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SYNOPSIS OF MARTIAL ARTS
TAOIST TANTRIC KUNG FU
HISTORY OF SHAN FU JOW
LINEAGE MASTER
SHAN FU JOW PHILOSOPHIA
SECRET CHI KUNG SYSTEM
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| Kung Fu (Chinese: Originally meaning "Hard Work" now generic term for especially non-mainland China martial art types), a martial art, both a form of exercise with a spiritual dimension stemming from concentration and self-discipline and a primarily unarmed mode of personal combat often equated with Karate or Tae Kwon Do. As martial art, kung fu can be traced to the Chou dynasty (1111-255 BC) and even earlier. As exercise it was practiced by the Taoists in the 5th century BC. Its prescribed stances and actions are based on keen observations of human skeletal and muscular anatomy and physiology, and it employs great muscular coordination. The various movements in kung fu, most of which are imitations of the fighting styles of animals, are initiated from one of five basic foot positions: normal upright posture and the four stances called dragon, frog, horse riding, and snake. There are hundreds of styles of kung fu, and armed as well as unarmed techniques have been developed. Kung fu performed as exercise resembles T'ai Chi ch'uan Physical fitness has been practised from ancient times and practitioners continuosly sought ways of improvement. Through the Warring and Autumn states period of China [770-221BC] a method called Daoyin was evolved for promoting health and curing certain diseases by combining regulated breatheing and physical exercise.In Western Han dynasty [206-BC-25AD] tomb discovered several yars ago on the outskirts of Changsa in Hunan province , a silk scroll was found figures of daoyin exercises were drawn in different postures.Towards the end of Han dynasty [25-220AD] the renoweed medical scolar HuaTuo [?-208] wrote :- The human body requires constant exercise and regular exercise aids digestion, stimulates circulation and helps body resist diseases.He created a set of exercise now know as Wuqinxi [5 animal play]mimicing the movemnets of tiger , deer, ape, bird, bear. During the Song dynasty [960-1279] and Ming dynasty [1368-1644] there appeared a number of exercise inckuding Baduanjin , Yijinjing , Tai chi chuan , and Chi kung. The one single person noted foremost for the introduction of the basis for all martial arts in China is the Indian Buddhist Monk "DA MO " or also known as Boddhi-Dharma and in Chinese Po Ti Da Mo. He was said to have travelled all the way from Northern India and taught selected monks a higher breathing and exercises based on Yo-Ga which is later thought to have evolved in to chinese martial arts. According to the Annals of the now famous Shaolin Temple [Sillum Tailung] the history noted is as follows :- Buddhism traveled to China from India during the Eastern Han Ming emperor period (58-76 A.D.). Several hundred years after this, as several emperors became sincere Buddhists, Buddhism became very respected and popular in China. It is estimated that by 500 A.D., there probably existed more than 10 thousand Buddhist temples. In order to absorb more Buddhist philosophy during these five hundred years, some monks were sent to India to study Buddhism and bring back Buddhist classics. Naturally, some Indian monks were also invited to China for preaching. According to one of the oldest books Deng Feng County Recording (Deng Feng Xian Zhi), a Buddhist monk name Batuo, came to China for Buddhist preaching in 464 A.D. Deng Feng was the county where the Shaolin Temple was eventually located. Thirty-one years later, the Shaolin Temple was built in 495 A.D., by the order of Wei Xiao Wen emperor (471-500 A.D.) for Batuo's preaching. Therefore, Batuo can be considered the first chief monk of the Shaolin Temple. However, there is no record regarding how and what Batuo passed down by way of religious Qigong practice. There is also no record of how or when Batuo died. However, the most influential person in this area was the Indian monk Da Mo . Da Mo, whose last name was Sardili and who was also known as Bodhidarma, was once the prince of a small tribe in southern India. He was of the Mahayana school of Buddhism, and was considered by many to have been a bodhisattva, or an enlightened being who had renounced nirvana in order to save others. From the fragments of historical records, it is believed that he was born about 483 A.D. Da Mo was invited to China to preach by the Liang Wu emperor. He arrived in Canton, China in 527 A.D. during the reign of the Wei Xiao Ming emperor (516-528 A.D.) or the Liang Wu emperor (502-550 A.D.). When the emperor decided he did not like Da Mo's Buddhist theory, the monk withdrew to the Shaolin Temple. When Da Mo arrived, he saw that the priests were weak and sickly, so he shut himself away to ponder the problem. When he emerged after nine years of seclusion, he wrote two classics: Yi Jin Jing (Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic) and Xi Sui Jin (Marrow/Brain Washing Classic. The Yi Jin Jing taught the priests how to build their Qi to an abundant level and use it to improve health and change their physical bodies from weak to strong. After the priests practiced the Yi Jin Jing exercises, they found that not only did they improve their health, but they also greatly increased their strength. When this training was integrated into the martial arts forms, it increased the effectiveness of their martial techniques. This change marked one more step in the growth of the Chinese martial arts: Martial Arts Qigong. The Xi Sui Jing taught the priests how to use Qi to clean their bone marrow and strengthen their immune system, as well as how to nourish and energize the brain, helping them