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Before You Buy That Self Defense Product
Self-defense products are gaining in popularity because they are effective against attacks, and they don’t take as much time to learn. Martial arts or other self-defense courses are great to learn, but for many people, they take too much time to...
Examining Martial Arts Styles
Generally speaking the term "martial arts" creates the mental picture of a person in white kicking with a leg or chopping with an arm. This illustrates one of a number of misconceptions associated with the martial arts, in particular the belief that...
Is Aikido A Martial Art ? : Part Three.- Conclusion.
The Converted
In articles parts one and two I have covered the introduction of Aikido to the West, and the impact on other Martial Artists, Aikido progressed and developed in the UK by visiting existing dojos of all the various Martial Arts and...
Kung Fu: History And Basic Principles
The Term:
Historically, the term "Kung Fu" is not really featured in any
ancient texts. It was first coined by a Frenchman named Jean
Joseph Marie Amiot, a missionary who lived in the 18th Century,
in reference to Chinese martial arts. Kung...
Martial Training as a Timeless Portal
Thanks to several centuries of enlightened teachings by extraordinary men in the martial disciplines, we don’t have to be restricted to lives of getting and spending, waiting in quiet desperation for the pain to cease. Most of us in the Arts focus...
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AMAZING kung fu martial arts HISTORY
The term 'Kung Fu' does not relate to any specific form of
martial art, but rather translates as 'skill' or 'ability'.
Scholars believe that the use of Kung Fu to describe the Chinese
martial form originated in Hong Kong and Kwangtung province.
There are records of the Jesuit priest, Pere Amiot, writing of
the 'peculiar exercises' practised by the Taoist priests of his
region which he called 'Cong Fou'.
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Wu Shu is traditionally the term widely used to describe the
traditional Chinese martial arts, though other descriptions such
as Kuo-shu, Kuo-chi, Chien-shu and Tao-fa have also been used
from time to time. (Wu Shu is the term currently used for
Chinese martial arts by the People's Republic of China).
Exactly when Kung Fu first sprouted is unknown, with historians
stating that Chinese martial forms most likely predate recorded
history. Since the dawn of time there have been battles between
man and animal, warring tribes, etc. during which conflicts
combative techniques were executed and accumulated and passed
down from generation to generation.
What is particular about the Chinese martial forms is that many
schools or styles were created by imitating the fighting
techniques of animals such as monkeys, lions, tigers, snakes,
bears, etc. The adaptation of animal techniques stems from a
belief that in order to survive in their harsh natural
environment, all animals (even birds and insects) were naturally
endowed with skills for fighting.
Hence techniques were born from the tiger's pounce, the eagle's
sharp claws and the elusiveness and unpredictability of the
monkey. Still, it is difficult to attach a precise date to the
true birth of Kung Fu. Some traditional historians date it as
far back as the Shang Dynasty (16th century BC). Others place it
in the period of the Contending States (475 - 221 BC) and the
Yellow Emperor, Huang Ti. Indeed, it would appear that modern
Kung Fu has adapted and evolved from the warring experiences of
China's past, with distinct traces of Mongolian, Tibetan, Indian
and other cultural ideologies exhibited in many styles. If there
is one common reference point in tracing Kung Fu's history, it
is the Shaolin Temple and the journey of Buddhism from India to
China.
Buddhism reached China during the period of the Eastern Han Ming
Emperor (58 - 76 AD) and soon flourished. It is estimated that
by 500 AD there were more than 10,000 Buddhist temples in China
and many emperors became devout Buddhists. In 495 AD the Shaolin
Temple was constructed by the order of Emperor Wei Xiao Wen (471
- 500 AD). The Temple was built to house the teachings of a
Buddhist monk named Batuo, who came to China for Buddhist
teaching in 464 AD. As such Batuo can be considered the first
Shaolin Temple monk, though there is no record of how or what
(471 - 500 AD). The Temple was built to house the teachings of a
Buddhist monk named Batuo, who came to China for Buddhist
teaching in 464 AD. As such Batuo can be considered the first
Shaolin Temple monk, though there is no record of how or what
Batuo passed down by way of religious Qigong practice, just as
there is no record of how or when he died.
The most influential person in the study of Kung Fu's history
through the Shaolin Temple is an Indian monk named Da Mo (or Ta
Mo). Da Mo, also known as Bodhidarma, had been a small prince of
a Southern Indian tribe. He followed the Mahayana school of
Buddhism and was revered as a bodhisattva - and enlightened
being who had renounced nirvana so as to save others. The
legends of Da Mo in Chinese mythology are elaborate, to say the
least. One legend has Da Mo sitting in a cave where he stared at
the wall for nine years in meditation. After accidentally
falling asleep, he became so angered with himself that he tore
off his eyelids and threw them on the ground. Tea shrubs grew
from the ground beneath the discarded eyelids and monks have
used tea ever since to deter sleep.
Dao Mo was invited to China by the Emperor Liang Wu. He arrived
in Canton in 527 AD but when the emperor disliked his preaching.
Da Mo withdrew to the Shaolin Temple. Upon arriving at the
Temple, Da Mo found many of the monks to be sick and weak. He
pondered this problem for nine years (his nine year seclusion)
and when he emerged wrote two classics: Yi Jin Jing
(Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic) and Xi Sui Jin (Marrow/Brain
Washing Classic). The classics taught the priests how to build
their Qi to an abundant level and use to it improve their health
and change their physicality to one of super strength. When this
training was combined with martial forms, the priests found a
marked improvement in the strength and power of their martial
techniques.
