Shaolin Chan Kung Fu Academy

Tai chi is a series of gentle physical exercises and stretches. Each posture flows into the next without pause, ensuring that your body is in constant motion. Tai chi is sometimes described as meditation in motion because it promotes serenity through gentle movements — connecting the mind and body.
Come and have your first class free and try Tai Chi for yourself.
https://www.shaolinchankungfuacademy.com.au/
Our Tai Chi classes are on Wednesday at 6pm and run for 1hr.

School reopens January 14

What is the purpose of Shaolin training?

It's purpose is to constantly refine yourself.
Through the daily practice you are letting go more and more of all the things that pull you down.
Learning to live a self-sufficient life, without distracting thoughts and desires.
Developing spiritual and physical fitness.
Reconnecting with the earth(nature).
Cultivating wisdom of the mind and learning how to deal with new experiences and temptations.

When you have a lot of obsessions. Greed and desires will emerge. Everyone has desires, but too many will destroy your mind.
An old saying goes
"Your mind will be clear, when your heart is clear."

Shaolin Dharma Sword The Shaolin Dharma Sword, one of the Shaolin martial arts, was passed on from the Bodhidharma. Physically and spiritually, the technique has 41 moves includi...

The school is back open
Class timetable is the same
Only difference is until next month when the gym reopens we will be training just outside the gym on the grass.

The tree grows from strong roots, so it makes no sense to build the most glorious palace on weak foundations, because at the first wind or earthquake it will all come crashing down.

That is why in Shaolin martial arts you can't just say you know lots of forms and movements. You need to understand the forms, which parts are important, the combat strategy, and what the fighting applications are for the movements

Shaolin kung fu values daily practice, one day laze, ten day loss, if you missed a days practice, you may fail ten days effort. The real kung fu calls for sweat and time, you don't get anywhere without lots of practice. If you give up on something because it was hard, then how do you expect to grow.

Shaolin soft weapon: Three-section cudgel Shi Yanxuan is a monk at the Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan Province. Because of his love for traditional kung fu since childhood, Shi joined the Sh...

Ten Shaolin Warrior Ethics

Shaolin Wu de, Warrior Ethics, are aspects of a righteous character. There are of two kinds- technical and spiritual training.

Spiritual training, the development of mind forms the foundation for the student. They are:
Virtue of Character

1. Respect (sǒng 竦)
- respect toward oneself, one's master, and all beings.

2. Humility (qiānbēi 谦卑)
- literally "modest"

3. Righteousness (yì 义)
- virtuous character in harmony with moral principles.

4. Trust (fú 孚)
- to have full confidence in one's master and one's own capacity.

5. Loyalty (zhōng 忠)
- devotion to one's master and self-dedication.
Solid technical or physical training is founded upon the virtues of character. The highest levels of Shaolin Wugong can only be reached through development of this warrior spirit.
Virtue of Spirit

1. Willpower (yìzhì 意志)
- the intention and ambition to take action.

2. Endurance (nàilì 耐力)
- the power to bear hardship.

3. Perseverance (héngxìng 恒性)
- steady persistence in a course of action.

4. Patience (nàixīn 耐心)
- self-control, the ability and willingness to calmly withstand.

5. Courage (yǒng 勇)
- bravery, the confidence of a resolute mind able to face fear or danger.

With the fulfillment of Shaolin Warrior Ethics one's journey through the Shaolin Culture begins. Shaolin Wu de means knowing the correct path and following it with all your might.

Amituofo is a common phrase used in Shaolin and throughout Chinese Buddhist traditions.
Salutation
Amituofo is most often heard as a salutation among Shaolin practitioners, In greeting and taking leave, individuals join their palms in front of the chest and, with a slight bow toward one another they recite Amituofu. This greeting is often alternatively accompanied with a single hand bow, in which the individual uses only the right palm in front of the chest as a remembrance of the dedicated spirit of the second Chan ancestor Huike.
Amituofo is also used as a catch-all phrase replacing many common daily expressions, such as hello, goodbye, thank you, sorry, etc.. In this way we are reminded of our practice.
As it is said; "all things are created by the mind".
"When the mind is pure, the land is pure."
- Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra
The 18th Vow

Amitabha's 18th vow is one of the most important in Chan. It is about awakening your highest understanding, aspiration and potential.

In Chan practice this means reawakening to — the Pure Mind, in this very moment, free from all subconscious programming and detrimental life habits and beliefs. As the Chan saying goes;
"The mind alone is the Pure Land, the original nature is Amitabha"

Amituofo in Shaolin
Reciting Amituofo is an important part of Shaolin practice. We use it to greet and take leave from our masters and our kung fu brothers, and sisters. We use it to say please, thank you, sorry, and great job. We also use it before and after training sessions, as well as to open and close each boxing set (tàolu) we practice.

Amituofo is a reminder to one another that there is something beyond the very basic view of life held in modern civilization. Amituofo is a wake up call- not to live this life in vein and not to engage in empty practice.

Tongbiquan

Today there are many Chinese styles sharing the name of Tongbiquan. Many of them have origins in Shaolin Monastery, but have developed externally, changing with the style of the local people from region to region. While those styles are not what is taught or practiced in Shaolin Monastery today, they can still be called Shaolin styles. However, they are visually different but easily distinguishable from Shaolin Monastery Tongbiquan.

The Shaolin Tongbi subsystem includes several boxing sets. For example, Small Full-Arm Boxing Xiǎotōngbìquán 小通臂拳) and Large Full-Arm Boxing ( Dàtōngbìquán 大通臂拳). Further, there are distinct flavors of Tongbiquan practiced by the monks of the different courtyards of Shaolin Monastery. Ven. Master Shi Suxi (释素喜) was family-head of the Southern Courtyard (Nányuàn 南院), which has its unique flavor of Tongbi boxing sets, referred to as Southern Courtyard Full-Arm Boxing (Nányuàn Tōngbìquán 南院通臂拳).

