Many people know about the Shaolin Monastery in China; films have been made about it and written in books and newspapers.
Everyone knows that the monks of this monastery possessed unusual martial arts.
So, the birthplace of the martial art of Wushu is the Chinese province of Henan. Namely, the origin took place in the famous Shaolin monastery.
What is it
Wushu, translated from Chinese, means “to stop aggression or martial art”; in the West it is called kung fu. A person who masters Wushu techniques is called a Wushuist.
The creator of this unique martial arts was the former patriarch Bodhidharma in the middle of the 6th century AD, he was also the creator and laid the foundations for the Chen sect, called Zen in Japan.
When Bodhidharma came to the Shaolin Monastery, he began to talk about the new teaching.
And then he saw in the first lesson that many students were weak in body and spirit, that is, they fell asleep during classes.
And so he decided to create a physical and psychological preparation special exercises entitled “18 movements of the hands of Arhats” (Arhat is a superman or demigod, translated from Sanskrit - worthy).
In these 18 simple combinations, first they stood up on defense, then they struck, and in the end there were a lot of combinations, about several thousand.
Even before the creation of Wushu in the 2nd - 3rd centuries, a famous physician named Hua-to developed therapeutic exercises– Games of five animals, which included a bear, a bird, a tiger, a monkey, a deer, that is, an imitation of these animals.
But it was also used not only for medicinal purposes, but also for combat. When he died, he left behind a huge and scientific legacy.
This gymnastics also exists on at the moment, you can watch it in this video:
Styles
Soon, the Shaolin monks began to develop styles of animals and insects, imitating the elements of water, wind, fire and air.
Now there are several thousand styles of Wushu. For example, the names of famous wushu styles - the most famous is Taijiquan (Great Limit Fist), it includes slow and plastic movements that fascinate with their beauty, the beauty of these movements is not only external, but also internal, that is, a person feels all the beauty in his body.
There is also a style of wushu Tanglangquan or Mantis style created by master Wang Lan from Shandong province.
Tanglangquan includes fast movements, flexibility, and grips.
Using it, you will know all the beauty, and to know it, you need desire and willpower, then you will reach the heights of perfection itself.
Now the martial art of Wushu exists almost everywhere, some use it for combat, and others for medicinal purposes. Wushu is also a kind of gymnastics. There is also the sport of wushu sanda - free contact combat.
You can start practicing it if you want to get to know it better, here is the title of the book - author I-Shen - “We start wushu gymnastics from scratch.” Read, enjoy and be healthy!
Watch a video about the martial art of Wushu:
The martial monks of the famous Shaolin monastery claim that the skill cannot be taught, because it is invisible and can only be practiced. Diligent study, patience in hardship and persistent training will allow you to gain knowledge, strengthen the body, cultivate will and character - this is the basis of the world's largest martial arts school, located next to the Shaolin Monastery at the foot of the sacred Songshan Mountain in Henan Province.
The Shaolin Tagou school of traditional Chinese wushu was founded almost 40 years ago by a seventh-generation master and lay student of the Shaolin Monastery, Liu Baoshan. An ordinary school has turned into a real empire: thousands of square meters of territory with gyms and training bases, 35 thousand students and 900 coaches. It is important that these days in Shaolin Tagou they teach not only traditional wushu, but also boxing, taekwondo, MMA, Shaolin football and even fight choreography for cinema. Shaolin Tagou graduates annually join the ranks of the Chinese army, police and intelligence services.
We tell you how the Shaolin Tagou school lives.
A melting pot of military discipline
The main feature of the school is Wushu, and the basis, according to the leaders, is education. At Tagou, general education subjects are taught from primary to high school; At the same time, children are accepted from the age of five or six, but there is no upper threshold - people over thirty can also “enter.” Main criterion- school tuition is paid. 1 month of full-time training here costs a thousand dollars, a year - 10 thousand [ information from the school's official website].
The director of the school's propaganda department, Feng Weifeng, says the following:
Feng Weifeng: Some come to us because of the popularity of the school, for some wushu is a hobby, some are brought by their parents, some children are sent here because they are naughty and uncontrollable. There are also those who come to our school under the influence of kungfu films. They also want to become famous martial arts actors.
The discipline at the school is “army”: getting up at 5:30 to the sounds of a real military march, exercises and breakfast, after the first training session and lessons in general subjects, lunch and another training session, lessons, dinner and another training session, lights out. There are no mobile phones here and computer games, and communication with parents is allowed only in the manner intended for this landline phone. Schoolchildren usually go home once a year.
Of course, Tagou students wear clothes according to the dress code: black sweatpants, red trowels and the famous Feiyue sneakers. Schoolchildren live in dormitory rooms without heating for 10-20 people. Clothes are washed independently in ordinary basins. Teachers and older friends help the little ones at first.
