Did the Southern Shaolin Temple Exist?- An Exploration of Fujian Martial Arts part 2

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Part 3 will be uploaded to Patreon and KZbin members soon!

[@TeaSerpent]

Wow, you nailed it! Really great introduction, succinct and accurate.

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Thanks man, really appreciate it. I really have to credit you for sharing so much knowledge and pointing me in the right direction too!

[@williambreazeal387]

Really great stuff Will! I think the Southern arts can be explored and linked by their nei gong sets. The most prevalent one is San Zhan. The point of San Zhan seems to be teaching how to draw power from the earth, and then how to shape it's expression by controlling the activation of the yin and yang meridians. So with Taizhu it looks like a lot of paired yin and yang meridians are simultaneously activated, so it's power is hard, whereas with white crane they are alternately activated making it "half hard/half soft". So in general, the various forms of San Zhan seem to be mostly distinguished by the different patterns of meridian activation they emphasize.

[@streatyb01]

I used to do chow gar (Southern Mantis) and It’s fascinating to see some similarities in some of the forms and even the pole

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Oh cool! You should check out my Hong Kong video series then too, got some Chow Gar and other Hakka styles on there!

[@streatyb01]

@@MonkeyStealsPeach I was just watching those today. Ive not trained for a few years but im looking at going back to it soon. I think someone interesting for you to interview would be sifu Sergio. I believe he lives in china now and he is a master of wing chun but he incorporates internal energy into it. He’s on KZbin you should check him out very interesting master

[@rocco3377]

What a fantastic video, thank you so much. Your sit down with Master Zhang Xiaofeng was great, I learned a lot of info I was looking for, the depth of his Kung Fu knowledge must be immense. And tho I have seen him in other videos, this is the first time I have really heard him speak and I would like to see more. XD Great work!

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Glad to hear it! There is a longer video of him on the channel too

[@themadrazorback2019]

12.54 - this Gentleman is the Real Deal. Thanks.

[@paulovens1863]

Great information will 👍

[@matthews1082]

1) I am glad to see Master Zhang getting so much cover nowadays, and he is looking well. I first met him about 13 years ago with Master Higaonna and my own Sensei (who was his friend). We visited his dojo, and he took us around Quanzhou. We even did a karate demonstration in the Shaolin Temple. 2) The shield and sabre Demo from Master Zhang, and the LONG-Pole demonstration, are not martial-arts for street duels - these are obviously tactics used in military formations, where whole ranks of men advanced or fell back, attacked or blocked in unison. And the long-pole demo - think of the Macedonian phalanx with their 3M long spears and you'll understand what he is doing in the video. He is only thrusting it in one direction, he rattles and shakes it with his body, etc, think of standing in formation, trying to break a shield wall and poke at the targets behind.

[@Jameskeith1972]

This is one of the most interesting of all the series. Some of the connections are mind blowing! The demonstration of the tonfa is wonderful!

[@learnchinesenow]

great video man, a lot of effort put in, it shows.

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Thanks so much! I really enjoy your channel too! Maybe we should do something together sometime!

[@ragemydream]

excellent editing and footage. Thank you for taking the time to travel and show this culture and history.

[@qualitylife8195]

Wing chun also originated from one of the 5 elderly monks who fled from southern shaolin. Nun wu mei

[@kathywolf4558]

Thank you very much for the history. It is very interesting.

