Shaolin kung-fu training from beginning beginning to the highest level of of the monks monks of Shaolin Shaolin temple temple
Shaolin (少林) kung-fu (功夫)/wushu (武术) contents are: 1. basic skills (基本功: jiben kung) 1: stamina and stamina and soft ( (柔功: rou kung) and light skills ( skills (轻功: qing kung). the set of Shaolin soft (flexibility) and light (balance) skills is called child called child skills ( skills (童子功: tongzi kung ); 2. power skills skills (气功: qi kung ): a.
internal ( (内: nei) qi kung meditation 2 , develop , develop energy inside body,
b. external ( (外: wai) qi kung routines 4 , develop , develop energy and its coordination with body movements, c.
the 72 skills (七十二功: qishier kung) 3, internal and external (hard) martial power exercises;
3. combat skills (拳法: quan fa) 1: various combat styles ( styles (拳 : quan), each with several form several form ( (套路: taolu) and their barehanded or weapon and barehanded vs weapon combat ( 散打: sanda) methods.
time: Shaolin kung-fu exercises can be done anytime, all together or in different sessions, day or night, it all depend on you. the typical time schedule schedule is: monks train every day except for one or a couple of day a week to to rest. they get up before sunrise. they usually do basic training before breakfast, by 15~30 minute of warm-up and endurance training and about 30 minute on child skills. they do qi kung meditation for about 30 minute minute after waking up or before sleep or another time. they also practice a external qi kung routine every day, which usually take 15 minute or less. every monk select a few one of the 72 skills to master, each skill can be practiced at any time, day or night, in a few minute every day, but some skills take up to 30 minute or more. combat skills are usually learned and trained in afternoon or another time for a hour more or less. place: ‘kung-fu is trained anywhere a bull lie down’, which mean in a small room, on a rooftop, anywhere,
even a small place. clothes: put on light clothes in hot days, but do not be afraid of hot days, and put on warm clothes in cold
days, but do not be afraid of cold days. results: ‘after 100 day one see improvement, after 1000 day skills are mastered, but complete mastery
take 10s year.’
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’s ‘Qigong for Health and Martial Arts’ books: Yang Jwing-Ming Jwing-Ming’s Arts ,’ ‘Qigong Meditation: Embryonic Embryonic Breathing’ Breathing ,’ ‘Qigong Meditation: Small Circulation’ Circulation ,’ and his other Qi kung books.
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books: ‘Training ‘Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin’ Shaolin’ and ‘72 Consummate Arts Secrets of the Shaolin Temple’ Temple ’ . 1
1. Shaolin jiben kung (basic training)4 a.
warm-up in beginning of training make stretching and other exercises easier and more efficient,
and prevent injuries to muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Shaolin monks warm up by loosening up the 9 main joint of the body, by turning each joint several time, for example, 9 time to this and 9 time to the reverse direction. this routine take about 3 minute:
arms:
rotate hands around the
rotate forearms around the
rotate arms around the
wrists
elbows
shoulders
rotate ankles around
rotate knees around
rotate hips around
rotate upper body around the
twist shoulders around the
rotate head around the
waist
back
neck
legs:
trunk:
at the end, loosen up whole body and shake all limbs.
b.
endurance exercises develop stamina. after the loosen-up begin endurance training lightly, for
example by jogging, then gradually make the exercises as quick and heavier as possible to beyond your endurable level. you will improve day by day. there are various kinds of endurance exercises, do some of these exercises every day for about 15 minute or so: jog, run forward, sideways, backward, zigzag, stationary run, high-knee run, sprint, squat, squat walk, squat hop, jump, high jump, long jump, crawl, pushups,… and basic moves like rolls, somersaults, slap kicks, jump kicks, and other maneuvers.
