Shaolin Temple and Shaolin Kung Fu

Shaolin Temple and Shaolin Kung Fu

The Shaolin Temple, widely known for the Shaolin Fist, lying at the foot of Mount Song in Henan Province, it the ancestral temple of Zen Buddhism, Shaolin monks have had a long tradition of practicing Shaolin Kung Fu.

In history, the Shaolin warrior monks once performed a breathtaking scene where thirteen monks with cudgel techniques saved the King of Tang, thus incepting a historical chapter of Shaolin monks safeguarding the state with their Kung Fu.

In Shaolin Temple’s deep courtyard with many towering old trees stand many stone tablets granted by imperial courts in many dynasties. On the two elaborately carved white marble tablets in front of the Bell Tower are inscriptional records written by Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of Tang to cite the merits of the 13 Shaolin monks with cudgel techniques saving him. The inscription also recorded such facts as Tao Zong was knighted with the title of Senior General Monk, and the Shaolin Temple was franchised to maintain 500 monk soldiers and was bestowed with about 267 hectares of land in Baiguwu Village. In the time-honored course of over 1,000 years, the Shaolin warrior monks have produced many romaunts of safeguarding the state with their Kung Fu.

The source of Shaolin Temple

The Shaolin Temple was once an Indian dhyana master Batuo under the order of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386 – AD 534). Later it was recognized as the ancestral temple of Zen because of Bodhidharma, an eminent monk from Tianzhu (India), once taught Mahayana Buddhism here. Now under the charge of Shi Yongxin, the 32nd Abbot, the Shaolin Temple has become a Buddhist shrine with crucial international influence. The Shaolin Temple had been seriously taken and protected by the imperial courts of ancient dynasties. It prays for the country and all living creatures every day, so it is a temple of national safeguarding.

Shaolin Kung Fu

Since the Tang Dynasty, Kung Fu had been a common practice for Shaolin monks, and they were widely known for their fist and cudgel. In the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, Shaolin kung fu arrived at its peak time with over 800 monks practicing Kung Fu and handing down from generation to generation. Moreover, the warrior monks also serve the country with their exquisite Kung Fu. The time-honored Shaolin Kung Fu is extensive and profound. It is mostly characterized by the integration of Kung Fu with Zen, simplicity, precise structure, and the combination of offensiveness and defensiveness. Especially its movement is featured that the fist is shaken in a line. The punching method is rolling-out and rolling-in. There is a saying about the Shaolin Fist that a set of the fist can be practiced within a small area only if the cattle can lie down.

Shi Yanlu is the general head coach of the Shaolin warrior monks and has made six Guinness World Records. He has cultivated many masters of Kung Fu for the modern martial community. The first is the foundation of Shaolin Kung Fu. In the early days, it was practiced from actual combat. Both rolling-in and rolling-out in the Shaolin Fist Position are kept in a line. Thus the best hitting effect could be originated from the most significant strength at the fastest speed. The design of movements and a combination of the skill series in the Shaolin Kung Fu were all built on the Traditional Chinese Medical knowledge of human beings in ancient China.

It pays much attention to the integration of motion with a standstill, hardness with softness, and mind with body, thus giving full play to the inner potentials of human beings. The Classic of Fist Position left by Monk Xuanji, a master of the first position in the late Ming Dynasty, is the earliest existing fist position series of the Shaolin Fist Position. Human beings have nine taboo parts of their bodies, such as eyes, throat, and crotch in particular as no one can stand up with a kick on that part. A man mastering in the iron crotch Kung Fu can pull a stone tied to his crotch part by a line and can stand up with a stick punch and kick on his crotch part. However, it said this art is practiced by elders and is not allowed to be exercised by children.

Of course, warrior monks can practice it since they have become monks. Secular people cannot exercise because they need to carry on the family line. Both Iron Crotch Kung Fu and Iron Head Kung Fu belong to the 72 Shaolin Kung Fu. Shaolin Kung Fu is not restricted to these 72 types recorded on books. As far as I know, Shaolin has at least 120 Kung Fu. For example, a stick, a spearhead, and double spears can hold the throat. Once it is held, it can produce a vast reacting force, which could push forward a bus.

