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The Qui Dynasty is not the beginning of China’s history, but its emperor Chin united many of the warring states and joined many parts of the Great Wall (built in parts against marauding Hans and Mongolians) entombing up to 300,000 Chinese workers into the wall in the belief that it will be stronger against attackers and invaders. The workers spirits were believed to strengthen the great Wall with their bones and their spirits. (Remember, this is the emperor who created the Terra cotta Warriors at the expense of 700,000 workers)!

So it is considered that the Emperor Chin united most of China into one nation during this time of the Qui Dynasty. In an attempt to lengthen his life, Emperor Chin tried many potions and lotions and slowly poisoned himself with a mercury based longevity drug.

About 700 years later, in 497 AD at the time of the Southern & Northern Dynasty that the first Shaolin Temple was built.

The Establishment of Shaolin
Toward the end of the 5th Century AD Ba Tuo, an Indian Buddhist monk, was traveling through China, teaching Buddhism, helping and guiding. His great wisdom and kindness became known to the Emperor who summoned Ba Tuo to come to him.

Exact details of what happened at this meeting is not entirely clear but is seems that Ba Tuo was offered a place in the palace and riches. He was encouraged to continue his teachings. Ba Tao politely declined this offer and asked for a piece of land far away from any civilized place in the province of Henan on the side of the Song sang Mountain. He was given a large piece of land and resources to build a monastery in an area called 'Wooded Hill or Small Forest which translates to Sil-Lum in Cantonese or Shaolin in Mandarin.



Introduction of Physical Exercise

A holy man named Bodidarma (later called Ta Mo by the Chinese) left his monastery in Southern India to spread the Buddhist faith to China, later called Ch'an Buddhism, in about 539 AD. (Ch'an is the Chinese translation for the Sanskrit word "dhyana" meaning Yogic concentration, also known as Zen in Japanese to where it moved from China.). After wandering hundreds of miles to reach Northern China and crossing the Himalayan mountains and the Yangtze River, he journeyed North to Loyang, the capital of Henan Province.
There of course he discovered the Shaolin Ssu (Temple). It was 40 years after it was founded, and had become famous for scholarly translations of Indian Buddhist scripture into Chinese. Bodidarma sought entrance to Shaolin but the abbot at that time, Fang

Chang would not permit him entry into the temple (as many sought entrance for various reasons).

Bodidarma was determined to see the Shaolin Ssu. He waited in a nearby cave on the side of a mountain (this cave can be visited when in Henan/Shaolin as well as climbing to the top where a 40 foot Buddha is erected in honour of Ta Mo), where he sat in meditation facing a stonewall. From this event many versions exist including;

* That he sat facing a wall for most of the next nine years at the end of which Bodidarma’s deep blue piercing eyes had apparently drilled a gaping hole in the cliff wall. (we did not find such a hole but we did find what seemed to be a permanent shadow)
* That he fell asleep meditating and when he awoke, he was so distraught that he cut of his eye lids so that this would not happen again (but this would be against Buddhist teaching and he was a devote Buddhist!).
* That he was visited by monks (initially secretly as they were interested in the 'foreigner') and was even supplied with food and water; and that he in this way was able to demonstrate his knowledge and skill of Buddhism to such a degree that he was finally admitted into the temple.

No mater which story you believe, it is clear that Fang Chang at some time relented and allowed Bodidarma entry into the temple Shaolin.

Upon gaining entrance to Shaolin, Ta Mo (as he was now called by the Chinese) saw that the monks were weak and could not perform rigorous meditation. He expected that Buddhist Monks should be practicing more strenuously. While meditating they often fell asleep or were very restless and were not achieving inner calm.

He spent some time in seclusion thinking on the problem. Considering the amount of time and health awareness at the time, Ta Mo came to a staggeringly accurate conclusion, that the monks were not fit enough to meditate. With this in mind he created three treaties of exercises.

These in-place exercises were later transcribed by monks as:

1. "The Muscle Change Classic" or "The Change of the Sinews,"
2. "The Marrow Washing"
3. "The Eighteen Hand Movements later named The Eighteen Lohan Shou (Lohan meaning enlightened)

They marked the beginning of Shaolin Temple Kung Fu (meaning hard work and perfection). Ta Mo later devised some self-defense movements based on his knowledge of Indian fighting systems (Bodidarma was born an Indian Prince and was well versed in Yoga and Indian Kung Fu).


