Overview And History Of Shaolin Martial Arts

By Dominique Martin


The actual Kung Fu is a term from a successful achievement or an accomplishment after doing a lot of hard work and mastery. It must not be connoted as a term for the martial art itself which a lot of people have already thought of. A simple example would be for the individual to deliver a side kick towards an opponent and make them go down and drop, then would be regarded as kung fu.

The martial arts that many people have seen are actually being derived from one main source. This source is the Shaolin Martial Arts which was taught in China. It began in a Buddhist monastery in the Henan province on a mountain called Songshan. This has been the basic and primary art and which all other styles are made 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 he turned the offer down, he was still given land for him to build a temple in the mountain. It was in Mount Songshan where it all started. Shaolin literally means small forest, and this monastery has been there for over one thousand five hundred years. This is where the big schools are located and where the development and derivation of different styles have been practiced as well.

It was about fifty eight and around seventy six A. D. That the relations of the Indian and Chinese grew a lot that the concept of the style itself has become more used in China because of a lot of monks going to and from the countries. An Indian monk named Bodhidharma was believed to have preached Buddhism inside the Shaolin 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 Although it is believed that the value for self defense has been diminished due to this form of entertainment and has been replaced by a more lavish style which one of them is Wushu.

Although in 1934, an author named Jin Jing Zhong has published a book called 72 Arts of Shaolin which lists all of the authentic methods of training which are closely designed on self defense. This method was practiced and developed as well as documented. This was due to the author being given a scroll from Shaolin Abbot Miao Xing to use as his 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.

Movies or films have been utilizing this in the fighting scenes and has gained popularity internationally aside from the theatrical aspect. Also, many fitness trainers and stuntmen are training to gain skills for this for their benefit as well. A lot of institutions have already opened in order to cater this art form which serves as training for people that are outside the Henan province.




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