Full-Arm Boxing

The name Tongbi (通臂) is sometimes easily confused with other Chinese styles called Tōngbèi (通背). In these styles, Tong (通) means "to pass through". Bei (背) means "the back" (of the body). The name describes how the energy is sent through the body passing "through-the-back", spiraling out from the spine.

Shaolin Tongbi not only has a different concept, but also different characters. In this case, the character Bì (臂), meaning "arm", is used. It can sometimes be pronounced bèi, which easily leads to confusion of the styles if the characters are not known. Furthermore, in Shaolin Tongbiquan, Tong (通) carries the meaning of the Chinese word tōngtong (通通). It is simply the character meaning "to pass through" doubled. The meaning of this word is "all", "entire", "complete", or "full".

Shaolin Tongbiquan is a type of Xiàngxíngquán 象形拳). Xiàngxíngquán Boxing usually refers to boxing styles that imitate the actions and mannerisms of animals. Shaolin Tongbiquan is the only type of Xiàngxíngquán that belongs to the non-Xiàngxíngquán styles of Shaolin. It was created according to the long arms of monkeys. However, it only takes over the spirit rather than the form of monkeys. It is therefore not an imitative style in form, only in use. The monkey uses the entire length of their arms so that is what is meant by "full-arm".

Shaolin Tongbiquan sets were created based on three foundations, Shaolin small flood boxing (Xiǎohóngquán 小洪拳), large flood boxing (Dàhóngquán 大洪拳) and Monkey Boxing (Hóuquán 猴拳). Elements of each can be found in the Tongbiquan sets.

Datongbiquan Mnemonic

Shaolin Datongbiquan is the most widely practiced set from the Shaolin Tongbi subsystem. The names of several movements in the set come from common Chinese idioms, or have Buddhist significance. For example, èrláng dānshān 二郎担山). Erlang is a very powerful Chinese god who is said to be able to defeat any opponent while carrying a mountain on each arm. This is the posture which in other sets is commonly called "bow step single whip" (gōngbù dānbiān 弓步单鞭), standing in gong bu with one arm to the front, and one to the back in a straight line. When performing this posture one takes on the power of Erlang. Extended into daily life and practice, one develops the energy to tackle any obstacle while carrying two mountains.
Many people ask why shaolin warrior monks (wǔsēng 武僧) practice such violent techniques when there are more peaceful exercises that can be done. Why punching and kicking?

Basically shaolin wu gong is only as dangerous as one's state of mind. As John Milton said in Paradise Lost in 1666; "The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven." Harmfulness comes from the confused mind. "Violent" and "pacifist" are states of mind . When one understands this, punches and kicks are too just states of mind, it is your intention that makes something of nothing . When the seeing is faulty they can be solidified and made harmful, this is a huge mistake. That is why traditionally a student of Shaolin is instructed in Warrior Ethics (Wǔdé 武德) before ever being trained physically, and must study the Buddha dharma (Fófǎ 佛法).

Yin shou gun Development

Today Yin shou gun is the most well-known and widely practiced Shaolin staff set. It is said that in the Ming Dynasty (Míngcháo 明朝, 1368-1644) the famous general in the Japanese Resistance, visited the Shaolin Monastery and passed on afew stick fighting methods to the Shaolin Monks. Through successive generations of elder monks researching, studying, and practicing what they already had, mixed with these newly introduced methods, they created a unique blend of stick skills into a set they named "Shaolin Yin shou gun".

Sections from it are found within older Shaolin stick sets such as Fire Stick (Shāohuǒgùn 烧火棍) from the Yuan Dynasty, credited to monk (Jinnaluo 紧那罗), and Crazy Devil Stick (Fēngmógùn 疯魔棍) from the Ming Dynasty created by monk (Zhìshàn 智善), which are two stick sets identical to one another until the halfway point.
It is recorded that monk Zhishan expanded the original 19 postures of Shaohuogun to 25 postures, and created his Fengmogun set using it as a template. However, it is not clear whether the specific section found in Yinshougun and appearing in the earlier Fengmogun and Shaohuogun were monk Zhishan's additions, or original to the 19 posture Shaohuogun set.

Yinshougun is at least a late Ming Dynasty creation as it is listed in the book "Shaolin Stick Methods" from 1610. It is also clear that it is closely related to the Fengmogun set and shares its crazy (feng) and inverted (yin) methodology.

Monk Zhishan lived in the mid-1500's, about the time General Yu Dayou visited Shaolin. It is possible Zhishan also created Yinshougun as a more introductory set to his Shaolin stick system.

Methodology

Yinshougun's methodology is hinted toward in its name. The name is translated as "Yin Hand Stick".
In Shaolin Yinshougun, the yin refers to the opposite of normal or rational thinking, similar to the name and methodology of Fengmogun- Crazy Devil Stick, which includes Drunken Arhat footwork (Zuì Luóhàn bùfǎ 醉罗汉步法).

Yinshougun is a set belonging to (Mízōngquán 迷踪拳) system of Shaolin. The logic of this system is inverted. Throughout any Mizongquan boxing set, and likewise in Yinshougun, the sequence of postures is not in a pattern common to most Chinese martial arts. Rather it is just the opposite. When one expects the next movement to continue forward, the set suddenly changes directions. When one expects a high attack, it hits low. When thinking left, it goes right. In this way when others are watching one practice they will be unable to determine the rationale of the style. The "tracks" are lost and cannot be followed. Furthermore, in combat the opponent will be confused by the deceptive logic. Incorrectly anticipating the next move and upset by the rhythm they will be more easily defeated.