Shaolin Kung Fu

Many of the Shaolin priests were retired soldiers thus Ta Mo's teachings were enriched and refined by these martial art masters and thus it slowly developed in to a martial art of the hands also known as Shaolin Ch'uan [Shaolin Fist] or Shaolin Ch'uan Fa [Way of the Shaolin Fist]).

Shaolin was not a poor temple by this time and was regularly attacked by peasant armies (since individuals had no chance to penetrate Shaolin defenses and walls). Often to enrich its knowledge Shaolin would invite wandering healers, scholars and now also martial art masters into its walls to learn from these by sharing knowledge and skills!

Shaolin became very apt at kung fu and repelled the attacking bandits. The Shaolin became renown for their martial arts prowess and fighting ability. It is to be noted that not all Shaolin Monks were warrior monks but that monks choose to specialize in areas of expertise. Although at this time all practiced kung fu, not every on was totally focused on the practical aspect of the art, only the Warrior Monks. It is also interesting to note that Shaolin preferred not to harm their assailants as this would have ramifications for their spirituality in this life and the next!

Only 30 years later Shaolin was closed and forbidden. It took some 30 years before it was reopened, around 600AD.


The Second Temple

Constructed around the same time as the Henan Temple, the Fukien Temple was integrated into mainstream Shaolin around 650 AD. It became the 'Second Temple" of Shaolin. It was a much larger temple than the one in Henan and served as the second main temple in times where Henan was destroyed or occupied by non-Buddhists or Shaolin.

The 13 Champions

Emperor T'ai Tsung of the Tang dynasty, in 698 AD, called upon the fighting monks of Shaolin to aid him in his war against General Wang-Shih-Chung, who had gathered a large militia in an attempt to oust the Tang emperor from the Imperial throne. Li Shimini, the Emperors son, was leading the army against Tang. Tang captured the Emperors son and was inflicting great damage to tangs army.

Tang sent a message to the Shaolin temple to aid him and save his son. 13 monks were sent to answer their emperor's plea, although in fact it may have been a much larger force (113 monks or so). Even though the amount of Shaolin monks sent was small (the enemy's army counted 10,000 men) the remaining Tang army was victorious. The enemy was beaten back and decimated and the Emperors son was saved.
In recognition of their great achievement T'ai Tsung awarded the monks land, and

bestowed upon the temple the title, 'Number One" temple in China.

Later the son, Li Shimini, succeeded his father and a very strong bond was forged between the Imperial court and Shaolin. Regular interchange and training between high ranking soldiers and graduate Shaolin Warrior Monks saw further development of Shaolin Kung Fu and the integration of the secret Imperial (Eagle) Kung Fu into Shaolin knowledge and skills.


72 Movements

A couple of hundred years later a rich young noble and experienced martial artist, entered the Shaolin Monastery. He assumed the name of Chueh Yuan. Devoting all his studies to the further development of Shaolin kung fu and fitness training, he revised the 18 Fists of Lo Han and created what he called the 72 Styles or Movements. His methods and teaching were so successful that all Shaolin monks adopted his 72 fists in short order. The 72 movements were very effective for internal and external fitness. They incorporated much of what is taught today. But Chueh Yuan was still not fully satisfied with this. He went out to teach and learn, looking for Masters of other styles.

This become common practice for Shaolin. Shaolin. Adepts were sent out to share Buddha's teaching and help the poor, much like the founder of Shaolin. It was also a test though as many would be Shaolin were tempted by worldly pleasures and never returned. Those that did became the Priests and brought many new skills, knowledge and wisdom from their travels!



The Third Temple

It is around this time that the third temple was integrated into the Shaolin order. The Wutang Tiger Temple was positioned in the politically unstable area near Manchuria and the Korean Peninsular. It was often being attacked, and the monks there were very well-versed with the practical aspect of war, weaponry and defense. The Wutang temple was very old and was integrated into Shaolin around 800 AD.

