing are the southern Shaolin temple but such claims have as much to do with the prospect of tourist dollars as with historical veracity. The Shaolin system, including the Cantonese styles, are distinguished by the Five Animals:
These styles imitate the movement of these animals for martial applications. The animals are also often compared to various ways of facing a problem/situation. The Tiger represents the direct and frontal way of approach to a problem. The Monkey is innovative/creative approach combined with a sense of humour. The Snake waits for the right opportunity before delivering a fatal strike, which is something like waiting till you gain sufficient strength to solve the problem. The Leopard combines the directness of the Tiger with the fatality of the attack that the Snake posesses. The Dragon style represents a state of meditational calm and peace of mind. "Shaolin" itself literally means "young forest." The Henan temple was built in the 20th year of the T??ih?? (??????) era of the Northern Wei Dynasty (i.e. 497 CE) by Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei China|Emperor Xiaowen for the monk Batuo. It was some 30 years after its founding that the Temple received a visitor largely regarded as the father of Shaolin martial arts: a monk, variously Bodhidharma#Biographical details from the Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang (547) by Yang Xuanzhi|Persian or Bodhidharma#Biographical details from the Biography of Bodhidharma by Tanlin|Indian, named Bodhidharma (pinyin: P??t??d??m??; commonly shortened to D??m??). According to legend, Bodhidharma came to Shaolin to introduce the form of Buddhism we know as Chan. Upon his arrival at the temple he found the monks in poor health and unable to endure the long sessions of meditation he introduced. Bodhidharma then supposedly retreated to a nearby cave and meditated for 9 years, where he is said to have created a hole in the rock with his stare and cut his eyelids so as to not fall into deep sleep. According to legend, it was during this time Bodhidharma created two exercise regimens: the Y??j??nj??ng (?????????; literally "Muscle/Tendon Change Classic") and the X??su??j??ng (?????????; literally "Brain/Marrow Cleansing Classic"). Current theories Legend attributes to Bodhidharma the creation of Sh??ol??n w??sh?? and sometimes even the Chinese martial arts as a whole. However, many individual Chinese martial arts, such as Shu??iji??o, predate Sh??ol??nqu??n by centuries. The Taiping Guangji|Extensive Records of the Taiping Era record that, prior to Bodhidharma's arrival in China, monks practiced wrestling for recreation. Shaolin monastery records name two disciples of Batuo—Hui Guang and Seng Chou—who were expert in the martial arts years before the arrival of Bodhidharma. Like Huike, these two may have been retired generals. The attribution of Shaolin kung fu to Bodhidharma can be traced to a text purporting to be the Y??j??nj??ng that dates back to no earlier than 1624 written by Zining Daoren (literally "Zining, the Taoist"). <blockquote>After Bodhidharma faced the wall for nine years at Shaolin temple, he, according to the history, left behind an iron chest; when the monks opened this chest they found the two books ???X?? Su?? J??ng??? (Marrow Washing Classic) and ???Y?? J??n J??ng??? within. The first book was taken by his 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 having obtained this manuscript. (Lin Boyuan. (1986) Zh??nggu?? w??sh?? sh?? ???????????????. Taipei ??????: W??zh??u ch??b??nsh?? ???????????????. p. 183)</blockquote> For the thousand years between the establishment of the Shaolin temple and this text, none of the many contemporary texts about the Shaolin martial arts attributes them to Bodhidharma. Like most dynastic changes, the end of the Sui Dynasty was a time of upheaval and contention for the throne. One of those who had declared himself Emperor was Wang Shichong, who controlled the territory of Zheng (state)|Zheng and the Historical capital of China|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 Dynasty (265-420)|Jin and a commandery during the Qi Dynasty|Qi. Sui Dynasty|Sui Emperor Wen of Sui China|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. Furthermore, he had assembled an army at Luoyang to march on the Shaolin Temple itself. The monks of Shaolin threw their lot in with Wang's enemy, Li Shimin, and took back the Cypress Valley Estate, defeating Wang's troops and even 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 Dynasty|Tang Emperor Gaozu of Tang China|Emperor and Shimin himself became its Emperor Taizong of Tang China|second. Thereafter Shaolin enjoyed the royal patronage of the Tang. ---- Because of the contribution of the Shaolin monks to the establishment of the Tang Dynasty and its subsequent royal patronage, Shaolin had become so famous that it inspired pilgrims to travel to the temple specifically to study its fighting methods. But even before the Battle of Hulao, Shaolin had become known for its pioneering synthesis of internal q??g??ng training and martial arts. By the 7th century, the Taoists had developed the Post-Heaven Method (?????????; pinyin: h??uti??nf??) and Little Nine Heavens (?????????; pinyin: xi??oji??ti??n) styles.. These styles emphasized q??g??ng even more strongly than the Shaolin martial arts and