Development of
Shaolin Kung Fu (01)
The
boxing style of shaolin is a story on its own. Usualy a boxing
style (kung fu) developed in a family or clan, and so there were
several fist-forms or weapon-forms for this specific style. Every style has
its own characteristics.
Shaolin
had become a refuge for people from all the corners of China, all
bringing their own kung fu styles with them. Also there was a
period where Shaolin monks traveled all over China to stay with a
certain kung fu master, and learn their kung fu style for a
certain period of time. After this period of aprentisage the monk
would return to the Shaolin temple, and the learned techniques
were absorbed in the Shaolin boxing system.
This
is the reason why Shaolin kung fu had become a very complete, and
complicated system of martial arts. In Shaolin kung fu there are
more than 400 different styles of boxing, too much for one person
to learn in a life-time.
When
speaking about the weapons in Shaolin kung fu, one originaly
speaks about the 18 weapons of Shaolin (18 is a symbolic number in
Buddhism), but also the number of weapons is a lot more than the
18 original ones, these days.
After
Bodidharma had taught the monks the first 18 movements (see :
History of Shaolin) the first form of Shaolin kung fu that was
developed was the 'Luohan Quan' (Arhat boxing). Then the monks
developped the 'Xing yi Quan' (Heart and mind boxing), to defend
themselves against wild animals, immitating the movements of
animals. Later,
during the Tang dynasty, when the Shaolin monastary had gotten the
permision to train an army of warrior monks the development went
faster. This was when the monks started to travel the country for
kung fu knowledge...
