Shaolin Kung Fu
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{{Contains Chinese text}}
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{{Chinese martial arts}}
'''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 Monastery|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 [[Shaolin Monastery|Temple]] for any one particular art.
==Internal and external arts==
[[Huang Zongxi]] described [[Chinese martial arts]] in terms of Shaolin or ''external'' arts versus [[Wudangquan|Wudang]] or [[Nèijiā|''internal'']] arts in 1669. <ref>{{cite journal | author = Henning, Stanley | year = 1994 | month = Autumn/Winter | title = Ignorance, Legend and Taijiquan | journal = Journal of the Chenstyle Taijiquan Research Association of Hawaii | volume = 2 | issue = 3 | pages = 1–7 | url = http://seinenkai.com/articles/henning/il&t.pdf}}</ref> 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<ref>Francis, B.K. (1998). ''Power of Internal Martial Arts: Combat Secrets of Ba Gua, Tai Chi, and Hsing-I''. North Atlantic Books.</ref><ref name=wkk>Kit, W.K. (2002). ''Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for Self-Defense Health and Enlightenment''. Tuttle.</ref>, while other well known teachers have expressed differing opinions. For example, the [[Taijiquan]] teacher [[Wu Jianquan]]:
<blockquote>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.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Woolidge|first=Doug|title=T’AI CHI The International Magazine of T’ai Chi Ch’uan Vol. 21 No. 3|publisher=Wayfarer Publications|date=June 1997|issn=0730-1049}}</ref></blockquote>
In 1784 the ''Boxing Classic: Essential Boxing Methods'' made the earliest extant reference to the Shaolin Monastery as Chinese boxing's place of origin.<ref>{{cite book | author = Zhāng Kǒngzhāo 張孔昭 | title = Boxing Classic: Essential Boxing Methods 拳經拳法備要 Quánjīng Quánfǎ Bèiyào | origyear = c. 1784 | language = Chinese}}</ref><ref name="Henning">{{cite journal | first = Stanley E. | last = Henning | year = 1999 | month = Fall | title = Academia Encounters the Chinese Martial arts | journal = China Review International | volume = 6 | issue = 2 | pages = 319–332 | id = ISSN 1069-5834 | url = | doi = 10.1353/cri.1999.0020 }}</ref> Again, this is a misconception, as Chinese martial arts pre-date the construction of the [[Shaolin Monastery|Shaolin Temple]] by at least several hundred years. <ref name=wkk/><ref name=ofc>Order of the Shaolin Ch'an (2004, 2006). ''The Shaolin Grandmaster's Text: History, Philosophy, and Gung Fu of Shaolin Ch'an.'' Oregon.</ref>
==Origin==
=== Legend (Bodhidharma) ===
According to the ''Jingde of the Lamp'', after [[Bodhidharma]] left the court of the [[Liang Dynasty|Liang]] emperor [[Emperor Wu of Liang|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]]'',
<blockquote>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,”<ref>洗髓經; [[pinyin]]: Xǐ Suí Jīng</ref> and the “Muscle Tendon Change Classic”, or [[Yì Jīn Jīng|"Yi Jin Jing"]]<ref>易筋經; [[pinyin]]: Yì Jīn Jīng</ref> 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.<ref name=lby183>{{cite book | last = Lin | first = Boyuan | title = Zhōngguó wǔshù shǐ 中國武術史 | year = 1996 | publisher = Wǔzhōu chūbǎnshè 五洲出版社 | location = Taipei 臺北 | language = Chinese | pages = 183}}</ref></blockquote>
=== 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.<ref>{{cite book | author = Tang Hao 唐豪 | title = Shàolín Wǔdāng kǎo 少林武當考 | origyear = 1930 | year = 1968 | publisher = Qílín tushu | location = Hong Kong 香港 | }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Canzonieri, Salvatore | year = 1998 | month = February–March | title = History of Chinese Martial arts: Jin Dynasty to the Period of Disunity | journal = Han Wei Wushu | volume = 3 | issue = 9 | url = }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Henning, Stanley | year = 1999b | title = Martial arts Myths of Shaolin Monastery, Part I: The Giant with the Flaming Staff | journal = Journal of the Chenstyle Taijiquan Research Association of Hawaii | volume = 5 | issue = 1 | url = }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite journal | first = Salvatore | last = Canzonieri | title = The Emergence of the Chinese Martial arts | journal = Han Wei Wushu | issue = 23 }}</ref>
