The following writings depict an abridged history of the Chinese Martial Arts. The original version of these writings were compiled by Lung Shi Ed Strok and published in the mid 1970's by a local newspaper in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, Canada. Written and published at a time when Bruce Lee was still alive and many felt that only Asians practiced the fighting art of Kung Fu.
Much has happened in, and, to the martial art world since the time Lung Shi Strok first began to teach in Canada. The modern age has brought the martial arts to everyone's living rooms but with that, many things have also been lost.
For over the past 25 years Kung Fu has been taught in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. Almost without fail our instructors are asked to explain the martial art we practice and how Kung Fu compares to other arts I asked Lung Shi Strok if I could resurrect the publication to help me answer some of those old questions as well as attempt to give those who practice a martial art a sense of history. To try to give them that sense of roots that seems to have been lost in all the flash and wirework of the movies and the world of "Extreme Martial Arts".
Also, I have taken the liberty to place here and there some tidbits of information surrounding individual modern day styles that are practiced around the globe.
The abridged history of Chinese boxing is not intended to be or, to represent the full and definitive history of the Chinese Arts....But hopefully, it will cover the when, where, and how. I hope it will pass on to the reader, a sense of the deep philosophy found there in.
Where to Start
Up until the early 1970's, the term Kung Fu was unknown to the general public. A surprising development when you consider that the Chinese martial arts, now known as Kung Fu, have existed for over 2000 years. Television first popularized Kung Fu and then came the movies with all of its wirework and sensationalized action. Yet in spite of all the media coverage, only a small segment of the Art has been depicted. Most people equate martial arts or Kung Fu with the breaking of boards and bricks, a mystical way of beating up on other people or running up the side of walls.
It would seem that the best place to start is with an explanation of the words them selves.
"Kung Fu" is a term used by westerners to describe the Chinese martial arts. As such, it is not an accurate one. The term it self simply translated means; "special skills" or "ability".
Someone having exceptional skills or ability in farming or carpentry, or writing can be said to have KUNG FU. The way the term is most frequently used however is in describing a martial art. Just as the word "Karate NOW means "empty hand" (see the tidbit at bottom) and is used to refer to the many different styles of Japanese arts, the term Kung Fu is used to depict Chinese Boxing. Some schools still keep the more original names to describe their art, Ch'uan Fa; Ch'uan Te Ch'uan Shu; Wu Shu (national art) or Gou Shu (martial art).
But generally "Kung Fu" has become the generic term used to describe the over 200 styles of Chinese boxing.
From the beginning of recorded time, many of man's activities have been of a competitive nature. We have been taught that competition, whether it is a measure of ability or a special skill, is good for the body and mind.
Sometimes, these competitive urges, however, are directed towards a goal other than pleasure. The physical ability or skill of one person is pitted against another. This occurs in matters of competitive sport and wars.
Such was the case in early China.
China has always been viewed as a warlike nation, and its history is filled with conflict. It is not surprising, then, that an early form of wrestling (2200 years ago), Ch'ih yu hsi, was not only a spectator sport, but was also a part of preparation of warriors. Chinese boxing is unlike western boxing.
Hands, feet, elbows, knees, and even your head are used in defensive and offensive ways. So when one refers to Chinese boxing, we are talking about using virtually all parts of the body.
Hand fighting (shou po), or boxing is first mentioned in records from the Han dynasty (206 B.C. to 220 AD). It would be guesswork to know how Chinese boxing evolved to the present if it remained uninfluenced by other factors. Other factors??????
Don't Forget to Breathe or the Real Beginning
I remember these words being said over and over again. The class would be in a low horse stance, legs straining, and determined faces turning red with exertion. Lung Shi Strok would calmly say "Don't forget to breathe."
Well today we take it for granted. Almost all martial arts taught today cover or include some very simple (at least that is what is seems like NOW) internal techniques. Techniques that are crucial to the physical and internal development of the martial artist. Perhaps the most important influence upon boxing was the development of breathing exercises that were occurring at the same time as Shou Po (hand fighting) was being refined.
Legend has it that in Southern china, in the later Han Dynasty (A.D. 25-220), a famous physician named Hua To devised a series of movements to relieve emotional tension and to tone the body. These exercises were based on the movements of five animals: the bear, the monkey, the bird, the deer and the tiger. Each of these five series of exercises required different movements, and each in turn was intended to stimulate and strengthen the muscles of the body, as well as the internal organs. An important part of these exercises was the control of the breath. When a person is engaged in any activity, the muscles must receive oxygen in order to function properly and not fatigue. As a person becomes winded, gasping for breath (shallow breathing) insufficient oxygen is drawn into the lungs. When this happens, the muscles grow weak and tire. Through learning how to breathe properly, a person is able to demand more of the body. This control of the breath is known as "chi kung' or "internal work", and serves as not only the basis for the "internal" or "soft" systems of Chinese boxing but for the development of power, strength and focus in the "external" or "hard" Chinese systems. It should be noted that the exercises devised by Hua To had nothing directly at all to do with Chinese boxing. Rather they were done for their health promoting properties and as insurance against becoming ill. Because these exercises did not develop within a martial arts framework, current day historians tend to overlook their importance. In fact most martial art historians ascribe the beginning of what is currently known as Kung Fu to a Monk from India who traveled to China some 300 years after Hua To developed his exercises.
