Original Shaolin Staff and Sword
There's always a lot of dicssuion here about Shaolin origins so I thought I'd share a recent experience.
I've been working on an instructional video project with Grandmaster Chan Sau Chung - the monkey king. Two of the forms from his Tai Shing Pek Kwar system overlap with Bak Sil Lum - the broadsword and staff. The TSPK broadsword is called lau yip dao or willow leaf broadsword. In BSL it's (interestingly enough) the Pek Kwar Broadsword. The TSPK staff is the Kau Chow staff, the same as in BSL, although when I worked on the BSL WLE video series we translated it as Nine Province Staff. The character literally means 'continent,' which is how we translated for this new TSPK series, despite the fact that there are only 7 continents. The implied meaning is the same - it's just the way they said 'the whole world' in old China.
Anyway, it's always fascinating to find different versions of the same set. Surely anyone who studies Tan Tui or praying mantis Beng bu, knows about variation. An old collegue of mine, a student of Brendan Lai, used to collect different Beng Bu - he said he had over 50 of them and that was over a decade ago. He practiced them all.
My instinct tells me that the TSPK version is older than the BSL version. It is simpler, shorter and there's that issue of the name of the broadsword set. I think I could pick up the TSPK versions fairly quickly since they are so close to sets that I already know, but I probably won't. Despite my feeling that these are closer to the original, perhaps even the original, that holds no value for me personally. After all, they're just sets. Variation in interpretations are minor details really - both versions are completely valid. Both are real kungfu.
But it did get me thinking about Shaolin in general, especially that discussion we have here so often about the validity of the modern Shaolin Temple. When I assume that the TSPK version is the original and BSL is the more modern version (at least within this century) and if I stick to the BSL version, I chuck out a lot of that original nonsense. Being the original, or even just a little earlier on the evolutionary chain, does not mean superior. Now let me back step a little and state for the record that I don't mean to imply that the TSPK is inferior at all. What I want to say is that original is not necessarily superior. I'm just sticking to the successor becuase in this case, I don't see that there is much more I could draw out of the older version.
We often get in this loop about the modern temple not being valid because it has lost connection to the previous incarnation. To me, this TSPK vs. BSL situation is very much the same issue, just from a different angle. Older is better if you're a simple Confucian. Then you have to honor the hierarchical relationships unquestionably. But if you've read Confucious carefully, he did leave an 'out' - the relationships are based on having a superior ruler. If we assume that this is not the case, all bets are off. Taking the Chan perspective, well, it's not about orthodox dogma, it's about the moment.
Anyone else familiar with the TSPK and BSL braodsword and staff?
Pek Kwa Doe and Gou Jau Gwun
“Gou Jau Gwun” or Nine Province Staff is originally from Bak Sil Lum (Ku Yu Cheung and Man Lai Sing lineage). This set is also known as “Luk Hop Yat Lo Gwun” or Six Harmony First Staff. This set was from the “Luk Hop Mun” or Six Harmony School of BSL.
“Pek Kwa Doe” is originally from the Pek Kwa style of Northern China. This style was later named Tai Shing Pek Kwar after Kau Sze (who developed his own monkey style) and his student Kan Tak Hoi.
At one time, Ku Yu Cheung of BSL and Kan Tak Hoi of TSPK exchanged students who in turn exchanged forms and as a result these two sets were shared.
During the 1970’s, I happened to study “Pek Kwa Doe” from both lineages at different times and know that they differ at the end of the form. I believe that the differences were a result of modifications made by one party for whatever reasons they chose.
I read this information from a Chinese martial arts magazine during the 70’s. I am open to hearing other versions of this since I am not a descendant of either lineage nor am I an authority of their histories.
NPM