Shaolin tiger catching

少林心意把秘笈图解

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shaolin arhat arranges flowers

Shaolin Lohan Arrages Flowers

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Brief Biography of master shi deJian

Master Shi Dejian has been practicing Shaolin ChanWuYi for almost 20 years. The highest level and ultimate goal of any Shaolin monk is to achieve the unity of Chan, Wu, and Yi in one person. Because of the inherent difficulty in attaining such a state, only a few Shaolin monks throughout the many generations have been able to attain this state. Master Dejian is perhaps the only contemporary Shaolin monk in Songshan working towards this goal. Because Master Dejian is considered the representative of the Shaolin ChanWuYi culture, he has been invited by different countries to explicate on Shaolin ChanWuYi, including Japan, Italy, and Korea.
Master Dejian is the disciple of Master Xingxing, the 3rd Grand Master of Shaolin ChanWuYi. Master Dejian also became the disciple of the Master Shi Suxi, Abbot of the Shaolin Temple at that time, and became a 31st generation monk of the Cao branch in Shaolin. In 1997, Master Dejian was instructed by his master to go to the subsidiary of Shaolin Temple - Sanhuang Zhai, with the aim of deepening his knowledge in ChanWuYi, and strengthening his skills in the esteemed Shaolin Wu, Xinyiba (Heart-Mind-Control). In 1999, Dejian was named by Grand Master Xingxing as the 4th Grand Master of the Wu Gulun branch of Shaolin ChanWuYi. In 2005, Master Dejian founded the Henan Songshan Research Institute of ChanWuYi, with the aim of establishing a place to unite the different fronts in society in promoting the Shaolin ChanWuYi culture.

Mind-mastering Chan

The essence of Chan can be understood as the essence of Chi.” In the principle of Mind-mastering Chan, mastering the mind means to master Chi and one’s actions. “Mind”, in this sense, means teaching without scriptures - through persuasion and a meeting of minds to train the heart. Mind-mastering Chan is not merely simple sitting meditation, though this can be one of the methods. If one knows how to master the mind, one can achieve “mastering-Chi” and enlightenment through standing, simple movements, or wushu. The way to master the mind (or train the heart) includes focusing on specific points on the body, visualizing the senses, deep concentration, and inner-body observation. The purposes are to cultivate, smoothen and master the Chi. Beginners can start with sitting and standing meditation, focus on points, and visualization. If one can enter the stage of deep concentration, one’s breathing will become slow, continuous, and deep. One will have entered a stage of semi-consciousness, like sleeping but not really sleeping, like dreaming but not really dreaming. One becomes very relaxed, may see wonderful senses, and feels intensely satisfied and blissful. To balance and enhance one’s internal energy this way is to direct the Chi naturally. Another approach is through self-control, which can only be practiced after one has practiced the natural approach for a lengthy period. The self-control approach is to perform inner-body observation after entering the stage of deep concentration, to understand the Chi and blood circulation of the body. This is done through directing the “real” Chi to fill the whole body, guiding the Chi to flow freely, even to the tips of the hair. The highest level is to be able to direct the Chi with the mind and focus it into a force. If one can reach the level of letting go of the self, one would have attained unlimited power. One can use this power to treat illnesses, through utilizing one’s real Chi to affect others, to guide the flow of Chi in others to unblock Chi stagnation. Sometimes, unblocking the Chi can also be facilitated by Chinese medicine and diet. This is the essence of Mind-mastering Chan, also known as Pusa Xing / Bodhisattva character.

wu nanfang lohan chui(arhat pound)

Shaolin Xinyi Arhat Pound belongs to one of the traditional Wushu series it is passed by the famous warrior monk Jiqin in the late Qing Dynasty. its The characteristics are simple and unadorned well with fighting capabilitywith strong attacking and defensing skills, attackAttacking and defend defense echo with each other and taking in and sending out coincide with each otherbreath in and out are combined together the strong and the weak mutually assist each other tempered toughness with gentleness, mixture of truth and deceitreal and cheating moves can not be recognized, every trick and skill not attacking but defendingevery actions are either attack or defend like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey powerful and valiancy at the mean time, its fighting sound like the tiger's whistle fist The style and manner of the boxing like having root on the groundactions goes very steadily, like spring-water has no wave when quiet stand like a quiet spring pool and overturn the river and upset the sea when attackingacts like a terrific ocean and overturn the river and upset the sea when attackingthe fist like a stone which can pouch a hole.





