1. Shaolin-Do is definitely not original material (in terms of actual forms) from Shaolin. It doesn't mean that techniques and some foundational principles are not conveyed. But it isn't THE shaoiln or even "a" shaolin. But it will be related more or less to other styles because someone taught GM Sin and GM Ie something kung-fu-ish at the Chung Yen School in Indonesia. This is now my only interest in SD, since I don't practice any of it except Black Tiger and Si Meng Bao Lian (although I do practice the Jing Wu versions of its pirated forms). Jie Quan and Lian Wu Zhang are taiwanese (or more importantly, come from the Chinese nationalists who were exiled to Taiwan with the Kuomintang govt). One of them is Chin Woo (sometimes Lian Wu Zhang makes it into ChinWoo as a side-form), which means it comes from the republican era of Chinese MA (early 1900s) and can't be "original Shaolin from the Southern Temple." We can research these forms and disprove the lineage with ZERO doubt quite easily now thanks to the internet and Google Translate.
2. I doubt Shaolin-Do is a "system" in the way we would recognize it. Youtube "Siaw Lim" or "Siauw Lim" and look at the multitudes of "Shaolin" in Indonesia--all of which are some hodgepodge of Kuntao, Silat, karate, and Chinese Martial arts. Nevertheless, the core basic forms that GM Sin taught the longest actually have quite a bit of Fujian flavor to them, as a distillation of techniques, and therefore are closest in originality to the kung fu/kuntao he probably learned in Indonesia--whatever that hodgepodge was.
3. GM Sin did not "shorten" or "make easier" any originals. In my opinion, he made them harder and worse; and if he did "shorten" them with this intention, it was because he was a bad teacher. I think Siu Meng Bao Lieh is a decent form that simplifies Fujian kung fu and passes on the sequences of its "Se Mun" forms (see Goh/Ngo Cho Kun). But I'm betting that distillation came from one of his teachers, and not GM Sin--given that it is so good as a distillation of Fujian techniques. But this "he made it easier" explanation is false. Westerners can learn Tan Tui, Jie Quan, and Lian Wu Zhang without having the techniques shortened and made simpler. Though that first judgment sounds harsh, here is why I am so harsh: Lian Wu Zhang (his brown belt form) is actually a 2 person form (dui lian) practiced in Taiwan, sometimes called Martial Arts Sparring Palm because the chinese characters for 連五掌"5 Continuous Plams" (lian wu zhang) and 練武掌對打 "MArtial Arts Sparring Palm" (lian wu zhang dui lian) sound pretty close if passed on orally. The difference between them is simply tonal on the "a" in Li
an and "u" in W
u; this turns "Continuous" (lian) into "Art" and "Five" (wu) into "Martial" (as in
Wu-shu). Lian Wu Zhang teaches VERY basic techniques as a two-person form. I've been practicing the corrected version for 4 years. It's the same form, just "un-fu*&ed" from whatever GM Sin did to it when passing it on. The form is patterned to teach basic techniques, and the "fu*&ed" version he teaches confounds one's ability to apply those techniques when the second partner is standing there with you doing the other side of the form (There aren't many well-performed sets on YOUTUBE, but here's one demo from some kids (kid in white hoodie is doing SD's version correctly, but also at a beginner level):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?index=...&v=TrNyyBpPOJ4). Another version from the 高芳先 Gāo Fāng-Xiān lineage pretty identical to the one I learned: (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?index=...&v=pdfh9jqapII). I can tell you, having practiced this form for years--it is the same form. But where GM Sin shotgunned in some solutions to the form, he lost the techniques and principles of the second partner. In sum, Westerners can do Chinese MA. I picked up longfist and Jing Wu at 30 no problem, as well as Liangyi, and vastly improved my flexibility and stances, etc.. If #3 were an excuse anyone felt justified in offering, it's an excuse that is just as easily explained by "bad teaching." Some very good fighters are also ****ty teachers. Good fighters/good teachers: One doesn't preclude the other, nor yet does it presume the other. I can say that Mullins, Nance, and Reid were the best I saw, from top-to-bottom, and I value every lesson I took from them.
4. It was "totally made up." More likely, it was his attempt to teach what he originally learned, and which was not well-systematized in Indonesia. The rest is ****ty marketing.
5. The new forms came from videos, very likely (Qiang Shu/White Ape Mantis & 7-star). The rest was created from his base of knowledge. And I get it--if he were honest. He was geographically isolated and kung fu is a more recent phenomnenon in MA. If he wanted to teach forms learned via video, he could have. He should've just done that. But he represented it one way and did something else. His Liu Shing and Ching Pao--they probably aren't useless. But they're definitely not learned from video or chopped up from videos. They're his originals. I think they're pretty bad, as far as forms and demos go. His 7 Star is shotgunned in places. I know this now. I didn't know it back then. I studied the 14 roads of 7 star tan tui. The BASIC techniques (Guo Lo Cai Shou/alternately Bung,
forgive sp. not gonna check it now) get turned into 2 motions instead of delineating a chain of techniques, etc. The 7 hands and 8 hands is pretty ****ed good, tho. How much anyone values what Sin created very much depends on how competent and trustworthy one finds GM Sin. Given the misrepresentation in advertising, that's not much. Also, his tai chi and bagua are really bad. So is his brother's and the elder masters'. I'm not saying they can't hit hard or apply what they know. I'm saying they can't demo the basic principles (outside of a handful of guys who are quite excellent, including a former SD teacher of mine who is AMAZING). But I can tell you this--as a student I was always in a weird place because my teacher was 10000X better at Tai chi and Bagua than GM Sin and the Elder Masters. Why? He knew the princples and executed them flawlessly. But that DIDN'T come from his teachers. It couldn't have. They hadn't mastered them or shown an ability to display them. (NOt looking to stir up any beef in SD, in which I play no part. This is MY evaluation, and why I left. I wanted to learn something I could pass on with pride).
None of these are intended to say that the The' brothers can't fight and weren't strong guys, and couldn't teach people to punch and kick. They could. And they could do it well. But based on what I've seen firsthand...their "Chinese" kung fu is pretty bad and not very "Chinese," and unfortunately what was pretty good is also what was pretty ****ed basic. They should have stuck with what they had learned instead of building up a bad marketing strategy and then adding 5,000 forms to back up the marketing instead of being honest. The more complex forms are often done wrong and have shotgunned sequences placed into the cracks in memory like silly putty holding the forms together. If you have the chance to study outside of the art, it can be very enlightening. And I've been lucky enough to come across a couple of arts that are pretty parallel to SD. Jing Wu is one. 5 Ancestors is another. Some of the Longfist is, as well. Chen/Yang Tai Chi/Bagua (CMC's 37 posture Yang and Jiang Rong Qiao's NEW style bagua) are better learned from good teachers. I fixed mine with the assistance of video instruction, tips/seminars from competent instructors who KNOW the principles, and worked them into a respectable state. Seminars/workshops will put you in contact with some good practitioners and training partners. I don't have a lineage for those arts now. But I'm proud of my competence to display and explain the principles, now.
None of this means that SD can't teach you to fight. It can. And I still utilize many of those foundations everywhere I go. It does mean that SD is an "original" art in the sense that it was created by Sin The and his brother from whatever their basic studies were. The rest is dishonest in its presentation, and sometimes in its composition. You could create an application for the shotgunned sequences in Jie Quan and Lian Wu Zhang. I did that as a student. But they're not the forms that go by the name utilized, even though the forms move in the shadows of the originals.