SHAOLIN TEMPLE BOXING page nine

Demonstrators:Various. One of the oldest continuous styles of Kung Fu in the world. Famous the world over. Associated with the birthplace of Chan (Zen) meditation. Many of these forms are, in our opinion, purposely meant to "look ancient." Shaolin has been categorized as "hammering" going from "hard to soft" and other stylistic restraints. Old texts are imitated to give the appearance of a certain, specific means of movement. This is not the first time in history Shaolin has fought this: see our historical text, the Spring and Autumn of Chinese martial arts. The movements, to the best of our research are authentic, but one should take with a grain of salt the implication that Shaolin is an unevolved form still practiced as though there had been no history of development in the last 1000 years.

Not a beginning form. Intermediate to advanced. The actions here are somewhat more sophisticated than the resurrected forms we are seeing in these series. More lively, too. Hand flowers abound, as do body inclinations and unusual striking angles. This form almost appears to have the angular deviation of Mantis without the hook hands. It introduces a bit of the tipsy feeling - not drunken style - which SHOULD be one characteristic of advanced Shaolin.

A nice, flowing set with the sword. Once again, very representative. Straight sword tends to be at least intermediate in level. From that they range between fairly simple to Kun Wu and other more complex sets. This is a very doable, clean and relatively simple set with a few very nice turns. The nice thing about straight sword is - regardless of the system - that it stands alone as the "soft side" of any style.

To paraphrase the old criticism, "Shaolin BaJi is to real BaJi what marching music is to music." Interesting historically. We could write a long piece on the relationship between style, system and other aspects of general Kung Fu theory. This is Da BaJi assimilated into Shaolin. It has been transformed into Shaolin "style" and, without getting too complex, this might contradict the very concept of Shaolin as a "collection" style. The Swiss once unsuccessfully tried to import pasta into Italy. If you want real BaJi go to Cang county.

A nice, basic saber set interchangeable with dozens of other. It concentrates on the Pi, Liao, Heng and Ce actions of Split, Lift, Cross and Thrust. Saber actions are all right while body movement is a little constrained to make it a high level broadsword. Shaolin flavor is evident but less pronounced than in many other forms.

This is a survey of different sets in this series. The Kan Jia Secret sets including #'s 3, 5 and 7. Also the weapons sets including the saber, sword and staff. A good sampler.

Shaolin Yak Sha Gwun. The Yak Sha is an evil spirit of the Buddhist variety. This is a simple set with emphasis on poking actions and long, horizontal slashes known as Crossing. A good introductory set to the Shaolin stick work.

Those of you familiar with the Northern Shaolin system will see these as more fluid and complex sets than those represented by the "Hammering" series. More jump kicks, spins, broom kicks and others famous leg combinations of the style. Cross hand motions and wider arm movements more befitting a Long Arm styles.

A good, intermediate set with strong but not brittle positions. This is representative of what might be termed the culmination of Shaolin, that is to say the finalized system later in its history: say, around the Ming Dynasty when Shaolin actually became a popular and famous style.

Five Tigers always refers to a more advanced and fiercer version of a weapons form. This is a nice stick set, one of the best in the series. The changes are reasonable but sophisticated with good skills demonstrated for the eyebrow stick. Movements are varied and well balanced with fluid transitions and good changes.

VCD#737 Shaolin Secret Fist #5 Road
About 1 Hour, VCD pricing, Chinese Only

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Another of the secret series of Shaolin sets. This one is also a more sophisticated series of movements with faster hands and more fluid movements. Multiple kicks, sweeping actions, running steps, wider more expansive moves and fast willow leaf palms with changes characterize this set.

The same classic Chin Nah moves can be done a number of ways. One is to show the base movements which are essential to the art. Then there are levels, lots of them, to the execution of the movements. In this VCD the Shaolin Chin Nah (which is, remember, pretty much like all Chin Nah) is done in a categorical manner showing the base movements with a bit of Shaolin force and hardness. This resembles the Luo Han branch of the art. Straight forward moves and performances.