[@damienscabinetmaking4243]

Thank you Will for this. To see the parts on 太祖拳 Taizu Quan is amazing. I am a descendent of the royal family of the Southern Song dynasty, the Chiu (Zhao) clan ethnicity 趙氏族. But I thought our survivors were only and exclusively in Toishan Province where the royal borough is located. It's also a bit strange to hear about palace guards in Quanzhou since there was a huge ordeal in Quanzhou/Fujian where we fled from the North in Hangzhou to go find boats to flee the ensuing Mongol army and assassins. I will double check the primary sources later but from memory, according to our history books, they got (commandeered) a number of boats from a muslim merchant. At that point there were about 200,000 royal servants from the Southern palace accompanying the surviving boy emperors. Maybe not of all them could fit on the boats so they stayed behind and such men and the defensive arts lasted until now. It does however make sense since the population in Toishan 台山 and Sze Jup 四邑 when I check historic databases although it found its feet and became relatively prosperous it was not nearly as ginormous as a Chinese establishment should and could be, compared to regional areas around Guangzhou. There also are little to no defensive fortification as you see in the architecture in the older city of Fujian. Also in each of the old villages while there is a huge focus on ancestral halls 祠堂, zupu 族普 or jiapu 家谱 , and preservation of genealogical lineages, I have YET to come across a kung fu style or academy, which is eerily strange. The villages networks there like libraries. If someone reading here knows, I would be very much obliged. Peace and God bless

[@sonnystormg]

This is so great!! Oh my, thank you for sharing this incredible invaluable information. I cannot express my gratitude enough. We are lucky to have found this channel. I appreciate this greatly!

[@VanishingNomad]

Its always been my understanding that Shaolin had multiple branch temples, both in the North, and in the South. If thats true, it would make sense that ALL of the potential Southern temples are correct.

[@Kainthepunkmonk]

Awesome content man. I have been saving up myself to be able to travel through China and learn.

[@Herowebcomics]

OMG! It is so good to explore where arts came from!

[@Mazeppa6]

The gentleman at the end - powerful. The way he uses that pole and the grip requires unimaginable strength. Real deal Chinese Kung Fu, not the watered down garbage taught in the west.

[@WuzuquanSpain]

I've met Master Zhang Xiaofeng in Quanzhou. Lovely man. And he is the real deal. However, not everyone in the West teaches watered-down garbage. But there is a lot of watered-down garbage.

[@matthews1082]

Yes, that's what the Macedonian Phalanx used to do, wield such a long spear. It requires years of practice.

[@Phil-0-Suffer]

Another great episode!

[@CharonTFM]

Master Zhang had just said something that a lot of Traditional Chinese Martial Artists have forgotten. As he mentioned Monkey Fist is to take the intention not the imitation. This should apply to all Kung Fu, fighting with the intent of the style, not imitate what is taught.

[@erickeblesh7019]

I met and saw Master Fung last year and he is a force of nature!!!

[@FrankMonday]

That last dude is freaking gnarly! Real deal fighting arts! Humbled.

[@WuzuquanSpain]

I've met Master Zhang Xiaofeng in Quanzhou. Lovely man. He is gnarly and the real deal.

[@camiloiribarren1450]

The striking log in 14:16 feels a lot like when us, karateka, use the makiwara (the striking post). This is fantastic

[@ex-alunnidellantonianum577]

This is a great channel! ... Congratulations on such an amazing achievement, can't wait to see your channel grow even bigger.

[@LesConn]

Excellent video. Thank you!

[@DanGerman-]

The 5 ancestors sifu besides incredible amounts of prowess, and an awesome training hall. Seems to be pretty fond of sanda and/or mma. Do you know if he openly spars with a degree of contact and non compliant partner?! Cause I'd been told that many southern mantis and wu zu school does. Excellent work as always!!! Thank you for sharing with us 🙏

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Yea, he has students who compete in Sanda

[@jamesdevine6452]

Excellent work thank you for sharing you experience and knowledge 🙏

[@htbeh3305]

Very good demo.

[@toddmcdaniels1567]

That Tai Zu Chen (spelling?) kata looked a lot like the Isshin Ryu version of Seisan.

[@salvatoreplacidoplumari3840]

6:42...is this a version of Sanchin?

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

yea, Taizu Quan

[@yunshen]

In Wuzuquan, there is also a form which has the same sequence as this, called Ershiquan (二十拳, 20 punches). This 20 punches form is often taught as the second form after Sanchin.

