Illustrated by Jack CheongTranslated by Laurel Teo

Editorial consultant: Loh Chong Chai

Origins of Chinese Martial Arts 1

Contents

Shaolin and Wudang 11

The Story of Boxing Arts 47

The Story of Weapon Arts 87

The Story of Martial Ethics 139

Appendices: Basic Exercises

1

ORIGINS OF

CHINESE MARTIAL ARTS

The Chinese martial arts (wushu ) that is known throughout the Easternand Western worlds is an exotic branch of traditional Chinese culture. Itscontents are rich, encompassing boxing and weapon arts. It is also dividedinto different schools and styles. Exuding power and grace in its execution,it stands out in a class of its own from other fighting arts.

The wu character is formed from the words ge and zhi . Ge refersto a kind of weapon. It is also a general term for arms and weaponry. Inancient writing, zhi is a hieroglyph for the foot, and it means to advance ormarch forward.

Hence, wu means to take up arms and advance, that is to dongwu(use force or come to blows). Later on, it was also extended to mean brave,bold, tough and forceful.

2

Chinese martial arts is the origin of all other martial arts in the world. But whendid Chinese martial arts itself emerge? And under what sort of circumstances?

This can be traced back to the prehistoric era...

At that time, there were very few human beings. Theyhad to contend with many wild beasts prowling the

Earth, and were often attacked by the animals.

3

We’llbattle tothe end!

Either oneof us has

to die!

Man struggled constantly with thebeasts, both for self-protection aswell as to hunt for food.

Argh! Atiger!

In the beginning, Man was nomatch for the wild beasts.

Ha, ha!We’ve won

this timeround.

4

What a dumbbeast! Keeps

making the samemoves! Watch me

dodge!

Gradually, Man developed a fewdefensive and offensive moves.

Here’s apunch!

And akick!

Ha, ha!I’ve won!

This simplest and most direct primitivewushu was the embryonic form ofChinese martial arts. Later on, whenhuman society kept expanding, tribesand villages appeared.

In ancient writing, the word dou— which means to fight —resembles two people entangledin a fist-fight, exchanging slapsand punches. This earliest kindof fighting was the embryonicform of the boxing arts(unarmed combat).

Ancient Forms ofthe Word Dou

5

Fights and battles erupted between tribes as they struggled for food and territory.

Come on! We’ll settlethe matter over a fight— the winner gets to

keep the food!

Ack! Theirweapons aretoo formidable!

Let’s go back andinvent better weapons

before we pickanother fight!

Bong!

Thud!

We’ve won! Yourcattle belong tous now. Ha, ha!

6

The brawls between humans were much more complex than their struggles with animals,and resulted in the invention and improvement of even more weapons.

Wooden cudgel

Wooden pike

Longspear

Stone knive

Stone axe

Stone mallet

Bone arrowhead

Chinese martial arts was thus born of the need to fight off wild beasts andhuman enemies.

7

The Characteristics ofChinese Martial Arts

Chinese martial arts has absorbed the essence of ancient Chinese philosophyand aesthetics, culminating in the distinct features of “Heaven and Man as one”(tian ren he yi ), and “beauty in form and spirit” (xing shen jian mei

).

Heaven and Man as oneExperts in Chinese martial arts believe that Heaven, Earth and Man are intimatelyconnected. So for a person’s training to achieve maximum effect, he must complywith the changes and movements of celestial bodies. The ancients used to retreatto a still and secluded forest, mountain or temple to practise their arts, or wouldpractise different routines according to different seasons. These were allexpressions of “Heaven and Man as one”.

Beauty in form and spiritChinese aesthetics places a premium on form and spirit. For instance, in portraitpainting, not just the physical likeness but the subject’s moods and expressionsmust be captured as well, before the portrait can be considered a masterpiece.The same applies to martial arts. Beautiful postures alone may be eye-pleasing,but are meaningless. One must still cultivate the inner essence (jing ), vitalenergy or life force (qi ) and spirit (shen ), before one can truly masterthe quintessence of Chinese martial arts. That is why martial-art exponentshave this saying: “To work the muscle, sinew and bone externally, and to buildup the life force internally.”

8

The Mystique ofChinese Martial Arts

Those of us familiar with Chinese martial-art shows or novels must be trulyimpressed by their descriptions of Acupoint Tapping and gravity-defying LightSkills. Were there truly people who had mastered such mystical skills in thehistory of Chinese martial arts? Or were they merely figments of the fantasticimaginations of script-writers or novelists?

Acupoint TappingIn martial-art movies, we often see a highly-skilled exponent tapping a spot onhis opponent’s body, rendering the victim motionless — sometimes evenspeechless — in the blink of an eye. This mysterious skill is known as AcupointTapping (dianxue ).