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Shaolin kung-fu training video tutorials @YouTube.com. 2
Shaolin child skills5 is 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 posture .’ 18 main—9 soft & 9 light —posture and their most usual variants are shown in this section.
start: salute!
c.
soft-body (stretching) exercises are described for every posture; this is a complete set of
Shaolin stretching exercises. begin each stretching exercise by holding the position and doing 9 or so light stretching pulse to ready the muscles, then stretch continuously in position for 9 or so deep lowerabdominal breath; then relax for a few second to begin the next exercise. this way, each exercise take 1 minute or so and the whole stretching training take 15 minute a day. do all the exercises every day. mastery level , when you can do the soft-body postures with ease, take 3 year of training or so. at that level, you can abandon ordinary stretching exercises and, instead, do Shaolin child skills meditative or combative (videos @YouTube.com) forms.
1 lazy monk salute Buddha 懒僧拜佛: lan seng bai fo
1, advanced single-arm variant Buddhist child show the way 佛童指路: fo tong zhi lu
exercise: both hands fixed on wall in behind, squat down to stretch the shoulders and arms.
2 arc backward 下腰: xia yao
2, on-head variant
2, advanced variant on-knees
2, advanced variant on-chest hide flower under the leaf 叶底藏花: ye di cang hua
exercise: feet apart, arc backward, try to land both palms on the floor at behind.
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Shaolin child skills tutorials @YouTube.com. 3
3, simpler variant golden rooster peck at rice 金鸡食米: jin ji shi mi
3 azure dragon roll waist 青龙卷腰: qing long juan yao
exercise: feet apart, bend forward, try to pass your head and shoulders through your legs.
4 sun and moon 日月: ri yue
5 tortoise 金龟: jin gui
5, single-leg variant cross the river on a reed stem 一苇渡江: yi wei du jiang
exercise: stand, turn both toes inward as far as possible, bend down. exercise: stand, turn both toes outward as far as possible, sit down.
6, prerequisite single/double-leg variant azure dragon coil in the nest 青龙盘窝: qing long pan wo
6, lying variant
6 golden rooster stand on one leg 金鸡独立: jin ji du li
exercise: sit down or stand up, try to hook your feet behind your neck, do with both legs. 4
7, prerequisite single/double-leg 7, prerequisite variant 7 7, lying variant front split front skyward step variant front split and front clasp Buddha’s foot clasp Buddha’s foot 朝天蹬: chaotian deng 竖叉: shu cha 跌叉抱佛脚: die cha bao fo jiao 抱佛腳: bao fo jiao exercise: ‘clasp Buddha’s foot’: o ne leg squat, other leg straight in front on heel with toes upward, hands clasp and drag toes of the straight leg to you, bend forward and press your head to the leg; switch legs. at advanced level, you can assume front ‘clasp Buddha’s foot’ as a prerequisite for ‘posture 7’ . try ‘front split’ , legs straight; switch legs. at advanced level, you can assume ‘posture 7’ itself.
8, prerequisite variant side clasp Buddha’s foot 抱佛腳: bao fo jiao
8, prerequisite variant side split 橫叉: heng cha
8, lying variant 8 side skyward step side split and clasp Buddha’s foot 朝天蹬: chaotian deng 跌叉抱佛脚: die cha bao fo jiao
exercise: ‘clasp Buddha’s foot’: o ne leg squat, other leg straight to side on heel with toes upward, hands clasp and drag toes of the straight leg to you, bend sideward and press your ear to the leg; switch legs. at advanced level, you can assume side ‘clasp Buddha’s foot’ as a prerequisite for ‘posture 8’ . try ‘side split’ , legs straight. at advanced level, you can assume ‘posture 8’ itself.
9, a advanced split azure dragon swing tail 青龙摆尾: qing long bai wei 5
d.
light-body (balance) exercises need calmness and perseverance. at the beginning level, to
learn postures, use supports, like leaning to a wall, etc. hold a posture, hold still or do push-ups/sit-ups for a while, like for 36, 72, 108, or more breath in the posture. at mastery level , one may gradually load his body with 10~100 kg of weight in balance postures. practice a few one of these postures every day.
