Title: Shaolin Kung Fu: The Original Training Techniques of the Shaolin Lohan Masters
Author: Donn F. Draeger, P’ng Chye Khim, Alexander Bennet (Foreward)
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Publish Date: 3/31/2020
Format: Paperback
Pages: 168
Cover Price: $15.99
Content
The style of Shaolin Kung Fu can mean many, many different things nowadays. In this case, it refers specifically to Hood Khar pai, a Shaolin system as taught by the late co-author P’ng Chye Khim. Prior to their deaths, Khim was an established kung fu teacher and acupuncturist in Malaysia and the other author, Donn F. Draeger was an accomplished martial artist in various styles and writer whose books covered everything from Silat to Ninjutsu.
Though both of the authors for this book have since passed (Draeger in 1982, Khim in 2010), Tuttle Publishing has re-published this classic book, giving a new generation of readers a glimpse into this unique style as presented by these accomplished men.
Shaolin Kung Fu opens by delving deep into the history and lore of traditional Chinese martial arts. The authors follow this by elaborating on the proper way to execute your basic stances, punches, and kicks; everything you need to know before learning your first form.
After basics, Draeger and Khim teach a Lohan form, breaking it down into movements and later showing the combat applications. To wrap up the book, Shaolin Kung Fu gives you body conditioning drills and general info on Hood Khar pai.
Pros
Context truly helps. The depth that the book delves into the history, training, and ideas of Hood Khar pai truly accentuates your ability to competently follow along with the instructions. Detailing an entire kung fu style and/or pattern is one task. Correctly giving a semblance as to how it should ideally be performed is another.
The authors did an excellent job at going deep into the surface of the style, a helpful beginning for those interested and a further study for those with experience in traditional Chinese martial arts.
Details are precise most of the time, explaining exactly where you should feel tension or relaxation or strength. This is good for beginners and advanced martial artists who have interest in exploring the style yet do not have the preferred access to an in-person teacher.
Grayscale photos and illustrations also help paint a clearer picture as to what the written instructions describe.
Cons
While the grayscale pictures do help provide clarity to the descriptions, the pictures aren’t always the clearest. There are pictures where the model’s jacket or pants will blend into another appendage or similar colored background piece.
The conditioning drills presented are where the details lessen momentarily. The authors mention that the appropriate medicine should be applied after the harsh training, but nothing specific is mentioned. My assumption is that most of the time they simply mean the typical kung fu cure-all, Dit Da Jow, however nothing is said to suggest a specific answer.
The terminology presented in Shaolin Kung Fu is very interesting. Whereas many choose to use either Mandarin or Cantonese Chinese in their lessons, this book uses Hokkien (and Mandarin).
If you are already familiar with kung fu being taught with Cantonese Chinese words, this can seem odd at first—it is very fascinating to approach the movements with a different language however. In a way, it makes it easier to “empty your cup” and absorb the lessons of the book.
Conclusion
Shaolin Kung Fu is a classic kung fu technique book that delves deep into detail without losing the novice practitioner.
From teaching basics to learning combat applications to a form, Shaolin Kung Fu is a deep dive into the surface of the style.
There are times when the images falter in their ability to help, however the movements are always written with clarity and the illustrations are always helpful.
3.5/5 Ninja Stars
Are there any other martial art books from days long past that you would love to see get re-published? Let us know in the comments below!
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Why is “kung fu” referred to as a “martial art”? It isn’t. The Chinese term simply means a level of skill or discipline attained in any endeavor that requires skill or discipline. There is a Chinese martial art called “wu shu,” and this is something (among many other things) that one can achieve “kung fu” in. The reason people started getting into “kung fu” as a “martial art” was because they got suckered into the scam originating in Hong Kong with Bruce Lee and the American TV series that came on the heels of it in the early 1970s with David Carradine (a heroin addict) and the “Shaolin temple” myth. It was a classic Chinese scam, and it still is. The people who thought it up just decided that “kung fu” sounded “cooler” as a marketing tool than “wu shu” did. That’s all. The hoax needs to end, especially now that the brutal Chinese Communist regime has been able to capitalize on it for so long to sucker Westerners wanting to be “tough.” They’re committing genocide. Enough, please.
1) Wushu (武术）literally means martial art and is the official term for martial arts in China. Traditional wushu （传统武术）the martial art and modern wushu （现代）the sport. The term wushu encompasses all styles of Chinese martial arts, what we in the west call kung fu.
