Zen Shaolin Karate: The complete Practice, Philosophy and History

If you are sick or in pain, then how can you hope to achieve enlightenment? If you lack mental clarity, how will you endure the intensity of meditation?

To work successfully towards enlightenment, one needs to also cultivate health, vitality, and mental clarity. We know that he learned Buddhist meditation from his teacher, Prajnatara. We can only speculate, but it is likely that Bodhidharma, a crowned prince, was well trained in elite arts befitting royalty. Bodhidharma knew that, in order to help the Shaolin Monks reach enlightenment, he would need to help them to cultivate health, vitality, and mental clarity. For the next 9 years, he lived in a cave near the Shaolin Temple and practiced in seclusion. When he left the cave, he brought three new sets of exercises with him:.

These exercises were specifically designed to prepare the monks for the rigors of deep, Zen meditation. And they worked like a charm. The exercises transformed the monks physically, energetically, mentally, and spiritually. Over time, thanks to the success of these exercises, the Shaolin Temple became one of the most powerful spiritual centers in the history of the world. Thus, I teach the same exercises that Bodhidharma taught. Over time, students progress to learn all 18 of the techniques, all 12 Sinew Metamorphosis exercises, and all 5 Levels of Bone Marrow Cleansing.

Actually, Bodhidharma never taught Shaolin Kung Fu. Over the centuries, these arts developed into the many different styles of Shaolin Kung Fu. Would we even know about the Shaolin Temple, or would it have disappeared into obscurity centuries ago? How many martial arts would be completely different without the influence of Shaolin Kung Fu? And what would the world be like without Zen? Little information has been passed down about this incredible man, which only adds to the mystery.

Today, a Shaolin school exists in Songshan founded by ancient monks some in their nineties! One of their training techniques involves stomping their feet full-force into the floor of a stone courtyard to strengthen their legs. Witnesses report holes and depressions in the stone from decades of practice. Legend tells of Shaolin monks, Seng Bing Priest-Soldiers , who met and defeated 10, Manchurians in one afternoon without suffering a single injury.

Now national heroes, the monks attracted members of Chinese secret societies such as the northern White Lotus Society and the southern Hung Family League, eager to learn a fighting method to drive the Manchus back to Mongolia. The Martial Arts flourished due to the efforts of revolutionaries, bandits and rebels who resisted the Manchus and often sought asylum in Shaolin monasteries. Eager to fight, secret societies created a network of Martial Arts schools in Chinese monasteries and villages. Primarily a health art, a student began the study of the light staff before tackling a series of progressively heavier staffs.

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This strengthened the muscles and loosened the ligaments. In , the Manchus gained complete control of China. While the Manchus feared the Shaolin priests and their revolutionary activities, they refused to harm them.

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One, because the Manchus were mainly Buddhists and the Shaolin priests were their spiritual leaders. Two, Shaolin priests were valuable to the Manchu Qing Court as advisors and healers.

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Three, harming the priests would make them martyrs and cause the people to fight harder to dethrone the tyrannical Manchu overlords. In , the Manchus decided to rid themselves of the original Songshan Shaolin Temple to thwart the plans of Taiwanese rebel commander Cheng-Cheng Gong. Gong had sent troops to the temple to seek refuge with Abbott Chi Tong and his warrior monks. Fearing this alliance, two Manchu officials bribed Ma Linger, ranked seventh among the monks, to spy for them and help destroy the temple.

On a moonless night, Ma Linger opened a secret temple passageway for two Manchu officials who set quick moving fires. Drugged and helpless monks died in their beds. Only five monks escaped. They formed the Hung Family League, the chief resistance movement against the Manchus. They set up a new monastery in the village of Chuan Chow in Fukien Province to keep the Shaolin traditions alive and continue political pressure on the Manchus. The Dragon fuels the spirit; the Tiger trains the bones to resist heavy blows; the Leopard develops strength and footwork; the Crane loosens the sinews and ligaments; and the Snake builds Chi, internal strength.

Shaolin priests spent an average of 10 years behind Temple walls in a strict regimen of work, meditation, practice and study. Their day started at sunrise and ended at sunset. Graduation from the temple consisted of three tests: Many did not survive this gauntlet of punishing blows. If the student survived, he had to make his way through an opening blocked by a pound metal urn containing red-hot coals. Gripping the urn in his forearms, the student had to slide the urn to his right to create an exit.

