Shaolin kung-fu training

from beginning to the highest level of the monks of Shaolin temple

Shaolin () kung-fu ()/wushu () contents are:

1. basic skills (: jiben kung) 1: stamina and soft (: rou kung) and light skills (: qing kung).
the set of Shaolin soft (flexibility) and light (balance) skills is called child skills (: tongzi kung);
2. power skills (: qi kung):
a. internal (: nei) qi kung meditation 2, develop energy inside body,
b. external (: wai) qi kung routines 4, develop energy and its coordination with body movements,
c. the 72 skills (: qishier kung) 3, internal and external (hard) martial power exercises;
3. combat skills (: quan fa) 1: various combat styles (: quan), each with several form (: taolu)
and their barehanded or weapon and barehanded vs weapon combat (: sanda) methods.
time: Shaolin kung-fu exercises can be done anytime, all together or in different sessions, day or night,
it all depend on you. the typical time schedule is: monks train every day except for one or a couple of
day a week to rest. they get up before sunrise. they usually do basic training before breakfast, by 15~30
minute of warm-up and endurance training and about 30 minute on child skills. they do qi kung
meditation for about 30 minute after waking up or before sleep or another time. they also practice a
external qi kung routine every day, which usually take 15 minute or less. every monk select a few one of
the 72 skills to master, each skill can be practiced at any time, day or night, in a few minute every day, but
some skills take up to 30 minute or more. combat skills are usually learned and trained in afternoon or
another time for a hour more or less.
place: kung-fu is trained anywhere a bull lie down, which mean in a small room, on a rooftop, anywhere,

even a small place.

clothes: put on light clothes in hot days, but do not be afraid of hot days, and put on warm clothes in cold

days, but do not be afraid of cold days.

results: after 100 day one see improvement, after 1000 day skills are mastered, but complete mastery

take 10s year.

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Shaolin kung-fu @YouTube.com: hundreds of free full video tutorials by Shaolin temple inheritors.

books: Yang Jwing-Mings Qigong for Health and Martial Arts, Qigong Meditation: Embryonic Breathing, Qigong
Meditation: Small Circulation, and his other Qi kung books.

books: Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin and 72 Consummate Arts Secrets of the Shaolin Temple.
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1. Shaolin jiben kung (basic training)4

a.

warm-up in beginning of training make stretching and other exercises easier and more efficient,

and prevent injuries to muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Shaolin monks warm up by loosening up the 9
main joint of the body, by turning each joint several time, for example, 9 time to this and 9 time to the
reverse direction. this routine take about 3 minute:

arms:

rotate hands around the

rotate forearms around the

rotate arms around the

wrists

elbows

shoulders

rotate ankles around

rotate knees around

rotate hips around

rotate upper body around the

twist shoulders around the

rotate head around the

waist

back

neck

legs:

trunk:

at the end, loosen up whole body and shake all limbs.

b.

endurance exercises develop stamina. after the loosen-up begin endurance training lightly, for

example by jogging, then gradually make the exercises as quick and heavier as possible to beyond your
endurable level. you will improve day by day. there are various kinds of endurance exercises, do some
of these exercises every day for about 15 minute or so: jog, run forward, sideways, backward, zigzag,
stationary run, high-knee run, sprint, squat, squat walk, squat hop, jump, high jump, long jump, crawl,
pushups, and basic moves like rolls, somersaults, slap kicks, jump kicks, and other maneuvers.
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Shaolin kung-fu training video tutorials @YouTube.com.

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Shaolin child skills5 is the set of Shaolin kung-fu soft (flexibility) and light (balance) skills. masters
of child skills, being as soft as cotton and as light as a swallow, feel like being given a second childhood.
child skills can be mastered at any age, young or old, but it is better to be trained since childhood. the
saying is that child skills are 18 posture. 18 main9 soft & 9 lightposture and their most usual
variants are shown in this section.

start: salute!
c.

soft-body (stretching) exercises are described for every posture; this is a complete set of

Shaolin stretching exercises. begin each stretching exercise by holding the position and doing 9 or so
light stretching pulse to ready the muscles, then stretch continuously in position for 9 or so deep lowerabdominal breath; then relax for a few second to begin the next exercise. this way, each exercise take 1
minute or so and the whole stretching training take 15 minute a day. do all the exercises every day.
mastery level, when you can do the soft-body postures with ease, take 3 year of training or so. at that
level, you can abandon ordinary stretching exercises and, instead, do Shaolin child skills meditative or
combative (videos @YouTube.com) forms.

