Shi Yan Min trains Cahill, Courtois, Alonso, and Caballero!

Jump training

Strengthening Arms

Shaolin Tong Zi Gong

Self Defence Course – Shaolin Qinna Course

UK Shaolin Temple is pleased to announce that we are organising a self-defence course (Qinna) to take place on 18th January 2015. This course will cover basic self-defence techniques including grappling,  joint locking, defence against knife attacks and takedowns. These techniques are formalised under the Chinese Chin Na system.

This may sound difficult to many of you but in fact all of the techniques included in this course are simple and can be effective with less effort than you may expect. They can also be learnt by anyone, you don’t need to be skilled in martial arts and we also welcome complete beginners of martial arts to join this course.

It is a part of our basic human instinct to defend ourselves against attack and this course will help you prepare yourself effectively.

Read More: http://www.shaolinculture.net/self-defence-course/

Finger Strength Training

Shaolin Iron Palm Training

Iron Palm or Iron Hand (Chinese: 铁掌功) is a body of training techniques in various Chinese martial arts. It is originally one of the 72 arts of the Shaolin temple. These conditioning techniques are typically meant to condition the hands to allow a practitioner to deliver very powerful blows without injury to his or her hands.

Iron Palm is a broad term covering many different conditioning methods. Some Iron Palm systems are considered internal and others are purely external in training methods. Martial artists who practice Iron Palm training are not unified in their training and techniques. Some teachers treat their Iron Palm methodology as a valuable secret, and only share their specific techniques, training methods, and herbal remedies with a select few.

Iron Palm is not a martial arts style unto itself, but a type of conditioning featured in many schools of Chinese martial arts. Some non-Chinese martial arts styles, such as Muay Thai and many schools of Karate, also feature hand conditioning; however, the term “Iron Palm” is not normally used to describe these types of training.

Iron Palm Training

Iron Palm training often involves three primary components:

1. Strengthening of the striking limbs by developing the tendons and ligaments from the shoulders to the fingertips, then striking or slapping relatively hard objects enclosed in canvas/leather bags. Following a conditioning session, the striking area is usually treated with a medicinal aid created from plant derivatives, usually a traditional Chineseliniment called Diedajiu (Dit Da Jow). A common belief among practitioners is that failing to apply Diedajiu after Iron Palm training sessions can have negative effects on long-term health, such as movement limitation, arthritis, and other nerve damage to the hands. Small blood clots can also occur if good Diedajiu is not used causing eye blindness through clots in small capillaries (blood vessels). Soaking and thorough massaging of hands after training is imperative.
2. Using proper technique to strike with greater force: As in other martial arts, students learn specific body mechanics with the intent to produce a more powerful strike. Students train to relax the body and release residual tension in order to move faster. This is usually done with standing meditation routines designed to release the residual tension in the body and develop “linking” power.
3. Engaging in Qigong exercises in order to develop “qi” (also chi). This Qigong training coordinates breathing to improve mental focus, resulting in a more powerful strike.

Methods

Schools of Iron Palm training are often divided into “direct” or “indirect.” Both methods usually consist of striking progressively harder surfaces. Some practitioners also refer to their training as Nei Jing (“internal”) or Li (“external”), this deals with the Qi energy or type of force (jin) used. In the “direct” method the hands are thrust into buckets or containers of the medium; the hands come into direct-contact with the substance. In the “indirect” method, the practitioner strikes bags or other containers filled with various materials. As training progresses, the bags or buckets filled with increasingly resistant substances starting with beans then sand, progressing onto gravel or rocks, then finally lead and iron shot. Practitioners can measure their progress based upon the number of strikes performed in a particular training session or by the amount of clock time spent training. Relaxation while training strikes and use of good Diedajiu medicine is imperative to proper success. Proper breathing is also essential for maximum effect/success.

The Chinese Martial Arts can utilize a wide variety of open and closed hand strikes. Hardening the hands is also considered by some to supplement speed and strength lost through aging. Iron palm practitioners often demonstrate their abilities by breaking hard objects such as bricks, coconuts, stones and boards with their bare hands or in some cases hitting a steel object rapidly without sustaining injury. These demonstrations were often street performances used to make money for a martial artist or martial arts school.

Private lessons

If you prefer to develop your skills in an intense, personal and focused format, why not try Shaolin training through private tuition. UK Shaolin Temple offers expert private tuition with our headmaster Shi Yanming. Here you have the opportunity to explore Shaolin cultural disciplines on a deeper level and enjoy a rich knowledge exchange.