2)The term kung fu or gong fu in mandarin (功夫）was popularized by immigrants coming to the west from Hong Kong and the south China. There is no one historically consistent term for martial art in Chinese, the name varies from era to era and from region to region. Some terms have been jueli or jiaoli (角力), shoubo (手搏) and wugong (武功).
3) The Shaolin Temple is no hoax, it’s there and it’s still training some very good athletes. The history and relationship between the temple and martial arts is well documented. I suggest you check out professor Meir Shahar’s The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion and the Chinese Martial Arts.
4）You seem to be having a bit of a confusion. Back in the 70s (and until 1997) Hong Kong was part of the British commonwealth. Mainland China never had any official relationship with Bruce Lee, the tv series Kung Fu nor ever officially used the term kung fu.
Hope you find this useful. Thanks for commenting.
Thanks for your prompt answer. I am aware that there is such a thing as the Shaolin Temple. What I am saying is that the 1970s American TV show constructed a historical myth that “kung fu” was a “martial art” taught there, when (as you say) the traditional martial art was most likely wushu. The term “kung fu” was popularized as a kind of movie scam, first in Hong Kong (though administered by the British at the time, populated by Hong Kong Chinese) with a slew of films including those starring Bruce Lee, and then in the American TV show starring David Carradine. My only point is that “kung fu” was chosen as the “pop name” for a Chinese martial art because it sounded better for marketing purposes. In other words, the martial art was misnamed for movies and TV so somebody could make a quick buck. The two terms “kung fu” and “wushu” should not be synonymous. In that sense, the connection between the Shaolin Temple and a martial art called “kung fu” became a kind of hoax. That’s all. Mainland China never had any relationship with Bruce Lee, but mainland China has certainly capitalized on the legacy of “kung fu” movies since the 1970s, and in fact “kung fu” movies from the People’s Republic of China have become a “soft power” tool of the Communist regime, attempting to influence international opinion in the direction of equating the Chinese Communist Party with Chinese national identity. This is a grand deception, because no Communist party can have an identity of interests with any nationality or nation-state. It is Communist, and therefore officially recognizes no national identity. This is a matter of ideology. I will check out the book you recommend.
But why is it a scam? Bruce Lee called his system Jun Fan Kung Fu and that wasn’t a hoax. If he was using it, it’s likely he wasn’t the first nor the only one using kung fu. As for naming and marketing the term Karate was originally written 唐手 (Tang hand as in Tang dynasty) it was changed to the homophone 空手 (empty hand) for ideological reasons. Tae Kwon Do’s name has a similar origin. I don’t see how that affects the art.
I’ve rarely heard the term kung fu used in Chinese movies, especially not old ones. I admit my Mandarin is not that good yet and I can barely understand few words in Cantonese but as far as I recall it’s not a widely used term. As I said the communist party doesn’t use that term, nor do the official organisms that regulate the sport or the traditional art.
As for the soft power and the nature of communism and the Chinese Communist Party that’s a bigger debate that is beyond the scope of this site.
You clearly understand a lot more Chinese than I do, and I commend you for it.
The only point I’m trying to make is that, from everything I’ve been able to research about the term in English, “kung fu” does not refer to a “martial art” in Chinese. The term “kung fu” (as I said it my original message) translates into a level of skill or discipline in ANY activity or endeavor that requires skill or discipline. When you translate the term “kung fu” from Chinese into English, you don’t get a “fighting technique.” The fighting technique (actually a kind of acrobatic theatrical fighting traditionally used in Chinese operatic productions) is called “wushu.” You see what I’m saying? So to call “kung fu” a fighting technique and market it as such for movies, posters, paraphernalia, etc., is a kind of scam. It’s not real, but the kids lapped it up.
My sense is that a lot of confusion arose from both Bruce Lee (who was first and foremost a movie star, not a fighter) and the Kung Fu TV series. None of that feels terribly serious, I’m sorry to say. And Jackie Chan (a major apologist for the atrocities of the Beijing regime) is not a real fighter either. He’s more like a dancer, actually. I’m not saying their aren’t real Chinese martial arts, only that “kung fu” is not a martial art.
You’re research is technically correct kung fu does not refer exclusively to martial arts but to all skills. But you should do a more thorough research because on your first comment you said that “There is a Chinese martial art called wu shu” and as I explained (being myself a practitioner of traditional kung fu) that’s wrong. As I said outside of China the term kung fu is used for traditional Chinese martial arts while the term wushu is relegated to the modern sport. That’s less confusing for the general public than using traditional/modern wushu depending on which discipline you’re talking about. The term wushu as I think I explained was actually popularized by the Chinese regime, before that the popular term was guoshu (国术) or national art. That’s also the term used in Taiwan.