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lazy monk salute Buddha
: lan seng bai fo

1, advanced single-arm variant

Buddhist child show the way
: fo tong zhi lu

exercise: both hands fixed on wall in behind, squat down to stretch the shoulders and arms.

2
arc backward
: xia yao

2, on-head variant

2, advanced variant 2, advanced variant on-chest

hide flower under the leaf
on-knees
: ye di cang hua

exercise: feet apart, arc backward, try to land both palms on the floor at behind.
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Shaolin child skills tutorials @YouTube.com.

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3, simpler variant
golden rooster peck at rice
: jin ji shi mi

3
azure dragon roll waist
: qing long juan yao

exercise: feet apart, bend forward, try to pass your head and shoulders through your legs.

4
sun and moon
: ri yue

5
tortoise
: jin gui

5, single-leg variant
cross the river on a reed stem
: yi wei du jiang

exercise: stand, turn both toes inward as far as possible, bend down.
exercise: stand, turn both toes outward as far as possible, sit down.

6, prerequisite single/double-leg variant

azure dragon coil in the nest
: qing long pan wo

6, lying variant

6
golden rooster stand on one leg
: jin ji du li

exercise: sit down or stand up, try to hook your feet behind your neck, do with both legs.
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7, prerequisite single/double-leg 7, prerequisite variant

7
7, lying variant
front
split
front
skyward
step
variant
front split and
front clasp Buddhas foot
: shu cha
clasp Buddhas foot : chaotian deng
: die cha bao fo jiao
: bao fo jiao
exercise: clasp Buddhas foot: one leg squat, other leg straight in front on heel with toes upward, hands
clasp and drag toes of the straight leg to you, bend forward and press your head to the leg; switch legs. at
advanced level, you can assume front clasp Buddhas foot as a prerequisite for posture 7.
try front split, legs straight; switch legs. at advanced level, you can assume posture 7 itself.

8, prerequisite variant
side clasp Buddhas foot
: bao fo jiao

8, prerequisite variant
side split
: heng cha

8, lying variant
8
side skyward step
side split and
clasp Buddhas foot : chaotian deng
: die cha bao fo jiao

exercise: clasp Buddhas foot: one leg squat, other leg straight to side on heel with toes upward, hands
clasp and drag toes of the straight leg to you, bend sideward and press your ear to the leg; switch legs. at
advanced level, you can assume side clasp Buddhas foot as a prerequisite for posture 8.
try side split, legs straight. at advanced level, you can assume posture 8 itself.

9, a advanced split
azure dragon swing tail
: qing long bai wei
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d.

light-body (balance) exercises need calmness and perseverance. at the beginning level, to

learn postures, use supports, like leaning to a wall, etc. hold a posture, hold still or do push-ups/sit-ups
for a while, like for 36, 72, 108, or more breath in the posture. at mastery level, one may gradually load
his body with 10~100 kg of weight in balance postures. practice a few one of these postures every day.

10
swallow balance
: yan shi pingheng
aka dragon surf on sea
:
jiao long tan hai

12, prerequisite variant

on horse stance
: ma bu

13
child salute saint of compassion
: tongzi bai guan yin

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reverse swallow balance

12, simpler variant

12
arhat salute Buddha
: luohan bai fo

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14, simpler variant
sleeping fish carry Buddha
arhat sleep
: wo yu zai fo : luohan shuijiao
aka naughty child salute Buddha
: wan tong bai fo

15, other variant

15
15, advanced single-arm variant
meeting a Buddhist ascending to heaven midair meditation
: xuankong dazuo
: ying fo sheng tian
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16, prerequisite variant

single-arm support
: dan bi fu cheng

16
double-arm support
: shuang bi fu cheng

combination of 15 and 16

combination of 6 and 15
twin dragons play with a pearl
: xuang
long xi zhu

17
handstand
: daoli

17, advanced variants*

two-finger stand meditation
: daoli er zhi chan

18, prerequisite variant

headstand monument
: tou dao zai bei

*17, prerequisite variant

arhat watch troops formation
: luohan guan zhen

18
headstand monument
: tou dao zai bei
aka upside-down salute Buddha
: dao bai fo

end
Amituofo! _/\_
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incomplete sections