their renunciation of primarily muscular power more thoroughgoing, largely doing away with Weight training|conventional resistance training, qualities that embody the Taoist n??iji?? tradition of martial arts best known for T??ij??qu??n, X??ngy??qu??n, and B??gu??zh??ng. The centuries that followed saw a proliferation of martial arts styles, including the aforementioned "Chinese fist" Hu??qu??n (Tang), Ch??qu??n (Tang), T??iz?? Ch??ngqu??n (Song), "red fist" H??ngqu??n (Song), and F??nziqu??n (Song). Perhaps inevitably, the explosion in the popularity of Sh??ol??nqu??n led to its decline. The more people that sought training at the temple, the smaller the proportion of them that had the time or the inclination to truly dedicate themselves. Some regarded the Shaolin imprimatur as a kind of talisman that rendered years of training unnecessary. Others only wanted to fight well and cared little for esoterica like q??g??ng, erasing over centuries the difference between Sh??ol??nqu??n and those crude methods on which it was supposed to improve. Legend has it that one of the monks disillusioned by the deterioration of Sh??ol??nqu??n was one Zhang Sanfeng, although some Taijiquan schools attribute Zhang's studies of Sh??ol??nqu??n to a respectful Neo-Confucian exchange of information between Taoist and Buddhist monks. Another was Jueyuan, who in the 13th century started from first principles with the 18 Luohan Hands, rejecting the accretions of the intervening centuries. Like those before him, Jueyuan used the original 18 Luohan Hands as a foundation, expanding its 18 techniques into 72. Still, he felt the need to seek knowledge from outside the confines of the temple. In Gansu Province in the west of China, in the city of Lanzhou, he met Li Sou, a master of "red fist" H??ngqu??n. Li Sou accompanied Jueyuan back to Henan, to Luoyang to introduce Jueyuan to Bai Yufeng, master of an internal method. They returned to Shaolin with Bai Yufeng and expanded Jueyuan's 72 techniques to approximately 170. Moreover, using their combined knowledge, they restored internal aspects to Shaolin boxing. They organized these techniques into Five Animals: the Tiger, the Crane, the Leopard, the Snake, and the Dragon. Current theories If the Five Animals were created at the Shaolin Temple in Northern China, why can they only be found in Southern styles? (Please note that this refers to northern styles, not the Northern Shaolin system. The Northern Shaolin system does, in fact, include the Five Animals.) Jueyuan is also credited with the Northern style "flood fist" H??ngqu??n, which does not feature the Five Animals but is written with the same characters (??????) as the Southern style Hung Kuen, perhaps the quintessential Five Animals style. Moreover, as in the Southern Hung Kuen, the H??ng character (???) in H??ngqu??n actually refers to a family name rather than its literal meaning of "flood." However, the two styles have nothing in common beyond their shared name. Moreover, in Standard Mandarin|Mandarin, "w??x??ng" is the pronunciation not only of "Five Animals," but also of "Five elements (Chinese philosophy)|Five Elements," the core techniques of X??ngy??qu??n, which also features animal mimicry (but of 10 or 12 animals rather than 5) and, with its high narrow S??nt??sh?? (?????????) stance, looks nothing so much like a Fujianese Southern style stranded in the North. Some schools of the Okinawan kobudo|Okinawan martial art known as Karate have traditional stories delineating their Shaolin origins. The Goju Ryu and Uechi Ryu styles have even adopted as their foundational kata the San Chian routine of Fujian martial arts. Martial arts traditions in both Eisai|Japan and Hwarang|Korea cite Chinese influence as transmitted by monks. While sometimes represented in Western films as a mystical or even mythical school of martial arts, actual access to the Shaolin Temple has until recently been restricted to China and visitors to the Temple itself. In the last few years, notably under Abbot Shi Yong Xin, there has been a concerted effort to place teaching monks outside of China in order to spread Shaolin martial arts and as ambassadors of Chinese culture. Official schools have arisen in the USA, UK, Germany and other countries. There has also been a critically acclaimed stage show, "The Wheel of Life" in which a troupe of monks demonstrates fighting and qui gong skills within the context of a historic epsiode from the Temple's history. | align="center" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" !style="background-color:#CCCCCC"| !!style="background-color:#CCCCCC"| Chinese language|Chinese !!style="background-color:#CCCCCC"| Pinyin !!style="background-color:#CCCCCC"| |- |note|???????????????The 18 Luohan Hands |align=center| ??????????????? ||align=center| Sh??b?? Lu??h??n Sh??u || |- |note|?????????Xinyiba |align=center| ????????? ||align=center| X??ny??b?? || Claimed to be a forerunner of X??ngy??qu??n |- |note|???????????????"Goat-squeezing" stance |align=center| ??????????????? ||align=center| ??rz?? qi??ny??ng m?? || Yale_Romanization#Cantonese|Yale Cantonese: yi6 ji6 kim4 yeung4 ma5 |
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Category:Chinese martial arts This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Shaolin (martial arts)".
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