Chinese Kung Fu Styles—Shaolin Kung Fu

Shaolin Kungfu (Shaolin Martial Art) is one of the most influential genres of Chinese martial arts, and it's named after where it originated -- the Shaolin Temple, founded in 495 AD on the Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng County, Henan Province in Central China. The monks in the Shaolin Temple began to study martial arts during the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-581) and this tradition prevailed during the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907).
Shaolin Kungfu is famous both at home and abroad as a highly-effective method of self-defense and building health. It has quiet internal side and a mighty external side. Combining external and internal, "hard" and "soft" exercises, Shaolin Kungfu involves various methods of fighting techniques, consisting of barehanded boxing and weaponry combat.

Influence outside of China

Some lineages of Karate have oral traditions that claim Shaolin origins. Martial arts traditions in Japan and Korea, and Southeast Asia cite Chinese influence as transmitted by Buddhist monks.

Recent developments in the 20th century such as Shorinji Kempo (少林寺拳法) practised in Japan's Sohonzan Shorinji (金剛禅総本山少林寺) still maintains close ties with China's Song Shan Shaolin Temple due to historic links[21]. Japanese Shorinji Kempo Group financial contributions to the maintenance of the historic edifice of the Song Shan Shaolin Temple in 2003 received China's recognition.

Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan was born in Hong Kong on April 7th, 1954. His parents, Charles and Lee-lee Chan named him Chan Kong-sang which means "born in Hong Kong." Jackie weighed 12 pounds when he was born and his mother required surgery to deliver him. Jackie's parents were so poor that they had to borrow money from friends to pay the doctor.

When Jackie was seven years old Charles took a job as the head cook at the American embassy in Australia. He felt that it would be best for Jackie to stay behind in Hong Kong to learn a skill and so enrolled him in the China Drama Academy where Jackie would live for the next 10 years of his life.

During Jackie's time at the school, he learned martial arts, acrobatics, singing, and acting. The school was meant to prepare boys for a life in the Peking Opera. Chinese opera was very different from any other kind of opera. It included singing, tumbling, and acrobatics as well as martial arts skills and acting.

While at the China Academy, Jackie made his acting debut at age eight in the Cantonese movie "Seven Little Valiant Fighters: Big and Little Wong Tin Bar." He later teamed with other opera students in a performance group called "The Seven Little Fortunes." Fellow actors Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao were also members. Years later the three would work together and become known as The Three Brothers. As Jackie got older he worked as a stuntman and an extra in the Hong Kong film industry.

When Jackie was 17, he graduated from the China Drama Academy. Unfortunately the Chinese opera was no longer very popular, so Jackie and his classmates had to find other work. Each year many movies were made in Hong Kong and there was always a need for young, strong stuntmen. Jackie was extraordinarily athletic and inventive, and soon gained a reputation for being fearless; Jackie Chan would try anything. Soon he was in demand.

Over the next few years, Jackie worked as a stuntman, but when the Hong Kong movie industry began to fail, he was forced to go to Australia to live with his parents.

Jackie was very unhappy in Australia. The construction work was difficult and boring. His salvation came in the form of a telegram from a man named Willie Chan. Willie Chan worked in the Hong Kong movie industry and was looking for someone to star in a new movie being made by Lo Wei, a famous Hong Kong producer/director. Willie had seen Jackie at work as a stuntman and had been impressed. Jackie called Willie and they talked. Jackie didn't know it but Willie would end up becoming his best friend and manager. Soon Jackie was on his way back to Hong Kong to star in "New Fist of Fury." It was 1976 and Jackie Chan was 21 years old.

Jackie was becoming a huge success in Asia. Unfortunately, it would be many years before the same could be said of his popularity in America. After a series of lukewarm receptions in the U.S., mostly due to miscasting, Jackie left the States and focused his attention on making movies in Hong Kong. It would be 10 years before he returned to make Rumble in the Bronx, the movie that introduced Jackie to American audiences and secured him a place in their hearts (and their box office). Rumble was followed by the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon series which put Jackie on the Hollywood A List.

Despite his Hollywood successes, Jackie became frustrated by the lack of varied roles for Asian actors and his own inability to control certain aspects of the filming in America. He continued to try, however, making The Tuxedo, The Medallion, and Around the World in 80 Days, none of which was the blockbuster that Rush Hour or Shanghai Noon had been.