== 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 (state)|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 Dynasty (265-420)|Jin]] and a commandery during the [[Southern Qi]].<ref name "SM2000">{{cite journal | author=Shahar, Meir | title=Epigraphy, Buddhist Historiography, and Fighting Monks: The Case of The Shaolin Monastery | journal=Asia Major Third Series | volume=13 | issue=2 | year=2000 | pages=15–36 | url=}}</ref> [[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.<ref name "SM2000"/> 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 [[Emperor Gaozu of Tang China|first Tang Emperor]] and Shimin himself became its [[Emperor Taizong of Tang China|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.<ref name="SM2001">{{cite journal | author = Shahar, Meir | year = 2001 | month = December | title = Ming-Period Evidence of Shaolin Martial Practice | journal = Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies | volume = 61 | issue = 2 | pages = 359–413 | id = ISSN 0073-0548 | doi = 10.2307/3558572}}</ref>
== 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.<ref name="SM2001"/> 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.<ref name="SM2001"/>
These sources, in contrast to those from the [[Tang Dynasty]] period, refer to Shaolin methods of combat unarmed, with the [[Qiang (spear)|spear]], and with the weapon that was the forte of the Shaolin monks and for which they had become famous, the [[Gun (staff)|staff]].<ref name="SM2001"/><ref name="Henning"/> 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.{{Fact|date=March 2008}}
The earliest extant manual on Shaolin Kung Fu, the ''Exposition of the Original Shaolin Staff Method''<ref>{{cite book | author = Chéng Zōngyóu 程宗猷 | title = Exposition of the Original Shaolin Staff Method 少林棍法闡宗 Shàolín Gùnfǎ Chǎnzōng | origyear = c. 1621 | language = Chinese}}</ref> 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.<ref name="SM2001"/>
=== Pirates ===
In the 1540s and 1550s, [[Japan]]ese [[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.<ref name="SM2001"/> Warrior monks participated in at least four battles: at the [[Hangzhou Bay|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.<ref name="SM2001"/>
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]].<ref name="SM2001"/>
The monks won their greatest victory at Wengjiagang.<ref name="SM2001"/>
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.<ref name="SM2001"/> The pirates suffered over one hundred casualties and the monks only four.<ref name="SM2001"/>
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.<ref name="SM2001"/> 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).
== Influence outside of China ==
Some lineages of [[Karate]] have oral traditions that claim Shaolin origins.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bishop|first=Mark|title=Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles and Secret Techniques|publisher=A&C Black, London|date=1989|isbn=0713656662}}</ref> [[Martial arts]] traditions in [[Eisai|Japan]] and [[Hwarang|Korea]], and [[Southeast Asia]] cite Chinese influence as transmitted by Buddhist monks.
Recent developments in the 20th century such as [[Shorinji Kempo]] ({{lang|ja|少林寺拳法}}) practised in Japan's ''Sohonzan Shorinji'' ({{lang|ja|金剛禅総本山少林寺}}) still maintains close ties with China's Song Shan Shaolin Temple due to historic links<ref>[http://www.shorinjikempo.or.jp/wsko/archives/taikai97/taikai97.html Japan's Sohonzan Shaolin Temple]</ref>. Japanese Shorinji Kempo Group contributions to Song Shan Shaolin Temple in 2003 received China's recognition.<ref>[http://www.shorinjikempo.or.jp/wsko/report/23.html Shorinji Kempo]</ref>
==In popular culture==
{{Cleanup-section|date=June 2008}}
Shaolin, in popular culture, has taken on a second life. Since the 1970s, it's been featured in countless films, TV shows, video games, cartoons, and other other media. While much of this is a commercialized aspect of Shaolin, it is also widely credited as keeping the 1500 year old temple in the consciousness of the world, and from vanishing into obscurity like many other ancient traditions. The Abbot of Shaolin, Shi Yong Xin has decided to embrace modern day pop culture and has used it to the advantage of the temple to keep the temple prominent on the world stage.
In the 1970s the television series ''[[Kung Fu (TV series)|Kung Fu]]'' appears starring [[David Carradine]]. A story about a Shaolin monk on the run in the Wild West whose Shaolin Zen (Ch'an) training is tested along his journey. [[David Carradine]]'s part was originally to be played by [[Bruce Lee]].
