Boddhidharma & Shaolin 18 Lohan Hands

[Immortal4life]

Boddhidharma & Shaolin 18 Lohan Hands

Info on Boddhidharma (also known as Damo, Tamo, or Tatmo), the first Patriarch and founder of Zen Buddhism who traveled from India to China where he taught Yoga and the 18 Lohan Hands exercises, to the Shaolin Monks. These exercises became blended with many fighting arts over time.

 

Bodhidharma traveled to China via the high southern routes across the Himalayas, a trecherous journey filled with storms, landslides and bandits.

Upon reaching China in 527 CE, Bodhidharma traveled to the capital where he was introduced as a learned master of Buddhism. Since he had traveled at great peril from India, the home land of Buddhism and the site of the oldest Buddhist teachings, Bodhidharma was greeted as a great sage. The emperor himself was Buddhist, so the arrival of a sage was considered a blessing on the empire.

However, Bodhidharma did not agree with the Chinese Emperor's philosophy, because the Emperor thought he should build great temples in worship of Buddha and that was the best way to get to heaven and gain merits. But Boddhidharma knew it was only a person's heart that mattered and whether you are a good person. The Emperor and Boddhidharma did not agree, so Bodhidharma went to the Shaolin Temple and taught there. When he arrived he found the buddhist monks had poor concentration and their bodies were weak, so he taught them the 18 Lohan Hands routine.

The 18 Lohan exercises
http://www.shaolin.org/chikung/lohan.html

Shaolin temple



Videos

Chinese sub-titled documentary about Shaolin Temple-

Hai Teng and Shaolin-

Shaolin Temple - Shi DeYang and Shi Suxi

National Geographic, Myths & Logic of Shaolin Kung-Fu

Music Video-

Cool Shaolin Kungfu demonstration videos

Videos with a monk named Shi Yan Ming
Shaolin Kung Fu Shi Yan Ming in People and Arts Channel
Si Fu Shi Yan Ming permormance in NBC Channel
Shi Yan Ming Monje Shaolin visita Mexico

Shaolin Child

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zgp48SidH8&NR

this video has close ups of the indented floors, made from years of monks stomping down on them-

Training-
shaolin entrainement 1

Shaolin taizu changquan
YouTube - Shaolin taizu changquan Edited April 9, 2013 by Immortal4life

[Warrior Body Buddha Mind]

Ive been to shaolin temple 5 times and taught the monks that reside here near my house, they used to come learn the wooden dummy off me and the White Eyebrow system

[Immortal4life]

Sounds like they are kind, courteous, and polite.

[ChiDragon]

Chinese sub-titled documentary about Shaolin Temple-

 

Good demo of Abdominal Breathing

At 29:40 "以意領氣，氣沉丹田(Using yi to guide Chi, sink Chi to the dan tien)"

 

At 30:00 氣沉丹田(sink Chi to the dan tien) = Abdominal breathing

Expand during inhalation

compress during exhalation.

 

Demo of Iron Shirt

At 30:40

Edited July 4, 2012 by ChiDragon

[Immortal4life]

Hahaha, yeah that documentary is a classic and always a favorite.

[Machin Shin]

American teenage taoist herding robots away from the middle chamber.

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e6yNC_g_mU&feature=endscreen

Edited July 7, 2012 by Machin Shin

[Immortal4life]

Lol! Wtf?

[bakeneko]

 

The 18 Lohan exercises

http://www.shaolin.org/chikung/lohan.html

 

 

 

The first few, such as "lifting the sky" are also known as the "eight brocades" and (in a rather mythological way) attributed to Yue Fei. The 18 Lohan known to me are IMO part of the Yi Jin Jing (together with a set of tendon exercises found in some older Chinese gong fu books) and form the foundation of the extended use of the (sometimes falsely presumed as lost) Xi Sui Jing. The basic sitting posture of the latter is interestingly similar (or rather same) to the "level 1" Mo Pai sitting posture.

[little horse]

There's a lovely set of Choy lee fut 18 lohan taught under chen yong fa in Australia if anyone gets the chance.

A second complimentary set called siu lohan also. Its on youtube, but not sure if the siu lohan is the full set. The 18 hand lohan is, though.

[phil]

https://shaolin.org/video-clips-15/eighteen-lohan-hands/overview.html

They can be seen here taught by Wonk Kiew Kit 

[Aetherous]

All of the various versions of the 18 lohan today aren't close to the original one, imo. We can get a sense of this by reading the Shaolin Encyclopedia.

 

There may have been a connection to the 18 lohar of kalari from India...but maybe not.