Jackie's lifelong devotion to fitness has served him well as he continues to do stunt work and action sequences in his films.

Jackie has been married to Lin Feng-Jiao since 1982 and has a son, actor-singer Jaycee Chan. To learn more about Jackie you can read his biography, I Am Jackie Chan.

Chinese martial arts

Chinese martial arts, also known as wushu (traditional Chinese: 武術; simplified Chinese: 武术; pinyin: wǔshù), and popularly as kung fu (Chinese: 功夫 pinyin: gōngfū) consists of a number of fighting styles that were developed over the centuries. Example of fighting styles include Bagua, Drunken Boxing, Eagle Claw, Five Animals, Hsing I, Hung Gar, Lau Gar, Monkey, Bak Mei Pai, Praying Mantis, Fujian White Crane, Wing Chun and Tai Chi Chuan. Those fighting styles can be classified according to common themes that are identified as "families" (家, jiā), "sects" (派, pai) or "schools" (門, men) of martial art. Example of themes are physical exercises that mimic movements from animals or a history and training method that gather inspiration from various Chinese philosophies, myths and legends. Some styles has their training focus on the the harnessing of qi power and is labeled internal (内家拳), while others concentrate on improving muscle and cardiovascular fitness and is labeled external (外家拳). Geographical association, as in northern (北拳) and southern (南拳), is another popular method of categorization. Each fighting style offers a different approach to the common problems of self-defense, health, and self-cultivation from a Chinese perspective.
China has one of the longest histories of continuously recorded martial arts tradition of any society in the world,[dubious – discuss] and with hundreds of styles probably the most varied. Over the past two thousand years, many distinctive styles have been developed, each with its own set of techniques and ideas.[29] There are also common themes to the different styles, which are often classified by "families" (家, jiā), "sects" (派, pai) or "schools" (門, men) of martial art styles. There are styles that mimic movements from animals and others that gather inspiration from various Chinese philosophies, myths and legends. Some styles put most of their focus into the harnessing of qi energy, while others concentrate solely on competition and exhibition. Each style offers a different approach to the common problems of self-defense, health and self-cultivation.

Bruce Lee-the Greatest Martial Arts Master

Bruce Jun Fan Lee (李振藩; pinyin: Lǐ Zhènfān; 27 November 1940 – 20 July 1973) was an American-born Chinese Hong Kong martial artist, philosopher, instructor, martial arts actor and the founder of the Jeet Kune Do combat form. He is widely regarded as the most influential martial artist of the twentieth century and a cultural icon. He was also the father of actor Brandon Lee and of actress Shannon Lee. His baby brother Robert was a musician and member of a popular Hong Kong beat band called The Thunderbirds was something of heart throb in Hong Kong in the 1960's .

Lee was born in San Francisco, California, and raised in Hong Kong until his late teens. His Hong Kong and Hollywood-produced films elevated the traditional Hong Kong martial arts film to a new level of popularity and acclaim, and sparked the first major surge of interest in Chinese martial arts in the West. The direction and tone of his films changed and influenced martial arts and martial arts films in Hong Kong and the rest of the world as well.

Lee became an iconic figure particularly to the Chinese, as he portrayed Chinese national pride and Chinese nationalism in his movies. He primarily practiced Chinese martial arts (Kung fu), particularly Wing Chun.

Although Lee is best known as a martial artist and actor, he majored in philosophy at the University of Washington. He was well-read and had an extensive library. His own books on martial arts and fighting philosophy are known for their philosophical assertions both inside and outside of martial arts circles. His eclectic philosophy often mirrored his fighting beliefs, though he was quick to claim that his martial arts were solely a metaphor for such teachings. He believed that any knowledge ultimately led to self-knowledge, and said that his chosen method of self-expression was martial arts. His influences include Taoism, Jiddu Krishnamurti, and Buddhism. Lee was an atheist. When asked in 1972 what his religious affiliation was, he replied "none whatsoever," and expressed disbelief in God.

The following quotations reflect his fighting philosophy.

"Be formless... shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle; it becomes the bottle. You put it into a teapot; it becomes the teapot. Water can flow, and it can crash. Be water, my friend..."
"All kind of knowledge, eventually becomes self knowledge"
"Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it."
"Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there."