Section 1
Preparatory posture

Posture number Name of posture
Posture 1 two hands holding fist

Posture 2 cross hands

Posture 3 double vertical block

Posture 4 flying cracker

Posture 5 protecting body fist

Posture 6 towing cannon in leaping step

Posture 7 hacking fist for two times in body squatting posture

Posture 8 Lifting the body and revolving fist
Posture 9 Face-covering palm
Posture 10 Protecting body towering fist
Posture 11 Wringing body, squatting and stretching claw forward
Posture 12 Sparrow hawk shrinking body
Posture 13 Towering cannon



Section 2
posture number Name of posture
Posture 14 Turing over and hacking with the two
Posture 15 Blocking hands for two times
Posture 16 Heart separating
Posture 17 Attacking-rib palm
Posture 18 Circling and rolling body
Posture 19 Failure posture
Posture 20 Hacking palm in coiling hands and squatting step
Posture 21 Lifting body and striking with fist
Posture 22 Black tiger attacking heart
Posture 23 Wringing hand and hacking fist
Posture 24 Monkey washing face
Posture 25 Throw up one’ s hand in galloping hands
Posture 26 Circling and wrapping body
Section 3
posture number Name of posture
Posture 27 Picking on the sky
Posture 28 Chopping hand palm
Posture 29 Stirring palm for two times
Posture 30 Rolling body and riding on a tiger
Posture 31 Wringing hand and attacking heart palm
Posture 32 Protecting body and wrapping for two times
Posture 33 Towering cannon
Posture 34 Rolling body and hacking palm
Posture 35 Blocking hand and hacking palm
Posture 36 Circling and sitting on mountain
(hero in horse stance)

The Explanation of ChanWuYi by master Xingxing

My master Wu Shanlin had taught over ten disciplines during his life, and most of them had followed him for only three to five years. However, I had followed my master for 20 years, and became the successor of ChanWuYi. With my limited ability, I had only taken two disciples, they are Shi Dejian and Wu Nafo. Among those who learn Kungfu surrounding and within Shaolin Temple, only we have followed the ChanWuYi approach taught to me by Wu Shanlin (that was original form Wu Gulun). I only had one year of schooling, my academic level may be low. Thus, I must say my understanding of Shaolin’s ChanWuYi culture was also originated from my master, and with my own reflection and experience.

First of all, Chan is not superstition. My master and mine followed and respected Buddism, we have enhanced our own life by life with Buddism – to develop a kind heart, a high moral standard, and many charity sets. We understand that Buddha is within our heart but not in the heaven – that was what Buddha taught. Buddha, nowadays, is worshipped by people as God; in fact he was a holy person but not God. My master and mine do not believe in superstition God and specter.

I had followed my master to learn a specific approach of Chan Practice that is called Mindmastering Chan, also known as Pusa Xing. ChanWu (Chan Kung Fu) and Chan Yi (Chan Medical Approach) are different form of Mindmastering Chan, but the fundamental principal is the same. Practicing Chan is a way to enrich one’s inner-self, moral standard and wisdom. Those who practice Chan will eventually break the self-center mind and reach a level that beyond self.

Practicing Chan can help an individual to live naturally, with a trouble-free mind, a fruitful and wonderful life. However, an individual must go through a diligent and persistent practice of Chan in order to reach this level of awareness.

My master had taught me: Chan is Heart (thought). In order to understand Chan, one must first learn how to enlighten one’s heart (thought). To enlighten one’s heart, one must live accordingly to Buddism’s guidelines, clean one’s inner self, establish high moral conduct and practice charity acts. Those practicing Chan should develop an internal self that consist of several elements: original, nature, kindness, and to be a benefactor to society. The most difficulty to practice Chan is to understand and control oneself, that is what Buddism said “purity of thoughts” or Chan observation. In another word, Buddism’s basic guideline:

1. No killing
2. No stealing
3. No lust
4. No drinking
5. No dishonest

The most challenging enemy for learning Chan is oneself, but no other people. Buddism advocated control “evil”. How to control the evil? First, one must polish oneself by following the methods mentioned above, and then gradually one will be able to the evil thoughts within one’s self. We are all originally ordinary people, and are always troubled by matters and others people in the world. It is not easy to be Bodhisattva; however, we can develop a thought of Bodhisattva to do everything. Those with evil and unrightrust thoughts can never reach to level of Chan, because unkind thoughts destroy the thought of Chan. Mindmastering Chan can be achieved by Chan Kungfu and Chan Medical Practice. These two approaches are both based upon “Guiding Chi”. One must maintain a serenity heart (mind), without much trouble thoughts, can forget oneself to order to be able to experience to unity of Chi and thoughts and reach the level of Chan. For individuals with unkind thoughts, immoral conducts can never know Chan nor to experience the undescribable level mysterious Chan.