Mr. Feng Weifeng compares the school to a melting pot.
Feng Weifeng: This school is like a melting furnace, like a crucible, disobedience is only a temporary phenomenon. There are so many obedient children, there is such an atmosphere here, and they become infected by it. There are also those who really can’t stand it and leave.
According to Weifeng, every year about a hundred students fail to cope with the strict schedule and discipline. Some even dare to escape. Therefore, security guards are on duty at all departures, the role of which is performed by the schoolchildren themselves. The fact is that students under 18 years of age can leave Tagou only by decision of their parents.
Feng Weifeng: This is not to say that once you enter our school, you will not be able to leave it. There are also those who run away. Having brought them back, we educate them with conviction, explain to them the difficulties of human life, admonish them, help, show care and love.
Well, schoolchildren who have been studying at Tagou for many years already know: it’s only difficult at the beginning, then habit and patience come. The main thing is not to stop halfway.
Demand: do not use corporal punishment against students
The director of the school's propaganda department, Feng Weifeng, answering the question of whether schoolchildren are beaten for violating discipline, assured that such methods are strictly prohibited. However, Weifeng immediately added that martial arts schools in China used to practice corporal punishment - this was the norm.
Feng Weifeng: We have a strict requirement that no corporal punishment be used against students. Modern parents have a completely different attitude towards this. Yes, a child may study poorly, but you cannot beat him for it. In past years, in Wushu schools - you know, we have so many here in Dengfeng - corporal punishment was common. And in general, there was such a traditional way of education in Chinese schools, so sometimes everyone can endure being hit with a stick a couple of times in a soft place. But now you can't just hit a child and get away with it. If this happens, his parents will sue you. Now the law is very strong.
Interestingly, even fights between students happen extremely rarely. Coaches and school representatives are ready to arrange a duel between conflicting schoolchildren - with mutual consent and under judicial control. In this context, it is important that, according to the school rules, coaches live with their students in the dormitory, eat with them and in most cases know about all the tensions and disagreements. Each coach is assigned 40-50 schoolchildren.
Girls and boys study in different groups and rarely overlap
There are 35 thousand students in Shaolin Tagou, and only about three thousand of them are girls. Schooling is divided by gender: boys and girls study in different groups and rarely intersect.
Schoolgirls say that practicing martial arts makes them bolder, more courageous and they are not afraid of any difficulties.
According to school spokesman Feng Weifeng, boys and girls are rarely together at school, and open "love stories" are not allowed at school.
Feng Weifeng: Our boys and girls study in separate groups. There are separate male and female dormitories. Of course, maybe they have secret love, but no such phenomenon has been discovered.
Answering the question about whether their former students, who also know martial arts, become criminals, Feng Weifeng says that this is also possible, but there is no need to connect it with the school.
Feng Weifeng: What, from Tsinghua University [China's most prestigious university] Are only good people graduating? No matter what kind of moral education the school gives, once they enter society, we are no longer able to control them. Therefore, one should look at martial arts schools objectively. We are the same as other schools, only we have one more discipline. There is no need to look at us in an extremely subjective way.
According to a representative of the educational institution, the important thing is that at a martial arts school, students can develop a will that will be very useful for them in independent life in society.
04/29/2018 Oleg Mironenko 1196 views
From century to century, the Shaolin monks honed their skills. Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters To move like the wind, to be heavy like a mountain and light like a swan's down - this art is taught to Wushu masters.
It is generally accepted that all types of Chinese martial arts arose on the basis of military equipment that was developed in the Shaolin Monastery. In fact, this is not entirely true. In reality, Chinese Wushu is divided into many styles and schools. And not all of them were practiced and studied by the monks of the monastery. Shaolin art is famous for its worldwide fame hand-to-hand combat owes much to Hollywood, although the monks themselves did a good job for the glory of Shaolin.
The term “wushu” can be translated from Chinese into Russian as “martial arts”. Today the Wushu world is split. Her Majesty Ideology intervened, as always. In the last century, some Chinese communist politicians considered that traditional wushu was a relic of the past and called for the creation of mass wushu, beginning to implement their plans. This is how wushu gymnastics appeared, which has nothing to do with martial arts. Any tourist who finds himself in China never ceases to be amazed when he notices with what zeal and diligence the Chinese practice wushu gymnastics. All you have to do is wake up early and walk through some park...
Just wushu
Traditional wushu is still not gymnastics, but a complex martial art. It includes not only preparation for hand-to-hand combat and the ability to handle various types of weapons. The training system in all styles is approximately the same: first, the base is “given” - the basics of technical and physical training; further – learning techniques and working out their practical application; and only then – psychological training that prepares the fighter for real fights.Most styles end with the word "quan", meaning "fist". However, in many schools fists are given a secondary role. Then they can end in “jan” (“palm”) - for example, baguazhang (“palms of the eight trigrams”), or “jiao” (“foot”) - chuojiao (“stuck feet”).