Two Spears Stabbing the Throat belongs to the hard Qigong. When a warrior has two sharp steel spears against his throat, he can accumulate all his genuine Qi to enable his body to stand up with the strike from a hammer. After one master this Kung Fu, he can combat against sharp knives with his hands. That is called hard Qigong.

The practice of Double Finger of Zen Meditation is very particular. This Kung Fu goes like that to fingers touching the ground can hold up the whole body. It will be more beautiful for Death Touch Two fingers forking into eyes is called Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl. Two fingers forking into the throat can break the artery. The Double Finger of Zen Meditation is also one of the Shaolin Kung Fu. This Kung Fu needs at least 5 to 8 years. When one masters this skill, his fingers can be as hard as steel hooks.

Shaolin monks

According to the impression of ordinary people, monks out of three realms should be of leniency and practice abstinence and pray to Buddha every day. Nevertheless, why do the Shaolin monks have such a keen awareness of practicing Kung Fu to protect the country?

The Shaolin monks are practicing Kung Fu mainly for protecting the temple and the Buddha. The court or government also frequently called them for particular tasks, so Kung Fu also became a technique for protecting the country. The Mount Song area where the Shaolin Temple lies constitutes a natural cover for guarding the ancient capital Luoyang, so it was great military importance. It was amidst social turbulence due to frequent wars when the emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty built the Shaolin Temple. To safeguard the properties of the imperial temple, and the dignity of the Buddha dharma, monks, gathered spontaneously to practice Kung Fu to keep healthy and protect the temple from being destroyed by the war.

The Shaolin Temple has traversed a long journey for over 1,500 years. Monks in every dynasty had played a role in protecting the country and blessing the people. During the past one thousand years, it has enjoyed continuous incense. The Tang Dynasty witnessed the 13 monks with cudgel techniques saved the King of Tang and protected the country. While in the Ming Dynasty, they fought against foreign invaders and combated with the pirates. The Shaolin monks did many heroic deeds for the land and the people.

The Pagoda Forest buried relics of the Shaolin Temple’s eminent monks of all ages; it is the most sacred place in the Shaolin Temple. Monk Xiaoshan, a master of Zen in the Ming Dynasty was also buried here. When he was the Abbot of the Shaolin Temple, China’s coastal areas were invaded and harassed by pirates. In the rein of Jiang of the Ming Dynasty, China’s southeastern coastal regions were invaded by pirates in successive years. They burned, killed and looted everywhere, and plundered the coastal towns and cities, resulting in inestimable loss of people’s lives and properties. When the country was in the face of crisis, Monk Xiaoshan, the Abbot of the Shaolin Temple at that time, went the Shaolin monk soldiers to assist Qi Jiguang to fight against the pirates in the coastal regions for many times. Monk Bandung led the first team with over 30 warrior monks. The first battle was very smooth because the pirates did not know how amazing the monks Kung Fu was, and belittled the monks. These monks were equipped with excellent cudgel techniques.

In history, the Shaolin monks were called by the court to participate in the conventional wars at least six times, and they made glorious achievements repeatedly. Warrior monks were also cited by the court many times. Shaolin warrior monks participated in many historical events and made contributions to resolving social contradictions by dint of their integrity of righteousness and boldness as well as their objective of patriotism and benefitting the people. That is consistent with the concept that Buddhism is born to emancipate all living creatures with leniency.

Monks pay much attention to discipline when they cultivate themselves in the Shaolin Temple. Disciplines serve as the guarantee for cultivation. However, for disciplines, monks lose their nature as monks as well as the morality of Kung Fu. Therefore, we advocate the cultivation of both Zen and Kung Fu by applying Zen into Kung Fu and practicing Kung Fu to cultivate Zen. The combination of Zen and Kung Fu is a tradition of the Shaolin Temple.

Shaolin Stick

The stick is one of the most famous weapons in Shaolin Kung Fu. In the early formative period of the Shaolin Kung Fu, monks firstly used sticks. Till the Ming Dynasty, monk soldiers held iron sticks to fight against the Japanese pirates and participate in many battles to protect the border areas, making the Shaolin cudgel skills nationwide known.

