Shaolin Techniques

Shaolin kung fu is a broad term that includes dozens of specific styles of martial arts. However, some basic techniques are common and found in many of the arts with only subtle differences. For artists who want to study forms from many different arts, mastering some of the basic techniques builds the foundation needed to cross over among styles.

  1. Stances

    • Stances are the basis from which most Shaolin techniques are built. The horse stance builds strength in the legs, balance and stability. Place your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart, bend your knees over your toes and keep a straight back. Build up strength by practicing the stance lower until your thighs are nearly parallel to the ground. The bow stance involves a bent front leg and straight rear leg. Face forward with about 60 percent of your weight on the front leg. The empty stance requires that you place 80 to 90 percent of your weight on your rear leg with a bent knee. The front leg rests in front of you very lightly touching the ground. You should be able to kick and block with the front leg with no balance loss on the rear leg.

    Hand Techniques

    • The most basic hand technique in the shaolin arts is the punch. Most punches are completed with a tight fist with the thumb placed across the knuckles of the first two fingers, similar to the western boxing bunch. This basic fist adapts to other techniques, such as a back-fist or hammer-fist strike. Other hand techniques include palm strikes and crane-wings among others. A palm strike relies on striking with the palm of the hand, reducing the chances of injury present when striking with the knuckles. A crane-beak, which are called by other names in other arts, such as a mantis-claw, involves striking nerves or grasping joints with a hand that starts with all five fingers clustered together into a point.

    Kicks

    • Shaolin kung fu has a huge variety of kicks, and the specific arts have a great deal of variety when it comes to kicking. However, some basic kicks used in wushu appear in many arts and are useful conditioning exercises even if not directly used as art-specific techniques. The straight kick, inside-outside crescent kicks, outside-inside crescent kicks, side kicks and roundhouse kicks should all be practiced. On all kicks, practice retracting the leg as quickly as you kick with it and be sure to stay in balance at all times.

    Energy Work

    • Even the most practical or "hardest" shaolin martial arts still require a basic understanding of energy. From a metaphysical standpoint this might be considered the "chi" energy that many martial artists believe is the driving force within all humans. From a practical standpoint, understanding energy is about understanding force and balance. In either event, energy based exercises are important to all shaolin arts. This could be as simple as some chi gong exercises incorporated into practice, tai chi "push hands" exercises or chi sau "sticking hands" practice.