Wushu gymnastics has nothing to do with martial arts. Photo: Mohammad Ismail/Reuters
Chinese Wushu originated around the first millennium BC. At that time, China was not yet a unified state. Each petty prince wanted to subjugate his neighbor. Every now and then bloody skirmishes occurred. It is quite obvious that wushu “grew” from a system of training warriors. Its first stage was military dances that imitated battles. So the warriors practiced a number of combat techniques.
The Chinese rulers quickly realized that the effectiveness of combat (and then clashes with the enemy occurred regularly) increases many times over if the fighters have not only skills in handling weapons, but also hand-to-hand combat techniques.
For a long time, military and martial arts were not separated, but from the 6th-7th centuries the situation changed: the former became the privilege of the elite, the latter - the common people. The result was a kind of symbiosis of military techniques, folk mysticism and Taoist views - unique system wushu, which includes not only martial arts, but also entire systems of internal human training, psychopractice and the so-called “regulation of the circulation of internal energy “qi”.
Gradually, the nature of martial wushu changed. Specialists began to appear whose level of skill was superior to Wushu warriors and palace specialists. First of all, this concerned hand-to-hand combat. Commoners often could not afford expensive weapons - so they honed their skills differently, making do with a basic pole or without it at all, that is, with their fists.
Skills can be honed with soccer ball. Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters
By the end of the 19th century, Wushu became a mass phenomenon. More and more schools appeared. Many of them were more like secret communities, where the entire arsenal of means of combat was collected bit by bit, techniques were honed, and tactics were developed.
Legendary monastery
As for the oldest branch of Wushu - Shaolin art - it originated in the Sunshan Shaolin Monastery in Henan Province. One day, the Indian Buddhist preacher Bodhidharma (the Chinese called him Putidamo or simply Damo) appeared there. This event took place in the 6th century. The first thing Damo did... sat down for 9 years was to meditate in a pose called biguan in order to seriously think about how to help the monks. When Bodhidharma “woke up”, he wrote several texts. Two of them can be called medical reference books. One (“I Jin Jin”) talks about exercises that help develop physical strength. Another (“Xi Sui Jing”) talks about meditation, breathing and circulation. Most likely, it was Damo who “introduced” into the monastic environment, along with silent contemplation, the practice of regular physical exercise. The first Wushu complex that began to be studied in Shaolin - “Eighteen Arms of Arhats” (an arhat is a follower of Buddha who has reached the fourth stage on the path to nirvana) - was also apparently taught by Damo. In this treatise (“Shi Ba Luo Han Shou”) he outlined his experience, which he received in India, being a member of the Kshatriya caste (warriors and rulers). The text describes self-defense techniques. It is not known whether Damo taught wushu, but the “Four Deeds” prescribed by him included “retribution for evil.”However, it is worth recognizing that as a holistic martial art, wushu arose in Shaolin later. Around the 13th century during the Yuan Dynasty. This event is associated with the appearance in the monastery of four monks, experts in fist fighting: Li Sou, Bai Yunfen, Jueyuan and Li Sou's son, Denhui. Based on the “18 hands of the arhats,” Jueyuan created the “72 hands” complex, which was then significantly expanded - up to 170 techniques. Yunfeng developed the “five-stage combat” system. By the way, he is credited with the invention of the “system of five animal styles”, which became the main ones in Shaolin. However, historical sources do not confirm this - apparently, their appearance occurred in stages and stretched over centuries. The monks observed the behavior and habits of animals, how they fought with their rivals, defeating them. These observations formed the basis for the creation of fighting styles, which over time began to be used in real man-to-man fights.
Gradually, the so-called “animal” styles emerged, some of them developed so successfully that they began to form an entire school - sometimes several styles were formed in one rhinestone, which were noticeably different from each other. For example, within the “snake” style alone there are at least five types of combat: they are based on habits various types snakes - from a boa constrictor to a cobra.
From time to time, fighters from outside came to the Shaolin Monastery, some of them were distinguished by high combat skills - they shared this with the Shaolin monks. In Chinese manuscripts, a story was previously discovered about 18 monks who made a great contribution to the development of wushu technology. Today, classical Shaolin complexes can be called, for example, such styles as Hongquan (Hun's fist) and Tongbiquan (Tong's fist). Shaolin branches were opened in five provinces of China. Southern Shaolin in Fujian province even began to surpass the Northern one in popularity - its monks participated in many battles and local disputes, invariably emerging victorious. It was these monks who successfully resisted the Japanese pirates and expelled them from Chinese territory. However, the northern Shaolin people often found themselves at the center of political intrigue and unrest. For example, they took an active part in the overthrow of the Sui dynasty. The first emperor of the Tang Dynasty came to power not without their help, for which he ordered the monastery to be allocated 600 acres of land. In addition, the monks formed their own detachment of warriors. It served as an elite police unit and protected villages in the area from marauding gangs.