Since some pirates continued harassing the coastal regions, the emperor sent Monk Xiaoshan to fight against them. Monk Xiaoshan was said to be a man of both literary and military capacities. He was appointed as the commander-in-chief to guard the frontier three times. Considering that only the stick was too simple to fight with the pirate's sharp broadswords, he invented this weapon named three-strand fork. This three-strand fork is featured that when you charge, I can use this to prevent, and when you use your broadsword to attack me, I can use it to pull your broadsword back, and when you attack again, I can open the hook to counterattack, thus breaking your leg.

Shaolin and Zen Buddhism

In the Shaolin Temple, the ancestral temple of Zen Buddhism, Bodhidharma is treated as the God of Faith. Zen Buddhism did not leave any written scripts and adopted a cultivating pattern of direct experience and understanding of one’s true self. This situation is similar to the inheritance way of Kung Fu with spreading formula from the mouth.

Therefore, Shaolin monks treat practicing Kung Fu as an efficient way to practice Zen. Shaolin Kung Fu is different from that of other parties and schools. It bears the most significant feature of the combination of Zen and Kung Fu. Zen is the soul of Kung Fu, while Kung Fu is a manifestation of Zen. Therefore, Shaolin monks practice Kung Fu to cultivate themselves with Zen, thus making their inner hearts arrive at a tranquil and serene state. The birth and formation of the Shaolin Kung Fu are inseparable from the particular Buddhist culture space of the Shaolin Temple on Mount Song and lifestyles of warrior monks. Aspirations of monks with a combination of Zen and Kung Fu for an ideal realm of both morality and techniques make the Shaolin Kung Fu become the most influential school in the martial world. Under the management of the Zen Master Fuyu, Abbot of Shaolin in the early Yuan Dynasty, Shaolin Kung Fu established its first place.

The spread of Shaolin Kung Fu

Abbot Fuyu, he was very good at Kung Fu, but he was not satisfied with the status quo of the Shaolin Kung Fu. Therefore, he invited masters of Kung Fu from 18 parties to exchange Kung Fu in the Shaolin Temple many times. Wang Lang practiced Mantis Boxing, Lin Chong practiced the Mandarin Duck Leg, and Yan-Qing practiced the Methods of Sticking, Grabbing and Falling. Just as the saying goes, the Chinese Kung Fu comes from the Shaolin Temple. In other words, the Shaolin Temple could unite all heroes across the country, concentrate the quintessence of Kung Fu from all parties in Shaolin, and spread them to all places in the country.

During the past centuries, Shaolin monks have drawn quintessence from Kung Fu of other parties in the martial world, and bestowed the Kung Fu with the connotation of Zen wisdom, making it a shared precious wealth of the Chinese martial world. All these were inseparable from this piece of land cultivating it. There are also many folk masters of Kung Fu in these villages and cottages surrounding the Shaolin Temple. They also have unique Kung Fu. Warrior monks practiced Kung Fu here, and the Kung Fu is practiced in the folk. Therefore, Kung Fu is integrated into this place, and this area becomes collecting and distributing center of Kung Fu. In other words, the Kung Fu comes from the people and are developed by the people.

Closing Remarks

Although it could be said that Kung Fu originated in China, in fact, the Kung Fu belongs to the whole world and all human beings. It is also a precious cultural heritage for people of the entire world. In these years, with the developing craze for Kung Fu in foreign countries, we often organized groups to go abroad for exchanging, teaching and performance, thus making this cultural heritage of China blossom in every corner of the world. 

Now the Shaolin Temple has attracted attention from all over the world. Also, the Shaolin Kung Fu has become an essential channel for people with different cultural backgrounds to learn about Kung Fu, ancient Chinese philosophical thinking, and the culture of Zen Buddhism. As the crystallization of ancient oriental wisdom, the Shaolin Kung Fu still has a broad prospect for existing and developing in the modern time of the 21st century. Meanwhile, it also manifests the unyielding national spirit.