170 Movements

On his travels, Chueh Yuan witnessed how a bandit was attacking an old man. He saw how the attacker landed a very strong kick to the body of the traveler with very little or no effect. And yet the old man only used two fingers against the bandit's leg sending the attacker to the ground, seemingly unconscious, by the time Chueh reached the old traveler.

This defense obviously impressed Chuan enormously and he introduced himself to the senior. Much to his amazement, the old man did not know much of martial arts and what little he knew was taught to him by the local master Pai Yu-feng.

Pai Yu-feng was a friendly 50 year old and Chuan convinced him to travel with him back to his temple. Using the 18 fists, the 72 movements and these 'pressure point techniques' redeveloped Shaolin Kung Fu into the 170 exercises that became one of the foundation of Shaolin Kung Fu as we know it (and is still taught first before the 5 Animal Styles are taught).

The Time of the Ming Dynasty

The time of the Ming Dynasty was a golden area in China's arts history. During this time the Shaolin Temples also prospered becoming the centre for teaching, philosophy, history, Buddhism, mathematics, poetry and of course martial arts. Many monks, wise persons and traveling martial artists would gain admission to Shaolin and share their knowledge in return for Shaolin knowledge and shelter.

At this time, Shaolin reached its pinical. Each Temple was a university of Buddhism, health and the finer arts. Every temple had several Shaolin Masters who were experts or specialists in a particular area of training, well-being or philosophy. Rich Chinese would send their sons to Shaolin to become students and learn from the best in every field.

Shaolin adepts would also take on a rigorous test before they were considered ready to leave the temple on their journey years. In order to graduate from the temple, they would have to exhibit phenomenal skills and pass through 18 testing chambers in the temple which were possibly more symbolic in nature as no evidence was found in any of the Shaolin Temples of any such rooms. Although it is dramatized in movies, Shaolin would actually be brought to the brink of exhaustion through a series of 18 tests, 6 each physical, mental and spiritual. Thus the 18 chambers. It is even possible that one of these physical tests was the lifting of a hot cauldron with their bare forearms (each temple had traditionally such a cauldron, unique for each temple). This cauldron would the raised relief of symbolic animals, which would thus be burnt into the graduating monks arms as a reminder to them of their trials. Accounts suggest that these cauldrons may have had the following symbols on them;

* Wutang Temple- A Tiger and Dragon for Martial Art Prowess
* Henan Temple- Dragon and Phoenix for universal balance/Yin Yang
* Kwan Tong Temple - Two Dragons for their clones to the Emperor
* O Mai Shan Temple - Two Cranes as they were close to the Tibetan border and a healing temple
* Fukien Temple - (no record or anything found for this temple)

These marks were the symbol of a Shaolin graduate. Not all who entered Shaolin graduated in the full 18 chambers, many were only lay priests or guests, especially towards the end of the Ming Dynasty.

This is the time when the original 170 movements were redefined into the 5 Animal Style, Ng Ying Ga Kung Fu.

5 Animal Styles

Zhue Yuen, a martial art expert, joined the Shaolin. He noticed that the kung fu practiced in Shaolin was unbalanced, tending strongly to the hard, external style. Zhue Yuen travelled China in search of martial art styles and found many.

Li Sou introduced Zhue Yuen to Bai Yu Feng, another famous martial artist practitioner. Zhue Yuen was able to convince them to come back with him to Shaolin to develop kung fu. Together they redeveloped Shaolin kung fu into the 5 animal styles (Tiger, Snake, Dragon, Leopard and Crane).

Over the next few hundred years the Shaolin were able to develop the 5 Animal Style system to become metaphors for human situation handling, interaction, problem solving, planning and much more. Much of this was lost with the second burning of Shaolin and only the external kung fu aspect was cultivated and maintained.

The 4th temple

It is around this time that the 4th temple was added to the order of Shaolin. The O Mei Shan, Great White Mountain, was a devoted library and medical temple. It was positioned in a very inaccessible area of Szechwan province. The O Mei Shan temple imported healers, much like the other temples used to import kung fu masters.

O Mei Shan was in close contact with the Crane Temple in Tibet. It was a major medical temple with books, tombs and scrolls from east and west. It is probably the temple that burnt in the symbols of 2 Cranes on to the forearms instead of having the traditional Dragon like the other three temples in the 18th Chamber principle!

