Shaolin Kung Fu Philosophy

[Azalee Rowling]

Shaolinkung fu (Chinese: 少林功夫; pinyin: Shǎoln gōngfū), also called Shaolin Wushu (少林武術; Shǎoln wǔsh), or Shaolin quan (少林拳; Sholnqun), is one of the oldest, largest, and most famous styles of wushu, or kung fu of Chan Buddhism. It combines Chan philosophy and martial arts. It was developed in the Shaolin Temple in Henan province, Greater China during its 1500-year history. Popular sayings in Chinese folklore related to this practice include "All martial arts under heaven originated from Shaolin" and "Shaolin kung fu is the best under heaven," indicating the influence of Shaolin kung fu among martial arts. The name Shaolin is also used as a brand for the so-called external styles of kung fu. Many styles in southern and northern China use the name Shaolin.

Chinese historical records, like Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue, the Bibliographies in the Book of the Han Dynasty, the Records of the Grand Historian, and other sources document the existence of martial arts in China for thousands of years. For example, the Chinese martial art of wrestling, Shuai Jiao, predates the establishment of Shaolin temple by several centuries.[1] Since Chinese monasteries were large landed estates that made a considerable regular income, monks required some form of protection. Historical discoveries indicate that, even before the establishment of Shaolin temple, monks had been armed and also practiced martial arts.[2] In 1784 the Boxing Classic: Essential Boxing Methods made the earliest extant reference to the Shaolin Monastery as Chinese boxing's place of origin.[3][4] This is, however, a misconception,[5][6] but even the fact that such a mistake could be made helps to show the historical importance of Shaolin kung fu.

Like most dynastic changes, the end of the Sui dynasty was a time of upheaval and contention for the throne. 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. Wang Shichong declared himself Emperor. He 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 Southern Qi.[13] Emperor Wen of Sui 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.[13] 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 first Tang Emperor and Shimin himself became its 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, 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.[14]Stele and documentary evidence shows the monks historically worshiped the Bodhisattva Vajrapani's "Kinnara King" form as the progenitor of their staff and bare hand fighting styles.[9]

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.[14] 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.[14]

These sources, in contrast to those from the Tang dynasty period, refer to Shaolin methods of combat unarmed, with the spear, and with the weapon that was the forte of the Shaolin monks and for which they had become famous, the staff.[3][14] By the mid-16th century military experts from all over Ming China were travelling to Shaolin to study its fighting techniques.

Around 1560 Yu Dayou travelled to Shaolin Monastery to see for himself its monks' fighting techniques, but found them disappointing. Y 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 Y's teachings.[citation needed]

The earliest extant manual on Shaolin kung fu, the Exposition of the Original Shaolin Staff Method[15] was written in around 1610 and published in 1621 from what its author Chng Zōngyu learned during a more than ten-year stay at the monastery.

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.[14]

The monks won their greatest victory at Wengjiagang.[14] 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.[14] The pirates suffered over one hundred casualties and the monks only four.[14]

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.[14] Zheng ranked 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: Yngjiā qiāng).

Like the usual system of Chinese martial arts, Shaolin combat methods are taught via forms (套路; tol). Forms that are technically closely related are coupled together and are considered of the same sub-style. These are usually called the small and the big forms, like the small and big hong quan, which altogether make the Shaolin hong quan style, and the small and big pao quan, etc. There are also some styles with one form, like taizu chang quan. Indeed, these styles are not complete or stand-alone, this is just a classification of different forms of Shaolin kung fu based on their technical contents.

Huang Zongxi described martial arts in terms of Shaolin or "external" arts versus Wudang or internal arts in 1669.[16] 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,[5][17] while other well-known teachers hold the opinion that they are different. For example, the Taijiquan teacher Wu Jianquan:

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.[18]

Some lineages of karate have oral traditions that claim Shaolin origins.[19] Martial arts traditions in Japan,Korea, Sri Lanka and certain Southeast Asian countries cite Chinese influence as transmitted by Buddhist monks.[20][21]

Several films have been produced, particularly during the 70s and early 80s, about Shaolin kung fu. Films such as 36th Chamber of Shaolin, The Shaolin Temple, and Shaolin Wooden Men. Modern films include Shaolin Soccer and Shaolin.[citation needed]

Shaolin kung fu is more than a fighting technique-it is the art of knowing self-body. Those who feel this state will dissolve the question of comparing Western and Eastern martial arts at least in terms of fighting in the ring.

Going out of sync with the title, I conclude that the difference between Western and Eastern martial arts lies in the way of learning, which means that the two sides are equally important and do not oppose, yet are efficient tools in achieving different tasks.

Speaking of two sides, from the point of view of the body and technique of performing movements or techniques of martial art, I want to find the points of support in the Daodejing. To begin with, I want to refer to Daodejing, specifically chapter 54, which says:

Western boxing is not a martial art in the sense that I use in this book. It is a combative sport, an athletic competition, a game with rules. Martial arts are none of those things. (Allen, 2015, p. 107)

Therefore, the long road of studying Eastern martial arts are provided for every beginner. Practicing Eastern martial arts is a little impossible, once starting we train for a lifetime. If in the Western martial arts, the culmination is considered to be a victory in a duel, then in the eastern, the culmination is self-cultivation every day, and not fights, which in most cases are completely excluded.

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