2. Shaolin Qi kung (powers training)

a. Shaolin Qi kung meditation

Qi kung meditation is based on deep lower-abdominal (: dan tian) breathing

Nei (internal) qi kung: sitting qi kung meditation
Wai (external) qi kung: si duan kung, ba duan jin, yi jin jing, shi er duan jin, luohan shiba kung

b. Shaolin kung-fu 72 consummate skills

the 72 skills of Shaolin temple have close relation with Qi kung. every monk select a few skills and
practice them.

1
2
3
4

Elementary exercises:
1.

hanged gold coin (: xuan jin qian):

2.

hanged Buddha's pearl (: gua fo zhu):

3.

1000 sheet of paper (: qian ceng zhi):

4.

RuYi circle (: ru yi quan):

5.

hanged cotton ball (: xuan mian chui):

6.

strike wooden dummy (: da mu ren):

7.

kick wooden pole (: ti mu zhuang):

8.

kick hanged weights (: ti chen chui):

72 skills/arts/methods/techniques kung/yi/fa/shu ///:

36 external 36 internal

1.

spears and knives cannot wound (: qiang dao bu ru): soft but have outer power: Yin&Yang:
soft

2.

dodge and fight (: shan zhan) aka sand bags (: sha bao): ext . it develop maneuvering agility.

hang sand bags of smaller than 3 kg, or other objects like metal coins, small stones, knives, etc., with
string at the height of the shoulders. in case of hanging knives, the exercise is called (; jin
dao huan zhang). smaller objects are harder to hit and control. stand in the center of the structure.
first, hang 1 bag and strike at it so that it swing out and when it return back strike at it again with
greater force. deliver 100 blow or more a day without pause. after mastering it with 1 bag, proceed
with 2 bag, with simultaneous or successive blows. then proceed with 4 bag at front, rear, left and
right sides. begin with orderly successive blows, then proceed to random blows with different parts
of your body. gradually proceed to fight with 10~14 bag, at full motion, while you walk, run, jump,
fall, dodge, etc.
3.

meteor poles (: liu xing zhuang): & 1000 sheet of paper (: qian ceng zhi) aka standing
like a pile and beating a pile (zhan zhuang da zhuang): ext

4.

serial hits (: pai da): ext. It strengthen all parts of body against enemy blows. The trainee take a

piece of hard wood and deliver successive blows with it at all parts of his body, i.e., the arms, legs
(front and inner sides, outer and back sides), chest and stomach, both sides of the chest and waist,
back and waist. He can also hit all sides of his head. He start with light blows and make the blows
heavier gradually. He make 100 blow or more at each of these parts. He can train himself 2 time
every day, e.g., once in the morning and once in the evening. After a year, instead of a wood, He use
a brick and train as before. He will use a piece of iron, e.g., a rod or hammer, after another half a year.
After another half a year, which is 2 year total, he is expected to reach mastership.
5.

iron head (: tie tou): ext.

6.

enlightened (: luohan): in

7.

tortoise back (: gui bei): ext

8.

metal bell cover (: jin zhong zhao): ext+in

9.

iron robe (: tie bu shan): ext

10. iron belly (: tie dai) aka iron ox (: tie niu): ext
11. cloth bag (: bu dai): in+some ext elements
12. jade belt (: yu dai) aka continuous round of the universe (qian kun juan), ext+in, The trainee hug a

