Religion and Theology

To an outsider, when one thinks of China, there are a lot of things one can think of from the food and the exotic culture.  But to someone who is into martial arts, one thing definitely and distinctively Chinese is Shaolin (Kung Fu) which is another of Chinas famous exports to the world, no thanks to the likes of Chinese action stars who made it big into Hollywood like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen and Jet Li, particularly the latter who is a true-blue martial artist whose style closely approximates the Shaolin style (wushu) and made it well-known in his 1981 debut movie Shaolin Temple as well as his portrayal of the legendary martial artist Wong Fei Hung in the Once Upon a Time in China series.  Through these actors, the world has come to know Shaolin Kung Fu.

Beyond the movies, Shaolin Kung Fu is for real.  The main headquarters is the Songshan Shaolin Temple located in the mountains near the city and county of Dengfeng in Henan Province in Central China which represents the northern Shaolin.  The southern franchise of the Shaolin Temple is located in Fujian Province in Southern China. It is true that they are trained warriors though tempered by Buddhist pacifist teachings.  This would put them in the same company as the Yamabushi fighting monks of feudal Japan and the Knights Templar where they also combined spirituality and fighting arts which made them formidable warriors. The Shaolin monks are by far the only existing group of this sort and they boast of a history that is partly shrouded in legend and in the absence of written documents, the tapestries in the temple tell the early story of the place and of the art that developed afterward.

History
It was said that a Buddhist missionary from India the Chinese called Da Mo (Dharma or Bodhidharma) came to China to teach Buddhism to the Chinese.  He settled in this region since he found it suitable for his purposes.  Besides Buddhist teachings and practices, he was said to have developed a fitness program for his followers based on the movements and behaviors of the animals in the surrounding areas.  Da Mo noticed that the constant activities of these animals kept them fit and healthy all year round and sought to provide the monks physical activity to balance their spiritual activity centered on asceticism.  Other accounts have opposing views where martial arts practitioners took refuge in the Shaolin temple and after being taken in as monks, imparted their skills on the monks also as a form of fitness and self-defense.  Another version stated that the monks had to study martial arts to protect themselves as the temple was situated in a mountainous region where wild animals and bandits thrive and it became necessary for them to protect themselves from these threats (Hsu, 94).

One might wonder why Buddhist monks, conditioned to follow the path to peace through spiritual exercises would practice combative arts meant to main and kill  One will truly find it strange for Shaolin monks to be taught to respect all life forms in one instance and fight and sometimes kill when the situation calls for it.  According to the Shaolin monks, martial arts training is also a means to purify oneself, to purge the evil from within through the rigid Spartan discipline that does compliment the ascetic nature of Buddhism as monks follow the same vows of poverty, chastity and obedience like Catholic religious clerics though what makes them different from the latter is their martial arts practice.  The Shaolin monks are not very offensive in nature.  They practice martial arts primarily for defensive purposes and they are acutely aware that killing is inevitable (though it does not happen  very often in present times) and are justified as some Buddhist text do permit them to do what is necessary to defend themselves (Shahar, 198-199).

During the Tang Dynasty, the Shaolin monks made a good account for themselves in the service the emperor Taizong in suppressing a revolt though there had been countless instances when they had fought for what was right even before this time.  Because of their efforts, the emperor rewarded them by allowing them to stay in Songshan in their temple and live in relative tranquility and free to go about their business of praying, meditation and martial arts training (Henning, 175).  For centuries, the Shaolin Temple has survived the ravages of Chinas turbulent history.  It has weathered calamities and wars because of its relative isolation in the mountains.  Not even Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution has been able to eradicate it from existence.  The temple even put up a southern branch in Fujian Province in the south.  The only other Chinese martial arts mecca that would rival the Shaolin Temple of both north and south would by the martial arts school in the Wudang Mountains of China which is Taoist based and centers on Taijiquan and Baqua forms.