Xin Yi Ba

Xin Yi Ba

Xin Yi Ba is the highest level of the secret skills of traditional Shaolin gongfu. It is of considerable interest to many people. The information given below has been translated from a copy of the original manual, combined with some explanations from Shi Xingxiao’s own training experience at the Shaolin temple. The theory of Xin Yi Ba is very difficult to translate, but a brief outline has been attempted here.

Xin Yi Ba is also known as Chu Jue Tou (锄镢头). It was developed by Shaolin monks through using Gongfu movements while farming. The exact date of the founding of Xin Yi Ba can not be traced because of the number of disasters which befell the Shaolin temple -- resulting in the loss and destruction of many valuable historical manuscripts. Xin Yi Ba was, however, already very famous during the Song Dynasty.

At present some wushu practitioners in Dengfeng claim that they know Shaolin Xin Yi Ba. They may have been taught a few movements when Master Wu Shanlin was invited back to the Shaolin Temple to teach for three years in the 1960’s but in actual fact the Xin Yi Ba they claim to know is not the real thing.

Xin Yi Ba consists only of a few main sequences of movements and some secondary movements. When one becomes proficient in mastering these movements, he can create infinite postures of his own. In fact, the study of Xin Yi Ba is to practice and fortify one’s Qi and one’s outer strength with the purpose of manipulating one’s Qi to nourish one’s internal organs and to enrich the muscles of the body. Then one can move the Qi out of the body as well – even, in some situations, protecting the body from being injured. It also helps to create a calm mind, prevent illness and make the body strong.

The study of Xin Yi Ba includes many aspects of different theories and practical training, such as: the three sections (Ming San Jie), the four sensations (Qi Si Shao), guarding the five elements (Bi Wu Xing), The Three Voids -- as well as an understanding of the six combinations (Liu He).

Ming San Jie明三节 – the understanding of the three sections

The body has three main sections: hands to shoulders (upper section), chest to waist (middle section) and hips to feet (root section).

Each main section consists of three other sections:
Upper section: hands (upper), elbows (middle) and shoulders (root).
Middle section: chest (upper), heart (middle) and lower abdomen (root).
Root section: feet (upper), knees (middle) and hips (root).

The relationship between the three sections has its own unique function. For example, when a movement is performed from one of the three sections, the other two sections must be in harmony in order to generate the power from the movement performed. This means any movements must be supported by the power generated from the whole body. This is explains how important it is for practitioners to understand the San Jie.

Qi Si Shao-齐四稍 – the four internal sensations

According to the original gongfu theory, all parts of the body are connected to the central nervous system; for example, the hair is assumed to be the ending of the blood, the nails are the ending of the ligaments, the teeth are the ending of the bones and the tongue is the ending of the muscles.

While practicing, it is possible to experience sensations such as the hair lifting the scalp, the nails trying to penetrate the bones, the teeth biting through steel and the tongue trying to push the teeth out of place. These sensations are symptoms of the internal power that is being generated. As the Qi rises from the Dantian, an involuntary sound is produced with each movement, all parts of the body are set into motion and the internal power can expressed maximum effectiveness.

Bi Wu Xing 闭五行 -- guarding the five elements

Our Chinese ancestors used the theory of the five elements to explain the relationship between the five major organs of the body. They considered the world consists of five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth -- which should exist in a balance and harmony with each other. In later years, the ancient gongfu practitioners use the theory of the five elements in gongfu training as well. For example, the hand is linked to the heart which represents the element of fire and the nose is linked to the lung which represents the element of metal. Fire is capable of melting metal, thus the nose can be damaged easily by the hand. The five major organs are like five entrances of the body: one has to guard one’s own entrances and restrain one’s opponent from attacking them.

San Kong -- three voids

The key points of practicing are about the “void” -- also known as “Emptiness”. These consist of “the Emptiness of the heart” (心空), ”the Emptiness of the body”(身空） and “the Emptiness of the eyes”（目空）.

The Emptiness of the heart, (心空) Xin Kong, enables one to purify the heart and calm the mind, which makes one thought-free and fearless.

The emptiness of the body, (身空) Sheng Kong, enables one to release any tightness in the body so that one can move fluently and smoothly.

