The truth about Shaolin and Wudang Kung fu (today and in older days)

[RITTERKING1]

Greetings!
I will start a thread describing what i have found out about shaolin and wudang. Whats fake and whats real. I ll hope that many of you will contribute to this examination.

Truth about Shaolin
When Budhism and living in the shaolin temple was again permitted after Maos death, there was no temple. Everything had to be build from the beginning. All books were burned in the fire from 1928. Shi de qian travelled to all country to find Shaolin styles and write a shaolin encyclopedia. But there is a confusion with the shaolin texts.Every shaolin teacher uses another poems and words for describing the same form. They dont have a common line.

They reincarnated the Guoshu wushu institutes program, that all taichi-bagua-xingyi are wudang styles and that all other styles are shaolin. But every kung fu style is internal and every is external. As a beginner when you practise a style, you dont know his secrets and you practise many techniques wrong. This is the external teaching of the style. After months or years, you learn how to use each technique correct with its secrets. This is internal.

In Shaolin today, the most famous schools are:
-Tagou school (famous for its Sanda/Kickboxing prizes in competitions)
-Epo Wushu school (famous for its forms)
-Fawang temple school (where you live like a monk and train. Sleeping on hardwood,dressed like a monk and eating vegetables).

In Dengfeng today they teach this styles:
-Xin Kung Fu (new kungfu). Modern wushu. Teached widely in every school. You can recognize it by fancy training moves and jumps. Your balance is mostly high.

-Lao Kung fu (old kung fu). Not so much teached because it looks boring and only a few teachers knew it. You move your whole body from the dantian and your body weight is low.

-Combat kung fu. Sanda. Wear gloves and fight. Like western boxing. Brawling without philosophy.

Modern Shaolin burns the muscles. You are like a football player. In your younger days at the top and after your thirties you cant do any sport with professional standards. The real shaolin was to work in the fields and become a strong body from the work. Only one day in a week technique training for selfdefense and not techniques for attack.

Shaolin had spread all over China in older days. Why is Henan shaolin different from other shaolin styles? The excuse for this was that the Kuomidang goverment had only the coastal provinces and not the Henan province under their rule. Also only coastal area kung fu styles belonged to the kuomidang kung fu program. But many tell us that shaolin was so famous and that it was spread all over the country during the Ming dynasty when the shaolin defended all China against the japanese pirates. And thats true. So shaolin kung fu reached all China. How can you see which is the real shaolin kung fu? Keep in mind that shaolin kung fu had spread all over China during the Ming dynasty and that Mao banished kung fu practise from mainland China. What remains? Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, America and other places where chinese people immigrated. Which shaolin styles do they practised? Hung Gar, Choy li fut, Wing Chun, Bak sil lum and others? Hung gar was called in older days just as Shaolin and not hung gar. The same with Bak silum. It was called just Northern shaolin.

and now lets talk about Wudang because Wudang and Shaolin are connected and a study have to look at them both.

Truth about Wudang
When Taoism and living in taoist temples was again permitted after Maos death, there were no monks there. Only hermits around the mountains. The abbot of the Sanfeng lineage Zhong Yun Long travelled to north China searching in taoist temples for wudang kung fu styles so he can bring them back again to wudang. Again the reincarnation of the Guoshu institute programm. All taoist styles are wudang styles. You xuande from the xuanwu pai lineage travelled to south China to find wudang styles in taoist temples and bring them back. A similar story like shaolins Shi De qian.

Today in wudang the most famous schools are:
-Sanfeng pai. More taoist oriented. With the most prestige in Wudang and for this reason a little more expansive then the others.
-Xuanwu pai. They say that they teach south wudang. Also taoist styles from south China. More confucianism oriented.
-Longmenpai. More confucianism oriented too.

There are different schools and classes for chinese and for foreigners. The chinese are more strictly, with beating and high expectations. The foreigner lessons are more soft and easy.

Truth about both Shaolin and Wudang
In very old days, they were two groups in the kings palace of war advisers. The warriors and the literati. The warriors used their muscles and were very tough. They endured hard hits on their bodies and they had the strength to rise heavy halberd weapons. The literati were fencers and fought soft like a woman because they werent use for hard work. They trained their mind and used strategies. People from this two groups went after wars to temples to avoid more wars or to calm down or because of a weapon ban. The warriors went to Budhist temples and the literati to Taoist temples. The reason? In budhist temples you work in the fields, in the kitchen and you chop wood. In taoist temples you dont work so hard. You play music and study.

In 1644 when the Manchu conquered China, they arose a weapon ban and many literati and warriors went to temples.
During the Ming dynasty because of their hughe training ground, the temples were training grounds for new recruits of the Ming army. Especially the shaolin temple. The Manchu burned the recruit training facilities temples around the central shaolin temple. The central temple remained as a Budhist center.

The shaolin were not warriors. But warriors that knew martial arts and became later shaolin (budhists). First during Tang dynasty they were former bodyguards and now they protected the temple. And many of them become budhists by living in shaolin and having so much contact with the monks. And so was the first shaolin martial deity created. The jingang. Budhas bodyguard from former bodyguards of the chinese emperor. The Budha were the praying monks that dont fought. Later during Ming, many warriors went to shaolin to train there and many new recruits of the Ming army. They fought in many places in China and so was Shaolin spread all over China. And today, after a long prohibition, we have a sports regeneracy of the martial arts and a tourism face of them because of kung fu movies. In older days only soldiers, bodyguards or criminals practised martial arts. Today with their sports face, all people want and can practise them.

Sources:
-The Shaolin monastery-Meir Shahar
-Shaolin trips-Gene Ching
-Chinese Martial Arts: From Antiquity to the Twenty-First Century-Peter Lorge
-Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals: A Historical Survey-Brian Kennedy
-The Hidden History of the Chinese Internal Martial Arts-Sal Canzonieri
-Osprey publishing chinese armies (all of them)
(and many other books)
-Contact with many practisioners and masters of chinese martial arts
-Training in various kung fu styles