10 swallow balance 燕式平衡: yan shi pingheng aka dragon surf on sea 蛟龙探海:
11 reverse swallow balance
jiao long tan hai
12, prerequisite variant on horse stance 马步: ma bu
13 child salute saint of compassion 童子拜观音: tongzi bai guan yin
12, simpler variant
12 arhat salute Buddha 罗汉拜佛: luohan bai fo
14 14, simpler variant sleeping fish carry Buddha arhat sleep 卧鱼载佛: wo yu zai fo 罗汉睡觉: luohan shuijiao aka naughty child salute Buddha 顽童拜佛: wan tong bai fo
15, other variant 15 15, advanced single-arm variant meeting a Buddhist ascending to heaven midair meditation 悬空打坐: xuankong dazuo 迎佛升天: ying fo sheng tian 6
16, prerequisite variant single-arm support 单臂扶撑: dan bi fu cheng
16 double-arm support 双臂扶撑: shuang bi fu cheng
combination of 15 and 16
combination of 6 and 15 twin dragons play with a pearl 双龙戏珠: xuang long xi zhu
17 handstand 倒立: daoli
17, advanced variants* two-finger stand meditation 倒立二指禅: daoli er zhi chan
18, prerequisite variant headstand monument 头倒载碑: tou dao zai bei
*17, prerequisite variant arhat watch troops formation 罗汉观阵: luohan guan zhen
18 headstand monument 头倒载碑: tou dao zai bei aka upside-down salute Buddha 倒拜佛: dao bai fo
end Amituofo! _/\_ 7
…incomplete sections…
2. Shaolin Qi kung (powers training) a. Shaolin Qi kung meditation Qi kung meditation is based on deep lower-abdominal (丹田: dan tian) breathing Nei (internal) qi kung: sitting qi kung meditation Wai (external) qi kung: si duan kung, ba duan jin, yi jin jing, shi er duan jin, luohan shiba kung
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b. Shaolin kung-fu 72 consummate skills the 72 skills of Shaolin temple have close relation with Qi kung. every monk select a few skills and practice them.
1 2 3 4
Elementary exercises: 1.
hanged gold coin (
: xuan jin qian):
2.
hanged Buddha's pearl (
3.
1000 sheet of paper (
4.
RuYi circle (
5.
hanged cotton ball (
6.
strike wooden dummy (
7.
kick wooden pole (
8.
kick hanged weights (
: gua fo zhu): : qian ceng zhi):
: ru yi quan): : xuan mian chui): : da mu ren): : ti mu zhuang): : ti chen chui):
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72 skills/arts/methods/techniques kung/yi/fa/shu
/
/
/
:
36 external 36 internal
1.
spears and knives cannot wound (
: qiang dao bu ru): soft but have outer power: Yin&Yang:
soft 2.
dodge and fight (
: shan zhan) aka sand bags (
: sha bao): ext . it develop maneuvering agility.
hang sand bags of smaller than 3 kg, or other objects like metal coins, small stones, knives, etc., with string at the height of the shoulders. in case of hanging knives, the exercise is called ( ; jin dao huan zhang). smaller objects are harder to hit and control. stand in the center of the structure.
first, hang 1 bag and strike at it so that it swing out and when it return back strike at it again with greater force. deliver 100 blow or more a day without pause. after mastering it with 1 bag, proceed with 2 bag, with simultaneous or successive blows. then proceed with 4 bag at front, rear, left and right sides. begin with orderly successive blows, then proceed to random blows with different parts of your body. gradually proceed to fight with 10~14 bag, at full motion, while you walk, run, jump, fall, dodge, etc. 3.
meteor poles (
: liu xing zhuang): & 1000 sheet of paper (
: qian ceng zhi) aka standing
like a pile and beating a pile (zhan zhuang da zhuang): ext 4.
serial hits (
: pai da): ext. It strengthen all parts of body against enemy blows. The trainee take a
piece of hard wood and deliver successive blows with it at all parts of his body, i.e., the arms, legs (front and inner sides, outer and back sides), chest and stomach, both sides of the chest and waist, back and waist. He can also hit all sides of his head. He start with light blows and make the blows heavier gradually. He make 100 blow or more at each of these parts. He can train himself 2 time every day, e.g., once in the morning and once in the evening. After a year, instead of a wood, He use a brick and train as before. He will use a piece of iron, e.g., a rod or hammer, after another half a year. After another half a year, which is 2 year total, he is expected to reach mastership. 5.
iron head (
: tie tou): ext.