The Invaders

The Great wall and Chinas army was mostly successful in repelling invaders but around mid 17th century, invaders led by the Ching Family from Manchuria, ended China's Golden area, and the Ming Dynasties’ reign. They slowly and brutally took control of China and systematically eradicated all resistance. Many Chinese nobles, warriors and commoners were forced underground. There they sought to oust the invaders and reinstate the prosperous Ming Dynasty.

There were many factions among the Chinese who aided the Manchu's against Ming loyalists in large part because the Manchu's held to the same ideology, governmental patterns, and social organization as the Ming. The Ming dynasty was significantly weakened by the early 1600's.

An internal rebellion was the direct cause of the downfall of this dynasty. Chinese rebel Li Tzu-ch'eng seized Peking in 1644. That the Dutchmen were able to capitalize on this by being invited to stop the rebellion of a frontier general is largely coincidental.



Thus the Manchu's found the entrance to China and slowly conquered China. Those that did not wish to conform had to either leave or go underground. Some also sough refuge in the Shaolin temples.

Shaolin initially only offered passive resistance against the invaders seeking to remain separated from the political matters. It helped anyone who sought refuge and thus unintentionally became a safe haven for refugees and resistance fighters. The Manchu's also had 5 classes of people clearly defined;

1. The Manchu Ruler and his family
2. The Manchu Nobles and their families
3. Manchurians in general
4. Northern Chinese
5. Southern Chinese

Many Ming loyal soldiers and nobles found refuge and help in Shaolin. Shaolin, although themselves passive, became a center of resistance. This was dangerous to the invaders and needed to be dealt with drastically.

The 2nd Burning of Shaolin

Shaolin was strong, their reputation awesome and their support from commoners even stronger. In 1647 AD, through betrayal of an insider and large amounts of Ching loyal troops, armed with cannons, the original Shaolin temple in Henan was destroyed. The monks who remained to defend were slaughtered. Many fled to the Fukien Temple and for 30 years continued their resistance and their support of resistance fighters. This in turn led to the destruction of the Fukien temple, the remaining major temples and most of the lesser temples as well as the destruction of Shaolin texts. These events have inspired many 'Shaolin Temple' movies including Shaolin Mystagogue!

From this time onwards Shaolin were outlawed. Any practice of Shaolin Kung Fu was punishable by death. Much was lost. Most of the priceless scrolls of Shaolin Kung Fu and teachings and many treasures of knowledge and wisdom. Shaolin monks and laypersons were now split, all initially operating in secret. They;

* continued their resistance and taught Kung Fu for the main purpose of fighting and defeating the Chins. They were the fathers of secret resistance organizations know as the 'Triads', so named after a gift of the Ming Dynasty Emperor to the Shaolin of a jade triangle.
* were devoted to the art. They passed down their learning from father to son or most apt student. In this process, much was lost but some was maintained. None of these styles are all of Shaolin but each have key elements.
* reverted to being Buddhist priests.

migrated to many other countries including the US, and many Asian countries

* including Malaise, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, etc...

Many great Chinese Fighting Martial Artists came to be famous during this time of strife and resistance. This was the mid 17th Century to 1899. Some of these Chinese Fighting Martial Artists gainied great notoriety Among these were Hung Hei-Kwun and his teachers from the temple, the Abbot Chi Zin and the Monk Sam Tak. But Shaolin monks were now outlawed by the new government. They had to go into hiding and could no longer be 'Shaolin' monks publicly. This is a time when Tai Chi styles flourished, a way of secretly teaching Kung Fu. The techniques were masked, movements slowed, stances and toughness hidden.

The Reopening of Shaolin

Around a century or more afterwards, around the start of 19th Century, the Shaolin Temples were reopened and included the 5th Shaolin Temple Kwantung, located around 200 km's southwest of Fukien.

But the rulers of the day were still afraid of the power of the Fighting Shaolin Monks. They only permitted Shaolin to be used as purely religious purposes without allowing any Kung Fu or other martial art training. The underground, no longer Shaolin but Ming loyalists, were still very busy making life difficult for the Chings. The final overthrow was to be the Boxer Rebellion in 1899 AD.

