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Shaolin Kung Fu Training

from beginning to mastery

‘Kung Fu (功夫)’ means a skill to practice and perfect. Shaolin (少林) Kung Fu1 is
combination of Zen Buddhism and martial arts which was developed by the monks of
Shaolin temple during the last 1500 years.

Kung Fu has 2 types of skills:

- Body: bodybuilding exercises, which are literally called the '72 arts'. also, meditation (
气功: qi kung)2 develops internal energy.

- Mind: fighting techniques, tactics, and strategies for barehanded, weapon, and
barehanded vs weapon situations.

- time:

Shaolin monks practice daily, except one or a couple of days a week to rest, for a couple of
hours. their training schedule includes daily meditation, body building, and fight skills.
these could be done together or at different sessions at any time.

- place:

‘Shaolin Kung Fu is trained in a lying ox’s place,’ which means a small place.

- clothes:

‘proper clothes for the warmth and the cold, but do not be afraid of the weather.’

- results:

‘do 100 days to feel difference, 1000 days to achieve skills, and 10000 days for mastery.’

1 Shaolin Kung Fu @YouTube.com: free full video tutorials by Shaolin temple inheritors.
2 Yang Jwing-Ming’s ‘Qigong for Health and Martial Arts’ and his other books.

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Shaolin Kung Fu body building

Kung Fu body building includes 7 categories of exercises: hardness, power, speed, stamina,
flexibility, balance, and control of the body. these exercises are called the '72 secret arts',
though the actual number of exercises could count much more or less, depending on how
they are categorized. here, the exercises are categorized into the above 7 types, which
makes them much easier to understand and more general to practice. these skills can be
practiced and mastered at any age.

warm-up
warm up before any exercise to prevent injuries to the body. Shaolin monks loosen up by
rotating the joints of the body to and fro.
– repetition of each move: 10 slow to fast, routine time: 3 minutes:

arms:

wrists elbows shoulders

legs:

ankles knees hips

trunk:

waist back neck

at the end, loosen up whole the body and shake all limbs.

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flexibility

soft kung fu3 makes you ‘as soft as cotton'. it is the set of stretching exercises for the body.
in each exercise hold the position, lock the posture by tensing your muscles, and stretch
by bouncing. do all these exercises daily. mastery level, when you can do these final
postures with ease, takes about 5 years of continuous training. there are many stretching
postures with similar purposes; these are the most famous postures and their usual
variants.
– repetition of each move: 15 slow & soft to fast & hard, routine time: 5 minutes:

exercise: hands grab a string, turn shoulders and


arms back and forth. try with the shortest possible
length of string. at advanced level, it’s done with the
palms joined together.

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lazy monk salutes Buddha (懒僧拜佛)

exercise: feet apart, arc backward, try to land


your palms on the ground at behind.

2, pre-variant 2, on-chest variant


bridge (桥) hide flower under the leaf (叶底藏花)

3 soft skills (柔功: rou gong)

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exercise: sit or stand, bend forward and try to pass
your shoulders through your legs and place your legs
behind your back.

3 3
coiling dragon (青龙卷腰) golden rooster stands on one leg (金鸡独立)

exercise: ‘clasp Buddha’s foot’: one leg squats, other leg straight
in front, hands pull back its toes, bend forward with straight spine,
try to touch the toes with your chin; switch legs.
try ‘front split’, legs straight; switch legs. at advanced level,
combine these to ‘posture 7’.

4, pre-variant 4, pre-variant 4
clasp Buddha’s foot (抱佛腳) front split (竖叉) skyward step (朝天蹬)

exercise: ‘clasp Buddha’s foot’: one leg squats, other leg straight
to side, hands pull back its toes, bend sideward with straight spine,
try to touch the toes with your head; switch legs.
try ‘side split’, legs straight. at advanced level, combine these to
‘posture 8’.

5, pre-variant 5, pre-variant 5
clasp Buddha’s foot (抱佛腳) side split (橫叉) skyward step (朝天蹬)

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Balance (light-body) exercises make you ‘as light as a swallow.’ they are better learned
by using supports, like leaning to a wall, etc., at the beginning. practice for 5 minutes or
so daily by holding still or doing push-ups/sit-ups in one or a couple of postures. at the
mastery level, one may load weights on his body in balance postures. there are many
balance postures with similar purposes; these are the most famous postures and their
usual variants.

