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Shaolin kung-fu training

from beginning to mastery

in Chinese, ‘kung-fu (功夫)’ means a skill to practice and perfect. Shaolin (少林) kung-fu1 is combination of Zen Buddhism and martial art that was developed by the monks of Shaolin temple during the last 1500 years. kung-fu has 2 categories of skills: 1. body skills (基本功: jiben kung): kung-fu practitioner's body should be ‘endurant, soft, light, hard, and fast.’ these are the 5 body skills. the set of Shaolin soft (flexibility) and light (balance) skills is called the child skills (童子功: tongzi kung) and the set of Shaolin hard (power) and fast (speed) skills is called the 72 skills2. besides, energy is developed via internal skills (气功: qi kung), which include static and dynamic meditation3. 2. combat skills (拳法: quan fa): combat styles and fighting which teach barehanded or weapon and barehanded vs weapon combat tactics and methods. Shaolin monks practice daily except one or a couple of days a week to rest, and their training schedule includes: – warm-up, endurance, child skills: 20 min or more with empty stomach. – 72 skills: a few select ones are practiced, each for a few min or more. – combat skills: 20 min or more. – qi kung meditation: half an hour or more daily. these exercises could be done together in one daily session or at different sessions, like morning, evening, or any other time. some sayings are, ‘Shaolin kung-fu is trained in a lying ox’s place,’ it means a small place. ‘wear light clothes in warmth and warm clothes in the cold, but do not be afraid of the weather.’ ‘train 100 days to see difference, 3 years to achieve skills, and 10 years for mastery.’

Shaolin kung-fu @YouTube.com: free full video tutorials by Shaolin temple inheritors. ‘Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin’ and ‘72 Consummate Arts Secrets of the Shaolin Temple’ books. 3 Yang Jwing-Ming’s ‘Qigong for Health and Martial Arts’, ‘Qigong Meditation: Embryonic Breathing’, ‘Qigong Meditation: Small Circulation’, and his other Qi kung books. 1 2

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Shaolin kung-fu body training 1. warm-up in the beginning makes training easier and more efficient and prevents injuries to the body. Shaolin monks warm up by loosening up the 9 main joints of body by rotating each joint to and fro for a few, like 5 times. this routine takes 2 min:

arms:

elbows

shoulders

ankles

knees

hips

waist

back

neck

wrists

legs:

trunk:

at the end, loosen up whole the body and shake all limbs. 2. endurance exercises begin lightly, for example by jogging, gradually do them quicker

and heavier to beyond your endurance limits. when you think you cannot do anymore, do more and harder. you improve day by day. do some exercises for 5 min or more daily: jog, run forward, sideways, backward, zigzag, stationary run, high-knee run, run raise foot forward, run raise foot backward, jumping run, sprint, jump, turning jump, single-foot jump, high-knee jump, squat, squat walk, squat hop, crawl, roll, somersault, pushup, punch, kick, ….

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‘Shaolin child skills’ are the set of Shaolin kung-fu soft (flexibility) and light (balance) skills. ‘masters of child skills, being as soft as cotton and as light as a swallow, feel like being given a second childhood.’ child skills can be mastered at any age, young or old, but it is better to be trained since childhood. the saying is that ‘child skills are 18 postures.’ here you see 18 main – 9 soft and 9 light – postures and their usual variants. begin: 3. soft-body (stretching) exercises are a complete set for whole the body. in each exercise, hold the position, lock the posture by tensing your muscles, and stretch for a count of 10. do all these exercises, which altogether takes less than 5 min daily. mastery level, when you can do these soft-body postures with ease, takes about 5 years of training.

1 lazy monk salutes Buddha (懒僧拜佛)

exercise: hands grab a string, turn shoulders and arms back and forth. try with the shortest possible length of string. at advanced level, it’s done with palms joined together.

