The foundation of Shaolin Kung Fu

Inheritance from Past Masters

Through the centuries Kung Fu masters have discovered that certain methods of attack or defence had certain advantages in particular combat situations. For example, they found that by punching out from waist level they could execute more power than from shoulder level. By maintaining good balance they could execute kicks more accurately and forcefully than if they were unbalanced. By moving their hands in a circular way, they could minimize their opponent's force when blocking punching attacks. By shifting their body backward in a particular stance, they could avoid the opponent's kicks without having to move their legs back. These movements, which gave them technical advantages in combat, were stylized into what are now called Kung Fu patterns.
The earliest Kung Fu patterns were discovered through long years of trial and error. Later, when the early masters had accumulated enough patterns of many different kinds to formulate principles and theories, study and experimentation played a more important role in the invention of more patterns. For example, through trial and error tbey discovered that, in addition to a straight punch from the waist, they could also strike an opponent using their swinging arms, or with an elbow. They also discovered that striking an opponent with a swinging arm was desirable only if their arms were strong and the opponent was relatively Far away. If their arms were not sufficienfiy strong, or if the opponent was very close, an elbow strike would be more effective. In this way they gradually developed a body of principles and theories for combat, and when these were established, they could invent more patterns and formulate more principles, not necessarily from actual fighting but from study and speculation, and from experimentation with their students.
The early masters also learned some invaluable lessons by observing the behaviour and movements of animals and birds. Do not underrate these creatures: except in brain power, we humans are actually far behind animals and birds in many aspects of bodily functions, sensual perception and instinct for survival. The power of a tiger, the endurance of an ox and the sharpness of an eagle are proverbial. Even small creatures surpass humans in many qualities essential to martial artists. A rabbit or a squirrel, for instance, can sense approaching danger accurately and move away with great dexterity and agility. Hence, early masters not only invented Kung Fu patterns based on the swift and effective movements of the animals and birds, but also drew inspiration from their characteristics to devise training methods to develop abilities like a tiger's power and a rabbit's dexterity.
These patterns and skills have been accumulated and improved upon throughout the ages, and passed on from generation to generation. Shaolin Monastery was the first known institution to study and promote this accumulation of forms, skills and information in a systematic, professional way, and has remained the leading authority in this field ever since. Thus, Kung Fu reached a very fine level. For example, while many martial arts mainly employ the clenched fist, there are about 20 forms for attacking with the hand in Shaolin Knng Fu. While some martial arts pay little attention to the way their practitioners stand, Shaolin Kung Fu places a lot of emphasis on stances, of which there are more than a dozen types. The reason for such detail is that, depending on the combat situation in question, a particular way of holding the hand in a particular stance in both attack and defence gives the exponent certain technical advantages. Thus, today' when you learn a Shaolin Kung Fu set, which incorporates numerous patterns with different hand forms and stances, you inherit the crystallization of hundreds of years of Kung Fu development.

The Significance of Form and Formlessness

For a beginner, Shaolin Kung Fu patterns, with their various hand forms and stances are 'unnatural'. In a combat situation, for example, it is unnatural for a person unfamiliar with Shaolin Kung Fu to stand in a Bow-Arrow Stance and thrust out a straight punch in a pattern known as Black-Tiger Steals Heart, a very common Shaolin pattern. It would be more “natural” to stand as in Judo, or to punch as in Western boxing. But this “unnatural” pattern has many technical advantages over an ordinary punch. For instance, using the Black Tiger Steals Heart pattern generates more power in the punch and greater balance in the stance. So, in order to benefit from these adantages, the practitioner has to learn the pattern which is initially unnatural, and practise it so well that it eventually becomes natural to him.

In the early stages the student must learn and practise Kung Fu patterns exactly, paying careful attention to correctness of form. This is the stage of “from formlessness to form”. Meaning that initially the student has on Kung Fu from. But with persistent practice it it becomes second nature.

At a later stage when one is competent in the form, one may if necessary modify it to suit the demands of a particular combat situation. For example, instead of keeping the body upright in the “Bow-Arrow” stance when executing the Black Tiger punch-a form one must follow strictly when first learning and practising it-one may later, if the situation warrants it, slant the body slightly forward to achieve a longer reach with the punch, This approaches the stage of “from form to formlessness”, meaning that after having mastered the standard form, one is now mot bound by its details; within the general mode of the form, one can move the hands, legs or any parts of the body in any way appropriate to the situation. At an advanced stage, one may even do away with form, because one’s opponent. It is similar to an adult fighting with a three-year-old child: the adult need not bother with any Kung Fu form; he or she is so comparatively powerful that the child simply has no chance.

