"My style originated in the Shaolin temple"
This is what you may have heard by several kung fu people, from Wing Chun to Tai Chi...
But you must know that "shao-lin" means 'little forest', and was actually the name of ONE Buddhist order, the greatest of them standing in northern China's Hunan province.
Although it was theoretically established around 500 A.D., our story begins much later.
This was more than 500 years ago.
Buddhism originally comes from India, more than a century before Shaolin existed.
Bodhidharma, an Indian philosophical master, once traveled through China.
When he visited one of the local Buddhist temples, what he saw was that monks, by spending all their time meditating while sitting, were basically not moving and barely eating.
So he introduced them to a gymnastic practice that was later added to the Qi Gong register. The gymnastic spread in China, and Buddhist monks, including Shaolin, incorporated it into their prayer practice. BUT This has nothing to do with Kung Fu.
Kung Fu existed in China long before Shaolin, and the Buddhist religion does not allow fighting of any kind, so training for it was also forbidden.
Only around one century later did Chinese monks gradually evolve their practice to adapt to their environment, and eventually, they started to train defense skills in addition to the gymnastic practice, at Shaolin, and some other temples. However, their whole philosophy changed and was no longer in accordance with the original Buddhism coming from India, nor from Bodhidharma.
Around the 1550's, the primary system of five animals training is created by Shaolin masters Kioh Yuan, Li and Pai Wu Fong. Each animal represent a different syle of training.
China has endured a lot of oppressive governments, and seen a lot of revolution against them.
A hundrer years later, Manchu invaders from the north conquer China, overthrow the Ming Dinasty and establish the Qing government.
During those civil wars, temple, and meditating/praying orders, has diplomatical neutrality, so it was often a good choice for revolutionnist to hide in.
Being monks, the shaolin disciples could not refuse to help a man to hide and survive, and throug the years, more and more people came to hide, train in kung fu and prepare their futures plans at the Shaolin temple, for a time so long that, at a certain point, you could not tell who was a real monk and who was 'just hiding', each other adapting to the lifestyle of their companions.
Until, eventually, the Emperor learned it.
When robbers assaulted the vilage nearby, what seemed to be 'Shaolin Warriors' came down the road to save the village.
They showed incredible Kung Fu skills to defeat the invaders, using only their arms, and, for some, a staff they took in the wood.
It is at that period, that 'Shaolin' became famous, both for it's wisdom and martial teaching, forming invincible warrior of peace.
Many legends of this time describe how some wandering Shaolin monk saved travelers from thieves, delivered a town from a demon, and so on.
Being around 5 different Shaolin temples in China, they didn't all practiced the same style of Kung Fu, ; the southern ones training in a rooted and energetic style, when the northern practice a more fast and kicking-oriented style.
But that sudden show of strength scared the emperor, who saw a great power going out of his control. So, on a dark, moonless night, without giving any warning, the army attacked the temple. By morning, there were no more monks in the area, nor any of the revolutionists hiding with them; almosteveryone had been killed, and the temple was burned down.
A few monks ran all the way to Fukien province, where they built another Shaolin order.
But thirty years later, it is also discovered and destroyed.
One of the few to escape alive was Hung Hei Goon, foundator of the Hung Gar style.
In a few days, all temples practicing martial arts were attacked, and very few masters, disciples, monks, and revolutionists could escape and stay alive. The survivors returned to a normal life; some would spread their art, still hoping for revenge, and creating secret societies to 'restore the Ming.'
At this time, practicing Kung Fu was basically forbidden, except for the army.
The Emperor did not want people to be able to fight anymore. So, while some Kung Fu schools allied with the government and only taught the art to soldiers, most of the "kwoon" (the equivalent of 'dojo' in Chinese) became smaller, more secretive, and only taught to individuals after many tests to ensure they would be worthy and keep the secret.
The 'Geen Lai' Salute was adopted around that period, for all Kung Fu practitioners to be able to recognize each other. It is both a balance symbol, using the Fist and palm to represent Yin and Yang, and the Chinese character 'Ming 明', composed from the Sun and the Moon (the curved palm and round fist), showing their will to help the old Ming dynasty to take over the Qing..
Time flies - We're now in 1972
There is a TV series called Kung Fu, starring David Carradine, an ancient Shaolin monk who was forced to leave China and walk through the US. This series had great success, so much so that the then US president, Richard Nixon, asked to fly to Fukien, China, where monks from the original Hunan temple had built a new one back in the days.
But this one has also been detroyed in another civil war.
When he arrived and saw the pile of ruins, it goes without saying how disappointed he was, and the actual Chinese government was ashamed. Right after this, they rebuilt the temple, allowed some monks to meditate in it, and paid some Kung Fu practitioners to put on shows at the temple for tourists.
The news spread like wildfire.
Kung Fu enthusiasts from all over the world wanted to see the 'real' Shaolin temple. It was such a great success that China created several other temples in different locations, invited so-called monks to live in them, and hired Kung Fu champions to do full-time demonstrations and train disciples.
To be a Shaolin Warrior Monk became a job,
Just as being a teacher or youtuber ;-)
It was a great idea, and China quickly recovered its investment.
Shaolin became famous and established itself as the reference for Kung Fu in general.
Suddenly, many schools added 'Shaolin' to the name of their style...
But the thing is that the only style that indeed escaped of the Hunan Shaolin temple when it was burned down is Hung Gar and its brotherly related Ly, Lau, Choy, and Mok Gar.
Northern Shaolin temples were destroyed and didn't let much legacy about their Kung Fu. Some says that it is where Chang Quan, also known as Long Fist, comes from, and is accepted today as the 'Shaolin Boxing', with high kicks, somersaults and all :)
There has never been a 'Shaolin' Wing Chun. Not more than Mantis, Pek Kwar, and SURELY NOT Tai Chi.
Because Tai Chi Chuan, along with Bagua, XingYi, and YiQuan, is a Daoist art and has never been practiced by Buddhist monks, who were in competition with Daoist hermits at the time.
Now, there are plenty of 'Shaolin' temples all over the world, with pseudo monks wearing orange and giving Kung Fu classes for an astronomical price...
That's kind of sad because many Kung Fu styles were created long before Shaolin even existed, and they all have their own great stories, often mixed with legend.
Shaolin is just one of them.
Hope you enjoyed the journey.
I know this is a controversial topic, and I didn't want to offend anyone. These are just my thoughts, pulled from the Chinese history books I read and the Chinese masters I met, including one of my Sifu who was a former Shaolin Monk at one time.
Feel free to express yourself cordially and let us know your thoughts in the comments!
the TRUTH about Shaolin