The emptiness of the eyes, (目空) Mu Kong, enables one to consider everybody and everything as beneath one’s notice so that one assume superiority and thus shows no fear when facing the enemy.

When practicing gong-fu, it is very important to understand the theory behind the method. Only by understanding what every part of the body is used for in each movement will one's practice be effective and efficient.

The theories explained above are only some of the requirements of the practice of Xin Yi Ba. There are many more which can not be put into words but must be experienced personally through training.

Liu He 六合 -- Six Combinations

Liu He 六合 -- Six Combinations

Most people distinguish between external and internal martial arts and think that they are separate. They are not. Both the internal and the external elements have to be practised together. The hardest combination is that of “Xin” and “yi”. “Xin” is known as the heart, “Yi” is known as intent/mind.

Liu He means the combination of six sections of the body, of which 3 are external and 3 are internal. When the six sections of the body are combined, including the Xin Yi, limitless power can be developed in the body.

The three external combinations

There are three combinations: feet and hands, knee and elbow and waist and shoulder.

Training in traditional Shaolin movements, one learns how to incorporate the three sections of the body and, through constant practice, learns how to set them in motion as a seamless whole. It then becomes difficult for an opponent to win. Through practising the physical aspects of training and maintaining a vegetarian diet, one builds and stores more Qi within the body, and will thus be ready for internal training.

The three internal combinations

There are three combinations: Xin (Mind) and Yi (Intent), Yi and Qi (Energy) and Qi and Li (Power).

The most important aspect of internal training is one's mind and intention. One's intention must be combined with the Qi and focused on each movement. Qi-gong is the art of breathing and the majority of people who have read about Qi-gong will know that many theories are similar. However, the methods of practice may vary.

Normally peoples’ breathing is never fully completed, but the practice of deep breathing through the Dantian, your lower abdomen, can achieve this. Your breathing can then guide more oxygen to every organ and nerves, which activates the nerves to be more sensitive. The immune system is consequently made stronger and more resistant to viruses and illness and the body can generate more internal energy. This is how some people who practice Qi-gong are able to cure their illness themselves when conventional medicine has failed.

In traditional Shaolin training, there are some advanced methods and forms for internal training such as Yi Jin Jing and Xi Sui Jing. These forms enable one to manipulate the Qi and produce more physical power in fighting movements. The movements are led by the mind. Only when the mind is purified and combined with intent, can it control the Qi to flow through all the nerves smoothly and utilise the power generated through the Qi in one’s movements. To achieve this power, your Mind, Intention, Qi and Power must be well combined.

Gongfu and Vegetarianism

Gongfu and Vegetarianism

Because the Shaolin Temple is an ancient Buddhist temple, Shaolin Gongfu and a vegetarian diet have always been part of its culture.

During the Ming Dynasty, the Manchurians were trying to seize China by force while the Imperial government of the Ming Dynasty was corrupt and incompetent. At that time scholars, who were trying to save the country, wrote books expounding theories on how this could be done. They also advocated the practice of martial arts. When the Manchu's finally invaded China, many people with high ideals and integrity did not want to be slaves under a new regime so they fled to the mountains and lived in seclusion. Some entered into a religious life.

They focused on martial arts intensively in order to acquire the fighting skills to regain their country. Many of them already had good gongfu skills. As they were generally also highly educated they sought out and brought together the folk martial art skills which they fused with the Shaolin gongfu styles. As time went on, Shaolin gongfu constantly improved and developed; hence Shaolin gongfu is regarded as the main branch of Chinese Martial Arts in China and the world.

Another important factor in its reaching such a high level of skill and importance is the vegetarianism of the Shaolin monks, who were all Buddhist and followed Buddha’s teachings of eating no meat. The monks saw vegetarianism as a means of reaching a high level of training.

Traditional gongfu training is about saving and storing energy for every organ. We eat in order to get energy. Energy in natural food comes from the sun, the air, the water and the earth. By going directly to the earth for our food, we not only conserve energy used for digestion but also get an energy of a finer quality which can be used for a higher purpose like gongfu and meditation. The more natural the food, the more energy it has. Unfortunately, most of us are in the habit of eating the wrong things for the wrong reasons. It is common sense that our body then has to slow down and waste more energy in digesting unnatural food like meat.

In addition, being a vegetarian can aid the practitioner in achieving a better level of constancy or staying power while training and fighting. For example, animals like horses and buffalos are vegetarians -- their main diet consists of grass -- and they have a tremendous amount of endurance and stamina while running, even when encumbered with heavy things. On the other hand, tigers and leopards – with their diet of meat only -- are only able to maintain short periods of power.