A student, however, needs to know Kung Fu form, which is acquired through the practice of patterns and sets, But before you can perform Shaolin Kung Fu patterns and sets well, you must know how to hold your hands correctly in the basic Shaolin hand forms, and stand firmly in good balance in the basic Shaolin stances.

Various Shaolin Hand Forms

1.Level Fist 2 .Sun-Character Fist, orVertical Fist
3.Leopard Punch 4.Phoenix-Eye Fist
5. Elephant Fist 6.Willow-Leaf Palm
7.Dragon Palm 8.Dragon Hand Form
9.Tiger Claw 10.Eagle Claw
11.Snake Hand 12.One-Finger Zen
13.Sword Finger 14.Crab Pincers
15.Crane Beak 16.Monkey Paw
17.Praying Mantis Hand 18.Hook Hand

Some of these hand forms are the primary way of holding the hands in their respective Kung Fu styles. For example, in the Monkey style and Praying Mantis Kung Fu respectively, the Monkey Paw and the Praying Mantis Hand are extensively used. The Crane Beak and the Hook Hand appear similar, but they are actually different in function. As their names imply, the Crane Beak, mainly found in Souther Shaolin Kung Fu, is used for 'beaking', for example on the opponent's vital points, whereas the Hook Hand, mainly found in Northern Shaolin Kung Fu, is for 'hook- ing', for example on the opponent's leg.
The richness of Shaolin Kung Fu is reflected in the fact that a dozen striking techniques can be executed with the Level Fist.

1 Straight Punch 2 Cannon Punch
3 Horn Punch 4 Diagonal Punch
5 Sweeping Punch 6 Whip Punch
7 Wave Punch 8 Chopping Punch
9 Hanging Punch 10 Sinking Punch
11 Armpit Punch 12 Throwing Punch

The other hand forms are not so extensive in their striking techniques. Horseriding and Other Stances show the many stances in Shaolin Kung Fu.

I Horseriding Stance 2 Bow-Arrow Stance
3 False-Leg Stance 4 Unicorn Step Stance
5 Ring Step 6 Single-Leg Stance
7 Side-Body Stance 8 Slanting-Body Stance
9 J-Character Stance 10 Stream-Character or Four-Six Stance
11 Triangle Stance 12 Two-Character Stance
13 Goat Stance 14 Seven-Star Step
15 Front-Arrow Stance 16 Half-Kneel Step
17 Single-Shield Step 18 Cat Step

It is sufficient at this stage to know how to perform the hand forms and stances correctly. Apart from the Horseriding Stance which is explained below, their actual practice can commence when they appear in Kung Fu patterns. (Some of these hand forms and stances, like the Praying Mantis Hand and Stream-Character Stance, are not shown in patterns in the article, although they are popular in some special styles of Kung Fu.)
The Horseriding Stance is the most important in Shaolin Kung Fu, especially Southern Shaolin. If you are serious in learning good Shaolin Kung Fu, it is strongly recommended that you practise this stance for at least a few months before beginning Kung Fu proper, as students did in the past. Alternatively you should practise this stance for at least two weeks, then continue to practise it for a few months while you also learn other Kung Fu forms.
There are good reasons why it is so important. The stances constitute the foundation upon which Kung Fu patterns are built, and the Horseriding Stance is the 'mother' stance; the force and skill derived from it enable you to perform the other stances well. It builds strength in your legs; it replaces your 'old' strength with a new strength with which you can, besides other benefits, break bricks with kicks and walk for miles without feeling tired. At certain times, when your old strength has been drained but the new strength has not been built up, your legs may be very weak and you may have difficulty even going up the stairs. Do not worry; this is a normal development and your legs will be strong after a few days.
The Horseriding Stance training also lowers your centre of gravity from somewhere at your chest to the level of your abdomen, making you 'fresh on top, and stable below', meaning you are alert and well balanced, both physically and mentally. These two qualities, more than the tech- niques you will learn later, are the marks of a Kung Fu master. And final- ly, the training builds a ball of vital energy in your abdominal dan tian, or energy field. Only when you have sufficient vital energy in your dan tian can you effectively train for internal force, because it is the source from which internal force flows.
The Horseriding Stance is a very demanding form of zhan zhuang (standing posture) Chi Kung, but it is worth all the time and effort practising it. One reason why many students do not become masters even after they have trained for a long time is that they lack this source of vital energy in their Dan Tian, and this lack can be traced to insufficient training in whatever forms of zhan zhuang their styles of Kung Fu prescribe.
Here are a few helpful points for your Horseriding Stance training. Your body should be upright, and your thighs almost parallel to the ground. You must take care not to raise your body when you are tired – something most beginners inevitably do without realizing it. Although there may be some tension resulting from your posture, relax your mind and body Focus your mind on your abdomen. Your eyes may be open or closed, but you must not think of anything. Most people cannot hold this stance for a minute, but you must persevere until you call hold it correct- ly for at least five minutes ifyou want to benefit from it. You probably need about three months of daily practice to achieve this minimum requirement.
You can if you wish change to other stances, like the Bow-Arrow Stance (where the body weight is distributed equally between two legs) and the False-Leg Stance (where the back leg supports more than 95 percent of the body weight), when you become tired from siting in the Horseriding Stance. Simply turn your body and change your foot position without coming out of your stance. Change back to the Horseriding Stance when you are ready for another round of endurance. Spend some time too on the Single-Leg Stance and the Unicorn Step (where the distribution of weight is about 60 per cent in front and 40 per cent at the back). These five stances are frequently used in Shaolin Kung Fu, and are therefore called the basic stances.
After stance training, you must practise leg-stretching exercises so that your legs will be not only strong and solid but also agile and supple. six such exercises, which are collectively known in our Shaolin South Academy (www.chinawushu.org) as the Art of Flexible Legs. (This is a general name; other schools may use different sets of exercises to stretch their legs,) Perform each exercise about 10-20 times.