6.
enlightened (
7.
tortoise back (
8.
metal bell cover (
9.
iron robe (
: luohan): in : gui bei): ext : jin zhong zhao): ext+in
: tie bu shan): ext
10. iron belly (: tie dai) aka iron ox ( 11. cloth bag (
: tie niu): ext
: bu dai): in+some ext elements
12. jade belt (玉带: yu dai) aka continuous round of the universe (qian kun juan), ext+in, The trainee hug a
tree firmly by both his thighs and ringing his arms round it, and try to uproot it. After a year he can shake the tree forcefully. After another year, the tree gradually wilt. At the 3rd year, the force may uproot or break the tree trunk. The hug the tree ( 抱树: bao shu) skill is mastered with success. The trainee may then continue doing the exercise with pillar-like stones of 200-250 kg. Stones are 10
slippery and it is more difficult to raise them. He train himself until he can easily raise and lower the stone. He then will try to hold the stone suspended for as long as possible. After 2 year, he will try to walk while holding the stone. 13. 500-kilo sluice shutter ( 14. raise pot (
: shang guan): ext : tie dai) aka sack of iron beads (铁珠袋; tie zhu dai): ext.
15. sack of iron ( 16. stone padlock ( 17. frog (
: qian jin zha): ext
: shi suo): ext
: ha ma): ext
18. separate water (
: fen shui): ext
19. lash power (
: bian jin): ext
20. eagle wings (
: ying yi): ext
21. Bawang's elbows ( 22. iron arms (
: ba wang zhou): ext
: tie bi): ext : shuang suo): ext. The trainee hit all parts of both his forearms to each other, like
23. twin locks (
the two arm of a scissor. This is very painful. After a long time, he will feel no pain, and the forearms, while colliding with each other, make a dull sound. Afterwards, he proceed by training his hands as well, his fists, palms, fingers, by hitting them mutually to each other. After a while, when a hollow sound is heard while doing this exercise, this level of mastership is over. Finally, he will hit his arms against his raised shins, raising the left and right knee in turn, to keep balance between hard and soft in his arms. 24. hard and soft (
: gang rou): ext+in
25. horse saddle (
: ma an): ext
26. bullet fists (
: dan zi quan): ext
27. Yin hands (
: yin shou) aka Yin fists (
: yin quan) aka mysterious air punch (
: xuan kong
quan) aka well fist (jing quan); if done by punching to a candle instead of a well chasing the wind palms (
: zhui feng zhang) aka sun-rays hands (
28. pushing mountain palms ( 29. bamboo leaf palms (
: yang guang shou): in
: tui shan zhang): ext : zhu ye shou) aka copper sand palms (
: tong sha zhang) aka palm
rotating sand (fan sha zhang): ext 30. iron sand hands (
: tie sha zhang) aka black sand hands (hei sha shou): ext. The trainee fill a
canvas bag with one or a few kilogram of iron sand or iron chips, or another hard sand-like material. He put this bag on a bench, a short wall, or on a hard ground and deliver successive blows with the palm and the back of his hands at it. He may also use the lower edge of his hands. The blows should 11
be light at first and become heavy gradually. After training during 100 day, good results are reached, but complete mastership take one or a couple of year. After that, he is expected to be able to break several brick or stone with his hands. 31. hands of 5 poison (
: wu du shou) aka 5 poison chase sand palms (
: wu du zhui sha
zhang) aka palm of 5 thunder aka Yin hands: ext+softness Yin 32. mantis claws (
: tang lang zhao) aka diamond hand (jingang shou): ext+in
33. chop-devil swords (
: zhan mo jian) aka Bodhisattva Guan Yin's palm (
: guan yin zhang):
soft which developed outer power: Yin 34. rubbing palms (
: he pan zhang) aka golden dragon hands (
35. whirlwind palms (
: xuan feng zhang) aka cinnabar sand palms (
plum-blossom palms (
: mei hua zhang) aka red sand palms (
36. one-finger meditation (
: yi zhi chan): in
37. one diamond finger (
: yi zhi jin gang): ext
38. poke stone (
: jin long shou): ext : zhu sha zhang) aka : hong sha zhang): in
: dian shi): ext : jin chan) aka immortal’s hands (
39. metal spades (
: xian ren zhang):
is external but also
have internal aspects. The trainee deliver forceful stabbing blows with his fingertips, with the four