1 1, simpler variant
arhat salutes Buddha (罗汉拜佛)

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swallow balance (燕式平衡) 3
aka dragon surfs on sea (蛟龙探海) reverse swallow balance

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child salutes Buddha of 5
compassion (童子拜观音) sleeping fish carries Buddha (卧鱼载佛)

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6, pre-variant 6, pre-variant
Buddha ascends midair meditation
to heaven (迎佛升天) (悬空打坐)

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arm support (臂扶撑)

8 8, advanced variant
handstand (倒立) one-hand stand

on elbow stand 10
headstand monument (头倒载碑) upside-down salute Buddha (倒拜佛) Amituofo! _/\_

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1. Endurance exercises begin lightly, for example by jogging, gradually do them quicker

and heavier to beyond your endurance limits. when you think you cannot do anymore, do
more and harder. you improve day by day. do some exercises for 10 minutes or so daily:
jog, run forwards, sideways, backwards, zigzag, stationary run, high-knee run, run raise foot
forward, run raise foot backwards, jumping run, sprint, jump, turning jump, single-foot jump,
high-knee jump, squat, squat walk, squat hop, crawl, roll, somersault, pushup, punch, kick, ….

2. Hardness, power, Speed, and control exercises of the 72


skills/arts/methods/techniques kung/yi/fa/shu 艺/功/法/术. every
monk selects a few skills to practice and master.

__________
1- "body-building with self-hitting":

1. metal bell cover (金钟罩: jin zhong zhao): ex+in


2. serial hits (排打: pai da)
3. twin locks (双锁: shuang suo)
4. knock groins (门裆: men dang): in
5. tortoise back (龟背: gui bei)
6. iron knees (铁膝: tie xi)

7. iron robe (铁布衫: tie bu shan)

8. iron ox (铁牛: tie niu)


__________
2- "body-building with hard objects":

+ hitting:

9. 1000 sheets of paper (千层纸: qian ceng zhi):


10. meteor poles (流星桩: liuxing zhuang) aka standing like a pile and
hit a pile (zhan zhuang da zhuang)
11. hit wooden dummy (打木人: da mu ren):
12. reveal truth (揭谛: jie di): ex+in

13. iron head (铁头: tie tou)


14. iron arms (铁臂: tie bi)
15. iron sand hands (铁砂掌: tie sha zhang)

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16. hands of 5 poison (五毒手: wu du shou) aka 5 poison chase sand
palms (五毒追砂掌: wu du zhui sha zhang) aka palm of 5 thunders
17. mantis claws (螳螂爪: tanglang zhao) aka diamond hand (jingang
shou)

18. chop-devil swords (斩魔剑: zhan mo jian) aka Bodhisattva Guan Yin's
palm (观音掌: guan yin zhang): hardness&speed

19. fist brick breaking (in Deqiang's jibengong book)


20. horse saddle (马鞍: ma an)
21. bullet fists (弹子拳: dan zi quan)

22. metal sand hands (金砂掌: jin sha zhang) aka rub and pierce (摩插:
mo cha)
23. metal spade fingers (金铲指: jin chan zhi) aka immortal’s hands (
仙人掌: xian ren zhang)
24. poke stone (点石: dian shi)
25. one diamond finger (一指金刚: yi zhi jin gang)

26. guitar playing (琵琶: pipa) aka springy fingers (zhi tou tan)

27. kick wooden pole (踢木桩: ti mu zhuang) aka pole of cypress (柏木桩
: bai mu zhuang)
28. iron sweeping broom (铁扫帚: tie sao zhu)
29. trampling foot () (in Deqiang's jibengong book)

30. shooting feet (足射: zu she)

31. kick hanged weights (踢称锤: ti chen chui):

+ pressing:

32. Bawang's elbows (霸王肘: bawang zhou)

33. slithering snake (蛇行: she xing) aka jumping centipede (蜈蚣跳: wu
gong tiao)

34. rubbing palms (合盘掌: he pan zhang)

35. catching dragon hands (擒龙手: qin long shou): twisting palms

36. locking fingers (锁指: suo zhi)

37. pinch flower (拈花: nian hua)

+ pulling:

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38. pull out nails (拔钉: ba ding)

39. pull out mountain (拔山: ba shan)

__________
3- "body-building with heavy objects":

+ hitting:

40. hard and soft (刚柔: gang rou) aka 1000 sheets of paper (千层纸:
qian ceng zhi)?