[@salvatoreplacidoplumari3840]

@@MonkeyStealsPeach Thanks:)

[@salvatoreplacidoplumari3840]

@@yunshen interesting....didn`t know this...

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

Oh yea, Dominic also performed 20 punches... I think I used segments of both forms in this video

[@StanfordChiou]

"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."

[@mymartialartacademy2343]

Amazing very nice sir Keep it up Oss! Respect & Love from Pakistan Peshawar

[@thomasfahey8314]

Do you have any information on Nam Hoa Temple?

[@mikehunt9884]

could be, or not, maybe the name southern shaolin was used to pull together the people who weren't keen on having the manchurian qing ruling the country. A lot of chinese kung fu styles have weird background stories, who knows if the five elders really existed, and ng mui, and yim wing chun..

[@vandamme6379]

I've been to the Shirley Temple.

[@vajraman2067]

This must be one of the "Parent" styles of Okinawan Uechi-Ryu, & Gojo-Ryu, because it sure looks like a replica of both of those two systems, in addition to Okinawan Kubodo. It doesn't seem to have, from what little is presented here, anything in common with Shorin-Ryu.

[@EthanNoble]

Tiger boxing is more of a parent for Uechi according to the Uechi Zankai school and their book Uechi-Ryu Bunburyodo vol 3. Lots of investigation and interviewing in Fuzhou was done. The crane systems didn’t start to show up until the late 1800s, during Zhou Zihe’s lifetime. Before then there was no crane system just various techniques and some Kata and even their kata is much more simplified. Also the lore and techniques of crane and Fuzhou had been different for centuries by that point.

[@WuzuquanSpain]

Interesting that Dominic Lim would talk about Tun, Fu, Chen, Tu in the context of Taizuquan. In the Chee Kim Thong lineage of Wuzuquan, we are taught that these four principles come from the Monkey system. This is what happens when history is passed down mostly orally. Of course, if these four principles are not unique to Monkey or Wuzuquan but the fact that they are practised in Taizuquan suggests that Monkey is not the origin. Not that it matters. All that matters is the skill of the individual practitioner.

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

I heard it talked about in Crane too... so I just assumed it was common to all Fujian styles

[@WuzuquanSpain]

@@MonkeyStealsPeach I reckon it’s in all systems that use leverage to overcome brute force. It’s possible I misremember the explanation. Perhaps it was that the Four Principles are particularly characteristic of Monkey, not that they originated with Monkey.

[@yunshen]

The four principles are common to Fujian styles. Hakka styles like Southern Praying Mantis, Bak Mei, Dragon Style also rely heavily on the four principles, they use the same words of swallow, spit, float, sink. Of course these Hakka arts also claim origins from the Fujian Shaolin temple.

[@lac19951]

Great content! I see the master mention Damo aka bodhidharman, the South Indian monk who is the founder of kungfu. Can you do more research on that if it interests you?

[@journeyfromwhitebelt9983]

Nice

[@jackhammer5683]

10:35 What is the name of the master?

[@Simon2k17]

When you float, do you still sink into the ground when you breath in? Or is sinking exclusive to spit and swallow?

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

I’ll let someone who practices the style answer that...

[@Veepee92]

沉浮吞吐 are all different techniques. If you float, you don't sink. If you sink, you don't spit. In the end, they are all pretty much the same thing... However, in the early stages of training they need to be clearly separated. Also, sinking is not the same thing as rooting, which it might be confused here with.

[@Simon2k17]

@@Veepee92 do you breathe in or out when floating?

[@Veepee92]

@@Simon2k17 You never breathe in during any technique in any sport.