The Arts
The fighting style of Shaolin kung fu is diverse.  It can be broken down into two main categories  unarmed and armed forms.  As stated earlier, the unarmed forms of Shaolin are derived from the animals that inhabit the area and Da Mo and his disciples would mimic their movements, particularly those used when fighting.  Each form makes use of certain attributes of these animals that makes them distinct from one another but nevertheless very effective in a fight.  The common animal forms are tiger, leopard, snake, crane and dragon though other animal forms are also considered and developed into fighting forms as well such as the eagle, mantis and the monkey.  These would form the foundations of Shaolin kung fu which would evolve into several diverse techniques as the Shaolin temple, both north and south, would serve as a laboratory for developing more innovative fighting forms.  These forms were based also on the understanding on the human anatomy and how to best use it to ones advantage and at the same time know where to strike.  In the northern style, such forms developed were Ta-shen men, where the actions of the monkey are emulated the well-known Lohan, meaning like Buddha the Erh-lang men, based on a legendary three-eyed Taoist hero and Wei-to system, derived from the deities.  The southern form has five branches in Ta-hung men, Liu-chia men, Tsai chia chuan, Li-chia chuan and Mo-chia chuan and it is from here that they have developed over 300 different fighting techniques.  It can be truly said that the Shaolin Temple is the repository of knowledge and learning of the Chinese martial arts (Khim and Draeger, 20  Shahar, 118).

It could be said that the north and south branches of Shaolin developed distinct styles though they were all derived from the same basis.  The northern styles emphasize long-punching forms as well as attributes of mobility, agility and fluidity of motion as opposed to the southern form that puts emphasis on power and force which also includes shouting where the practitioner exerts virtually 100  energy in every move to the extent it is the ground would tremble with every thundering move.

Besides the unarmed component based on the above-mentioned forms, Shaolin also makes use of various weapons ranging from the common ones to the exotic and innocuous ones.   Shaolin monks practice using the common fighting weapons used by soldiers such as the jian (straight sword), dao (broadsword), along with its other variants, and chang (spear).  Common items used in daily chores can also be used as weapons such as the rake, the spade and even the broom are effective weapons in the hands of the Shaolin monk.  Then there are the unusual weapons normally used by assassins in kung fu movies such as the double hooks, hoop daggers, the rope dart, mace, meteor hammer, and the 9-section chain whip which can also be used to deadly effect.  But perhaps the weapon that the monks are very proficient at and serves as their trademark is the gun (staff or cudgel).  The staff serves as sort of the symbol of the Shaolin monk and is the most common accessory in their person whenever they travel since they use it as a walking aid and naturally would become their weapon when attacked.  Even the ornate metal staff carried by the senior monks of the temple is used as a weapon though heavier and not as wieldy as the slimmer gun which is faster and more efficient to wield and can still inflict damage of the assailant with its speed and accuracy.

Besides the external aspect of the art as described above, Shaolin kung fu also has an internal element exemplified by qigong, an exercise that entails channeling the qi or inner energy all over the body which (normally) maintains health but can be used by a learned practitioner to direct energy to certain points of the body to strengthen it.  In many a Shaolin kung fu demonstration, monks would sit on a bed of nails or have themselves impaled but the qigong exercises they performed prior to these feats gave them a skin of iron and emerge unharmed.  One can imagine why they were considered awesome in those days when they were truly warrior monks.

Shaolin Today (Conclusion)
The Shaolin Temples of the north and south have survived the turbulent history of China and still continue to draw disciples, pilgrims and tourists alike.  If there is one other contribution Shaolin kung fu has made for China it was the development of wushu, a modified form of their fighting style derived from Shaolin forms which concentrates more on aesthetics and form and made into a competition sport in which Chinese athletes would distinguish themselves worldwide.  Another consequence of this fame was the emergence of many wushu schools surrounding the temple complex as the temple started taking in secular students or those who study wushu with them without having to become a monk, taking in students as young as 10 years old which they consider capable of learning and physically capable to go through the rigorous training regimen.

Despite its fame as the center for martial arts, Shaolin Temple has not deviated from its original mission of being a spiritual retreat for those who seek enlightenment through ascetic lifestyle and despite this desire to maintain it, the temple has also attracted tourists and the senior leadership of the temple has decided to capitalize on this opportunity rather than shun it as they have seen that it is still in keeping with the teachings of Buddha to be very open and this has worked wonders for the temple and the arts it promotes.

The current leadership also decided it is beneficial for the Temple to promote the art worldwide.  Almost on a regular basis, the Shaolin Temple has sent exhibition teams all over China and around the world to perform and wherever they go, they would attract a huge following and this has made more people around the world come to the Shaolin Temple not only as tourists but also as students and even disciples not only learning martial arts, but also to be enlightened by Buddhist teachings and by the time they leave the temple and return home, they will have a holistic attitude of the world that is tempered by combative skills.