- hung bag:
41. eagle wings (鹰翼: ying yi)
42. bamboo leaf palms (竹叶手: zhu ye shou) aka copper sand palms (铜
砂掌: tong sha zhang) aka palm rotating sand (fan sha zhang)

+ pushing:

43. pushing mountain palms (推山掌: tui shan zhang)

44. water separation (分水: fen shui)

45. lash power (鞭劲: bian jin)

46. cloth bag (布袋: bu dai)

+ throwing:

47. sack of iron (铁袋: tie dai) aka sack of iron beads (铁珠袋: tie
zhu dai)
48. kicking legs (腿踢: tui ti)

+ lifting:

- dumbbells:

49. frog (dumbbells) (蛤蟆: hama)

50. eagle claws force (鹰爪力: ying zhao li) aka dragon claws (long
zhao)

- kettlebell:

51. kettlebell (石锁: shi suo)

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52. pot raising (上罐: shang guan)

53. carry 500 kilo (提千斤: ti qian jin) aka water chestnut (shi bo
qi, bi qi)

- halter:

54. 500-kilo halter (千斤闸: qian jin zha)

55. crouching tiger (卧虎: wo hu) aka sleeper (shui) aka feline (mao):
(first it's like chest press)

56. stone pile (石桩: shi zhu)

57. jade belt (玉带: yu dai) aka continuous round of the universe (qian
kun juan): hug the tree (抱树: bao shu)

58. RuYi ring (如意圈: ru yi quan)

__________
4- "body-building with hanging from bars and ropes":

59. flip and soar (翻腾: fan teng) aka leather strips (pi tiao)

__________
5- "body-building with walking, running, and jumping":

60. light body (轻身: jin shen)

61. walk on string (一线穿: yi xian chuan)

62. plum-blossom poles (梅花桩: mei hua zhuang)

63. flight walking (飞行: fei xing) aka flight over the earth (?陆地飞
行?) aka solitary walk of 1000 LI aka night walking
+ 陆地飞行??

64. run on boards (跑板: pao ban)

65. deft jumps (蹿纵: cuan zong)

66. high jumping (跳跃: tiao yue) aka higher and further (登髙超远: deng
gao chao yuan)

67. pass through the curtain (穿帘: chuan lian)

68. fly to roofs and walk on walls (飞檐走壁: fei yan zou bi) aka 8
step in the horizontal position (heng pai ba bu)

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69. lizard climbs wall (壁虎游墙: bihu you qiang) aka climbing a wall
(pa bi) aka hanged picture (gua hua)

__________
6- "body-building with water":

70. qiu shui 浪里钻 (泅水)': swimming,

__________
7- "improving body speed":

71. dodge and fight (闪战: shan zhan) aka sand bags (沙包: sha bao):
'??? (金刀换掌; jin dao huan zhang)'

72. spears and knives cannot wound (枪刀不入: qiang dao bu ru): speed

__________
8- "improving body senses and control":

73. enlightened (罗汉: luohan)

74. hung gold coin (悬金钱: xuan jin qian)

75. hung Buddha's pearl (挂佛珠: gua fo zhu)

76. hung cotton ball (悬棉椎: xuan mian chui)

77. draw in Yin (吸阴: xi yin)

__________
9- "developing body internal energy (Qi) for action at distance":

78. Yin hands (阴手: yin shou) aka Yin fists (阴拳: yin quan) aka
mysterious air punch (玄空拳: xuankong quan) aka well fist (jing quan);
chasing the wind palms (追风掌: zhui feng zhang) aka sun-rays hands (
阳光手: yang guang shou)

79. whirlwind palms (旋风掌: xuanfeng zhang) aka cinnabar sand palms (
朱砂掌: zhu sha zhang) aka plum-blossom palms (梅花掌: mei hua zhang)
aka red sand palms (紅砂掌: hong sha zhang)

80. one-finger meditation (一指禅: yi zhi chan)

__________

+ 软玄 : =xi yin?

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Some exercises could be trained in collaboration between two or more
persons…

iron sand hand: each palm 30~50 time, 100 day; 50 time after 100 day.

sand claw: rice, 50~100 time (until claws get numbed), 2~3 month; then with sand; then iron, 30~50 time, 1 year;
50~130 time; then wall, more than 100 time daily, after a long time one can make a hole in the wall.

punch: 0-100 time, 3~5 month; more than 100 time; after the pain vanish, 3~4 session daily, each session 50 time,
3~4 month later can break brick; then with stone, continue 10, 20, or 30 year.

head: both fists punch head, morning and evening 30~50 time, 3 month; 100 time, 1 year; 300 time 1 year; continue
3~5 year; then hit head with a staff 45 cm long 5 cm thick, grab it with both hands, slow to fast, light to heavy, morning
and evening, 30~50 time, 3 month; 50~100 time 1 year; 100~300 time 3 year; after success hit head to wall, 10~15
time, light to heavy, slow to fast, 3 month; 50~100 time 6 month; 100~300 time 3 year.

jump: hole 30 cm, 3~5 minute; morning and evening 15~20 time, until about 1.5 meter.

in case of injuries, wait until after the healing, then continue on.

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