In the process, he branded his forearms with the badges of the Shaolin master, the Dragon and the Tiger. In , the Manchus again saw the need to destroy the second Shaolin Temple. They sought the allegiance of Chang Sanfeng, a Sung dynasty scholar and outstanding student of the Fukien Temple.

His superior physical and mental abilities had allowed him to graduate from the temple a full-fledged master in less than two years.



Manchu officials encouraged the rivalry between the Wu Tang disciples and the Shaolin. Surviving Shaolin monks fled to India and Southeast Asia. Some remained, posing as tradesmen, farmers and artists to escape persecution. Others settled on Ermei Mountain in the Szechwan Province, an area that developed many Martial Arts styles and became a stronghold of top Kempo masters.

Gee Sim, a Shaolin monk and master of the Tiger Fist, taught his art at the seaport of Canton after the destruction of the temple. This became the popular Chinese art of Choy Li Fut, and the beginning of wooden dummy training. During this period, the Chinese people rarely used the term Kung- Fu, a generic term for skill of any kind.

Zen Shaolin Karate - The Complete Practice, Philosophy and History (Electronic book text)

When I was an intern in a northern shaolin school in summer with sifu Shi Xing Ming, it was taught that the shaolin tradition had historically consisted of three pillars: So maybe a case can be made for the chan connection in the northern shaolin tradition, although it never made it across to Okinawa so Anko Itosu also wrote correctly in his first precept of Even today, kung fu is practiced in chinese temples? I understand they may have hired bodyguards, etc, but the monks themselves know the arts? Next thing you guys will tell me is that The Force isnt real Warriors require a moral code, a sense of serving something greater than themselves, and a way to face death.

You can look at almost any warriors in history and see a religious dimension.

Zen Shaolin Karate: The Complete Practice, Philosophy, and History

The knights of England believed they were serving the will of God. The Vikings wanted to die in battle so they could go to Valhalla. However, this is a million miles away from shared origins! When the Christian knights of England were practising their sword techniques, no one suggested that those sword techniques were designed by Jesus and had unbroken line of instruction back to him!

As ridiculous as this sounds, it is comparable with what is being suggested when people say that Bodhidharma was both the founder of Shaolin Kung Fu and Zen Buddhism; or that Zhang Sanfeng esteemed Taoist monk was the founder of Tai Chi. Monks hire in soldiers and bodyguards to protect themselves. There is no link or common origin between the religion and the fighting method though. Warriors are taught to fight. Like the rest of the population, they also have a religion.

So you have religious warriors. But, again, that in no way infers the fighting skill and the religion are linked. The myth that the religion and fighting skills are inextricably linked has nothing to support it. The fighting method and the religion are totally separate entities. You could be Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Taoist, etc.

People of any religion can learn any skill. And that same art could be practised by people of all faiths and none, because there is no link or common origin. A modern Christian solider does not claim that the methods of using his rifle originate from Jesus, John the Baptist, or Moses. The religion and combative method are separate entities; just as they have been throughout history. To use your tongue in cheek comment: Personally, I find the true history of the martial arts to be way more satisfying than the myths.

Recent history has seen much debunking when it comes to the practicality of the martial arts. T'ai chi ch'uan's theories and practice are believed by these schools to have been formulated by the Taoist monk Zhang Sanfeng in the 12th century, at about the same time that the principles of the Neo-Confucian school were making themselves felt in Chinese intellectual life.

However, modern research casts serious doubts on the validity of those claims, pointing out that a 17th-century piece called "Epitaph for Wang Zhengnan" , composed by Huang Zongxi — A. Claims of connections between t'ai chi ch'uan and Zhang Sanfeng appeared no earlier than the 19th century. Members of nobility joining monastic orders is pretty common historical phenomenon, in europe younger sons of lords joined monastery if chances of inheriting title or land were slim. So its perfectly natural that many members would have extensive martial training prior to joining, it would be minor step to include martial arts as physical training in addition to spiritual teachings.

The martial arts and their history are fascinating in and of themselves without the myths. I appreciate everyone's pursuit of the truth, and as the wisest Master once said, "the truth shall make you free". We had military monastic orders in christian tradition also. Templars, Teutonic Knights and Hospitallers just to name few. In alternate universe, a living tradition of longsword spear, quarterstaff and unarmed fighting might have been kept withing the surviving orders even as they died out in the lay world. If that were the case they would no doubt be taught with strong christian roman catholic ethics.