In 1977, the cult classic [[Shaw Brothers]] film ''Shaolin Temple'' was released and in 1982 a film by the same name starring [[Jet Li]] is credited as a major reason for the revival of the [[Shaolin Temple]] in China after the [[Cultural Revolution]].{{Fact|date=December 2007}} The film's story tells the legend of the Shaolin Temple. This film is followed by countless other films, including another [[Shaw Brothers]] film entitled the ''[[The 36th Chamber of Shaolin]]'', which depicts the training of the legendary Shaolin monk [[San Te]].
In the 1990s, the American Hip-hop group [[The Wu Tang Clan]] arises, often making frequent references to Shaolin, sometimes as a name for their home, [[Staten Island]], New York. The references arise from the group growing up in Staten Island in the late 1970s, and being influenced by movie theaters playing and advertising Kung Fu movies based on the Shaolin fighting style. Video games and cartoons begin to also feature Shaolin, such as the cartoon ''[[Xiaolin Showdown]]''. [[Liu Kang]], the main character in the ''[[Mortal Kombat (series)|Mortal Kombat]]'' series, is a Shaolin monk, and [[Kung Lao]] from the same series, is also a Shaolin monk who seeks to avenge the temple's destruction, (led by [[Baraka (Mortal Kombat)|Baraka]] in Mortal Kombat's story), they were so popular, they were turned into their own video game, [[Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks]]. [[Kuririn]], a character in the ''[[Dragon Ball (franchise)|Dragon Ball]]/[[Dragon Ball Z]]'' universe, is also a Shaolin monk, though he abandons the Shaolin fighting style in favor of [[Muten-Rôshi]]'s Turtle technique.
In 2000's, Shaolin achieves the ultimate pop-culture recognition by appearing on the [[The Simpsons]] (TV series), where they visit the Shaolin Temple in the episode [[Goo Goo Gai Pan]], which first airs in 2006. That same year, the Abbot of Shaolin invites the K-Star martial arts reality TV show to film a TV series of foreigners competing to survive Shaolin style training.
Two prominent publications about Shaolin were published in 2007, including the first ever photo documentary on the temple entitled ''Shaolin: Temple of Zen'', published by the non-profit [[Aperture Foundation]], featuring the photos of [[National Geographic]] photographer [[Justin Guariglia]]. The Shaolin Abbot, Shi Yong Xin, has written the foreword attesting the authenticity of the project. These became the first photographs seen of monks practicing classical kung fu inside the temple. American author Matthew Polly, also has written a book recounting his story of his two years living, studying, and performing with the Shaolin monks in China in the early 1990s. A third, more academic book, is to be published by the Israeli Shaolin scholar Meier Shahar in 2008 about the history of the Shaolin Temple.
While some of these are clear commercial exploitation of the Shaolin Temple and its legends, they have helped make Shaolin a household name around the world, and kept the temple alive in the minds of many young generations. To date, no other temple in the world has achieved such wide spread recognition.
==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
* [[Liuhe 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<ref>Jin Jing Zhong. ''Authentic Shaolin Heritage: Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin'' /Tanjin, 1934/ ISBN-13: 978-1847284068</ref>
== See also ==
{{ChineseText}}
* [[kalaripayattu]]
* [[Yì Jīn Jīng]]
* [[Yue Fei]]
* [[Wudangquan]]
* [[Zhou Tong (archer)]]
== References ==
{{reflist|2}}
{{refbegin}}
*Jin Jing Zhong. Authentic Shaolin Heritage: Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin /Tanjin, 1934/ ISBN-13: 978-1847284068 *[http://www.kungfulibrary.com/about-72-shaolin-arts.htm]
{{refend}}
{{Martial arts}}
{{manav by country}}
== External links ==
*[http://www.kungfulibrary.com/shaolin-kung-fu.htm Shaolin Kung Fu OnLine Library - Canonical Texts of Shaolin Monastery]
*[http://shaolinkf.110mb.com/ Shaolin Temple - In depth information, picture gallery and forms ]
*[http://squatmagazine.com/article.php?articleId=11 Article analyzing modernization of Shaolin Kung Fu]
*[http://www.kung-fu-style.info Kung Fu Stile List Germany ]
*[http://www.shaolin.com.au/history.html The WEB site where most WEB information about Shaolin has been sourced since 1993]
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