What is Shaolin?

[kfson]

What are the Shaolin forms?
Are these forms only from site specific Shaolin Monastery or does it include other areas of China also?

[David Jamieson]

What are the Shaolin forms?
Are these forms only from site specific Shaolin Monastery or does it include other areas of China also?

I suggest you read some of the articles at the ezine first. THis kind of thing has been discussed to death and it's only fair if you get the basics into you first.

There are all sorts of articles.

Shaolin in the here and now is not the shaolin of 100 years ago or even 50.
Shaolin of the Tang dynasty wasn't like Shaoin of the Ming dynasty and it was the Qing dynasty that saw the greatest amount of Martial arts practice and exchange in the Shaolin temple.

long ago, there were no forms. when there came to be a lot of different systems, long forms started to be organized. But this is very recent. As in within the last couple of hundred years.

there are 10 shaolin sets now that you can learn through the official curriculum.

there are numerous styles of kungfu who owe their existence to the Shaolin order firstly and to their caretakers that followed.

It's a huge subject. You will do a lot of reading if you are actually interested.

[kfson]

I suggest you read some of the articles at the ezine first.

Will do........

[Sal Canzonieri]

Will do........

Go to the archives in my signature, I wrote most of the Shaolin history articles that were published in the better martial art magazines since 1990, especially this one (KungFu magazine) that hosts this forum.

[uki]

i can tell you one thing, there are no shaolin at the temples. :)

[kfson]

Go to the archives in my signature, I wrote most of the Shaolin history articles that were published in the better martial art magazines since 1990, especially this one (KungFu magazine) that hosts this forum.

Wow, a wonderful read. Grazie.