to attain Buddhahood. Because the Xi Sui Jing was hard to understand and practice, the training methods were passed down secretly to only a very few disciples in each generation. Da Mo died in the Shaolin Temple in 536 A.D. and was buried on Xiong Er mountain . If you are interested in knowing more about Yi Jin Jing and Xi Sui Jing, please refer to the book, "Muscle/Tendon Changing and Marrow/ Brain Washing Chi Kung" by YMAA. During the revolutionary period between the Sui dynasty and the Tang dynasty, in the 4th year of Tang Gao Zu Wu De (621 A.D.), Qin King Li Shi-Ming had a serious battle with Zheng King Wang Shi-Chong . When the situation was urgent for Qin King, 13 Shaolin monks assisted him against Zheng. Later, Li Shi-Ming became the first emperor of the Tang dynasty (618-907 A.D.), and he rewarded the Shaolin Temple with 40 Qing (about 600 acres) of land donated to the temple. He also permitted the Temple to own and train its own soldiers. At that time, in order to protect the wealthy property of the Shaolin Temple from bandits, martial arts training was a necessity for the monks. The priest martial artists in the temple were called "monk soldiers" (Seng Bing). Their responsibility, other than studying Buddhism, was training martial arts to protect the property of the Shaolin Temple. For nearly three hundred years, the Shaolin Temple legally owned its own martial arts training organization, and continued to absorb martial skill from outside the temple into its training system. During the Song dynasty (960-1278 A.D.) Shaolin continued to gather more martial skills from outside of the Temple. They blended these arts into the Shaolin training. During this period, one of the most famous Shaolin martial monks, Jueyuan traveled around the country in order to learn and absorb high levels of martial skill into Shaolin. He went to Lan Zhou to meet one of the most famous martial artists, Li Sou. From Li Sou, he meet Li Sou's friend, Bai Yu-Feng and his son. Later all four returned to the Shaolin Temple and studied together. After ten years of mutual study and research, Li Sou left Shaolin; Bai Yu-Feng and his son decided to stay in Shaolin and became monks. Bai Yu-Feng's monk name was Qiu Yue Chan Shi. Qiu Yue Chan Shi is known for his barehand fighting and narrow blade sword techniques. According to the book Shaolin Temple Record , he developed the then existing 18 Buddha Hands techniques into 173 techniques. Not only that, he compiled the existing techniques contained within Shaolin and wrote the book, The Essence of Five Fist . This book included and discussed the practice methods and applications of the Five Fist (Animal) Patterns. The five animals included: Dragon, Tiger, Snake, Panther, and Crane. This record confirms that the Five Animal Patterns martial skills already existed for some time in the Shaolin Temple. From the same source, it is recorded that in the Yuan dynasty , in the year 1312 A.D., the monk Da Zhi came to the Shaolin Temple from Japan. After he studied Shaolin martial arts (barehands and staff) for nearly 13 years (1324 A.D.), he returned to Japan and spread Shaolin Gongfu to Japanese martial arts society. Later, in 1335 A.D. another Buddhist monk named Shao Yuan came to Shaolin from Japan. He mastered calligraphy, painting, Chan theory (i.e., Ren), and Shaolin Gongfu during his stay. He returned to Japan in 1347 A.D., and was considered and regarded a "Country Spirit" by the Japanese people. This confirms that Shaolin martial techniques were imported into Japan for at least seven hundred years. Later, when Manchuria took over China and became the Qing dynasty, in order to prevent the Han race (pre-Manchurian) Chinese from rebelling against the government, martial arts training was forbidden for a long period of time (1644-1911 A.D.). In order to preserve the arts, Shaolin martial techniques spread to layman society. All martial arts training in the Shaolin Temple was carried out secretly during this time. Moreover, the Shaolin monk soldiers had decreased in number from thousands to only a couple of hundred, all trained secretly. After 1911, the Qing dynasty fell in a revolution led by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. At this time, the value of traditional Chinese martial arts was re-evaluated, and the secrets of Chinese martial arts were revealed to the public. From the 1920's to the 1930's, many martial arts books were published. However, this was also the Chinese Civil War period, during which Chiang Kai-Shek tried to unify the country. In 1928, there was a battle in the area of the Shaolin Temple. The Temple was burned for the last time by Warlord Shi You-San's military. The fire lasted for more than 40 days, and all the major buildings were destroyed. The most priceless books and records on martial arts were also burned and lost. It was also during this period that, in order to preserve Chinese martial arts, President Chiang Kai-Shek ordered the establishment of the Nanking Central Guoshu Institute at Nanking in 1928. For this institute, many famous masters and practitioners were recruited. The traditional name "Wushu" (martial techniques) was renamed "Zhong Guo Wushu" (Chinese martial techniques) or simply "Guoshu" (country techniques). This was the first time in Chinese history that under the government's power, all the different styles of Chinese martial arts sat down and shared knowledge together. Unfortunately, after only three generations, World War II started in 1937 A.D., and all training was discontinued due to the war. After the second World War in 1945, mainland China was taken over by communists. Under communist rule, all religions were forbidden. Naturally, all Shaolin training was also prohibited. Later, under the