Tradition, Legend and History
Between the development of the breathing exercises and the beginning of the internal systems, another event occurred that had great impact upon the martial arts. Tradition, legend, and historical records claim that one man was responsible for the development of what was later to be called "Kung Fu". He was known by various names: Tamo, Daruma Taishi, • Bodhidharma, and others. Some scholars believe that Bodhidharma is credited with bringing Zen Buddhism to China. They generally believed that he was born in Southern India around the year AD. His spiritual instructor, Prajnatara, told him to
go to China. He traveled there by ship, arriving in Southern China around 475. Legend has it that he spent nine years in meditation, facing the rock wall of a cave that was about a mile from the Shao-lin temple.
Other scholars tell that he was a Buddhist monk (born around 475 AD) from India who learned that the original teachings of Buddhism were being taught incorrectly in China. He undertook a journey on foot from India, crossing snow capped mountains and entered China with the intent of correcting this.
These teachings, called "Ch'an" in Chinese, or Zen in Japanese, stressed the unity between body and mind, tolerance of all things, and the prohibition of injuring any living thing. It should be noted that these same principles are a large part of any person’s training in Kung Fu.
When Bodhidharma arrived in China, about 525 A. D., he established residence in the Shao-lin monastery, (also known as Sil-Lum or Siu-Lum), in northern China's Honan province. His original intent, was to establish the original teachings of Ch'an, however he found, that the monks were too weak to absorb there teachings. It should be pointed out that in ancient China, monks renounced all worldly possessions and with the exception of a small amount of time farming (to feed them selves) most of time was devoted to meditation or prayer to Buddha. As a result, they were in poor health.
Bodhidharma recognized that the Monks desperately needed better health and mental alertness. To help with their rehabilitation he developed an 18- movement exercise: 18 hands of Lo-han, or 18 monk boxing, which the monks were required to do every day.
Technically the exercise could not be called "Kung Fu". Nor could it in the strictest sense be called physical, as the feet remained stationary. Rather, much like Hua To's exercises, the 18 Lo-han movements stressed breathing and in combination with the movements the internal organs were stimulated, thus promoting health. In fact some historians say that the movements in the 18 hands of Lo-han originated with the movements in the five exercises developed Hua-To.
One of the modern day equivalents of the original 18 hands of Lo-han are a series of health promoting exercises called the Ancient Art Silk Weaving Exercises. This is a series of 12 exercises in which body movement and breathing are coordinated. Every student in Kung Fu learns this, or a similar series, to be described later.
That Bodhidharma was an actual person who lived in the Shao-lin monastery is a historically documented fact. It is legend, however, that describes how and why he came to be in China and it is legend that credits him with the creation of the exercise known as the 18 hands of Lo-han. Part of the same legend that ascribes the creation of the health producing exercises called Wu-Ch'in Chih Hsi, or The Frolicking of the five Animals, to Hua To.
During the time beginning with Hua To's exercises, up until Bodhidharma's exercises, Chinese boxing was also developing along a separate, albeit parallel line. This parallel development is important to recognize.
Earlier records of various dynasties mention boxing. Such records are incomplete and therefore provide little indication of how systemized boxing rally was. But these same records do refer to boxing being done with the walls of the Shao-lin temple. It is unclear as to whether boxing was originally a part of a monk's training, or whether people seeking refuge in the temple brought it in.
After Bodhidharma
With the arrival of Bodhidharma, and the creation of the 18 Hands of Lo-Han, boxing, and with the notion of boxing and health being combined, a boxer's training was the mastery of 18 Hands, and the practice of Frolicking exercises.
After Bodhidharma's death, little is known about the development of boxing. Some historians claim that he had written a manuscript, the "I Chin Ching", or "Muscle Change Classic", in which the health promoting exercises are depicted. Although open for debate, one could assume that boxing in China developed slowly, as the next reference to it involves a Shao-lin monk named Chueh Yuan.
When Chueh Yuan lived is controversial; Some say about A.D. 900, others claim during the Yuan Dynasty (Â.D. 1260- 1568), while still others say that he lived in the 1500's. What all martial arts historians do agree upon is that the name Chueh Yuan marks the development of modern Kung Fu.
Chueh Yuan was a Buddhist who entered the Shao-lin monastery to study boxing from the monk Hung-Yun. He soon became dissatisfied with the 18-Hands Lo-Han movements which he had mastered, and after considerable work, expanded them to 72 movements. He still wished to improve his boxing skill, so he undertook travel throughout China seeking other boxers from whom he could learn. Legend tells us that while in Lanchow, he came upon a 60 year old peddler named Li-Ch'eng who was being assaulted by a larger and younger opponent. While the young bully attempted a kick, Li-Ch'eng touched his opponent's foot with two fingers of his right hand, and the attacker
immediately fell unconscious. Chueh Yuan was quite impressed with this feat and struck up an acquaintance with Li. Although Li-Ch'eng said that he knew little of boxing, he offered to introduce him to a local boxing master named Pai Yu~ feng. Pai, at 50, was a friendly and spiritual man who, after considerable discussion and persuasion, agreed to go back to the Shao-lin temple with Chueh Yuan and Li- Ch'eng. There they too devoted their lives to boxing practice and soon combined the original 18 Hands exercises with
the 72 devised by Chueh Yuan which resulted into a series of 170 exercises divided into five sets.
The three masters classified each set under the names of: Snake, Crane, Tiger, Dragon, and Leopard. Together they were called Ng Ying Ga., (Wu Ying Pai) or Five Animal Style, and are also known as Shao-lin Wu- Ch'uan (Five Formed Fist of Shao-lin). Each of these sets has a different emphasis and approach and each complements the other. Together they form the complete basis of the " external" or " hard" style of Kung Fu. Today, several hundred exercises or forms exist, each one having been derived or
originating from one of the five animals.