[@monishbalasubramanian1281]

How can i contact monkey steal peach

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

If you have general questions you can join the Monkey Steals Peach Facebook group

[@nyclee9133]

What is the similarity’s with hung kuen and southern luohan hung gar usually seen as the southern shaolin original style shaolin based from the hung society how does it come in with the lore of Hong xi guan all the way up to wong fei hung I was told it came from Fujian

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

I don’t know sorry

[@willysumilang9243]

8

[@SJMDLee]

Your topic is also my personal interest. What your video shows is essentially style(s) claimed to be originated from Southern Shaolin by oral history which is the best we have. Too bad we do not see any original Southern Shaolin Kung Fu by monks at the current temple anymore. Cultural Revolution destroyed everything, all books and records. I am not even sure the kung Fu taught at Northern Shaolin is the same as practiced 100 years ago. Lian Nam("south of mountain ranges") styles, Hung, Lau, Choy, Lee, Mok are also said to originate from Southern Shaolin but they are so different from the Five Elder Style(s) or Fujian White Crane. From different Southern Shaolin monks? Kwangsi Sil Lum, also known as Southern Snake Style 蛇形刁手 in Hong Kong, pronounced as "she ying dil sao", claims its origin from Southern Shaolin(Cantonese Sil Lum), resembles the 5 Lian Nam styles. All these Lian Nam styles stick their index fingers up in the tiger palm in the beginning of their sets. It is supposed to mean their common wish, to overthrow the Qing and rebuild the burnt Southern Sil Lum temple. And that finger is a hand sign to identify each other as descendents of Souther Si Lum. Lam Qing Yuen and his brother Lam Xia, father and uncle of the Southern Dragon style master Lam Yiu Kwai, also claimed to be trained at the southern Sil Lum Temple. They were born around 1860, so there was still a temple then? Or, they lied to booster their credentials and they were actually taught by descendents of the Southern Sil Lum monks. White Eyebrow style master Cheung taught "Continuous Bridges of Eagle Claws" or simply "Eagle Claws", and supposedly learnt from Lam Xia. It resembles Fujian styles more than the five Chi Sin styles, and one move in the beginning also has that index finger stance. Don't forget Chow Ah Nam, supposedly learned his Chow Gar("Chow Family") Southern Praying Mantis from Southern Sil Lum Temple in 1800. It resembles other Fujian styles and White Eyebrow. I do believe there was a Southern Si Lum Temple or else why all these people made that up, for credentials? Didn't need that as White Eyebrow claims its origin from the original Northern Shaolin but it does not resemble anything northern. Chi Sin Monk could have said I learnt it in the original Shaolin and who was to argue if he was good, and who knew the difference anyway in those days. My dad learnt Southern Sil Lum Style from a famous Sifu named Tong Gar Six(the sixth son of the Tong family) in Zhonghan County south of Kwongzhou, and Tong learnt it from a Southern Sil Lum monk. It resembled the Chi Sin styles but hunches the back, and pulls the elbows in like Southern Praying Mantis and White Eyebrow, and also had the characteristic index finger stance. Was that a fusion style, or the original Southern Sil Lum style that split into the Fujian and Lian Nam branches? So, what is real Southern Sil Lum Kung Fu? Still a mystery! That rock which says location of the previous Southern Sil Lum is not worth a dime. Chinese would claim anything that could be converted to greenbacks. Did you see real remnants of foundations, much like what you would see at the Temple of Zeus, temple of Athena Nike, or the Parthenon? Anyway, good job trying. At least you had an interesting vacation.

[@Savejalia]

😊

[@joanstone6740]

There is only ever been northern shaolin

[@jeffcuevas5918]

Kung Fu, I hear, is disappearing in china due to MMA. Is this true?

[@superfatbobtail]

9:16 pinan shodan

[@MonkeyStealsPeach]

No, its Fujian Taizu Quan

[@superfatbobtail]

@@MonkeyStealsPeach I know, that techique resembles shurei te pinan shodan. Actucally, it looks familar to Xingyi pao fist too.

[@rafahuda701]

Quem ama Jesus da o like no vídeo dele eu imploro!