communist party, Wushu training was established at the National Athletics Institute. In this organization, portions of the martial training and applications were purposely deleted by the communist party in order to discourage possible unification of martial artists against the government. Performance was the goal of this organization. This situation was not changed until the late 1980's. After the communist government realized that the essence of the arts - martial training and applications - started to die out following the death of many traditional masters, the traditional training was once again encouraged. Unfortunately, many masters had already been killed during the so-called cultural revolution, and many others had lost their trust of the communist party, and were not willing to share their knowledge. This situation was different in Taiwan. When Chiang Kai-Shek retreated from mainland China to Taiwan, he brought with him many well known masters, who passed down the Chinese martial arts there. Traditional methods of training were maintained and the arts were preserved in the traditional way. Unfortunately, due to modern new life styles, not too many youngsters were willing to dedicate the necessary time and patience for the training. The level of the arts has therefore reached the lowest level in Chinese martial history. Many secrets of the arts which were the accumulation of thousand years of human experience have rapidly died out. In order to preserve the arts, the remaining secrets began to be revealed to the general public, and even to society. If we look backward at the martial arts history in China, we can see that in the early 1900's, the Chinese martial arts still carried the traditional ways of training. The level of the arts remained high. From then until World War II, the level of arts degenerated very rapidly. From the War until now, in my opinion, the arts have not even reached one-half of their traditional levels. All of us should understand that martial arts training today is no longer useful for war. The chances for using it in self-defense have also been reduced to a minimum compared to that of ancient times. This is an art whose knowledge has taken the Chinese thousands of years to accumulate. What remains for us to learn is the spirit of the arts. From learning these arts, we will be able to discipline ourselves and promote our understanding of life to a higher spiritual level. From learning the arts, we will be able to maintain healthy conditions in our physical and mental bodies. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Taoist Traditions and Internal kung fu Kung Fu can trace its origins back some 4000 years to 2674 BC, when Emperor Huang Ti of China used a rudimentary form of martial arts called Chiou Ti as a form of individual combat and military tactic. In 2600 BC a new style of combat named Go-Ti came into being which had wrestling as its main focus. At the same time monks developed Cong Fu. This was a form of medical gymnastics designed to keep body healthy, mind alert, and spirit tranquil. In about 600 BC, Confucius declared it necessary to cultivate the martial arts. Lao Tzu (a Taoist sage), living at the same time, composed the Tao Te Ching (The Power and the Way), the original book and foremost source of Taoism. Taoism (pronounced "Daoism") is a philosophical system, but also a way of life and a method of achieving higher consciousness. Legend has it that it was passed down from a legendary culture, known as the "Sons of Reflected Light" some 14000 years ago. It taught scholarship, meditation and alchemy. Taoist principles are today still considered an important and relevant study, and many of its principles have been understood to be similiar to theories in modern, cutting edge, quantum physics and biology. Taoism became enmeshed with the arts of Cong Fu and Go-Ti, which by this time had become fused into one system. Taoist monks became Cong Fu/Go-Ti experts, and martial arts practitioners began to follow Taoism. This Cong Fu/Go-Ti system formed the beginnings of what we now know as Kung Fu. Although the term has many meanings, for example "hard work", it can be best understood as "patient accomplishment" - the mastery of a skill through the investment of time and energy. (Kung means "energy" in Chinese and Fu means "time"). Therefore when a person has mastered a particular skill, he may be said to have "kung fu". The term became associated with martial arts because the mastery of any martial arts system requires years of dedicated practice. Our tradition of Shan Fu Jow and its sister counter part , the lost art of "Shen Chan Hsing Chee component of Shen Hu Hsi Nui Gun" hails from the Sage Chuang Tzu. All views expressed in this page and in following articles presented throughout this website is solely of the current World Represantative and Only surviving disciple of the art itself -Grand Master .Dr. Hebron Aka SiJo [Master Tiger] . Not a single system or style is looked down and we honor every one of them in peace and prosperiety. Grand Master Tigers single wish is to stop adulteration of martial arts. Put an end to dubious claims and practises made by various so called teachers and fake masqueradors in the name of authentic martial arts . To protect innocent begginers from undue harm. Shan Fu Jow is a very carefully preserved art , handed down from master to disciple and father to son. Its not meant for sports nor is it ever used outside for promotional fighting which could lead to most fatal and serious implications. Its meant for a way of spiritual life and harmony. Warmest Wishes to All Grand Master Sijo.Dr.Hebron Chief - Asian Chinese Shan fu Jow Gung Fu Organization.Hq [Asia |
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