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Brief History 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.

Martial arts of various styles have been branched from one main style. The Shaolin Martial Arts has been the main style that a lot of others are being referred and derived from. It was initially taught at a Buddhist monastery as a primary martial art in Songshan Mountain in the Henan province of China. This is where it started and where other fighting and defense art has begun.

A Buddhist monk arrived from India and travelled China around four hundred ninety five A. D. It was during the Northern Wei Dynasty where the Emperor Xiaowen offered Buddhabhadra, also known as Ba Tuo by the Chinese people, to teach Buddhism. Although he refused this offer altogether.

Even if Buddhabhadra turned the offer down, he was still given land in Mount Songshan to construct a temple for Buddhism. This is the location of the martial art Shaolin originated and it actually translates to a small forest. This has been there until now for one thousand and five hundred years already and is the location of the biggest schools for its development and derivation into various 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.

In Henan, this is still practiced by monks who reside there. And it is a known fact by many that it has an entertainment value because of the beauty of the movements and form which caught the attention of many international audiences. However, the value for its self defense is being diminished due to it needing to be more showy and entertaining rather than useful.

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.

This style leans more towards for striking. It makes use of punches, kicks, and blocks to hinder attackers from striking. What gives this a lot of attention is the form of these styles which adds to the beauty of the art. It utilizes a mixture of closed and open handed strikes for defense. The application of hard and soft techniques also contributes to this artform.

There have been a lot of movies and films already that has used this style for the scenes. Also, it has been inculcated in fitness programs which trainers have studied this along with stuntmen. A few training facilities have opened up to deliver education and skill training for this art form aside from the origin which is in Henan. They teach the basic forms for kids and adults.




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