Modern Shaolin monks are also good artists.Photo: Luke MacGregor/Reuters
However, it would be wrong to think that the wushu taught in Shaolin was extremely complex. At that time, there were other, much more sophisticated forms of martial arts in China. Another thing is that in Shaolin they made a fighter out of almost anyone. The monks knew how to force careless students to train: they repeated the same exercise almost for days, until it became automatic. As a result, the art of fighting literally penetrated into their flesh and blood.
From century to century, the Shaolin monks honed their skills. Trouble came in 1928, when a great turmoil swept through China like a tornado - the period of “militarist rule.” The territory of the monastery became the scene of a battle, as a result of which it was simply burned down. The monks had no choice but to leave the monastery. Only in 1970 did Shaolin begin to be restored. The Great Helmsman Mao was not a big fan of traditional wushu, but he personally intervened in the situation. He responded appropriately to the arrival in China of the famous Japanese master So Doshin. He had a very specific mission - to tell about his “Shorinji Kempo”, which he successfully practiced. In China, they “kindly agreed” to consider this martial art (which is also a religious movement) a Japanese version of Shaolin Wushu. For some reason, the PRC government was inspired - it allocated a lot of money for the restoration of the monastery and even found the last surviving monks who had previously studied wushu in Shaolin.
A dozen young wushu enthusiasts were invited to the renovated monastery, who began to train in accordance with the ancient canons. They diligently studied old techniques, and over time acquired students. Then many of them traveled around the world and began to actively promote Shaolin Wushu - “the true gongfu of China.”
Today we are seeing an interesting situation. The ranks of fans of Shaolin Wushu were divided into two camps. Some consider the monks of the Sunshan Shaolin Monastery to be true followers of the precepts of the ancient masters. Others, on the contrary, label them “merchants” who only compromise real Shaolin Wushu. And it is supposedly still alive, but not in this monastery, but, for example, in the areas of Kaifen, Mengxian and some other places. Their argument is quite convincing: they say that no self-respecting master would charge money for a lesson from a naive foreigner who, after two weeks of training, wants to receive a certificate stating that he “studied real Shaolin Wushu” in Shaolin. But be that as it may, today the monastery lives and prospers. However, this is a topic for another conversation, to which we will return.
Martial art of Wushu
The term "wushu" translated from Chinese means "combat (or military) technique (or art)." This term has existed since the beginning of the 20th century, previously the terms “jiji”, “ji-qiao”, “jiyong”, “quanshu”, “quanyun” were used (which are translated, respectively, as “strike technique”, “technical art”, “ hero of technology, “fist technique”, “fist heroes”. The last of these names (quanyun) is the most ancient, it is mentioned in the “Book of Songs” - “Shijing”, dating back to the 11th-12th centuries BC).
Martial art WUSHU (China)
Martial art WUSHU (China)
Main tasks of the USU
The main objectives of wushu are: improving health, prolonging life, self-defense (the latter is not in all styles). Includes work without weapons (tushou) and work with weapons (daise). Both exist in the form individual exercises, technical complexes (taolu) and free exercises.
Martial art WUSHU (China)
They train alone, in pairs, in groups. Self-defense without weapons (fangshen) and sports contact fights “sanda” (which means “scattered strikes”, i.e. not combined into sets of formal exercises), strictly speaking, are not included in wushu.
Styles and schools of USHU
Wushu has a huge number of styles and schools. Almost every county in China, often every village, has its own style or at least a variant of the Wushu style. According to some sources, 130 styles are considered the most famous, according to others - 80.
Each of them has its own name. As a rule, it includes the word “fist” (quan), as well as a number of characteristics: place of creation (southern, northern, Shaolin); resemblance to the movements of animals (fists of a monkey, claws of an eagle, praying mantis, crane); peculiarity of movements (long, slippery, soft); the name of the creator of the school (Yan, Chen, Cha, Mo, Hong style). But there are also figurative names of styles characteristic of the Chinese (“Plum Blossom”, “Red Fist”).
Legends about the founders of USHU schools
Legends about the creators were passed down from generation to generation various schools Wushu. For example, it was believed that the ancestor of the “Monkey” style (Hou-quan) was the king of the monkeys himself. Tradition associates the appearance of the “Directed Will” (Xin-I-quan) style with the legendary commander Yue Fei. According to legend, the famous “Drunkard” style was developed by the monk Lu Zhisheng, according to another, by the famous poet Li Bo, and the “Lost Trace” or “Labyrinth” style was developed by a former student of the Shaolin Monastery, monk Yan Qing.
All these legends, where history was intertwined with fiction, gave rise to a sense of community between wushu masters and national heroes, and inspired the path they had chosen.
