Asian Martial Arts, Monks, and Ways of Thought

Asian Martial Arts, Monks, and Ways of Thought PDF Author: Michael DeMarco
Publisher: Via Media Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Get Book Here

Book Description
Many know of the legends concerning the Shaolin Temple as the font of Asian martial arts. However, this was not the only temple with deep associations with combatives. This anthology dives deep into the historic significance of the relationship between temples, monks, and martial arts. As a transporter of culture, it seems logical that the Indian monk Bodhidharma brought more than just Buddhist texts to the Shaolin Temple. India has a wonderful tradition of martial and healing arts that he would have shared at the temple. His rich story throws light on how and why monks throughout Asia have often blended martial arts with their spiritual lives. Asian countries have unique histories and societies, but also share important elements. A major thread is religion and the mixing with ancient native shamanism and mysticism. We find a blend of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Hinduism, and Islam in Asian cultures, which are strongly based in monastic centers. The spread of religious thought is coupled with the spread of knowledge about martial arts. It is part of human nature to find sources to enforce the spiritual, mental, and physical condition. Temples and martial arts are certainly valued for these reasons. In the first chapter, Michael Spiesbach details the story of Bodhi-dharma. His piece couples nicely with Stanley Henning’s observations from a visit to the Shaolin Temple. Dr. Charles Holcombe details the historic connections Daoism has with martial arts, while Mark Hawthorne discusses the recent state of Daoism and its prospects for the future. Jerry Shine’s chapter on the sohei shows the influence these warrior monks had in Japanese history. Ken Jeremiah’s chapter looks at the extreme asceticism Japanese monks and warriors practiced to reach their individual goals. Mark Wiley’s chapter deals with mystical elements as sources of power in Indonesian martial arts. In the final chapter, Mark Kelland brings the religious and martial traditions into our present everyday lives.

Asian Martial Arts, Monks, and Ways of Thought

Asian Martial Arts, Monks, and Ways of Thought PDF Author: Michael DeMarco
Publisher: Via Media Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Get Book Here

Book Description
Many know of the legends concerning the Shaolin Temple as the font of Asian martial arts. However, this was not the only temple with deep associations with combatives. This anthology dives deep into the historic significance of the relationship between temples, monks, and martial arts. As a transporter of culture, it seems logical that the Indian monk Bodhidharma brought more than just Buddhist texts to the Shaolin Temple. India has a wonderful tradition of martial and healing arts that he would have shared at the temple. His rich story throws light on how and why monks throughout Asia have often blended martial arts with their spiritual lives. Asian countries have unique histories and societies, but also share important elements. A major thread is religion and the mixing with ancient native shamanism and mysticism. We find a blend of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Hinduism, and Islam in Asian cultures, which are strongly based in monastic centers. The spread of religious thought is coupled with the spread of knowledge about martial arts. It is part of human nature to find sources to enforce the spiritual, mental, and physical condition. Temples and martial arts are certainly valued for these reasons. In the first chapter, Michael Spiesbach details the story of Bodhi-dharma. His piece couples nicely with Stanley Henning’s observations from a visit to the Shaolin Temple. Dr. Charles Holcombe details the historic connections Daoism has with martial arts, while Mark Hawthorne discusses the recent state of Daoism and its prospects for the future. Jerry Shine’s chapter on the sohei shows the influence these warrior monks had in Japanese history. Ken Jeremiah’s chapter looks at the extreme asceticism Japanese monks and warriors practiced to reach their individual goals. Mark Wiley’s chapter deals with mystical elements as sources of power in Indonesian martial arts. In the final chapter, Mark Kelland brings the religious and martial traditions into our present everyday lives.

The Shaolin Monastery

The Shaolin Monastery PDF Author: Meir Shahar
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824831101
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 298

Get Book Here

Book Description
This meticulously researched and eminently readable study considers the economic, political, and religious factors that led Shaolin monks to disregard the Buddhist prohibition against violence and instead create fighting techniques that by the 21st century have spread throughout the world.

Archaeological Approaches to Dance Performance

Archaeological Approaches to Dance Performance PDF Author: European Association of Archaeologists. Annual Meeting
Publisher: British Archaeological Reports Oxford Limited
ISBN: 9781407312576
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 94

Get Book Here

Book Description
"The present volume is the outcome of a session held at the 15th European Archaeological Association conference at Lake Garda in Italy, in September 2009"--p. 1.

