Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Overview On 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.

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.

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.

Although he turned down the offer, he was given a piece of land in order to build a temple. As mentioned, it was in Songshan Mountain which the word Shaolin literally translates to small forest. So for fifteen hundred years, this is where the art was developed and where the biggest schools had been located, as well the derivation and development of other styles.

Between the fifty eighth and the seventy sixth A. D., the relations between China and India have grown considerably. Therefore monks have been going back and forth from each country. Because of this, it became more well known in China. It was believed that an Indian monk, who is Bodhidharma, preached Buddhism during this time in the 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 Although it is believed that the value for self defense has been diminished due to this form of entertainment and has been replaced by a more lavish style which one of them is Wushu.

But in 1934, Jin Jing Zhong published a book named 72 Arts of Shaolin. This is which the author listed only those authentic training methods which are designed more for self defense. These methods and practices were developed due to the scroll given to the author by Abbot Miao Xing.

The utilization of kicks, punches, and blocks are the main points to hinder any attacker to strike. But the attention is well focused on the form and the movements of the art which actually gives beauty. Also, a mixture of various closed or open handed strikes used for defense with either hard and soft techniques for the delivery of the strikes would all contribute to the artform.

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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