An acupoint, or acupunture point, is a specific location on the human body wherethere is a dense gathering of nerve ends, or where aparticularly thick nerve lies. If one suffers an injury at akey acupoint, it would lead to blood stasis*, paralysingthat part of the body or the entire person, and mayeven lead to death.

To execute Acupoint Tapping, one must firstexert one’s internal force (neili ),directing energy flow to the hand, finger orpalm, and then using either a tap of the finger,a slap or a punch, to check the opponent’sacupuncture points and passages. AlthoughAcupoint Tapping is plausible in theory, it istricky to carry out in actuality, because incombat, it is extremely difficult to pin downthe opponent’s exact acupoint. Nonetheless,it is still useful to understand the layout ofacupuncture points and passages throughoutthe human body, as one can then protect one’sown key points from attacks.

* Blood which is not moving properly, but is stagnating or evenclotting.

9

Light SkillsLight Skills (qinggong ) refer to specific martial-art methods and techniques that train the body to belight and nimble. The qinggong that approximates toflying as depicted in movies and novels stems fromwriters’ exaggerated and stylised interpretations.

In Shaolin gongfu , there are different types ofqinggong, such as “Lizard gliding on wall” and “Flyingon eaves and walking on walls”. But these are allconsummate skills that require years of painstakingpractice. Few can attain such skills.

Ancients also relied on their surroundings or tools tohelp them achieve a certain level of proficiency injumping and leaping. For instance, ancient walls weremade of mud and stone and had many bumps andcracks, so it was possible to find footholds on thesewalls and climb up, step by step. Ancients also worebelts up to four metres long, which could be used asropes to help them swing and fly.

Diamond Armour and Diamond FingerThere is a type of gongfu called “Diamond Armour” (jingang zhao ),in which the chest and back are trained to be as firm as metal and stone, and thearms and legs to be impervious to knife or sword stabbings. However, one mustendure repeated blows from wooden and metal hammers during the trainingprocess. Without a steely determination and strong physique, it would be impossibleto attain such a skill.

An expert in the powerful “Diamond Finger”(jingang zhi ) skill could bore holes inwooden blocks and shatter stones with just a stab ofthe finger. Training entails using the forefinger to stabrepeatedly at walls, trees and other hard surfacesday and night. Initially, there is no need to exert toomuch force. But as time progresses, one increasesthe pressure in each stab. After several years ofpractice, one would be able to master the skill.

10

Internal exercises and the danger of straying down demonic pathsIn gongfu movies, characters often train rigorously in isolation. If they use thewrong training methods, or are interrupted halfway through the training process,they could well be thrown off and “stray down the demonic path” (zouhuorumo ) instead. In mild cases, they merely suffer paralysis; in severecases, they would vomit blood and die. What does it mean to “stray down thedemonic path”? This is where internal exercises come into play.

Internal exercise (neigong ) refers to the training a person undertakes tocontrol his stream of qi * — vital energy or life force — such that it flowscontinuously and smoothly. Most ordinary people inhale about 18 breaths perminute, but skilled people can survive on as few as three. From the scientificviewpoint, people who inhale less frequently have healthier hearts and lungs,and better stamina. Experts in neigong can control their breath and vital energyflow with ease. They can also focus their entire body’s strength into their everypunch and kick.

It is crucial to follow the correct procedure in exercising the vital energy. Onemust never hurry or rush, and should also assume the correct posture or position.Otherwise, blood and vital energy would go into stasis. Not only would this beharmful to health, it may even result in paralysis. This isthe so-called “straying down the demonic path”.

* The word qi is written with the character that usually means “air,” “breath,” or even “steam.” But this is only the outer,external breath. The word qi is used by practitioners of martial arts to mean “internal prana”, life force, vital energy orbiopsychic internal energy.

Concentrating Qi in DantianDantian is an acupoint located three inches below the navel. “Concentrating qi indantian” refers to the practice of abdominal breathing during martial-art training. Usingsheer will, one guides the flow of breathing, as if one were drawing breath deep downinto the dantian. This is the first step towards exercising qi. Once a person masters thisskill, he can control and direct his qi flow to any part of the body.

Oops! I’vestrayed downthe demonic

path!

11

SHAOLIN AND WUDANG

There are many schools of Chinese martial arts, the most famous of whichare Shaolin and Wudang.

Shaolin and Wudang each has its unique characteristics. They are the leadingrepresentatives of external exercises and internal exercises respectively.Shaolin gongfu focusses on strengthening muscles and bones, through rapidand powerful moves. Wudang gongfu, on the other hand, stresses cultivatingqi; its movements are gentle, and tend towards using inertia to conquermovement.