From a scientific point of view, when an animal is killed, the Qi of anger and fear is trapped in the meat; in a state of shock animal cells alter and create poisons in the flesh. When people eat this meat the poisons and impurities enter their body. For this reason people can easily get sick and angry or depressed. When the mind and the body are in this unbalanced state, people cannot continue training on a regular basis.

For traditional Shaolin culture, therefore, vegetarianism is not only important for religious beliefs, it is important for maintaining a healthy body as well. Vegetarianism is a necessary foundation for attaining a high level of gongfu skills; without a healthy body your gongfu cannot improve. In addition, vegetarianism helps to cleanse the body from impurities in the blood, while making the Qi tranquil and helping to create a peaceful state of mind. Thus a vegetarian diet is the first requirement for adequate internal training.

Morality, ethics, honour are other related issues. A gongfu practitioner spends his life studying something that in a split second, without a second thought, could be used to harm or kill someone. This ability has to be controlled.

The answer is the cultivation of a caring heart for all living creatures.

A first basic principle should be to refuse to kill and eat animals. Then humanity should become an important issue for a practitioner and he should treat all people with compassion, understanding and tolerance. Such principles of caring help to create a balanced and healthy mind in which there is no place for criminal wrong-doing. To develop a balanced being and a caring attitude towards humanity is extremely important for the practitioners of martial arts.

As this level of awareness or consciousness develops and expands, it influences the consciousness of mankind worldwide, helping to diminish negative feelings and behaviour such as greed, anger, violence and criminal acts of all kinds. This in turn allows the consciousness of the practioners to rise higher and eventually reach a state of enlightenment.

An enlightened being has total awareness of his own self, his body and his environment. If the enlightened person is also a gongfu practitioner he will be aware of fear and danger before ever seeing or knowing the source of those feelings. His reactions to danger, whether in training or in real combat, will be much faster – essential for the mastering of high level gongfu skills.

Vegetarianism is a vital element in the reaching of this state of awareness.

It is a concern for many people that vegetarian food does not supply enough nutrition to the body. This is, in fact, not the case. When eating a balanced vegetarian diet, the body will receive ample nutrition for vitality and health. Masters Dejian and Wu Nanfang and their disciples are living proof of this. Vegetarianism is essential for those who are serious about mastering the highest levels of gongfu.

shaolin gung fu and wugulun history

The history of shaolin gongfu As we know, Shaolin Temple is not only famous for its Ch'an Buddhism, but also for its Shaolin Gongfu. The Shaolin Temple is a place for spiritual development and to practice Buddhism.

So why would peaceful monks study martial arts in a Buddhist temple?

There are two reasons for this. The first is to promote health and fitness to enable the monks of Shaolin to practice Ch'an meditation.The second was to defend themselves and their temple.

In the past, the Shaolin Temple was very rich and it would get attacked by bandits. The temple was situated in the mountains so there were many wild animals and the monks needed a way to defend themselves. On another hand, some Gongfu practioners came to Shaolin and become monks to avoid persecution; some of them brought advanced skills in the martial arts to the Shaolin Temple .

In Tang Dynasty, the 13 Gongfu monks of Shaolin Temple rescued the prince Li Shi Ming . After the prince became emperor he rewarded the monks in many ways and gave the temple a lot of land. He gave the temple permission to train 500 warrior monks so they could be called if the country was in danger. At that time, the warrior monks fought in the battle fields with the Gongfu they developed in the temple, so the forms and movements were very adequate and realistic for fighting.

In the Song Dynasty, the emperor Zhao Kuang Yin trained at the Shaolin Temple when he was young. After he became the emperor he realized the value and importance of Gongfu. He ordered many famous Gongfu practioners throughout China to come to Shaolin Temple to exchange skills and theoretical knowledge. At that time, many different types of Gongfu was developed including external and internal Gongfu.

They practiced together at the Shaolin Temple for many years under the support of the emperor. In those years the monks created a form using many advanced skills from different lineages of Gongfu and named it after the emperor's name--Tai Zu Chang Quan. During the Song Dynasty the art of gongfu was developed to a very high level.

In the Yuan dynasty, C hina was taken over by the Mongolian emperor Hu Bilie . In order to unite the whole country, the emperor was eager to recruit someone who had knowledge in politics and military affairs. One of his ministers, named Ye Lv Chu Cai recommended a monk called Fu Yu from Shaolin Temple .