It is believed that Da Mo may have authored the series of 18
exercises contained in a manuscript, the I-Chin-Ching, outlining
the Shaolin method of Chinese boxing. The method that emerged
from the Shaolin Temple, which is representative of the northern
Chinese styles in general, was called wai-jya (wai-chia) or
external family of Chinese boxing. Shaolin strove the increase
speed, strength and elasticity. It was vigorous and calisthenic
and became the basis from which Karate in
Okinawa and the Korean
martial arts were derived. The Xi Sui Jin was hard to learn and
as such was passed down secretly only to a few disciples in
every generation. Sadly Da Mo passed away in the Shaolin Temple
in 536 AD but what he had started would live on for centuries.
Very quickly the Shaolin Monks would become revered for their
fighting prowess. During the period between the Sui dynasty and
the Tang dynasty, in the 4th year of Tang Gao Zu Wu De (621 AD),
Qin King Li Shi-Ming had a momentous war against Zheng King Wang
Chi-Chong. With Qin King in trouble, 13 Shaolin monks came to
his assistance against Zheng. When Li Shi-Ming later became the
first emperor of the Tang dynasty (618 - 907 AD) he rewarded the
Shaolin Temple with approximately 600 acres of land. He also
granted the Temple the right to train its own soldiers.
Such were the riches of the Shaolin Temple that martial arts
training became a necessity to protect its wealth from bandits.
The responsibility of defending the Temple was given to the
soldier monks known as Seng Bing. For three hundred years the
Shaolin Temple enjoyed a golden period in which it legally owned
its own martial arts training organisation. The Temple also
remained open to outside martial influences, absorbing what it
could and incorporating these techniques and training methods
into its own system. During this period one of the most famous
Shaolin monks was Jueyuan. He travelled the country learning
martial arts techniques and working with other famous martial
artists. When in Lan Zhou he met the famed martial artist, Li
Sou, who in turn introduced him to, Bai Yu-Feng and his son.
Later all four men returned to the Shaolin Temple and studied
together. After ten years, Li Sou left the Temple but Bai
Yu-Feng and his son stayed on and became monks. Bai Yu-Feng's
name changed to Qiu Yue Chan Shi and, according to the book of
Shaolin Temple record, it was he who developed the then 18
existing Buddha Hands techniques into 173 techniques. He also
compiled the existing techniques contained with Shaolin and
wrote the book The Essence of the Five Fist, which discussed the
methods and applications of the Five Fist (Animal) Patterns.
This is proof that animal patterns had already existed for some
time in the Shaolin Temple.
The Shaolin Temple would also be responsible for spreading the
Chinese martial arts to Japan. In the year 1312 AD the monk Da
Zhi came to the Shaolin Temple from Japan. He studied the
Shaolin martial arts (barehands and staff) for 13 years and
returned to Japan to spread Shaolin Gongfu to Japanese martial
arts society. In 1335 AD a Buddhist monk named Shao Yuan
ventured to Shaolin from Japan. During his stay he mastered
Gongfu and returned to Japan in 1347 AD.
The golden era of the Shaolin Temple ended when Manchuria took
over China and became the Qing dynasty. In order to prevent the
Han race (pre-Manchurian) Chinese from rebelling against the
government, martial arts training was outlawed between 1644 and
1911 AD. In order to preserve their teachings, the Shaolin
techniques were passed onto layman society. Martial arts
training in the Temple was carried out in secrecy and the
Shaolin monk soldier decreased in number from thousands to a
couple of hundred. In 1911 the Qing dynasty fell in a revolution
led by Dr Sun Yat-Sen. The value of Chinese martial arts was
re-evaluated and for the first time the secrets of Chinese
martial arts were permitted to be openly taught to the public.
During the Chinese civil war, Chiang Kai-Shek tried to unify
they country. The battle spilled into the Shaolin Temple in 1928
and the Temple was burned for the last time by Warlord Shi
You-San's soldiers. The fire lasted forty days, destroying all
major buildings and priceless books and records. In order to
preserve the Chinese martial arts, President Chiang Kai-Shek
ordered the establishment of the Nanking Central Guoshu
Institute at Nanking in 1928. The traditional name Wushu was
renamed Zhong Guo Wushu or simple Guoshu. For the first time in
Chinese history, by rule of the government, all the major
martial arts powers in China came together to share their
knowledge. Unfortunately, at the commencement of World War II,
all training discontinued. China was taken over by Communists
following the Second World War. All religions and all Shaolin
training was prohibited under Communist rule. Wushu training was
established at the National Athletics Institute. However this
was not pure Wu Shu, but rather performance based with major
portions of martial training and technique application
eradicated by the government to discourage possible unification
of martial artists against the government. It was not until the
1980s (unfortunately after several of the traditional masters
had died) that the Chinese government realised the value of
traditional martial arts training and so encouraged it. KFS
About the author:
This article was submitted by P. Sundbye who has been training
in various martialarts for the last 11 years including Wing Chun
Kung Fu, Aikido, Tong Long and the Lee Total Control system.
For more information and martial arts news visit
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