Three large USHU centers
Historically, in old China, at the same time, there were three large Wushu centers, each of which had special, unique features. These centers became the founders of the three main directions of traditional (or folk) Wushu: Shao-Lin, Wudang and Emei.
Udan direction
was formed on the basis of the religious and philosophical teachings of Taoism, associated with a person’s comprehension of his “dai,” that is, the Path. Taoism, based on the doctrine of the two principles of yin-yang and the five primary elements, sought to achieve their balance, which gave man the path to immortality. Over two millennia, Taoist monks, based on the Book of Changes, created a complex system of occult sciences, geomancy and palmistry. Throughout China there was a rumor about the miracles performed by the ascetics of Tao, about their ability to fly, cause earthquakes, and command thunder.
For Taoist hermits, the external was inseparable from the internal, that is, an unprepared body could not become the abode of highest wisdom and spiritual perfection. That is why they developed various psychoregulatory systems that combined breathing exercises, recreational and military-applied gymnastics, as well as a strict diet.
Creating gymnastics complexes, the Taoists sought to strengthen internal organs, achieve muscle elasticity, joint mobility, tendon strength, sensitivity of nerve endings and good blood circulation. Exercise were inextricably linked with the respiratory. Wanting to understand the secret of longevity, the monks tried to adopt the breathing methods of animals and birds that lived longer than a person. To recreate their breathing rhythm, it was necessary to take difficult poses, which, having turned from static to mobile, formed the basis of the so-called “animal” styles, characteristic of all areas of wushu.
Doctor Hua Tuo's system
The first of the Wushu treatises of the Wudang direction that have come down to us was written in the 3rd century. Taoist physician Hua Tuo, it was called “Games of the Five Beasts.” Its author became a legend during his lifetime, and after his death he was deified. Hua Tuo wrote: “I have my own system of exercises... It uses the movements of a tiger, deer, bear, monkey and bird. This system cures diseases, strengthens legs and maintains health for a long time. It consists of jumping, bending, swinging, crawling, rotating and contracting muscles by tension.”
This system was further developed in the Taoist sect of “Highest Purity”. In a large Taoist center in the Wudang Shan mountains in Hubei province, the Wudang direction was formed as a technique for achieving health and longevity through the psychomeditative conduction of “qi” energy through 12 channels inside the body; breathing, psychophysical exercises based on animal gymnastics; sexual practices; dietology.
It is believed that the soft styles that distinguish the Udan direction originated in the 3rd-5th centuries, and their formation occurred in the 9th-13th centuries. - a brilliant period of Chinese history.
Soft style
Why is the Wudang style of wushu called soft? All his schools (Tai Chi Chuan, Bagua Chuan, Hsin Yi Chuan, etc.) sought to bring a person to a state of naturalness, unity with the surrounding world. And the one who committed or provoked the attack violated this unity and balance and, as an alien element, was doomed to death. Hence the priority of defense, but even this is almost devoid of elements of aggression.
Basic principles of all soft styles
Udansky directions are reduced to the following.
Continuity and interconnectedness of successive movements.
Smoothness and roundness of movements.
Timely relaxation, allowing “to move while being at peace and being at peace to remain alert.” The whole body should be like a soft hose filled with energy.
Harmony of external and internal movement. The work of the arms, legs, and hips is an external movement, while control of the breath, mind and will is an internal movement.
A combination of softness and hardness. External softness and relaxation give rise to extreme rigidity at the moment of impact or block. “The root of the hidden spring grows from the heart” - this phrase is repeatedly found in Wudang Wushu. You should learn to eliminate all distracting thoughts by focusing on the essence of the movements.
These movements, grouped in a strict sequence of increasing complexity, are known as “tao”. In Ancient China, it was believed that the first tao were developed by a certain civilization of prehistoric times, which, “before disappearing,” passed them on to people as a path to physical and spiritual improvement.
The “tao” of all schools is characterized by alternating softness and hardness, relaxation and concentration, speed and stops, as well as a clear rhythm, a sense of distance and time, correct breathing and energy distribution! A mandatory requirement is to return to the starting point from which the movement began. As a rule, improvisation was not allowed when performing tao; it had to be reproduced with precision down to the smallest detail. This was explained by the fact that their developers - the founders of schools or famous masters - were carriers of a single Knowledge, messengers of the gods, and the Tao themselves were a means to unity with the Cosmos, to the awakening and concentration of vital energy.
Movement patterns in Tao
The patterns of movements in Tao reproduce sacred geometric shapes-symbols: square, circle, spiral. Even the number of movements corresponds to the “magic” numbers. All tao of various schools of Wudang Wushu are directly related to the theory of 8 trigrams and 64 hexagrams of the “Book of Changes”. Every movement in them carries philosophical meaning and magical symbolism. For example, the tao of animal styles are designed to bestow power, swiftness, fearlessness and invulnerability. And the one who performs them is under the protection of the divine animal whose movements he reproduces.
