The Shaolin Monastery, or Shaolin Temple, is a Buddhist temple in Dengfeng County, Henan Province, China. The name ‘Shaolin’ refers to the location of the temple. It is situated in the forests of Shaoshi mountain, one of the seven peaks of the Song mountains. It literally means “Temple of Shao[shi Mountain] Forest”.
The Shaolin Temple is known, not only as the birthplace of Chan, or “Zen,” Buddhism, in China, but also where kung fu martial arts originated. The temple is steeped in myths and legends. (More about these in future posts) Shaolin became a renowned centre for extremely powerful martial arts. As the teachings of Shaolin grew, other Shaolin monasteries appeared across China. From a Southern monastery came the lineage of the Abbot Gee Sim Sim See. He is recognised as the first person to bring Shaolin martial arts out of the temple and to the people of Southern China.
Gee Sim taught five founding fathers of “Southern Shaolin.” The five families of martial arts from the Gee Sim lineage became Hung Ga, Choy Ga, Mok Ga, Lau Ga and Li Ga. The “Ga,” or sometimes “Gar,” means family, in this case the Hung family. The founding father of the Hung family was Hung Hei Guen and therefore it is named after him.
“Kuen” means fist, but in this case “fist” refers to the art or system of fighting, not just the hand shape. Therefore “Shaolin Hung Ga Kuen,” means, “The fighting art of the Hung family from the temple in the forest of Shaoshi Mountain.”
In general terms, the Hung Ga art is renowned for very strong, rooted stances and extremely powerful arm movements. Training concentrates heavily on stance work, body and arm conditioning, qigong, and practicing the forms or set routines. Yee’s Hung Ga run classes for you to specifically train each of these key areas. The forms are a way of practicing fighting techniques as well as a tool for developing a strong mind and body. One of the most famous forms in the world is the Tiger Crane Double Fist (Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen). This form is at the core of the entire Hung Ga art.
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