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Shaolin Quan Wikipedia

Shaolin Quan or Shaolin Ch?'an (zh-cp|c=少林拳|p=Shàolín Quán) is the term typically used to describe the Chinese martial arts that originate from the famous Buddhist Shaolin Temple and monastery at Mount Song|Songshan in Henan, founded in 495 by Tamo.

It was some 60 years after the founding of the Shaolin temple that an Indian priest named Ta Mo arrived at the temple.

Tamo, or as he is also known, Bodhidharma, is said to have come to China to introduce the sect of Buddhism known as Ch?n (Zen in Japan). Upon his arrival at the temple he found the monks in poor health and unable to endure the long sessions of meditation he introduced. (There are multiple versions of the Ta Mo story, this is merely one of the more common). Because of this, Tamo introduced two exercise regimens to the monks: The Muscle Tendon Change (I Chin Ching; Yijianjing) and the 18 Lohan Hand Movements. The first was to strengthen the monks internally, and the second externally.

The monks of Shaolin later combined the movements of Tamo's forms with those of the existing martial arts of the area. This was the birth of what is today known as Shaolin Chu'an (Shaolin Fist). Over the following centuries it evolved, spreading throughout China and East Asia, and has been perhaps the most influential school of Asian martial arts in the world, said to have directly led to hundreds of other widely practised styles, such as Wing Chun and T'ai Chi Ch'uan. Traveling Shaolin priests and practitioners would teach portions of their martial arts here and there, leading to the development of other Asian martial arts such as Korean Tang Soo Do (later Tae Kwon Do) and Japanese Karate.

Shaolin Quan began to take the shape we see today during the Ming Dynasty (14th century|14th-17th century|17th centuries). Typically within the Shaolin system, there are ten empty hand "sets" and many different weapons. Weapons training will vary from school to school. Shaolin practitioners are historically well known for their ability to endure hardship as well as their training with the distinctive steel monk's spade, iron staff and spear. Shaolin also became famous in legend for its Five Animals; styles adapted from imitating the motions of the animals in question for martial applications.

The Five Animals of Shaolin:

• Snake Kung Fu|Snake

• White Crane|Crane

• Leopard Kung Fu|Leopard

• Tiger Kung Fu|Tiger

• Dragon Kung Fu|Dragon

The two main schools of Shaolin Quan are the Temple style and the Northern style (Bak Siu Lum style). Both of these consist of ten hand sets and although similar in technique the sets are completely different.

Last Modified:   2005-04-13