Question on Type of Hunan Temple Training

[JayElliott]

Within the temple, there is a large Hall (whose name escapes my memory), often shown on documentaries of the temple and such, where the floor contained many depressions from consistent training over the years.

The training itself is what I am curious of. The monks practice basics in a pre-arranged form, but it is (mostly) stationary, always practiced in the same spot as the depressions. What IS this training, what is it's purpose, etc? Something I've always wondered about. Forgive me, I'd post a picture or video clip illustrating what I speak of, if I had one to post.

Salute.

[Pk_StyLeZ]

are you talking about the positiong when they stomp(cannon fist) and then punch up in the air and go back to mabu and punch punch and stomp agian and punch and punch some more(yeah tehre is many variations of it but u should get the point if we talking about the same thing?)

this training is for your foundations..basic.....the same concept as doing horse stance and doing punches...but they are adding some more movements in it....for more practice your basic stances and punches and get power.....atleast that what i think =)

[mickey]

Greetings,

That punch and stomp technique was made popular by Jet Li's Shaolin Temple. I guess it was an attempt to explain how the impressions got there in the first place.

Another possible explanation was demonstrated in the documentary on Abbot Haideng. It involved hand techniques punctuated by a hop to the next impression. Though it looked more plausible, I still don't know if that was the technique. Maybe Gene can join in and share some wisdom.

mickey

[Pk_StyLeZ]

Greetings,

That punch and stomp technique was made popular by Jet Li's Shaolin Temple. I guess it was an attempt to explain how the impressions got there in the first place.

Another possible explanation was demonstrated in the documentary on Abbot Haideng. It involved hand techniques punctuated by a hop to the next impression. Though it looked more plausible, I still don't know if that was the technique. Maybe Gene can join in and share some wisdom.

mickey

i dont believe the hai deng explanation..reason being because...there is a hop between everything. and not everyone hops the same distance, so there should be dents onthe floor all over the place because im sure some people hop ****her then others and some hop closer, depending on their ability. unless they were all trained to hop the same distance or they get there ass beat by 20 bamboo sticks then ok..but i doubt it, cuz if you train for a fight, you dont train to hop only a certain distance right?
make sense?? i dont know??

[viper]

ive got a doco on this its about shaolin but its in there when they do that its a basic trainn method used for stance and positioning.

[GeneChing]

I was once told by a student who was studying with Shi Xinghao that he said the hopping technique demostrated in that old doc was something rather extraordinary. Apparently that master was very well known for that technique and it was something that Xinghao really wanted to learn. He had seen it on the video and could emulate it, but he insisted that his attmempts to copy the video where completely missing the essence of the move and if he were to return to Shaolin, that would be one of the main techniques he would pursue. Whether this is true or not, I've always found that intriguing.

Many old temples around Asia have marks on the floors left by monks, usually from prostrations. I have this wonderful photobook of Tibet that was given to me by a friend who assisted with the project - argh! I can't remember the name at all of the book - but it has this great photo of the floor boards where you can see the impressions of feet worn into the hardwood from years of prostrations. Symbolically speaking, once you get past the whole martial front, kung fu practice at Shaolin is the same as such prostrations.

I remember the old floor at the Wushuguan used to have these 'pits' and those were modern made. The wood floor had given way after only a few years of pounding demonstrations. The monks liked the pits because it gave more spring for the tourist wushu demos they had to do so often.

[mickey]

Hi Gene,

Thank you for sharing with us. That hopping technique seemed to train the ability to go from light to heavy: requiring something more internal than the obvious.


mickey