After two years of Fu Yu assisting the emperor, China was finally all united. The emperor was overwhelmed by Fu Yu's contributions to the country and he entitled Fu Yu as Jing Guo Gong (a person who is attributed the honor and the power of the country). Besides this, the emperor ordered Fu Yu to be the abbot of Shaolin Temple and to be in charge of all the Buddhist temples throughout China , as well. Fu Yu made great contributions to Buddhism and managed all the other Buddhist temples well. He also wrote a poem to derive labels for the future shaolin generations. Since then, the Shaolin Temple used this poem to classify the different generation of monks. That is still in use today, for example, su (as in ?°su?± xi ) means 30 th generation. The name of the present Abbot of Shaolin Temple yongxin includes the word ?°yong?± which means 33 rd generation.

During Fu Yu's years of being in charge of the Shaolin Temple , the monks still kept on training gongfu, which became an integral part of the Buddhist monks' practice.

In the Ming dynasty, the country was back under the Han people again. The emperors of Ming Dynasty also regarded Shaolin Gongfu as an important tool to the country, and they often ordered the warrior monks to battle. Just as an example, the monk named Xiao Shan was sent three times by the emperor to fight the Japanese pirates who invaded China . Xiao Shan's pagoda is now still erect at the Shaolin Temple 's pagoda forest.

Since the shaolin monks often fought in battles, traditional Shaolin Gongfu developed and became more and more realistic for fighting. For a lot of years, many monks who have made great contributions to China became heroes. The Shaolin Temple prospered and became known as the number one temple under heaven.

In the Qing Dynasty, China was taken over by the Manchu emperor. In order to avoid the Han people fight against him, the emperor outlawed the practice of martial arts for normal citizens except people who were in the military and so forth. The shaolin monks were also ordered to stop practicing gongfu. This emperor's order lasted for more than 100 years and therefore, less and less people were practicing gongfu. Only a few shaolin monks continued to practice gongfu behind close doors. The traditional Shaolin Gongfu was at the brink of extinction.

However; there was a monk from shaolin living in a small temple called Shi Gou Si who was associated with the Shaolin Temple . This monk had inherited and had a well-rounded knowledge of traditional Shaolin Gongfu and its culture. His name was Ji Qing and his secular name was Wu Gulun. After more than 30 years of training in the Shaolin Temple, he finally reached the top level of Shaolin Gongfu; when he was around 40 years old ￡? he fought his way out of the Shaolin Temple against the 18 guardians. Any shaolin warrior monk who wished to leave Shaolin Temple and return to secular life had to fight his way out. As he was the only son of his family, his parents insisted he must leave the temple and get married. After he left the Shaolin Temple , he lived like a hermit, and passed down all his knowledge to his son Wu Sanlin.

@ http://www.shaolinwugulun.org/xjy.asp?PID=98

shaolin history

Shaolin Temple is the original place of Ch'an Buddhism and Shaolin Gongfu, one of the most famous temples in China . It was built in the year 495 A .D, and was regarded as the number one temple under heaven. It was the ancestral home of Ch'an Buddhism.

In the northern Wei dynasty, many Chinese people believed in Buddhism, including the emperor Xiao Wen; he was a sincere Buddhist and he had many Buddhist temples built in China where Buddhism was already very spread. China had an abundance of; however there were no Buddhism teachers, therefore the emperor Xiao Wen invited an Indian monk Batuo from India to come to China to teach Chinese people Buddhism. In order to provide a place for him, he had a temple built. The temple was situated behind Shaoshi mountain and in the forest. It was given the name of Shaolin Temple , “Shao” meaning Shaoshi mountain and “Lin” meaning forest, literally the “forested mountain temple.”

Then Batuo began to teach Buddhism in the Shaolin Temple , but the Buddhism he taught was the earlier form of Indian Buddhism, (advocating self-extrication). It was not fit for China , so it was not warmly welcomed here, and he left for India . In in 527 A .D, another Indian monk was invited to come here; he was Bodhidarma and he taught Ch'an Buddhism. “Ch'an” means meditation and Ch'an Buddhism is in fact originated from the historical Buddha from India and was developed in China later. In order to set an example for the Chinese people, he first sat in meditation in a mountain cave behind Shaolin Temple for 9 years and then he introduced Ch'an Buddhism. He blended Chinese culture so ch'an could be practiced by the Chinese people, and thus he became the first patriarch of Ch'an Buddhism.

from http://www.shaolinwugulun.org/

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the aim of this blog is to compile all material in english about the wugulun sect of shaolin gung fu