12

A treasure trove of martial artsMost of the monks in Shaolin Monastery werecommoners. Some of them were already well-versed inmartial arts before they joined the order. And when theyentered the monastery, they exchanged their wushuskills. Gradually, the monastic order built up a vastcollection of different types of wushu, giving rise to thesaying “All Chinese martial arts stem from Shaolin.”

Throughout the order’s history, the abbots havealso encouraged their warrior monks to travel outof the monastery and visit gongfu experts aroundthe country, gleaning the essence of differentschools of martial arts from the various regions.By adopting and encompassing such a broad rangeof strengths, Shaolin gongfu managed to grow andflourish throughout its long history.

The Story of Shaolin

Throughout history, there is a saying that “all Chinese martial arts stem fromShaolin”. Although it may not be strictly accurate, nonetheless, it is an indicationof the unrivalled position that Shaolin holds in the world of martial arts. And forthis reason, the fame of Shaolin Monastery has spread far beyond its home inthe Song mountains (Songshan ). Thishistorical ground, located in centralChina’s He’nan Province, DengfengCounty, has become a mecca for bothEastern and Western martial-art lovers.The history of Shaolin Monastery (alsoknown as Shaolin Temple) goes backfor 1,500 years. Built by Emperor XiaoWen in AD 495 during the NorthernWei era, it was meant to house visitingmonks from India.

13

Bodhidharma and ShaolinLegend has it that Shaolin wushu was founded duringthe Southern Dynasties — in AD520 — by a Buddhistmonk from India called Bodhidharma (Damo ).Based on the distinctive characteristics and movementsof various wild animals, he created a set of exercises towork out muscles and joints. From then on, it became acustom for Shaolin monks to practise martial arts as away of keeping fit.

The story of how Bodhidharma founded Shaolin wushuis considered a myth by many. According to textualresearch, even before the arrival of Bodhidharma, monksin many temples and monasteries had begun to practisemartial arts quite intensely. This was because religionwas encouraged right at the start of the Northern Weiera. As the power and influence of Buddhist institutionsgrew steadily, monks begun to practise combat skillssecretly within their compounds. They were preparingto overthrow the Northern Wei rulers, who were Xianbei( *) people. Later on, the Northern Wei rulers beganto suppress Buddhism, banning the monks from practisingcombat skills. The monks then turned martial arts into aform of post-meal exercises to aid digestion.

As one of the major religious institutions in the land,Shaolin was wealthy. Legend has it that the monasteryhad a set of eight arhat statues cast in solid gold.Naturally, robbers and plunderers began casting theirgreedy eyes on the rumoured riches. So most monkspicked up martial arts as a form of self-defence. In fact,in the early years, their skills and techniques probablyoriginated from the public at large, before they developeda school of their own. As for whether Bodhidharmaever practised any martial arts, that remains a mystery.

* The Xianbei are a Tungusic tribe originating from the plains of what is now Siberia,Manchuria and eastern Mongolia.

Achoo!Someone’s

talking about mebehind my

back...

14

Characteristics of Shaolin BoxingAccording to legend, Shaolin Boxing, or ShaolinQuan , encompasses 172 routines (excludingthe weapon arts). The monastery also had boxinginstruction manuals carved onto wood, and had themdisplayed in the main hall. The inner hall was for theexclusive use of martial-art practice, and wasequipped with racks of assorted weapons ready foruse. There were also some monks who werespecially trained to protect the monastery.

Shaolin Boxing is the leading representative ofexternal boxing skills. The external school placesemphasis on strengthening muscle and bone. Itsstrengths include powerful moves and swiftcounterblows. In fact, “Shaolin Boxing” is a looseterm for all the various boxing skills practised in thevicinity of Shaolin. There are more than 50 types,including Big Flood Boxing, Little Flood Boxing, ArhatBoxing, Plum Blossom Boxing, Seven-Star Boxing,and the Five Boxing Arts of Shaolin, and so on.

“Fist strikes out in a straight line” is the clearestfeature of Shaolin Boxing. Routines in this schooltend to be short and simple, with straightforwardmoves.

It takes tremendous effort to master Shaolin Boxing.For instance, it takes at least three years to get thebasics — such as standing postures — right. Andanother “three years of suspending arms, three yearsof sticking to walls” are spent learning to sleep withboth arms suspending from a roof beam, or whileclinging to a wooden pillar against the wall. There isalso sandbag punching — three years of stabbing atbags filled with peas, before moving onto sand.

Without a steely determination and perseverance,mastering Shaolin Boxing would be near impossible.