Basic Shaolin Patterns

When you are familiar with the Shaolin hand forms and stances, you can proceed to learn the following eight simple patterns. In Shaolin Kungfu every pattern has a meaningful, poetic name, usually in four characters. The names of the eight patterns as follows, although the poetry is often lost in the translation.

1.Black Tiger Steals Heart. 2 Single Tiger Emerges from Cave
3.Poisonous Snake Shoots Venom 4 Beauty Looks at Mirror
5 Precious Duck Swims Through Lotus 6 False-Leg Hand Sweep
7 Golden Star at Corner 8 Immortal Emerges from Cave

Learn only one pattern at a time, and practise it many times until you are quite familiar with its form before proceeding to the next pattern. Remember that the essence of Kung Fu training is developing force and skill, which in this case is an ability to perform the patterns correctly and dextrously, and not acquiring more and more forms.
The figures show only either the left-hand or the right-hand form of each pattern, but you should practise both forms many times. Initially, you should start from the Ready Position, which is just standing upright and relaxed, with both fists at the waist. Perform the pattern, then return to the Ready Position. Later you may start and end in any position.
Initially you should practise the patterns in the sequence shown, but later you can practise them in any order. It usually takes a beginner about three months of daily practice to be able to perform the patterns well, with each practice session lasting about half an hour.

As I said in the last article, it is important to define the aims and objectives of your Kung Fu training if you want to get the best results in the shortest time. It would be a good idea to spend three months of daily practice on stances and patterns, and call the course 'The Foundations of Shaolin Kung Fu'. The term 'foundations' indicates that your future success depends very much on how well you perform these basic stances and patterns. So even if you are experienced in other martial arts but new to Shaolin Kung Fu, it is advisable to spend three months on them.
The main aim of this course, naturally, is to provide a sound foundation for your later development in Shaolin Kung Fu, and this includes the information on why training in the Horseriding Stance is important, why different hand forms and stances are employed, and why you should spend time in solo pattern practice. (If you are still unsure of the answers, you would do well to read this chapter again.)
The course objectives are to be aware of the variety of hand forms and stances in Shaolin Kung Fu, to be able to perform the basic stances and patterns properly, to lower the body's centre of gravity for better balance, and to accumulate vital energy in the abdominal dan tian to prepare for future internal force training.
You should define your own personal objectives according to your own abilities, needs, aspirations and other relevant Factors. The following are just some suggestions:
~ to sit in the Horseriding Stance for at least five minutes
~ to walk 10 miles without feeling tired
~ to execute all of the basic patterns flawlessly
~ to complete three rounds of all the basic patterns continuously without feeling tired
At the end of your course, you should evaluate the success or otherwise of your training with direct reference to your course and personal objectives.