I think we all have because that was the accepted and widely dispersed story. The great thing about the information age is that we are able to examine these stores in more detail, check sources, and share findings. The martial arts are definitely better for that. To invert the words of Mark Twain, we should never let a good story get in the way of the truth: That said, part of understanding our art is to understand why these myths came about and what purpose they were thought to serve.

They may not be true, but they have nevertheless had an impact on the martial arts. We had military monastic orders in Christian tradition also. In alternate universe, a living tradition of longsword spear, quarterstaff and unarmed fighting might have been kept within the surviving orders even as they died out in the lay world. If that were the case they would no doubt be taught with strong Christian roman catholic ethics. And this idea of using the martial arts for physical and mental development draws its inspiration from the way sports were viewed in the English education system.

It therefore not at all farfetched to envisage the western martial arts being the ones that found worldwide adherents. That book gives a very through dismissal of the legend from a karate perspective. To give a little teaser and avoiding giving away some of the juicy facts about how this myth came into being — you need to support the book! Although both Shaolin and Bodhidharma were examined in Japan and in China too with scholarly criticism as early as the s, even today histories on karate contain allusions to Shaolin and Bodhidharma.

In their place verified historical facts should be used instead. This in turn enables them to engage with karate much more profoundly. Is it not fair to suggest that the only reason there may be link between Karate, Kung Fu, Judo ect. The wider culture is sure to have an impact on everything that is done within that culture. We can see that throughout the history of the martial arts as they move through time and geographic location. The two are therefore not inextricably linked through fundamental nature and shared origin, but simply by the fact both the religion and the martial arts are practised by the same group of people.

They will be separate entities elsewhere i. The majority of people in my dojo are also Cumbrian. However, it would be a HUGE leap to then state karate is a Cumbrian martial art; and to go further and invent a mythical backstory to justify my claims, which I then present as historical fact. Samu can be making tea, tending garden or practicing martial arts. Did tea drinking originate from Buddhism? Of cource not, but tea ceremony is basically Buddhist practice. Did gardening originate from Buddhism? That's silly idea, but tending rock garden is Buddhist practice.

Martial arts were not born in Shao Lin temple but they are not simply Buddhists doing martial arts but their martial art is essentially Buddhists in nature. The practical fighting skill jutsu of Karate is basically dead, it died a natural death that happened to all fighting skills practiced by hereditary warrior class when feudal system was dismanteled everywhere in the world.

Karate was introduced to Okinawan elementary school system in an attempt to preserve something of it. Is it essentially Buddhist?

Not if you choose to ignore the Do philosophy and concentrate on the jutsu. As far as I know and understand, Do Tao is an idea that came out of Taoism. And to summarize and simplify it, Do just means that you acknowledge that your life span is finite and that you should strive to make the most of it. Have you a source that backs up your statement? There are certainly Buddhist influences in the Karate of some modern masters but can't see any in the Karate of the old masters.

When Itosu writes that Karate had has nothing to do with religion, I believe him. Some people use music to perform Kata but that is also a modern thing as well as others like Zen Buddhism. As a Buddhist and karateka I know karate and buddhism are not the same thing.

I know a long time ago the moral and spiritual teachings in karate are not the same that are in buddhism. They have similarities but differences too. It is natural if some karate masters were buddhists, but it's also natural that some of them were not, and the ones who were, some of them were buddhist practicioners, while others were just regular believers, which at least reffering to what meditation is makes a difference. Sure in karate we even have Mokuso.

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I guess in many dojos in the East they practice za-zen for long periods of time half an hour, an hour, four hours a day like in zen temples or seshin zen gashukku , but here in the west I'd bet the regular practice of seiza mokuso does not usually lasts longer than 30 seconds two times a week, if if it is even made. Well, we at least have mokuso, which is for sure zen or taoist rooted, but that does not demosntrate martial arts and religion started at the same time.

We also know or been told that some Samurais were zen buddhists, but not all of them. Along with the tale of Daruma starting kung fu history i have read once that by the time Dogen brought Zen to Japan, the islands were in constant wars and buddhism perhaps helped to pacificate and unite them. This is apparently far from the truth too, from two points: Buddhism and Zen were already in Japan when Dogen travelled to China he just wanted to renew it after travelling to china to learn from Chan masters and there had been more wars after XIII century in Japan.