I was curious, I’ve never seen or heard of monks using ranged weapons like the bow or crossbow??? Did they using something else instead?? Why wouldn’t they have used it?..it’s certainly practical, easy to access, and would be a valuable for food, hunting, or defending a monastery or fighting a military force etc. Anyone have more information on this?
Monks don’t hunt. 
[QUOTE=ShaolinDan;1148211]Monks don’t hunt. :)[/QUOTE]
I thought they were hunting for enlightenment?
[QUOTE=Hebrew Hammer;1148213]I thought they were hunting for enlightenment?[/QUOTE]
Monks only hunt chicks.
Some guy wrote a book linking kyudo to zen buddhism.
Buddah was an archer at one point in his life.
Other than that, nope.
[QUOTE=Hebrew Hammer;1148200]I was curious, I’ve never seen or heard of monks using ranged weapons like the bow or crossbow??? [/QUOTE]
and you never heard of any other kung fu style training in bows either. because they dont have forms and forms make money.
I’ve not heard of Shaolin practicing weapons with bow strings
However, some Shaolin monks practice with throwing weapons. The most common nowadays is needle throwing. Check out To Throw a Needle Through Glass By Chen Xinghua (2005 May/June Shaolin Special).
archery is not commonly practiced today because there is no way to fake shooting an arrow. you either hit or miss.
there is only one way of shooting a bow, so there are no different styles of archery.
[QUOTE=bawang;1148250]
there is only one way of shooting a bow, so there are no different styles of archery.[/QUOTE]
Funny. But not true.
there are no different styles of archery. just like there were no styles of musket shooting.
[QUOTE=bawang;1148260]there are no different styles of archery. just like there were no styles of musket shooting.[/QUOTE]
I’m with Shaolin Dan on this thats like sayin there’s no difference in spear or sword techniques…there are different grips, bows, techniques in drawing and I’m sure there are marksmenship styles. Don’t tell me the Mongols and Japanese Kyudo styles are the same.
im telling you from history, china doesnt have special bow styles.
archery around the world use the same body mechanics. you are thinking using the chop socky mentality.
shaolin monk soldiers were elite heavy infantry. the army used unskilled mass volley archers. so archery is not a shaolin tradition.
Perhaps we’re having two different conversations…I understand what you are implying but I have not until now mentioned firearms, you may in fact be correct there may not have been official Chinese styles or techniques…but different archery techniques do exist. They maybe cultural or regional. Here is a link with some samples:
http://www.talkarchery.co.uk/guides/techniques_used_in_archery.html
Medieval Japanese archery training is different than British Long Bow training.
If you want to talk about the act itself of pulling a trigger of a rifle or hand gun, the motion is the same but there are different techiques for drawing and aiming said weapon…some guns will have differing trigger strengths, how you stand, your breathing, how you center your target, reload the weapon can all vary. The Israelis special forces have a different shooting style than American special forces do…but yes they all have to pull the trigger.
I still find it curious that Shaolin warrior monks would not have trained with ranged weapons other than darts.
bow was restricted to the chinese military and it emphasized uniform technique.
chinese army also relied on low skill mass volley so no specialized styles existed. im not speculating, im speaking from archery manuals and army policy.
[QUOTE=Hebrew Hammer;1148269]I still find it curious that Shaolin warrior monks would not have trained with ranged weapons other than darts.[/QUOTE]
shaolin monks did not train darts. rope dart is a very recent invention, and mostly for show.
shaolin monks trained archery and horse riding. but there was no specific style. it did not survive to today because theres no forms for them. people today only care about forms.
[QUOTE=bawang;1148271]shaolin monks did not train darts. rope dart is a very recent invention, and mostly for show.
shaolin monks trained archery and horse riding. but there was no specific style. it did not survive to today because theres no forms for them. people today only care about forms.[/QUOTE]
I could never understand how a rope dart would be used as a serious weapon successfully against other armed opponents. Gene is the one who said they used throwing darts in his article.
So which is it? Monks were allowed to use bows or was it restricted only to the military? Where would one find information about Shaolin Archery or horseback riding? Did they fight mounted?..hehe so to speak.
[QUOTE=bawang;1148270]bow was restricted to the chinese military and it emphasized uniform technique.
chinese army also relied on low skill mass volley so no specialized styles existed. im not speculating, im speaking from archery manuals and army policy.[/QUOTE]
Now this makes more sense, peasants or commoners were not allowed bows for hunting? So no ‘rangers’ or Robin Hood types?
[QUOTE=Hebrew Hammer;1148273]
So which is it? Monks were allowed to use bows or was it restricted only to the military? Where would one find information about Shaolin Archery or horseback riding? Did they fight mounted?..hehe so to speak.[/QUOTE]
monk soldiers were part of the military. shaolin encyclopedia mentions monk yue kong or yue something training horse riding and archery. monks did not fight mounted. they were heavy infantry
[QUOTE=Hebrew Hammer;1148273]
Now this makes more sense, peasants or commoners were not allowed bows for hunting? so no ‘rangers’ or Robin Hood types?[/QUOTE]
no composite bows
I agree with Schlongwang.
Chinese archery was, much like the Hun and Mongolian archery, basically a military thing and was uniform.
Japanese arcchery was uniform too ( regardless of the ryu) and was distinct on two main points:
The shape of the bow due to using it on horse back.
The inside hold as opposed to the outside one of most other archery systems.
The wikipedia article is pretty well sourced and doesn’t support the view that it was uniform and purely military.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_archery
http://www.atarn.org/chinese/cn_arc_indx.htm
This picture illustrates a military and civil examination standard position which was popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The stiff extension of the forward leg was a fashion of the time, and was criticised by some contemporary and later writers. In Chinese archery, there is always a basic presumption of right-handedness: but the ability to shoot with either hand was regarded as a special level of skill. The Chinese labels (to which I have added reference numbers) read as follows:
Qi Ji Guang;
http://www.atarn.org/chinese/q_j_g.pdf