A new book on Shaolin history, Buddhism, and martial practice is available at
Included are chapters on Dragon, Snake, and Southern Tiger (for example). This is not a “how to” or picture book, it is a 300 page text filled with information on all things Shaolin.
I read the write up on this book, and it talks about Northern and Southern Preying Mantis, and Wing Chun as forms of Shaolin Kung Fu? Is that true? I thought Wing Chun was developed way after the Shaolin Temples.
Talk to more Wing Chun people. Whether they are Yip Man or Hung Fa Yi or ?, their lineages trace to Shaolin - just through different avenues.
Correct me if I’m wrong but Wing Chun was created after the burning of the Shaolin Temple. It was started by a female buddhist nun Ng Mui who was taking refuge at the White Crane temple. (Did they allow women in the Shaolin temple?) She then saw a snake and crane fighting and developed that into a style. It was not called Wing Chun until after her student named Yim Wing Chun learned the style from Ng Mui.
I also heard another story that she was a Taoist nun from the Wudan temple. Unfortunately I wasn’t there, so I am not sure which story would be right.
Wing Chun is a relative new style as compared to Traditional Shaolin Style Kung Fu.
That being said if you trace all martial arts, you could find a path to the Shaolin temple. Even Japanese Karate styles. Though most of these styles are very good and effective, they have been modified and changed so much that they don’t resemble Traditional Shaolin Kung Fu at all.
That’s why I found it interesting that these books talk about styles that are not entirely rooted in Shaolin Theory and technique.
Hungfutkune,
You are familiar with some of the common legends of the evolution/creation fo Wing Chun. If you’re interested, check out this link for more info:
http://home.vtmuseum.org/articles/meng/hungfayi.php
and this one:
http://home.vtmuseum.org/articles/meng/truthrevealed.php
I think both may prove to be helpful in your understanding.
If you have access to a library, you may also be able to find a copy of Mastering Kung Fu and read its first two chapters for some historical information.
Hope all of that helps!
(Did they allow women in the Shaolin temple?)
There’s a Shaolin nunnery(or whatever you’d call it :P) somewhere by the temple(Gene Ching’s talked about it). Apparently we just don’t hear much about it because they’re not all touristy like the current monks and pretty much keep to themselves.
Pre-1900 in China, Shaolin allowed women into the Order, and at Fukien at least, the women trained in the same temple with the men. I suspect the whole separate “nunnery” thing is an artifact of other sects of Buddhism (and maybe insisted upon by the PRC) - not Shaolin.
The Shaolin Order was one of the only instutions of dynastic China that was truly egalitarian, and there have been many outstanding female masters and priests.