Bruce Lee was a fighter and a very good one judging not only by his students and even people he fought with. Read Showdown in Oakland, a book on the duel between him and master Wong Jack Man, written by Wong Sifu’s disciple Rick Wing. And if you watch his movies Bruce was not a very good actor.
Jackie Chan is not a fighter, he studied in a Beijing Opera school, he studied some form of martial arts in there but I’m not sure if he did something more beyond it. He does have his own stunt team and some of their fights are quite convincing if you watch the blooper reels.
Conclusion, kung fu is not a martial art, it is a term that refers to all traditional Chinese martial arts (of which there are a lot, mind you). Westerners use it, it’s used in Japan, and in the Chinese diaspora all over the world. Who started using it, I can’t really tell right now, but it most definitely is not used within China on an official basis.
As an addendum you might be interested in the channel youtube Mu Shin Martial Culture, especially the “kung fu explained series”. It will broaden your way of thinking about Chinese martial arts.
Well, I suppose if the Chinese Communist Party regime somehow objects to the term “kung fu,” then the term can’t be all bad. It is a beastly regime, after all, and maybe the “spiritual” aspects of all the martial arts originating in Buddhist temples (now collectively referred to as ‘kung fu’) offend the CCP. Good.
But my point still stands. The fact that “outside of China the term kung fu is used for traditional Chinese martial arts” does not negate the fact that such martial arts only CAME TO BE KNOWN that way because of a corruption or bastardization of language, and that corruption or bastardization was due to popular culture (movies and TV), not anything based in ancient history. The term literally translates only to a “level of skill or discipline” achieved any sphere of activity that requires skill or discipline. In that sense, “kung fu” as a “martial art” is a dirt-cheap scam that appeals to kids, teenagers and adults alike, who will fork out money to be “trained in kung fu.” In the sense that “kung fu” irritates the ghastly regime headquartered in Beijing, it may be marginally useful for propaganda purposes.
As I said, Bruce Lee was first and foremost a movie star, not a fighter. By that I mean that he was not someone going around the world fighting and winning in matches and so forth before being invited to appear in movies. He wasn’t making a living as a “fighter.” Rather, he was a good looking, “cinegenic” dude (and not a bad actor) who was nimble and knew a few moves that looked good on camera. He starred in the Green Hornet series before he became the star of the “dragon movies.”
Incidentally, anything truly meditative is worthwhile, especially in today’s world. Whether the meditation is Chinese, Indian or other, it is healthy, and I feel sure that authentic Chinese martial arts are grounded it a kind of meditative state. I will never be an expert in this, but as I understand it, the Falun Gong practitioners base their activity in Buddhism, tai chi and meditation. That this alone could make the CCP so nervous tells one a lot about the regime.
I have refuted your hypothesis on the origin of the relationship between the term kung fu and martial arts. You haven’t checked the sources I cited and still insist on an alleged bastardization of the term by some conspiracy from Beijing.
I know Bruce Lee’s history. He wasn’t a fighter by trade but he was a proficient martial artist. Watch his demonstrations, read about his life. He’s considered one of the most influential martial artists of the 20th century. He was a pioneer in the field of bridging western and eastern training philosophies and techniques. If not for Bruce Lee, Dan Inosanto wouldn’t have gotten interested in his Filipino martial arts heritage. And let me remind you Inosanto is probably THE guy who got the Filipino martial arts on the map for westerners. As I told you, Wong Jack Man a master who actually fought Bruce Lee (and according to some sources he either lost or got to a draw) spoke about his ability as a fighter. You don’t need to be a professional winner of championships to be a martial artist or be good at them. And Lee got into a lot of fights in his life.
Falun gong has nothing to do with Tai Chi Chuan. The first is a modern religion based on a syncretism of buddhist relate Chinese traditions. The second is a martial art which a lot of people practice for health benefits. As for the politics, again nothing to do with what’s discussed in this site.
This is becoming a very circular discussion. I’ve referenced several sources that prove my point and you haven’t done the same with your arguments. I recommend you study a bit more about Chinese languages, martial arts and history before claiming any knowledge on said subjects. Thank you for your time and have a good day.
Okay, but just for the record, I never said the use of the term “kung fu” was a result of a conspiracy by Beijing. All languages are corrupted and bastardized over time (English most of all, because it is the most widely used language in the world), and “kung fu” came to be used to refer to something it didn’t actually mean in literal translation because of this process of linguistic corruption or bastardization. Not a “conspiracy,” but more a “marketing strategy” devised by movie and TV producers in Hong Kong and the West. Anyway, nice talking to you. All the best.