tree firmly by both his thighs and ringing his arms round it, and try to uproot it. After a year he can
shake the tree forcefully. After another year, the tree gradually wilt. At the 3rd year, the force may
uproot or break the tree trunk. The hug the tree (: bao shu) skill is mastered with success. The
trainee may then continue doing the exercise with pillar-like stones of 200-250 kg. Stones are
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slippery and it is more difficult to raise them. He train himself until he can easily raise and lower the
stone. He then will try to hold the stone suspended for as long as possible. After 2 year, he will try to
walk while holding the stone.
13. 500-kilo sluice shutter (: qian jin zha): ext
14. raise pot (: shang guan): ext
15. sack of iron (: tie dai) aka sack of iron beads (; tie zhu dai): ext.
16. stone padlock (: shi suo): ext
17. frog (: ha ma): ext
18. separate water (: fen shui): ext
19. lash power (: bian jin): ext
20. eagle wings (: ying yi): ext
21. Bawang's elbows (: ba wang zhou): ext
22. iron arms (: tie bi): ext
23. twin locks (: shuang suo): ext. The trainee hit all parts of both his forearms to each other, like

the two arm of a scissor. This is very painful. After a long time, he will feel no pain, and the forearms,
while colliding with each other, make a dull sound. Afterwards, he proceed by training his hands as
well, his fists, palms, fingers, by hitting them mutually to each other. After a while, when a hollow
sound is heard while doing this exercise, this level of mastership is over. Finally, he will hit his arms
against his raised shins, raising the left and right knee in turn, to keep balance between hard and soft
in his arms.
24. hard and soft (: gang rou): ext+in
25. horse saddle (: ma an): ext
26. bullet fists (: dan zi quan): ext
27. Yin hands (: yin shou) aka Yin fists (: yin quan) aka mysterious air punch (: xuan kong
quan) aka well fist (jing quan); if done by punching to a candle instead of a well chasing the wind
palms (: zhui feng zhang) aka sun-rays hands (: yang guang shou): in
28. pushing mountain palms (: tui shan zhang): ext
29. bamboo leaf palms (: zhu ye shou) aka copper sand palms (: tong sha zhang) aka palm
rotating sand (fan sha zhang): ext
30. iron sand hands (: tie sha zhang) aka black sand hands (hei sha shou): ext. The trainee fill a

canvas bag with one or a few kilogram of iron sand or iron chips, or another hard sand-like material.
He put this bag on a bench, a short wall, or on a hard ground and deliver successive blows with the
palm and the back of his hands at it. He may also use the lower edge of his hands. The blows should
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be light at first and become heavy gradually. After training during 100 day, good results are reached,
but complete mastership take one or a couple of year. After that, he is expected to be able to break
several brick or stone with his hands.
31. hands of 5 poison (: wu du shou) aka 5 poison chase sand palms (: wu du zhui sha
zhang) aka palm of 5 thunder aka Yin hands: ext+softness Yin
32. mantis claws (: tang lang zhao) aka diamond hand (jingang shou): ext+in
33. chop-devil swords (: zhan mo jian) aka Bodhisattva Guan Yin's palm (: guan yin zhang):
soft which developed outer power: Yin
34. rubbing palms (: he pan zhang) aka golden dragon hands (: jin long shou): ext
35. whirlwind palms (: xuan feng zhang) aka cinnabar sand palms (: zhu sha zhang) aka
plum-blossom palms (: mei hua zhang) aka red sand palms (: hong sha zhang): in
36. one-finger meditation (: yi zhi chan): in
37. one diamond finger (: yi zhi jin gang): ext
38. poke stone (: dian shi): ext
39. metal spades (: jin chan) aka immortals hands (: xian ren zhang):

is external but also

have internal aspects. The trainee deliver forceful stabbing blows with his fingertips, with the four

finger straight and close together, at hard objects, like walls, tables, benches, trees, etc., every day.
After a long time, he is expected to be able to make small dents in wooden objects. If he can make a
hole in a wooden object, the first stage is over. Then he will do the exercise on a stone as before. With
time, after many blow, he is expected to make a deep dent on the stone.
40. locking fingers (: suo zhi): in+ext
41. pull out nails (: ba ding):