The Boxer rebellion was an attempt at overthrowing the Ching Dynasty and reinstating the original descendant of the Ming Dynasty. The Boxer rebellion was a total failure. The Manchu's, now armed with handguns and rifles, totally destroyed the Boxers, who were armed only with their Kung Fu. The British called this 'funny' style of fighting Boxing and it stuck!

This was the death of the Chinese resistance. Some triad members escaped to other countries, including the US, Korea, and others. This caused another influx of Chinese martial arts into the Orient, the US, and the new continent, Australia.

The 3rd Burning of Shaolin

As with the previous times, Shaolin influence, power and Kung Fu, although officially forbidden and punishable by death, was still forbidden. This may have led to the 3rd Burning of Shaolin in 1927 AD during Chiang Kai Check's reign.

Chiang Kai Check himself was a great believer in Kung Fu and although he forbade all martial art practice he surrounded himself with Kung Fu fighting masters for his body guards. When he was being threatened and ousted by the new forming Chinese Republic, he packed up as much of Chinese treasure as he could, took his wife, who recently died in the US aged 105, and 100 masters and moved to Taiwan. His arrival had a great influence on that country

Cultural Revolution

The cultural revolution was against all form of religion and martial arts or anything that would allow individually, resistance or free thought. If you were seen to be preaching or teaching anything other than Mao's' words, you were immediately re-educated or imprisoned.

This was more disastrous to Shaolin Kung Fu than any of the other times. It attacked Shaolin teachings and style on all fronts not just Kung Fu but also Buddhism and any type of organization other than Mao's. This was the final death for Shaolin!

3rd Area of Shaolin

After many successful Chinese Kung Fu movies by Bruce Lee opening Kung Fu to the world, and Jacky Chan introducing the concept of Shaolin and in particular Jet Li in the movie Shaolin Temple, officials in Beijing started to realize the potential of Shaolin as a marketing tool but also as heritage! The fear and distrust of Shaolin, its Kung Fu and power, was deep. They knew though that they needed some type of replacement. Some type of martial art other than Tai Chi and Chi Kung that was hard, external and athletic to fill this emptiness. This was the 'popular' birth of Wu Shu.

A respected Chinese official was tasked with breathing life back into Shaolin. As with many Chinese decisions it was a pragmatic decision as well as a financial and historical one. The key was to have an art that was dynamic and in the spirit of Shaolin, but not Kung Fu. Wushu was ideal for this. It embodied the spirit of Shaolin by providing all the requirements for health and wellness. It focused more on flow and athleticism rather than technique and fighting. Wu Shu has grown and developed and with the many versions and adaptations of kung fu. In some cases there is very little difference between the two.

There was a problem as Shaolin and its idea was already occupied by a whole thriving industry called Shaolin Village and many “so called” Shaolin temple training Schools. The reopening of the Shaolin temple by the "Grand Abbot" Master Su Xi, who's kindness and dedication seem so much similar as the original founder of Shaolin, gives hope to a new era of Shaolin teaching and Spirit. But for all his good teaching and kindness, he was also being used.

Animal Wu Shu is being practiced, but not the Shaolin 5 Animals. A new breed of modern, very athletic and well developed Animal styles including;

* Monkey
* Eagle
* Crane
* Snake
* Mantis

The current Abbot of Shaolin has been in place for 10+ years now. He or the Chinese

government have recently cleared all the schools and the village surrounding Shaolin allowing only one to be there, the official Chinese Government Shaolin Temple training School. All schools, some numbering up to 8000 students, have been moved to a nearby major city.

There are possibly many other styles and flavors emerging in this new era of martial art Renaissance. Also a new era of Shaolin has started again with many martial artists, tai chi, kung fu and chi kung practitioners traveling to Henan where they can study modern Shaolin Wu Shu!



