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.

During the Dynasty of Northern Wei, a Buddhist monk travelled from India to China in four hundred and ninety five A. D. He was called Ba Tuo by the people of China but his actual name was Buddhabhadra. He gained favor from Emperor Xiaowen and was offered at the court to teach Buddhism, but he refused to do so.

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.

In Henan, this is still practiced by monks who reside there. And it is a known fact by many that it has an entertainment value because of the beauty of the movements and form which caught the attention of many international audiences. However, the value for its self defense is being diminished due to it needing to be more showy and entertaining rather than useful.

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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