In Wudang Wushu, the image of the Soft and Weak defeating the Hard and Strong is often encountered. On the battlefield, agility and evasion overcome brute physical strength. Compliance turns the enemy’s onslaught against himself, uses his strength to destroy him. More than two thousand years ago, Le Tzu wrote: “In the Celestial Empire there is a path to constant victories and a path to constant defeats. The path to constant victories is called weakness, the path to constant defeats is called strength. Both of these paths are easy to know, but people do not know them...
Going ahead of those who; weaker than him is in danger from his equal; he who walks ahead of those who are stronger than him is not in danger... if you want to be firm, maintain firmness with the help of softness; If you want to be strong, protect your strength with weakness.”
Shaolin direction
Another major direction in Wushu is Shaolin (Shaolin Pai), which includes about 400 varieties of basic styles. A legend has survived to this day about how the Shaolin fighting style appeared.
Story
In 520, a small group of Buddhist adherents sailed from India to the shores of China to guide the rulers of the Celestial Empire on the path of truth. Among them was the twenty-eighth Buddhist patriarch Bodhidharma, the founder of the Dhyana sect, widely known in the East.
Bodhidharma was the third eldest son of the Indian Raja Sugandha, belonging to the Brahmin caste. The education he received corresponded to his high position: he studied traditional martial arts, the ancient Vedas, and Buddhist sutras. He was especially attracted to theosophy, the doctrine of the unity of the human soul with the deity. To learn the hidden truths of Buddhism, Bodhidharma joined the Yogacara sect and then founded his own. One day, having learned about the difficulties of Buddhist adherents in China, he decided to go to this country.
However, by the time of the arrival of Bodhidharma and his companions, Buddhism in China was far from going through its worst times. About 50 monasteries and 30 thousand Buddhist temples spread the foreign religion through their novices. Immediately upon his arrival, Bodhidharma obtained an audience with the ruler of the kingdom of Northern Wei. What they talked about is unknown, but only after this conversation Bodhidharma abandoned his plans to change the religious life of China and retired to the small Shaolin monastery, located on the outskirts of this kingdom in Henan province.
Here, in order to learn the truth, he spent nine years completely alone in a mountain grotto, praying and meditating. After that, he began to diligently preach Chan (“Chan” in Chinese is the same as “dhyana” in Sanskrit - “meditation”). This teaching, being a type of Buddhism, prioritized strengthening the body and spirit in the name of comprehending eternal truths. This is why Bodhidharma began to preach Chan by teaching Wushu, persistent physical training bodies as “containers of the spirit.”
Treatises on Fisticuffs
Numerous Chan military applied disciplines originated from Bodhidharma, eventually amounting to 72 martial arts. An ancient treatise says: “A brocade bag contains 72 precious arts. Eighteen of them are treatises on fist fighting, the other eighteen describe methods of wielding weapons. The rest are devoted to mastering Qi, exercises for hardness and softness, gripping techniques...” Shaolin exercises, developing bones and joints, helped strengthen the entire body. The person who mastered them could strike with any part of the body.
Bodhidharma's legacy was developed by his followers. Master Jue Yuan, who lived in the second half of the 14th century, occupies a special place among them. He was a brilliant and versatile educated person. His passion for philosophy conquered all other attachments, and he retired to the Shaolin Monastery to devote himself entirely to studying the problem of the unity of spirit and body.
Being a skilled swordsman, he not only mastered the basic school of Shaolin Wushu, but also improved it. Jue Yuan developed combinations of types of defense - “72 Shaolin techniques of capture and release.” Later they entered the arsenal of almost all wushu schools, but under different names. Here are just a few of them: “Secrets of Shaolin Grips”, “The Art of Combat Locks”, “72 Secret Grips”, “The Art of Breaking Ligaments and Tendons”, “Cunning or Devilish Hand”.
Accurate knowledge of anatomy
These 72 techniques were based on precise knowledge of anatomy, the laws of biomechanics and focused on pain points. Even earlier, Wushu masters discovered that out of several hundred acupuncture points a person has, 108 can, when pressed on them, strengthen or weaken a blow or grip. These include 36 points, hitting which at the appropriate time and with a certain force can kill a person. In addition, there are points upon which a wushu master can easily cause an influx or sharp outflow of energy, up to fainting, shock, suffocation, or a seizure. From China the art of 72 grips came to Japan and was transformed into martial arts aiki-jutsu.
Followers of Jue Yuan developed a complex of 170 techniques based on the styles of “Tiger”, “Dragon”, “Leopard”, “Snake”, “Crane”.
Tiger style
as the most rigid and powerful one, it mainly uses tearing energy. In the "Dragon" style, strength does not matter leading role, it is dominated by the flow of energy in the form of a wave from the head to the legs, the ability to simultaneously act with all parts of the body, which presupposes that a person has an impeccable vestibular apparatus.