Golden Era

Shaolin's 1st Golden Era began with the ascension to the throne of the Tang Dynasty son whom they saved. The Ming Dynasty was the second Golden era of Shaolin with much cooperation between the Emperors Palace and Shaolin. Now with the Chinese Government behind them, efforts to have Wushu in the Olympics and over 1 billion people training Wushu, Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Chi Kung we can consider this the third golden era not only for Kung Fu and Wu Shu but for all peaceful martial arts.

http://www.natkd.com/kung-fu.htm

The Ten Tigers of Canton

All the "Ten Tigers of Guangdong were Shaolin lay disciples. They did not studied in the Shaolin Monastery itself, but were directly connected to the southern Shaolin Monastery at Jiulian Mountain or at Quanzhow, having learnt from monks or lay disciples who in turn were from the monasteries before they were burnt.

Although they lived in the later part of the Qing Dynasty in Guangdong Province, they did not appear at the same time as a group. (A Hong Kong video series showing them at the same time and place, is fictitious.) They were about two or three generations after the Five Shaolin Ancestors. The Ten Tigers were Thit Kew Sam, Wong Yein Lam, Wong Khei Yin, Su Hak Fu, Su Hut Yee, Chow Thye, Tham Chai Wen, Wong Cheng Ho, Tit Chee Chan, and See Yu Leong.

Thit Kew Sam was the foremost of the Ten Guangdong Tigers. Thit Kew Sam, which literally means "Iron Bridge Three", was his nickname because his arms were very powerful; his actual name was Leong Khuen. His internal force came mainly from his training of Thit Seen Khuen, or Iron Wire Set.

Wong Yein Lam was a master of Hap Ka (Family of Knights) Kungfu. Hap Ka Kungfu originated from Lama Kungfu of Tibet, but had been modified and taught by Shaolin monks or lay masters. Wong Yein Lam's teacher was a Shaolin monk called Sheng Loong.

Wong Khei Yin was a disciple of Luk Ah Choy and the father of Wong Fei Hoong. His was well known for his "no-shadow kicks".

Su Hak Fu was a master of the Black Tiger Style. He was good at the tiger-claw. "Hak Fu" actually means "Black Tiger"; it is uncertain whether it was his real name or nickname.

Su Hut Yee, which means Beggar Su, was originally rich but squandered away his money. He was a master of Hoong Ka Kungfu. He learned from Chan Fook, a monk from the southern Shaolin Monastery, and was probably the same Chan Fook who started my lineage from Uncle Righteousness. (Please see below.)

Chow Thye was well known for his staff, known as Tai Cho Chooi Wan Khun, or "Soul-Chasing Staff of the First Emperor". He shot to fame when he defeated an international boxing champion from France.

Tham Chai Wen was known as "Three-Leg Tham" because of his three kicking techniques. They were tiger-tail kick, weeping-floor kick, and organ-seeking kick.

Wong Cheng Ho was famous for his Iron Head. He learned his kungfu in a Guangdong temple from a monk belonging to the Shaolin tradition.

Tit Chee Chan means "Iron Finger Chan"; his real name was unknown. Naturally he was expert at the Iron Finger Art.

See Yu Leong was known for the Red Sand Palm. This is an advanced Shaolin art using internal force which leaves a red mark on the skin of an opponent after being struck.
http://www.wongkiewkit.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-140.html

Moslem Kung-Fu The Fist of the Bodyguards
By Ted Mancuso

China is a dish spiced by many cultures. There are over 50 minorities among the Chinese besides the Han people themselves. A significant number, over five million of these, are moslems � known in Chinese as the �Hui� people. In the tenth century large numbers of Persians and Arabs extended the Moslem trade routes deep into China. Many settled and widely dispersed through the country; some living among the general population, some sticking close to concentrated communities of believers.

Known for toughness, courage and high spirit the Moslem population of China has not been passive in its growth. Often exploited and suppressed they maintained a stubborn reliance on their beliefs and fighting skills. But reprisals often came. In the Ching dynasty, for instance, three Hui people walking together with weapons could be punished. If caught committing a crime they might even had their faces branded Hui Zei (Moslem Rebel). Such was the discriminatory treatment of Moslems throughout the empire. On the other hand, in the 13th century Moslem generals rallied under a new banner and helped establish the Ming dynasty � a high point of Chinese history. Unceasingly, Moslem martial artists adopted and perfected the indigenous arts of China. They developed a number of fists that are still practiced with honor today. But at the base was one particular exercise known as �

