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lundi 27 octobre 2014

Overview And History Of 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.

A lot of martial arts had been derived from teachings being branched from one another. Shaolin martial arts is the primary art that was taught in a Buddhist monastery in Songshan Mountain in Henan, China. Basically, this is the style that started it all and which other styles are being derived from.

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.

In between fifty eight and seventy six A. D., the relations between the Indian and the Chinese began to flourish. Because of this, the concept of the art became more prominent in China due to the number of monks being sent to and from there. Bodhidharma, an Indian monk, has more or less likely preached Buddhism in the Shaolin Temple. Although this claim has already been disputed, his arrival had made significant changes in the styles and practices in this martial art.

Until today, the monks are still practicing it in Henan. But it is also a fact that this has been used as an entertainment because of its sheer beauty for its movements and form. This obviously caught the international audience and their attention, but the art had to sacrifice the utility of its self defense core to make it more showy and entertaining.

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.

This style utilizes punches, blocks, and kicks in order to stop any attacker from striking. Although the attention for this art was mostly focused due to the form and its movement which gives beauty to it. A mixture of open and closed handed strikes are utilized for defense as well as soft and hard techniques to either absorb or deliver force to an opponent.

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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