Wasthis one of the original exercises of Da Mo? Or added later?
Also, can anyone describe what it is in Song Shan Shaolin?
I have a tape of the Mantis set, but I donot think it is the actual 18 Louhan Hands, I think it is something called that in Mantis lineages and has it’s own purpose and intent.
Also, as I understand it, the 18 Louhan Hands is a very important Qi Gong set of Shaolin. This being so, how come there is no video on it from Shaolin? We see Xue Xui Jing, and Yi Jin Jing, why not 18 Louhan? The martial sets are around, why not the Qi Gong?
Yeah, that’s why I am trying to narrow it down to what Song Shan Shaolin is doing. I’d like to know what the Temple itself teaches as 18 Louhan Hands.
So far, all I have seen on it appears to be from Choy Lay Fut lines. That one is a static posture holding set consisting of 18 postures, some repeted in more thn one variety.
The other is from Mantis, but appears to be a more reacent creation and is 18 sets of 3 moving Qi Gong exercises. I’m trying to narrow it down to versions most like the original, but I can’t find any video or cd source of the set, only Yi Jin Jing and Xui Xue Jing. Theres lots of those.
If you go to cmaod.com they have an 18 lohan hands vcd this is the origonal set that the others are derived from it is explosive and easy to learn. Wushu/Qigong mag also did an article with DeRu (Shawn Liu) that demonstrated the set you can go to their website and check back issues it was about a year ago.
michael,
the de ru article you mention refers to the lohan martial set, which royal dragon seems to be aware of according to his first post. however, he’s looking for the lohan qigong. nonetheless, rd, if you are interested in seeing a slightly different variation of that set (b/c there are several roads at songshan shaolin), just drop me a pm or see the de yang clip at russbo. de yang taught a similar version at my school, and we were taught that it is supposed to be one of the oldest forms, so i dont know if songshan still has an 18 hands qigong set like nonshaolin schools do.
also, rd, aboutshaolin (must login) has this
on what lohan shibashou is at songshan, though it differs from my forms.
The one I was shown is just holding each posture of the set for periods of times starting about 30 second each, to as much as 10 minutes each posture. The only movement was the brief transition between postures.
I am well versed on the Lohan system and its history.
All the lohan named forms in any southern chinese martial art style are from after 1644 and often they are named in HONOR of the 18 lohan, not cause they are derived from the original Shaolin Lohan forms. Most of the southern Lohan comes from the Five Ancestors style of south china.
The 18 Lohan Chi Gung of Northern Seven Star Mantis was also designed relatively recently and also in honor of the 18 lohan, but it is a chi-gung form that they developed based on some sound ideas.
The 18 lohan chi gung of Shaolin, the original one, is really the same thing as the Yi Jin Jing. Its just a another name for it.
And it did not come from Damo, that’s fake story.
There are various lohan forms from Shaolin that are way over 1,000 years old. These are martial arts forms, they are the
18 Lohan Fists form.
the Xiao Lohan
the Da Lohan (which is almost forgotten now in Shaolin there are like 3 people that know it all the way through)
the 18 Lohan Hands forms ( a series of short forms).
The Lao Jia Lohan (a lost form)
and some other ones.
The Lohan style is one of the first forms from Shaolin, it was developed by mixing Shuai Jiao with boxing. All the moves can be done as takedowns or as boxing, but nowadays only a few people know the takedowns, but they are easier to discipher of you know Shuai Jiao.
The other oldest Shaolin form is the Xin Yi Bar, which is based on farming moves and the moves of the local farm and wild animals.
It is a root form to modern Xin Yi Quan and Xingy Yi Quan.
Next came the Pao Quan forms, fully developed by the Tang Dynasty.
Originally posted by Royal Dragon
[B]The 18 lohan chi gung of Shaolin, the original one, is really the same thing as the Yi Jin Jing. Its just a another name for it.
Reply]
Interesting. Can you describe and name the original Louhan Qi Gongs? [/B]
Well, its not really a real thing that can be named because there is only really the Yi Jin Jing and people rename it Lohan Qi Gong, the Muscle Tendon Changing / Brain Bone Marrow Cleansing Qi Gongs are the Lohan Qi Gong.
In essence they are Lohan (just cause so far back in time in Shaolin there was nothing else but the Lohan style and these primitive Qi Gongs).
There is no “original” Lohan Qi Gongs to name.
It’s just these various early Shaolin Qi Gongs that really only existed. Anything derived from them other styles have called Lohan Qi Gongs.
When you do the original 18 Lohan Fists form, and probably also the other Lohan forms, you automatically are doing the Muscle Tendon Changing / Brain - Bone Marrow Cleansing Qi Gongs, they are combined with the moves of the forms, they are embedded into the moves, if you do the movements with the CORRECT body mechanics and breathing methods, you are indeed doing those Qi Gongs simultaneously.
Even the great Sun Lun Tang has said this in his notes, and according to him this is why there is a Shaolin root to Xing Yi and Ba Qua, because these styles borrowed these moves into their styles in order to embed these Qi Gongs into their styles. And also because these Qi Gongs were developed with Taoists ideas in them, these styles can be linked to Nei Jia Quan as well.
Taoists claim the developed these Qi Gongs first.
Much of it is also linked to Dhyana exercises who’s practice predates the origin of the Shaolin Temple itself.
Dhayana exercises were and are the physical aspects of one’s well being that is associated with the spiritual cultivation derived from living the 8 fold path.
There are tons of Buddhist Qi Gongs and Taoist Qi Gongs that Shaolin incorporates.
After the Muscle / Tendon Changing and the Brain / Bone Marrow Cleansing ones, the next famous Qi Gong is the
Eight Brocade Sections, from the Song Dynasty, which is often attributed to General Yue Fei.