The Moslem Spring Leg

If there is one universally recognized set for the Moslem style it is the spring leg or tan tui. At first blush tan tui seems colosally unimpressive. The moves are repetitious, stretched out, almost mechanical and performed up and back as though on a track; each segment is termed a �road�. The original style was subdivided into ten such roads. Later, a southern version was introduced that split some of the harder roads into more digestible bites and expanded the set to 12 roads. To this day, if you say you practice tan tui, those in the know will immediately ask �ten or 12?� Tan Tui is a popular set adopted by many styles and lent a special flavor by each. For instance, in one branch of mantis, there is a 14-road tan mi. With such popularity tan tui became one of the first universal kung-fu sets and therefore can claim a part as forerunner of contemporary wushu�s standardized forms.

Tan tui, as we have said, is not a flashy looking set. Mostly straight punches and kicks, it seems to some to possess a robotic aspect that makes it look more like work than fun. But tan tui is so profound that many boxers throughout history have specialized in its technique. For instance, the wide-open punches of tan tui, known as yoke punches, are designed along the lines of Chinese medical practice to stretch and invigorate the meridians of the body.

Simultaneously, the yoke punch, with its exaggerated arm extension, is a perfect indicator of the placement of the student�s waist. Shoulders, which normally fly upward in the beginning student, are so stretched they naturally drop and relax. The same benefits go for the extended long leg kicks of the art. As the name suggests tan tui attempts to strengthen the abdominal muscles of the practitioner by forcing him to extend while kicking. The striking leg must immediately elevate from the ground with minimal cocking action.

In true northern kung-fu long fist fashion, tan tui encourages the student to find his maximum range of motion before tightening and shortening up. Tan tui disallows the beginner�s tendency of bent limbs and tensed muscles to create power. It lives up to its name of long fist by making the student think in a new way, in a sense reprogramming his ideas of power generation and range of motion.

In due course, after the student has learned the ten basic roads the real training should begin. This is a good example of ancient training methods versus more contemporary ones. Nowadays, having completed the tan tui, the student immediately moves onto another more interesting and diverse set of actions. This is too bad because the training has really just begun. For instance, since the ten roads are each seperate they can be done in any order. A good tan tui instructor will then have the student mix and match roads until any road can be done in any order at will. Then the roads are again practiced with shuffling steps, changes of speed, and angled steps breaking the robot-like aspect completely. This challenges the students� creativity and ability to respond. Finally the actions from the roads are completely mixed so the student may start with No. 1, switch to No. 8, and finish with No. 5 without losing place or direction. From a simple series of movements the student is now only a small step from basic sparring practice.

Tan tui is said to have been created in the Ming dynasty by ChaShagmir (a distinctly Moslem name even in Chinese). Chamir, as he was called, was among those who went to the coast to protect the shores of China against raids by Japanese pirates. However, on this long journey he became sick from the harsh weather conditions. He was left to recuperate in a mountain village in Guanxian County. His hosts in this small village were so kind to him that when he recovered that autumn and watched them practice their kung-fu after harvest he decided to teach them the art he had devised. They were grateful and his art spread far and wide from this origin. People took the first syllable of his name �Cha� and thus the style known as �cha chuan� � cha fist, was born. Originally its basis, the tan tui set, was composed of 28 routines � one for each letter of the Arabic alphabet. Eventually everything was compiled into the ten road spring leg which remains with us today.

Those familiar with Arabic religious poetry will note that many root words in Arabic are without vowels and can be rearranged to create other meanings and levels of understanding. This rearrangement, also familiar to certain Christian and Jewish sects, was considered a valid study for all students of the Bible, Torah and Koran. And note as an interesting sidelight that this is precisely the method of teaching for the tan tui, taking ten routes (roots) and reassembling them to form new meanings and combinations still related to the original exercises.

There is an old saying in kung-fu that one form mastered is worth a hundred tasted. But too often people take this to indicate a mindless repetition of the form. Tan tui is a perfect example of what form mastery is meant to entail. Rather than learning flashier new forms which ultimately reduce to the same moves in new combinations with a little �Hollywood� thrown in, the traditional student of kung-fu developed power and stability with familiar movements before gradually altering them to new situations. He reinvested and compounded his knowledge. It was a wise way to save and to practice.