2 tortoise (金龟)

2, single-leg variant cross the river on a reed stem (一苇渡江)

3 sun and moon (日月)

exercise: stand, turn thighs outward as far as possible, sit down. exercise: stand, turn thighs inward as far as possible, bend down. 3

4, pre-variant bridge (桥)

4, on-knees variant

4, on-chest variant hide flower under the leaf (叶底藏花)

exercise: feet apart, arc backward, try to land your palms on the ground at behind.

5, pre-variant double clasp Buddha’s foot (抱佛腳)

5 dragon rolls waist (青龙卷腰)

exercise: legs straight, bend forward with straight back as far as possible.

6, pre-variant clasp Buddha’s foot (抱佛腳)

6, pre-variant front split (竖叉)

6 skyward step (朝天蹬)

exercise: ‘clasp Buddha’s foot’: one leg squats, other leg straight in front, hands pull back its toes, bend forward with straight spine, try to touch the toes with your chin; switch legs. try ‘front split’, legs straight; switch legs. at advanced level, combine these to ‘posture 6’. 4

7, pre-variant side clasp Buddha’s foot (抱佛腳)

7, pre-variant side split (橫叉)

7 side skyward step (朝天蹬)

exercise: ‘clasp Buddha’s foot’: one leg squats, other leg straight to side, hands pull back its toes, bend sideward with straight spine, try to touch the toes with your head; switch legs. try ‘side split’, legs straight. at advanced level, combine these to ‘posture 7’.

8, pre-variant dragon coils in the nest (青龙盘窝) aka twin dragons play with a pearl (双龙戏珠)

8 golden rooster stands on one leg (金鸡独立)

exercise: sit or stand, pull back your thighs to hook your feet behind your neck, switch legs.

9, an advanced split dragon raises tail (青龙摆尾) 5

4. light-body (balance) exercises are better learned by using supports, like leaning to a wall, etc., at the beginning. practice for 5 min or more daily by holding still or doing push-ups/sit-ups in one or a couple of postures. at the mastery level, one may load weights on his body in balance postures.

1, pre-variant on horse stance (马步)

1 arhat salutes Buddha (罗汉拜佛)

2 swallow balance (燕式平衡) aka dragon surfs on sea (蛟龙探海)

1, simpler variant

3 reverse swallow balance

4 child salutes Buddha of compassion (童子拜观音) 5, pre-variant 5 sleeping arhat (罗汉睡觉) sleeping fish carries Buddha (卧鱼载佛) 6

6, pre-variant 6, pre-variant Buddha ascends midair meditation (悬空打坐) to heaven (迎佛升天)

7, pre-variant single-arm support (单臂扶撑)

8 handstand (倒立)

9, pre-variant headstand monument (头倒载碑)

6 6, advanced single-arm variant

7 arm support (臂扶撑)

8, advanced variant one-hand stand

9 upside-down salute Buddha (倒拜佛) 7

Amituofo! _/\_

in case of injuries, bleeding, fractures, etc, wait until after the healing, then continue on. iron sand hand: each palm 30~50 time, 100 day; 50 time after 100 day. sand claw: rice, 50~100 time (until claws get numbed), 2~3 month; then with sand; then iron, 30~50 time, 1 year; 50~130 time; then wall, more than 100 time daily, after a long time one can make a hole in the wall. punch: 0-100 time, 3~5 month; more than 100 time; after the pain vanish, 3~4 session daily, each session 50 time, 3~4 month later can break brick; then with stone, continue 10, 20, or 30 year. head: both fists punch head, morning and evening 30~50 time, 3 month; 100 time, 1 year; 300 time 1 year; continue 3~5 year; then hit head with a staff 45 cm long 5 cm thick, grab it with both hands, slow to fast, light to heavy, morning and evening, 30~50 time, 3 month; 50~100 time 1 year; 100~300 time 3 year; after success hit head to wall, 10~15 time, light to heavy, slow to fast, 3 month; 50~100 time 6 month; 100~300 time 3 year. jump: hole 30 cm, 3~5 minute; morning and evening 15~20 time, until about 1.5 meter.

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