To help you experience what one-to-one Shaolin tuition is like, UK Shaolin Temple is offering a 30% reduction for private lesson if you book a date between September 2014 and October 2014. For more information please check our website at:

http://www.ukshaolintemple.com/shaolin/private_lessons.html 

Kung Fu for Family

Have you been struggling to find an activity that can appeal to the whole family? Something that’s active and fun as well as challenging? Well, we might just have the answer for you.

UK Shaolin Temple’s kung fu training offers physical exercise that is creative and stimulating. Unlike some martial arts groups, our focus is not on the superiority of skill or strength. Our focus is on the journey of self-improvement. Our kung fu training will bring your whole family together as adults and children train side by side. It will also draw you closer together as you share in the same developmental journey and aspirations.

Our Shaolin Kung Fu training offers benefits for the whole family.

• Improve mobility, fitness and balance
• Develops flexibility and athleticism
• Develops coordination and spatial awareness
• Improves confidence and interpersonal skills
• Provides an outlet from everyday struggles and strife
• Essential self-defense skills

 Our training has been immensely popular among families. Why not try it for yourself? Don’t miss out on our free trial lesson offer to all new students. And if that wasn’t enough, family discounts are also available.

Interested? Bring your family along to our family friendly UK Shaolin Temple classes located in Hampshire and Dorset. Please click the link below for more information.

http://www.ukshaolintemple.com/shaolin/kungfu-for-family.html

Traditional Shaolin Training

Path to inner peace

By Qi Xin and Han Bingbin

BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhuanet) --At 4 am in a hotel in Dengfeng, Henan province, a 32-year-old Nigerian woman, Peace Emezue, wakes to the cries of "jihe"! ("assemble"). Half an hour later, still sleepy, she shows up in the lobby to join 19 other young Africans, all dressed in gray robes and canvas shoes.

They walk in two lines for 15 minutes to the Shaolin Temple. This is the routine six days a week while living the life of a Shaolin monk. Founded in the fifth century, the monastery is long famous for its association with Chinese martial arts and particularly with Shaolin kung fu.

The morning classes start with these "disciples" closely following the monks' moves and listening to them chanting, a chance to observe and hopefully experience for themselves a state of tranquility.

Like her name, Peace Emezue says she has sensed the spiritual moment several times.

"When I came to Shaolin, I was surprised because the life here is peaceful and simple," she says. "But it is also quite tough — the morning exercises, the hard training. We do it every day except Sundays. It is a lifestyle I am not used to, but I am getting used to it now."

To strengthen cultural exchanges between China and Africa, the Ministry of Culture launched the "Shaolin Kung Fu Training Class for African Disciples" last month, enrolling 20 students from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda and Nigeria. The course lasts three months.

Emezue is one of only three women in the group. The other two are Chinese-Africans from Mauritius. As a Kung fu dazzles Shaolin Temple. Africans learn kung fu at Shaolin Temple karate champion, Emezue was chosen by her local government for the program to encourage women in Nigeria to take up martial arts, especially kung fu.

"Women also love kung fu and Chinese culture, and I will return and teach my ladies how to meditate and do the moves of kung fu and qigong (breathing exercise)," she says. "Since I came here, the training has really made me strong, especially my legs, because we do a lot of running and mountain climbing."

Wang Yumin, dean of the Shaolin Temple's foreign affairs office, says many foreigners are attracted to Shaolin because of its reputation for kung fu and its use in Buddhism.

Shi Yanbo, a kung fu master at the temple, says many of the disciples had experience in other martial arts or had learned moves from watching films, but simulating them was not enough. Kung fu is deeply rooted in the culture, he says.

So students also have to learn meditation and study Buddhist doctrines that guide people's actions. To help them gain greater understanding of Chinese kung fu, the students are also offered Chinese language courses.

Zhang Lifei, the group's Mandarin teacher, says because the 20 African disciples do not speak the same African language, they are divided into two groups, each containing someone who can speak English and can help the others.

"I can speak a little French," Emezue says. "By paraphrasing, I help them to understand what the teacher is saying."

When the morning culture and language class is over, the students join the monks for a typical temple lunch that begins with a ritual.

One of the monks walks out of the dining hall with a bowl of rice. After gently tapping on a wooden fish, he places a ball of rice on a stone as a tribute to all beings, while the monks and students chant from scriptures and clap their hands until tapping of the wooden fish again signals the start of the meal. Then they all eat in silence.