Leopard style
"is based on the ability to accumulate elastic force and splash it out in throws and jumps. During training, special attention is paid
lower limbs and lower back. The instant reaction makes him the most dangerous. "Snake" style
characterized by low flowing movements, a change in state from maximum tension during a strike to complete relaxation. The principle of operation of this style is to wrap itself around the enemy, choke him, squeezing him with a ring, or hit him with a precise blow to a vulnerable spot.
Crane style
characterized by special endurance, balance, excellent stretching. During preparation, special attention is paid to footwork in various stances, as well as the ability to balance while standing on one leg.
As a rule, Shaolin monks studied the basics of all animal styles. Having mastered them, they began to specialize in one of them, in the one that most corresponded to their psychophysical characteristics.
The Art of Energy Management
The Shaolin monks attached special importance to the art of energy management and carefully guarded its secrets. They learned to transform their energy into a kind of armor capable of protecting the body from blows, injections, chopping with a sword or saber...
On the basis of Shaolin Wushu, a variety of styles took shape and developed. For example, the “Monkey” school synthesized the movements of monkeys, macaques, and chimpanzees. The abundance of acrobatic elements, the special position of the hands, special training for the eyes and head, and numerous antics made the masters of this style one of the most skilled in wushu. The styles of “The Drunkard”, “Rolling on the Ground”, and “Mitsun” are filled with complex acrobatics. They are based on a quick change of movements (walking forward, jumping back), instant transitions from one movement to another, rolls, falls, blows delivered from unexpected positions, as well as a sharp change in psychophysical states.
For centuries, the monastery managed to coexist peacefully with secular authorities. During the war with the Manchus, Shaolin served as a shelter and place of assistance to the rebels, but the monks did not directly participate in hostilities. And yet, under Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722), a merciless war was declared on Shaolin. The monastery was completely destroyed, most of the monks died. Legend has it that only five of them managed to escape to the cities of Southern China. It is these monks who are considered the founders of the southern version of wushu.
The five large southern schools of wushu are named after the master monks from Shao-lin who founded them.
The third direction in folk wushu is Emean
It gets its name from the Emean Mountains, located in Sichuan Province. There were many Buddhist and Taoist monasteries here, in which the Emei Pai movement was formed, which includes over 60 different styles based on Wudang psycho-training and Shaolin fist fighting.
The most famous are the 8 main Emean styles (4 large and 4 small), which combine both northern and southern schools of wushu.
The four major styles are Yue-men, Zhao-men, Du-men and Seng-men. Each of them is also associated with numerous legends, from which the creators of modern films about wushu masters draw inspiration.
The story of the master “Magic Leg”
The story of the master Ma Heizi, nicknamed “The Magic Leg,” is connected with the Zhao-men style. The founder of one of the three famous Red Fist styles took a man named Zhang Tanfu as his student. Having completed the entire course of study, he settled in Sichuan and took Ma Heizi as his student. Together they opened the Red Fist school in 1875. After the death of his teacher, Ma Heizi lived as a hermit for several years, perfecting his style. He introduced the technique of kicks and blocks into the “Red Fist”, developed and improved the technique of escapes and movements. Having ended his hermit life, Ma Heizi opened a wushu school in the city of Chengdu. His skill was so skillful that he received an invitation to teach wushu in the army. After the death of Ma Heizi, his style was called Zhao-men in memory of the then famous commander Zhao Kuanying, although he had nothing to do with the creation of this style.
Du-men style
associated with the name of Du Guanyin from Jiangxi province, who settled in Sichuan in the 40s of the 18th century. The basis of his style was to follow "naturalness to find equilibrium and balance." For this purpose, ten ways of approaching the enemy and the “8 grips and painful locks” technique were used.
The close distance characteristic of the Du-men style required a special hand technique, which combined techniques of grabbing the wrist, twisting the joints, stretching the limbs, stretching the joints until they broke, striking and pressing at certain points. For this, Du Guanyin and his followers created a special system for practicing hand grip and finger strength training. It included exercises for juggling balls of various sizes, weights, raw eggs, as well as for catching arrows fired from a bow, throwing knives, etc.
Throwing system in Du-men
different from other styles. Using the force of twisting and rotation, the hall was first pressed or pressed pain point, then the opponent was thrown to the ground rather than lifted up. A similar principle is used in Aikido. To avoid throws, a system of releases was developed, similar to the Tao “72 Shaolin grabs and releases.”
The characteristic Du-men principle of using several parallel actions at the same time - gripping, footwork, pressing on a painful point - required a perfect psychophysical apparatus.