ext. It develop the locking force of the fingers. The trainee knock a

number of nail with length of about 10 cm into a thick wooden board or a tree. He grab a nail with
the fingers and try to pull it out. The grab can be done with 2 finger, the thumb and the index finger,
or with 3, 4, or all the 5 finger. If he can pull out the nails, he have reached the first level of mastership.
Then, he pour salt water on the nails to become rusty and then train as before. At the highest level of
mastership, he is expected to be able to pull out the rusty nails.
42. carry 500 kilo (: ti qian jin) aka water chestnut (shi bo qi, bi qi): ext
43. pull out mountain (: ba shan): hard strengthen internal+develop soft Yin: hard Yang + soft Yin
44. eagle claws force (: ying zhao li) aka dragon claws (long zhao): in&ext
45. pinch flower (: nian hua): soft exercise for external strengthening: Yin soft
46. metal sand hands (: jin sha zhang) aka rub and pierce (: mo cha): ext+in
47. guitar (: pi pa) aka 3 Yin finger (san yin zhi) aka springy fingers (zhi tou tan): ext
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48. slithering snake (: she xing) aka jumping centipede (: wu gong tiao): ext
49. crouching tiger (: wo hu) aka sleeper (shui) aka feline (mao): ext
50. knock groins (: men dang) aka golden cicada (jin chan): in
51. draw in Yin (: xi yin): in
52. iron knees (: tie xi): ext
53. kicking legs (: ti tui):
54. iron sweeping broom (: tie sao zhu) aka iron leg (tie tui): ext
55. kick wooden pole (: ti mu zhuang) aka pole of cypress (: bai mu zhuang): ext. The trainee

dig a long pole rooted into the ground. He kick and push the pole with both his legs in succession
everyday. This is painful, but the pain gradually disappear after a half a year. After a year, the legs
become powerful. Then, instead, he will proceed by kicking a bigger thing, like a sheer rock or a small
wall, weighing 250-350 kg. This is painful again, but pain disappear over time. If his kick, as expected,
can displace the stone to a distance of several feet, the success have been achieved.
56. shooting feet (: zu she): ext
57. light body (: jin shen): in
58. pass on string (: yi xian chuan): in
59. plum-blossom poles (: mei hua zhuang): in
60. flight walking (: fei xing) aka flight over the earth aka solitary walk of 1000 LI aka night walking:
in. The trainee tie some small weight to each of his legs and run as quick as possible on a flat ground

for as long as he can. Every few day, he add about 50 g to the weight until it reach 2-2.5 kg on each
leg. After a few year his body agility become great. He continue on by training on uneven, rugged
grounds instead. If at nights, he can run on a rugged ground with stones, rocks, and cliffs as easily
and fast as on a flat ground, the full success have been achieved. If he walk without the weight on his
body, he will see the lightness and extreme ability of his body to run fast and jump over obstacles.
61. run on boards (: pao ban):
62. fly to roofs and walk on walls (: fei yan zou bi) aka 8 step in the horizontal position (heng pai
ba bu): in
63. deft jumps (: cuan zong): in
64. high jumping (: tiao yue) aka higher and further (: deng gao chao yuan): in
65. pass through the curtain (: chuan lian): in
66. reveal truth (: jie di): ex+in
67. flip and soar (: fan teng) aka leather strips (pi tiao): in
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68. lizard climbs wall (: bihu you qiang) aka climbing a wall (pa bi) aka hanged picture (gua
hua): in: ext softness&in hardness

in case of injuries, bleeding, fractures, etc, wait until after the healing, then continue on.
iron sand hand: each palm 30~50 time, 100 day; 50 time after 100 day.
sand claw: rice, 50~100 time (until claws get numbed), 2~3 month; then with sand; then iron, 30~50 time, 1 year;
50~130 time; then wall, more than 100 time a day, after a long time one can make a hole in the wall.
punch: 0-100 time, 3~5 month; more than 100 time; after the pain vanish, 3~4 session daily, each session 50 time,
3~4 month later can break brick; then with stone, continue 10, 20, or 30 year.
head: both fists punch head, morning and evening 30~50 time, 3 month; 100 time, 1 year; 300 time 1 year; continue
3~5 year; then hit head with a staff 45 cm long 5 cm thick, grab it with both hands, slow to fast, light to heavy,
morning and evening, 30~50 time, 3 month; 50~100 time 1 year; 100~300 time 3 year; after success hit head to
wall, 10~15 time, light to heavy, slow to fast, 3 month; 50~100 time 6 month; 100~300 time 3 year.
jump: hole 30 cm, 3~5 minute; morning and evening 15~20 time, until about 1.5 meter.

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