1)DUBIOUS HISTORY
Shaolin Do history (according to shaolincenter.com) claims that a monk with hypertrichosis named Su Kong Tai Djin (1849-1929) was raised in the Fukien Shaolin temple and learned all their sets.
Then another student name Ie Chang Ming (1880-1976) trained there and learned all there was to learn and left the temple to teach in Singapore.
Cross-examination:
Where was this Fukien shaolin temple that these two "monks" trained at?
Only recently has anything been found that even resembles a Southern Shaolin Temple. According to legend it was destroyed in the early Ching dynasty which began in 1644. The archeological evidence seems to support this. 1850 is not early Ching dynasty. Furthermore if the temple had existed around 50-100 years ago when the dog face monk and his student supposedly trained there don't you think that other people in the area would have known about the temple? And yet this temple was highly disputed to even exist until it was discovered in the last couple of years. The temple that exist there now was built in 1991.
2) FORMS
According to swshaolin.com
"Since its creation, Shaolin has collected, refined and retained over 980 katas (forms), representing more than 50 different open hand systems and many different weapons. Contrary to the popular belief that Shaolin monks only practiced the "hard styles", every major form of internal kung fu was practiced in the Shaolin temples. This includes every major family of Tai Chi and Pa Kua, as well as Hsing Ie and the very rare Liu Hsing (meteor fist). Shaolin monks also possessed an awesome body of knowledge on esoteric Taoist and Buddhist Chi Kung (breath training) and Nei Kung (internal training) techniques."
***Are we to believe that Sin The knows 980 forms? My style Choy Lay Fut has 200 forms and even that is considered excessive. And obviously not every practioner knows every form.
Furthermore, the part about all these styles like Pa Kua, Xing Yi and Taiji being practiced in the temple is complete bull****.
Shaolin Ie Lu Lian Chien Gun (1st road of shaolin connected sticks)
1st road of Shaolin connected sticks (nunchaku)
2nd Road of Shaolin Connected sticks (nunchuku) (to be taught March 2003)
***"Shaolin connected sticks?" aka Nunchuks are not a Chinese weapon. There are no Chinese styles as far as I know that use nunchuks.
Tie Cha Chuan (sai weapon)
***Sai is also not a traditional Chinese weapon. Was this practiced in the temple?
Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan (64)
Classical 8-section Pa Kua Chang
Shing Yi 5 roads
Shing Yi 5 roads linked form
Shing Yi 12 animal forms
Shing Yi 2 man set
Yang Jia Tai Chi Jian (Tai Chi sword)
Black Belt 3rd - 4th degree (4 years required to complete this level)
Tang Lang Chien -Praying Mantis Fist
Yang Se Tai Chi Tao -Tai Chi Broadsword
Tai Chi Tao Tue Ta -Tai Chi Broadsword 2 man set
Chen Tai Chi Chuan -Chen Tai Chi New Generation 83 Posture
Pa Kua Pa Sing Chang -8 Animal Pa Kua Palm
Praying Mantis System
Pa Kua Spear
Pa Kua Wu Tze kun (sun moon fork)
Snake (Python) Pa Kua Chang from E-Mei
***None of the forms listed above are Shaolin forms. Therefore even if the dog face monk learned all the forms of the so called "Fukien "Shaolin Temple he would not have learned these.
So where did these forms come from? Who certified any Shaolin Do instructor to teach these forms? Xing Yi, Pa Kua and Taiji are all systems unto themselves and were not taught in any Shaolin temple and certainly not under these names. Where did these forms come from? They don't just appear. They come from somewhere. Further, most of these forms are Northern Chinese in origin. How would they have ended up in the Fukien Shaolin Temple? Why do most styles of Southern origin look nothing like these forms that were supposedly taught in the Southern Temple? For example, Hung Ga, CLF, Mok Ga, Bak Mei, Li Ga, Choy Ga all claim Shaolin origins and all share similiarities yet very few with Pa Kua, Xing Yi or Taiji?
3) TRADITIONS
Background:
Traditionally, students of Chinese kung fu would not wear anything special to kung fu. They would wear there work clothes. These were traditional Chinese pants that required a sash to be held up and traditional chinese coat with hooked buttons.
When kung fu came to the western world and with the adancement of the textiles industries students changed to loose fitting elastic waisted pants and tshirts. The "traditional" outfit is usually only worn for special performances. The sash remains fixture of the uniform mainly because certain sash colors became associated with certain styles. Sash color had nothing to do with advancement or rank. In addition shoes were worn during training because training might have taken place outside or the pracitioners may have had to be ready to leave at anytime.
Shaolin Do:
Shaolin Do wears a traditional JAPANESE karate Gi. They have a belt grading. They don't wear shoes when they train. These are all the hallmarks of traditional KARATE aka JAPANESE training. Shaolin Do (according to shaolincenter.com) claims that:
"Grand Master Ming left China and settled in Bandung, Indonesia where he began to teach the Shaolin art. In Indonesia a law was passed prohibiting the teaching of Chinese Martial Arts. Grand Master Ie circumvented this law by adopting many of the trappings of the Japanese styles of martial arts. He changed the name from Shaolin Tao to Shaolin Do. He changed the uniforms from the classical Chinese styles to the Japanese karate gi's. He also used Japanese belts instead of the Chinese sash and instituted a ranking system similar to the Japanese using Japanese names. The changes, although cosmetic, were enough for the authorities and he was allowed to continue to teach."
Cross examination:
Can anyone verify this law? Anyone in Indonesia. This whole story sounds concocted. Why would they ban only Chinese martial arts as opposed to all martial arts? It seems hokey that anyone would pass a law that was that specific. Further, what are the chances that a native born Chinese would just nonchalantly pick up the trappings of Japanese dress. The Chinese and Japanese have not always had very amicable opinions of each other. I have a hard time imagining this scenario especially 50 years ago.
More to come......
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