ples over a period of many hundreds of years. One of these temples, located
in Henan province, in northern China, has been restored.
According to tradition, in the Henan temple there was a cadre of reli-
gious monks and also a cadre of fighting monks. The sole duty of the fight-
ing monks was to train and to ensure the safety of the temple in the event
of attack. The wealth of martial arts skills became systematized, and vari-
ous curricula were developed under the guidance of the warrior monks.
Moreover, many of the religious monks also gained an interest in personal
self-defense. When their duties took them outside the temple walls, they
were easy targets because of a prohibition against carrying weapons.
Therefore, they had to rely on the various skills that they could develop
within the monastery. Tradition states that in time these monks became
known for their fighting prowess, and also for the marks that were branded
into their arms, the famed Dragon and Tiger of Shaolin.
The mere exposure of these marks to an attacker was reputed to end
confrontations on the spot. It has been surmised that in the villages they vis-
ited, not only did they expound the path of the Buddha to those who had
an interest, but they also instructed locals in boxing and the use of weapons.
Written history notes the prowess of the monks in an antipirate cam-
paign in the sixteenth century, and the written record agrees with the leg-
ends of Shaolin staff techniques. Thus, it is correct to assume that the
Shaolin Temple was a repository of fighting knowledge. It is incorrect,
Boxing, Chinese Shaolin Styles 37Grand Master Rich Mooney demonstrates various defensive moves from Southern Shaolin Tiger Crane Fist, 2001.
(Courtesy of Rich Mooney, Dragon Society International)