"Life in the Shaolin Temple is unimaginably lovely and peaceful. It's not like the real world where there is so much hustle," Emezue says.

"I have found a lot of peace of mind here and to be at peace with myself. I would like to teach more people how to do that."

African students join the monks for the lunch at Shaolin Temple that begins with a ritual before eating. (Photo source:Xiang Mingchao / chinadaily)

(Source: China Daily)

Kung Fu Training

Shaolin Traditional training.

GB Wushu Team: Lets get Wushu in the Olympics

GB Wushu Team: Lets get Wushu in the Olympics: In November time we will be running a National Kung Fu and Sanshou competition. Our aim is to bring awareness to Chinese martial arts ...

Free Summer Training in The New Forest

In the summer, every year we like to give students the opportunity to train for free outside in the natural environment.

This year we will be training out in The New Forest on the 20^th of July.

We have specially designed routes and obstacle courses depending on your ability, so if you want a bit of a challenge then you can op for our Off Trail Power Training challenge or for Our Fun Family Route.

 

It great fun for all the family, a bit of a challenge and a wonderful chance to experience what its like to train in the traditional Shaolin Kung Fu way.

 For more information you can visit our events page on the website, or just click the link below.

http://www.ukshaolintemple.com/events/summer-training.html

Please let us know if you would like to attend this free event by registering your name, please click link below for more details: http://www.ukshaolintemple.com/events/events-form.php 

Wisdom of Shaolin Trailer

Namo Amituofo Chanting (南无阿弥陀佛)

2 hours of Meditation Music | Buddhist Music

Wushu Shortlisted For 2020 Olympics

Recently, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board meeting at the 123rd IOC session in Durban, South Africa, announced the eight sports shortlisted for inclusion in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. From all of the candidates – Climbing, Baseball, Karate, Roller Sports, Softball, Squash, Wakeboard and Wushu – only one will be included in the Games. The IOC Program Commission will be studying intensively each sport and the battle for the single spot is going to be fierce without a doubt.

While Climbing and Wakeboard are newcomers to the Olympic movement, the other sports have already attempted and have been denied a spot in program before, Wushu since the Beijing Games in 2008; Squash, Karate, and Roller Sports since the London Games in 2012. The early front-runners appear to be Baseball and Softball as both were already Olympic disciplines before and enjoy the backing of huge sponsor firms.

Whether or not Wushu will make the cut remains to be seen. We could start by identifying some of the leading factors that the IOC will use to decide which sport and see how Wushu stands respectively. According to the IOC bylaws, these are the five main requirements:

1. To have an international federation that governs the sport, sets and enforces rules, organizes tournaments and other duties. The International Wushu Federation (IWUF) is that organization, founded in Beijing in 1990.
2. To be practiced in at least 40 countries in three continents in case of female sports or in at least 75 countries in four continents in case of male sports. Wushu is equally practiced by male and female. Currently, the IWUF has a total of 144 countries and regions in the five continents as follows: Africa [33], America [22], Asia [38], Europe [46] and Oceania [5].
3. To demonstrate the ability to successfully organize large scale continental and world competitions. The list of international large scale competitions organized by the IWUF since 1991 includes: World Wushu Championships, World Junior Wushu Championships, World Traditional Wushu Championships and the Sanshou World Cup.
4. To be a sport recognized by the IOC. The IWUF received provisional recognition at the 109th IOC Session in 1999 and gained official recognition at the 113th IOC Session in 2002. Apart from that, Wushu has been an official sport in many important IOC related events such as: the Asian Games, the Southeast Asian Games, the East Asian Games, the SportAccord Combat Games, the World Games, the World Children’s Games, and most recently it has been added to the South American Games program.
5. To comply with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) anti-doping code. The IWUF signed the Drug Testing Service Agreement with WADA in December of 2001.

As we can see, the competition routines of Wushu, apart from being an exciting event with tremendous cross-over appeal, clearly meet all the IOC requirements and therefore should be also considered as one of the strong candidates to be accepted into the sports program for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. For this to happen, Wushu would need to be voted by a 2/3 majority of IOC members at the 125th IOC Session in 2013, to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Certainly, IWUF and its members worldwide will double their efforts towards common goals of development and promotion, and hence the Olympic dream may become a reality one day. After all, with such a rich content and growing popularity, there is no reason why Wushu shouldn’t become one of the better recognized martial art based sport disciplines in the world and a proud member of the Olympic family.

Here is a copy of the official letter received by IWUF

Text: EastBayWushu.com