Chinese Martial Arts Go Beyond The Shaolin Temple

Foreword

You might’ve heard there’s a new Kung Fu tv series coming. For those who might not know, there was a tv show back in the ’60s called Kung Fu, starring the late David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine. The protagonist, a Chinese American man raised at the Shaolin Monastery, leaves his home to find his brother in the US. During his search, Caine travels through late 1800’s America having adventures, helping people, not only with his martial arts but his intellectual skills and philosophical teachings and with his Eastern wisdom. The new show, a remake of the original though with a slightly different plot, retains two key elements: the protagonist is Chinese American and trained at the Shaolin temple (or a Shaolin temple, still unclear).

The Shaolin Temple plays a huge role in most fiction related to traditional Chinese martial arts (TCMA). It’s a huge part of martial arts history; a lot of schools/styles claim some connection to it; and, of course, a lot of movies, tv shows, novels, comics, etc. feature it as a main element. Here in the West, sometimes it seems like it’s the only source of Chinese martial arts or the original one or maybe the most important one. Even when it’s not explicitly there, there’s a reference, like in the show Into the Badlands where an order of Shaolin-like monks with amazing powers exist. After a while, it gets a bit old. Shaolin is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to TCMA.

What I intend to do in this brief article is illustrate to the reader (mainly my friends and any poor soul forced to) on the other sources of TCMA, some interesting bits on them, some sources on the subject and a few recommendations of fiction.

What is TCMA?

First of all, let us more or less define what we consider TCMA. Brighter minds than mine have tried to define what is a martial art. Fellow writer on this journal Jaredd Wilson has debated on the issue on his podcast, Martial Thoughts (highly recommend it). So, for the purposes of this article, TCMA is any combat system from China with at least three generations of traceable history and lineage. That includes a lot, considering how many different styles and branches exist nowadays but we’ll get to that.

What is Shaolin?

For the casual reader who might not be familiar with it, let me give a brief introduction. The Shaolin Monastery is a Buddhist monastery in Dengfeng County, Henan province, China. It was founded around the 5th century CE and, as with most religious institutions, it’s been a place for contemplation and the study of scriptures. It’s also famous for its martial arts. Some, erroneously, consider it the cradle of martial arts (Chinese and/or Asian). According to legend, when Bodhidharma, patriarch of Chan/Zen Buddhism visited the monastery, he taught some physical exercises which became the basis for Shaolin kung fu. Historical evidence says otherwise.

China is a vast country with a long history of wars and conflict, so military and civilian systems of combat have been around since forever. Much like Christian monasteries in Europe, it was not uncommon for refugees to hide in the Shaolin temple. Some taught their martial arts to the monks who, in turn, developed and taught them to other people. At some point the temple became a sort of hub for martial artists who went to train there and exchange pointers with the monks. This exchange gave origin to and/or shaped many martial arts. Some monks even got involved in the military, teaching or aiding soldiers and generals. Thus Shaolin martial arts became famous. And the temple having been destroyed and rebuilt many times has added to the folklore.

There are books written on the nature, the history and everything related to the fabled temple. I’m not an expert on the subject by far, but I hope this at least gave you enough context.

What else is there?

TCMA is a subject as broad as they come. There’s dozens of styles and systems, each with at least a couple of branches. To name everything would require an encyclopedia but I’ll try to make it brief. Let’s start at the beginning.

The Origin

The earliest records of Chinese martial arts date from around 5th century BCE in the Spring and Autumn Annals. There’s also mention of a combat wrestling system called jueli or jiaoli in the Book of Rites which dates from a slightly later era. This systems included strikes, throws, joint manipulation, and pressure point attacks. In later dynasties, wrestling became the ancestor sport to what we call Shuai Jiao or Chinese wrestling. On the other side of the spectrum, we have military arts which focused on weapons.

Actual historical records of popular styles is fairly recent and styles are classified in a number of categories which not everybody agrees on. I’ll list a few of the more known styles unrelated to Shaolin which you can find in almost every country nowadays.

What survives to this day

One of the most famous styles is Praying Mantis Boxing or Tanglangquan which originates in what is now Shandong province. There are three main branches of mantis, Seven Star (Qixing), Six Harmonies (Liuhe) and Plum Blossom (Meihua). All other branches of mantis come from one of those three. Mantis boxing has a very particular flavor, very distinct from Shaolin styles. As the name implies, it is inspired by the insect of the same name and its ferocity.

Another widespread branch of TCMA consists of the Muslim styles. China’s history is long and Muslims have been an important part of it. Zha Quan, Tan Tui and Xinyi Liuhe Quan are some of the names that one might easily find. Zha Quan and Tan Tui, are both classical examples of Northern styles. Both styles emphasize kicking and linear movement, and a lot of modern wushu sets are based on those two styles. Xinyi Liuhe Quan (Heart intent six harmonies boxing) is unrelated to the other two. Its principles are based on five elements theory and ten animal shapes. It is sometimes called Muslim Xingyi given its connection to Xingyi quan.

The so-called internal styles of Xingyi Quan, Bagua Zhang and Taiji Quan. Xingyi Quan (Form intent boxing) is closely related to the above mentioned Xinyi and is very popular in the Hebei and Shanxi areas. It’s a powerful fighting style that uses five element theory and twelve animal shapes. Both Xinyi and Xingy have a strong influence from spear fighting. Bagua Zhang (Eight Trigram Palm) bases its training and fighting principles on the eight trigrams and circle walking. Most techinques in Bagua Zhang follow a circular motion which makes it a difficult style to master. Bagua Zhang has lots of branches each with its own variations in techniques, training methods and weapons. Taiji Quan, commonly written Tai Chi Chuan in the West, is what most people think of as a “soft style”. It emphasizes relaxation and close combat, with a lot of throws and joint locks.

Afterword

Hope you liked this brief foray into TCMA, its history and flavors. Like dipping a foot in a large river or lake, you’ll get a feel but there’s a lot more out there. A lot of styles claim some connection to Shaolin because of the monastery’s historical, religious and military relevance. Still, several don’t. Suffice it to say the subject of TCMA is vast and I just wanted to show that Shaolin kung fu is not the be-all, end-all of it.

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Ezequiel Davidovich Caballero

I'm from Argentina, Spanish is my mother tongue, and English my second language. I've been into martial arts for as long as I can remember. I've been doing Hung Sing Choy Li Fat (aka Choy Lee Fut or Choy Lay Fut, same thing) for almost two decades now with bits of other Chinese styles in it. Hope you like what I write.

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