finger straight and close together, at hard objects, like walls, tables, benches, trees, etc., every day. After a long time, he is expected to be able to make small dents in wooden objects. If he can make a hole in a wooden object, the first stage is over. Then he will do the exercise on a stone as before. With time, after many blow, he is expected to make a deep dent on the stone. 40. locking fingers (
: suo zhi): in+ext
41. pull out nails (
: ba ding):
ext. It develop the locking force of the fingers. The trainee knock a
number of nail with length of about 10 cm into a thick wooden board or a tree. He grab a nail with the fingers and try to pull it out. The grab can be done with 2 finger, the thumb and the index finger, or with 3, 4, or all the 5 finger. If he can pull out the nails, he have reached the first level of mastership. Then, he pour salt water on the nails to become rusty and then train as before. At the highest level of mastership, he is expected to be able to pull out the rusty nails. 42. carry 500 kilo (
: ti qian jin) aka water chestnut (shi bo qi, bi qi): ext
43. pull out mountain ( 44. eagle claws force ( 45. pinch flower (
: ying zhao li) aka dragon claws (long zhao): in&ext : nian hua): soft exercise for external strengthening: Yin soft
46. metal sand hands ( 47. guitar (
: ba shan): hard strengthen internal+develop soft Yin: hard Yang + soft Yin
: jin sha zhang) aka rub and pierce (
: mo cha): ext+in
: pi pa) aka 3 Yin finger (san yin zhi) aka springy fingers (zhi tou tan): ext
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48. slithering snake (
: she xing) aka jumping centipede (
49. crouching tiger (
: wo hu) aka sleeper (shui) aka feline (mao): ext
50. knock groins (
: men dang) aka golden cicada (jin chan): in
51. draw in Yin (
: xi yin): in
52. iron knees (
: tie xi): ext
53. kicking legs (
: wu gong tiao): ext
: ti tui):
54. iron sweeping broom ( 55. kick wooden pole (
: tie sao zhu) aka iron leg (tie tui): ext : ti mu zhuang) aka pole of cypress (
: bai mu zhuang): ext. The trainee
dig a long pole rooted into the ground. He kick and push the pole with both his legs in succession everyday. This is painful, but the pain gradually disappear after a half a year. After a year, the legs become powerful. Then, instead, he will proceed by kicking a bigger thing, like a sheer rock or a small wall, weighing 250-350 kg. This is painful again, but pain disappear over time. If his kick, as expected, can displace the stone to a distance of several feet, the success have been achieved. 56. shooting feet ( 57. light body (
: zu she): ext : jin shen): in
58. pass on string (
: yi xian chuan): in
59. plum-blossom poles ( 60. flight walking (
: mei hua zhuang): in
: fei xing) aka flight over the earth aka solitary walk of 1000 LI aka night walking:
in. The trainee tie some small weight to each of his legs and run as quick as possible on a flat ground
for as long as he can. Every few day, he add about 50 g to the weight until it reach 2-2.5 kg on each leg. After a few year his body agility become great. He continue on by training on uneven, rugged grounds instead. If at nights, he can run on a rugged ground with stones, rocks, and cliffs as easily and fast as on a flat ground, the full success have been achieved. If he walk without the weight on his body, he will see the lightness and extreme ability of his body to run fast and jump over obstacles. 61. run on boards (
: pao ban):
62. fly to roofs and walk on walls (
: fei yan zou bi) aka 8 step in the horizontal position (heng pai
ba bu): in 63. deft jumps ( 64. high jumping (
: cuan zong): in : tiao yue) aka higher and further (
65. pass through the curtain (
: chuan lian): in
66. reveal truth (
: jie di): ex+in
67. flip and soar (
: fan teng) aka leather strips (pi tiao): in 13
: deng gao chao yuan): in
68. lizard climbs wall (
: bihu you qiang) aka climbing a wall (pa bi) aka hanged picture (gua
hua): in: ext softness&in hardness
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 a day, 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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