American Shaolin

American Shaolin PDF Author: Matthew Polly
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9781592402625
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 404

Get Book Here

Book Description
Laced with humor and illuminated by cultural insight, this coming-of-age tale explores one young American's quest to become a kung fu master at China's legendary Shaolin Temple. 8-page photo insert.

Sugong

Sugong PDF Author: Nick Hurst
Publisher: Sportsbooks
ISBN: 9781907524219
Category : Kung fu
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book Here

Book Description
Nick Hurst was working in London when he threw in his job in advertising to train for four years in Malaysia and China with a kung fu grandmaster, Sugong. This book is a mix of Nick’s experiences in South-East Asia and the story of Sugong’s extraordinary life. Initiated into kung fu by an opium-addicted master, Sugong was expelled from school, kidnapped, and nearly killed in a family feud. All by the age of sixteen.He fled army conscription in China, only to be engulfed in a world of gangsters and blood-brothers in Singapore.Saved by a Shaolin warrior monk, his penance was eight years of fiercely-enforced temple training. A near-fatal fall-out with his master, love affairs, race riots and gangland vendettas all followed as he travelled through South-East Asia. Throughout, he struggled to adhere to martial arts’ ethics in an imperfect world.His story spanned fascinating periods of history of four Asian countries in Asia: war-torn 1930s China; instability in post-war Singapore; racial tension in the newly independent Malaysia; and a gangster-led Taiwan in the aftermath of its Chinese breakaway.The origins of Shaolin kung fu and triad organised crime are explored to provide a context to his life.

When Buddhists Attack

When Buddhists Attack PDF Author: Jeffrey Mann
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462910483
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 287

Get Book Here

Book Description
ING_08 Review quote

Master Cheng's New Method of Taichi Ch'uan Self-Cultivation

Master Cheng's New Method of Taichi Ch'uan Self-Cultivation PDF Author: Cheng Man-ch'ing á
Publisher: Frog Books
ISBN: 1883319927
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 145

Get Book Here

Book Description
Cheng Man-ch'ing, the famed master of t'ai chi, is regarded as an enormously influential figure in codifying the most widely practiced form of the ancient martial art. This volume, developed by the martial arts master and scholar, details the way that students arrive at a posture -- from beginning movements to the end pose. Master Cheng provides practitioners with a complete and concise guide to the Short Form, enabling them to make rapid progress.

Authentic Shaolin Heritage

Authentic Shaolin Heritage PDF Author: Jin Jing Zhong
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 184728406X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book Here

Book Description
Devoted to the most enigmatic and little-known aspect of training of Shaolin monks. Training methods allow supernatural abilites to develop, far beyond abilities of an ordinary man. The book was writen with the blessing and direct participation of the Head of the Shaolin Monastery Reverend Miao Xing, nicknamed "The Golden Arhat," one of the best Shaolin fighters of all times. These secret practices traditionally called "72 arts of Shaolin" or the essence of the Shaolin Combat Training.

Chinese Martial Arts

Chinese Martial Arts PDF Author: Peter A. Lorge
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521878810
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the global world of the twenty-first century, martial arts are practised for self-defense and sporting purposes only. However, for thousands of years, they were a central feature of military practice in China and essential for the smooth functioning of society. This book, which opens with an intriguing account of the very first female martial artist, charts the history of combat and fighting techniques in China from the Bronze Age to the present. This broad panorama affords fascinating glimpses into the transformation of martial skills, techniques and weaponry against the background of Chinese history, the rise and fall of empires, their governments and their armies. Quotations from literature and poetry, and the stories of individual warriors, infuse the narrative, offering personal reflections on prowess in the battlefield and techniques of engagement. This is an engaging and readable introduction to the authentic history of Chinese martial arts.

Martial Arts and Philosophy

Martial Arts and Philosophy PDF Author: Graham Priest
Publisher: Open Court Publishing
ISBN: 0812696840
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 254

Get Book Here

Book Description
Martial arts and philosophy have always gone hand in hand, as well as fist in throat. Philosophical argument is closely paralleled with hand-to-hand combat. And all of today's Asian martial arts were developed to embody and apply philosophical ideas. In his interview with Bodidharma, Graham Priest brings out aspects of Buddhist philosophy behind Shaolin Kung-Fu -- how fighting monks are seeking Buddhahood, not brawls. But as Scott Farrell's chapter reveals, Eastern martial arts have no monopoly on philosophical traditions: Western chivalry is an education in and living revival of Aristotelian ethical theories. Several chapters look at ethical problems raised by the fighting arts. How can the sweaty and brutal be exquisitely beautiful? Every chapter is easily understandable by readers new to martial arts or new to philosophy.