Shaolin (martial arts)

 Shaolin Kung Fu—more precisely Shàolínquán or Shàolín wǔshù—are those Chinese Martial Arts that trace their origins to Shaolin, be it the Chan Buddhist 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 "internal") Chinese martial arts, though this has much to do with the attractiveness of the Shaolin 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 counterparts, traditionally offered 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 Shàolín wǔshù, 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 techniques⁽¹⁾ 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 labor⁽²⁾, plus Pàochuí, 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 qiāng (spear), the dagger, the dāo (sabre), the jiàn (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, Tàijíquán, the Yin Fu style of Bāguàzhǎng, and possibly Xíngyìquán, which are never classified Shaolin, nonetheless inherited many of their postures from Shaolin.

Northern and Southern styles

The regional differences between schools of Shaolin correspond to the regional differences between Chinese martial arts in general: "Nánquán běituǐ." The South punches, the North kicks (literally "Southern Fist, Northern leg"). Most representative of Northern Chinese martial arts are those styles classified Chángquán (literally "long fist") which includes Pàochuí, 查拳 (Chāquán) (Cha Yuanyi style), Tàizǔ Chángquán (Emperor Taizu long fist), 翻子拳 (Fānziquán) (literally "tumbling fist"), "red fist" Hóngquán, "flood fist" Hóngquán, "Chinese fist" Huáquán, and "flower fist" Huāquán, among others. Chángquán also includes the strictest, "Henan only" definition of Shàolínquán. The youngest Chángquán style listed is "flower fist" Huāquán, 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) families of martial arts. As Leung Ting, the head of the Wing Tsun 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, with the arms often extended.

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: Crane, Dragon, Leopard, Snake, and Tiger.

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 Crane is innovative/creative approach combined with a sense of humor. 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 possesses. The Dragon style represents a state of meditation( calm and peace of mind).

The legend of Bodhidharma

"Shaolin" itself literally means "young forest." The Henan temple was built in the 20th year of the Tàihé (太和) era of the Northern Wei Dynasty (i.e. 497 CE) by 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 Persian or Indian, named Bodhidharma (pinyin: Pútídámó; commonly shortened to Dámó).

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 Yìjīnjīng (易筋經; literally "Muscle/Tendon Change Classic") and the Xǐsuíjīng (洗髓經; literally "Brain/Marrow Cleansing Classic").

Current theories:

Legend attributes to Bodhidharma the creation of Shàolín wǔshù and sometimes even the Chinese martial arts as a whole. However, many individual Chinese martial arts, such as Shuāijiāo, predate Shàolínquán by centuries. The 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 Yíjīnjīng that dates back to no earlier than 1624 written by Zining Daoren (literally "Zining, the Taoist").

[A]fter 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 “Xǐ Suǐ Jīng” (Marrow Washing Classic) and “Yí Jīn Jīng” 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) Zhōngguó wǔshù shǐ 中國武術史. Taipei 臺北: Wǔzhōu chūbǎnshè 五洲出版社. p. 183)

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.

The Shaolin monks and the prince

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 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 and a commandery during the Qi. Sui 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 allied 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 Emperor and Shimin himself became its second.

Thereafter Shaolin enjoyed the royal patronage of the Tang.

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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 qìgōng training and martial arts.

By the 7th century, the Taodists had developed the Post-Heaven Method (後天法; pinyin: hòutiānfǎ) and Little Nine Heavens (小九天; pinyin: xiǎojiǔtiān) styles.. These styles emphasized qìgōng even more strongly than the Shaolin martial arts and their renunciation of primarily muscular power more thoroughgoing, largely doing away with convential resistance training, qualities that embody the Taoist nèijiā tradition of martial arts best known for Tàijíquán, Xíngyìquán, and Bāguàzhǎng.

The centuries that followed saw a proliferation of martial arts styles, including the aforementioned "Chinese fist" Huáquán (Tang), Chāquán (Tang), Tàizǔ Chángquán (Song), "red fist" Hóngquán (Song), and Fānziquán (Song).

The legend of the Five Animals

Perhaps inevitably, the explosion in the popularity of Shàolínquán 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 esoteric martial arts like qìgōng, erasing over centuries the difference between Shàolínquán and those crude methods on which it was supposed to improve.

Legend has it that one of the monks disillusioned by the deterioration of Shàolínquán was one Zhang Sanfeng, although some Taijiquan schools attribute Zhang's studies of Shàolínquán 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" Hóngquán. 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" Hóngquán, which does not feature the Five Animals but is written with the same characters (洪拳) as the Southern style Hung Kuen, perhaps the quintessential Five Animals style. Moreover, as in the Southern Hung Kuen, the Hóng character (洪) in Hóngquán 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 Mandarin, "wǔxíng" is the pronunciation not only of "Five Animals," but also of "Five Elements" which are the core techniques of Xíngyìquán, which also features animal mimicry (but of 10 or 12 animals rather than 5) and, with its high narrow Sāntǐshì (三體勢) stance, looks nothing so much like a Fujianese Southern style stranded in the North.

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