Hi There I was chatting with a friend of mine today about Shaolin temple and its authenticity. My friend was telling me that shaolin kung fu is still taught at the temple and that its authetic. I read a book called the shaolins grandmasters text which says differently. Unfortunatly my coopy is not at hand. but i do remember there was an article written 10+ years ago for either blackbelt mag or kung fu mag saying the shaolin temple taught state sponsored wushu and not authentic Shaolin kung fu. I do not recall the name of article or the author. Does anybody know what i am on about ? or know the article or link i was reffering too ? I hope i was clear enough in what i was asking.
Don't know the article or the author - but the whole shaolin temple thing has been very big business for kung fu toursim for many years now. A fantastic way to fleece westerners of their money and all they have to do is shave their heads and buy into the mystical awesomeness that is shaolin kung fu. hahahahahahaha... yeah when your mate actually gets to China - maybe he'll wake up.
The Shaolin Kung Fu that is taught is generally not sport wushu, it's it's own thing and sometimes actually pretty ugly. In terms of authenticity its probably best viewed as a branch of the Hongquan systems native to the region. That being said there are some schools at Shaolin/Dengfeng that only teach wushu to transient students, and only teach Shaolin after a few years training. Then there's the performance teams which are doing performance wushu and are state sponsored, but these aren't representative of what is taught in schools. When considering the authenticity of Shaolin there are two things to consider. Firstly what we know of Shaolin history makes claims of unbroken lineage from monk to monk transmission dubious. This doesn't necessarily mean that the material isn't authentic, just that they're not being straight up about where it comes from. Secondly it must be questioned how significant Shaolin was in Chinese martial history. The Shaolin myth as we know it is a largely 20th century construct, with no real historical foundation.
San Shou is a sports based ruleset, which is a sub set of modern Shaolin. Its chinese kickboxing...period...and some Shaolin monks specialize in it. Its a piece of the puzzle along with forms practice, and Qi gong, and Chan...etc Not all Shaolin is competition wushu forms. There are performance forms as well as traditional. The modern temple is big business. The history is jumbled. Some monks focus on performance...some don't...some know both The monks who practice are the real deal and live their art. Unless you have trained with a Monk (from the temple) to see how fast and powerfully they move in person (videos don't do justice)... You just don't know
If you want to look at it from your friends point of view, this book is quite good: Also this video which covers some of their training, applications and philosophy. I can see why someone would consider it, as you say, "Wushu", and I don't suppose they'd mind: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWLcCpDOXm0"]Shaolin - YouTube[/ame] ...you can see there too that there is some difference between the public schools and the private monastry.
A friend of mine did a stint some years ago. He liked the fitness and early mornings, but said the technique stank. He had to stand there and be hit by his teacher because he annoyed him by continually besting him during staff practice. No idea how much of a tourist trap he went to though.
I'd take stuff written by Wong Kiew Kit with a large pinch of salt. His version of "Shaolin" differs a great deal to the "official" version. Neither impresses me to be honest.
I also have read The Shaolin Grandmasters text and have wondered how acurate of a representation of Shaolin history and philosophy it is. I understand this is not a simple answer, and apologize if this is the Chinese equivalent to Ashida Kim or Frank Dux! Just trying to be a little less ignorant of the subject of some of my favorite movies.
http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94138&highlight=shaolin&page=10 http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108121&highlight=shaolin http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77769&highlight=shaolin http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46541&highlight=shaolin http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34300&highlight=shaolin http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34209&highlight=shaolin http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7278 http://seinenkai.com/articles/henning/mythsofshaolin.pdf http://books.google.com/books?id=Ki...CFsQ6AEwBTge#v=onepage&q=shaolin myth&f=false http://chinese-culture-symbols.com/shaolin-temple-china/
Since the Communist took over China, all of the real Shaolin Monks have either fled and are in hiding or have been killed or incarcerated. Shaolin Monks are known to be resisters towards oppressive regimes, so no way would the Commies allow them to co-exist. The Shaolin Temple was shut down and in a severe process of decay. Martial Artists worldwide, donated money to help maintain it's upkeep. Now since China became Capitalists, the temple was just another opportunity to bring in money. It's like Disney World there. A giant tourist trap. They've populate it with the Chinese Wu Shu team who whore themselves out for shows, doing parlor tricks for the tourists. A ton of merchants selling craps outside and inside. A bunch of fake Shaolin schools opening up all around that vicinity, etc. Anyone can train there now, w/o any required forms of hazing like in the movies. Any fattie with a checkbook, qualifies. The training is legit though, as those Wu Shu guys do fight and probably just as good as the real Shaolin Monks. Maybe even better. I have an MMA friend who trains there, and he's a fighter already...and he says it's legit what they're teaching him....and not some cakewalk. He's there to really train, so they're working him.