We can say that Chinese martial arts are the hallmark of China. Many people all over the world know or have heard something about the legendary Shaolin Monastery and its famous monks - masters of Shaolin kung fu. In China itself, martial arts (in the broad sense of the word) are closely associated with the lives of almost all segments of the population. In any Chinese city, in the morning and evening in the parks you can see groups of people of all ages and professions engaged in one or another practice. For some, this is a way to maintain health and develop physical fitness, for some it is an opportunity to spend time in nature in the company of like-minded people, for others they train for combat use and self-defense, and for others Chinese practices are a path of self-development and a whole philosophy of life. Of course, Chinese martial arts are much more than a sport or health-improving gymnastics. This is a whole layer of culture that has developed over thousands of years along with the development of China and its ancient traditions.
Around the middle of the 20th century, Chinese practices began to actively spread beyond the borders of the Middle Kingdom. Now the Chinese styles of Wushu and Taijiquan are known all over the world, a huge number of people practice them, and in many countries there are schools created by Chinese masters or their students. More and more more people have the opportunity to touch this amazing knowledge, experience this experience and make their life a little better, a little more harmonious. And as a result, the whole world is gradually becoming better. Isn't this an incentive to study? J
The Chinese language is very difficult for Westerners to understand. Many terms and expressions are difficult to translate into foreign language, because they contain deep meanings that are understandable only in the context of Chinese culture and tradition. In martial arts, there are at least three commonly known terms, the meanings of which are sometimes confused - wushu, kung fu and tai chi. Let's figure out what it is.
Term "wushu" (武术, wǔshù, literally “military / martial art”) is usually used as a general name for all martial arts in China. The following areas of Wushu can be distinguished:
- Sports wushu (wushu-taolu) is a sport in which competitions at various levels are held. Athletes compete in performing complexes (taolu, 套路 - a set of paths), as well as various mandatory elements;
- sanda (sanshou), literally means " free kicks"(or "free hands") - "Chinese boxing", modern look contact martial arts in China. It was developed by the Chinese military based on various styles of traditional wushu, as well as self-defense methods and elements of other martial arts;
- traditional wushu is traditional Chinese martial arts that have developed over the centuries, usually in monasteries (in particular, traditional styles include those developed in the Shaolin monastery, in the Taoist monasteries of Wudang, etc.). Traditional Chinese martial arts tend to be the essence of martial arts and deep philosophy.
Term "kung fu" (功夫, gongfu) has a broader meaning in China. The word kung fu (or gongfu in Chinese) can be translated as “skill,” “hard work,” or simply “time.” That is, kung fu can be used in any activity - martial arts, cooking, construction and anything else, if a person has been practicing for a long time and has achieved mastery. However, in the West, this word is usually associated with the martial arts of China.
Taijiquan (太极拳, tàijíquán) – literally: “fist of the Great Limit”, Chinese martial art, a type of wushu (or kung fu).
What is special about Taijiquan compared to other styles of traditional kung fu and are there any fundamental differences between them?
Taijiquan is an ancient martial art, which is based on the ancient Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang - two opposites, two poles, always existing in pairs and never separately, constantly changing and flowing into each other. Strength is created from inner peace and the ability to control Qi energy. In this case, the emphasis is not on attacking and striking, but on gently redirecting the enemy’s force.
The same can be said about traditional kung fu, in particular Shaolin kung fu. Shaolin Kung Fu is a holistic system that combines martial art and Chan philosophy. This system includes not only technically complex movements and complexes, but also gentle methods of internal work and energy cultivation. In essence, there is no difference between internal and external. Any external manifestation of strength is based on internal work (neigong). One of the basic principles of Shaolin kung fu is that there is Chan in every movement. "Chan" (禪, chán) is the central concept of Chinese Buddhism, Chan Buddhism. It can be literally translated as “contemplation.” However, in the Chinese tradition, this word has a much deeper and more voluminous meaning, which is almost impossible to convey in words, but can only be felt with the heart.
This is maximum fullness and emptiness at the same time, this is peace of mind and inner strength. To know Chan means to know your inner nature and learn to act in accordance with it. Shaolin Kung Fu is when martial art and Chan are inseparable. “Every shot is a smart shot. Smart means there is Chan inside.” Historically, Shaolin monks used kung fu only as a defense and were not allowed to attack first.
Thus, Taijiquan and Shaolin Kung Fu are two branches of traditional Wushu. They differ externally, but not internally. It is possible that the roots of these trends are intertwined in the depths of Chinese history and have the same beginning. Both are systems of self-development, which occurs thanks to the awareness and inner work of the practitioner. Victory over an opponent is not as important as victory over oneself. In the study of both Tai Chi and Kung Fu, the Teacher plays a fundamental role. “From heart to heart” is the main method of transmitting teachings in the Shaolin tradition. The same principle is fully applicable to the study of Tai Chi. Finding a real Teacher is a necessary condition for practicing traditional Chinese martial arts, regardless of the chosen direction.