Known throughout China tan tui is particularly practiced in Henan, *********, Shangtung and Shaanxi provinces. Since its origins lie with the Hui people there is even a proverb: From Nanjin the best tan tui is that of the Hui people� which becomes the pun, �Hui (Moslem) Hui (best) Tan Tui�.

Cha Chuan

As it progressed cha style and other Moslem boxing methods became known under the general name of jiao men (sect fighting). Of the many jiao men forms one group in particular, the ten sets of cha chuan, is famous. Like the ten core sets of shaolin, these famous forms encompass the entire repertoire of the cha style, not counting weapons. The first one taught is generally cha No. 4, a famous long fist form.

Cha is a particularly beautiful style. Like any northern long fist it is big, proud and fluid. Stances are lower than in most shaolin-type styles with special emphasis on height changes, waist turning and hip control. But it is cha fist�s special emphasis on timing which is particularly interesting. Most beginning kung-fu practitioners sweat buckets just to coordinate hands and legs as a single unit. But as the cha student progresses this simplified coordination step and punch, kick and palm slowly disappears. It is replaced by a subtle off-set rhythm speeds from each other and from the legs.

Cha fist excels in broken rhythm, off-set rhythm and all sorts of movements that seem to set up a timing, violate it and dovetail right back into the proper beat, converging at just the right moment. �Convergence� is the key word here. As in all advanced kung-fu the practitioner is looking for limbs to travel at different rates and then converge just at the moment of completion.

Seen in this light all those different moves and stances in kung-fu forms are more than just beautiful postures. Each group is actually an entirely different task requiring different coordination and convergence. Cha fist maintains the ancient and subtle variations in timing, pace and execution that make for distinctive, not cookie-cutter, kung-fu.

The Moslem Contribution

On the stage of world history the Moslem world has been an important player, especially in relations with the East. The followers of Islam were the first to bridge the gap between Chinese and Western medicine and they started that 1,000 years ago. Alchemy, beginning in China, was transported directly through the Arab world to the West and rooted itself as the beginnings of modern chemistry.

The Moslem fist in China has also made worthy contributions. When the newly formed Republic of China began its creation of a generic, contemporary version of wushu it looked to jiao men as its basis. The reasoning was interesting. Moslems, as a whole, had always been isolated within the minorities of China and therefore had far less traffic with other groups. It was thought, therefore by the powers that be, that Moslem fist must be essentially more �pure� than many other style. It was adopted as the basis of contemporary long fist and many of the first long fist sets issued by the government office were based on cha chuan.

In certain widely accepted styles the Moslem presence has also been strong. In hsing-I for instance, many of the great practitioners were of Moslem origin and it may be that the real rudiments of the style are from Moslem culture. In weapons work, too, Moslem fist is well-represented with jiao men boasting five tiger hook sets and over ten saber sets. And last but not least, Moslems were often placed in the dangerous position of bodyguard because of their relatively non-affiliated status with other Chinese elements. Rising to this occasion they developed the beautiful and powerful style known throughout the world as pa chi (eight extremes). As the Chien Lung emperor stated in the 19th century, �For health we have tai chi, for protection pa chi.�

So universally recognized was pa chi as one of the most no-nonsense styles that even in our present era it was considered without equal. Witness the fact that a famous pa chi teacher was the instructor of Chiang Kai Shek�s, Mao Tse Tung�s and Sun Yet Sen�s bodyguards. That�s right the men who protected these three sworn enemies were all kung-fu brothers.

In modern times we are constantly assailed with representations of Arab culture as seemingly comprised of religious fanatics and terrorists. Martial arts training is a nice antidote for cultural ignorance. We are allowed through it to replicate the actions practiced by different people from different cultures who lived centuries from us. We cannot only improve our health and our skills but don another person�s shoes and walk down his path, or in the case of tan tui, ten roads.

This article was originally published in Inside Kung-Fu September 1999
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Someone told me that most asian martial arts have a deep connection to tibet. how much of that is true?

did u no that kung fu is accually pernounced gung fu dramallama

I have a big book it's a Wu Shu training manual it has a huge list of styles in the back with some pics and the front is packed with techniques for Chin Na and other things. What book do you have I found this one on Amazon.com it's a great book.