Overview On Shaolin Martial Arts

By Dominique Martin


Kung Fu was actually a term that was coined whenever an accomplishment is made after dedication and hard work. This should not be confused as what the usual misconception is with the actual martial art. One example would be when a person was able to successfully side kick an opponent and made them drop, it would then be called kung fu.

Martial arts of various styles have been branched from one main style. The Shaolin Martial Arts has been the main style that a lot of others are being referred and derived from. It was initially taught at a Buddhist monastery as a primary martial art in Songshan Mountain in the Henan province of China. This is where it started and where other fighting and defense art has begun.

It has been known that a Buddhist monk from India has travelled to China during the Northern Wei Dynasty in four hundred ninety five A. D. His name was Buddhabhadra, but the Chinese people call him Ba Tuo. He gained the favor of Emperor Xiaowen but even so, when asked to teach Buddhism at the court, he refused the offer.

Even if Buddhabhadra turned the offer down, he was still given land in Mount Songshan to construct a temple for Buddhism. This is the location of the martial art Shaolin originated and it actually translates to a small forest. This has been there until now for one thousand and five hundred years already and is the location of the biggest schools for its development and derivation into various other styles.

Between the fifty eighth and the seventy sixth A. D., the relations between China and India have grown considerably. Therefore monks have been going back and forth from each country. Because of this, it became more well known in China. It was believed that an Indian monk, who is Bodhidharma, preached Buddhism during this time in the temple.

Recently, this has still been practiced by the monks in Henan until today. The fact is that it has also become an entertainment value for the international audience due to the beauty of its form and art. Although it is believed that the value for self defense has been diminished due to this form of entertainment and has been replaced by a more lavish style which one of them is Wushu.

Jin Jing Zhong was able to publish a book in 1934 called 72 Arts of Shaolin. This actually lists the methods and practices for training that is authentic and based more on self defense rather than for presentation. This was possible to be documented because of the author acquiring a scroll from Shaolin Abbot Miao Xing for him to use as reference.

The utilization of kicks, punches, and blocks are the main points to hinder any attacker to strike. But the attention is well focused on the form and the movements of the art which actually gives beauty. Also, a mixture of various closed or open handed strikes used for defense with either hard and soft techniques for the delivery of the strikes would all contribute to the artform.

There have been a lot of movies and films already that has used this style for the scenes. Also, it has been inculcated in fitness programs which trainers have studied this along with stuntmen. A few training facilities have opened up to deliver education and skill training for this art form aside from the origin which is in Henan. They teach the basic forms for kids and adults.




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