Few dispute the saying, "The font of all martial arts is Shaolin." The Shaolin Temple was the spiritual and technical source of all modern martial arts. The Shaolin Arts has a long and rich heritage going back to the beginning of modern civilization. This history is a mixture of legend and fact. The common practice of each new ruling Dynasty was to destroy all information of past rulers and what information could not be destroyed, other "politically correct" names were given the credit. Therefore, documented information of many past periods is limited. In this brief summarized history we will document the facts and point out the legends, or accounts, handed down through generations. Please note, the story teller usually tells the version of the story that is in his best interest.

Asian martial artists trace their roots back 5,000 years to India and the Greek martial arts of Pankration. The invading armies of Alexander the Great brought this brutal art of boxing and wrestling to India in 4 BC. Historians also credit the Greeks for organizing the first professional boxing matches 1,000 years before the birth of Christ.

China

The Chinese credit Chinese physician Dr. Hua T'o as the founder of the first martial style, and the first doctor to use anesthesia during surgery. Around 220 AD, T'o devised a series of exercises modeled on the deer, bear, bird, tiger and monkey long before the Shaolin Temple began instruction in the marital arts. T'o designed these exercises to relieve stress, tone the body and provide a means of self-defense.

Chinese historians dispute India's claim to being the cradle of Asian martial arts. They point to military manuals and documents dated from 206 BC to 220 AD which prove that Han emperors actively funded the study and refinement of Kung-Fu far beyond any fighting system known in India during this period.

Records exist dating back to 5 BC crediting an Indian named Han Lo-Ming for creating Chi Hsuan Men, or 'Unusual Style'. This art used the defensive scissors techniques of the White Jade Fan to trap swords and spears, and pressure point strikes with the fan's tip.

Legend states that the Zen Buddhist patriarch Ta Mo, or Da Mo (Bodhidharma to the Chinese, and Daruma Daishi to the Japanese), whose real last name was Sardilli was a prince of a small tribe in Southern India. Ta Mo arrived in China after a brutal trek over Tibet's Himalaya Mountains surviving both the elements and bandits.

The Buddha - The enlightened one, made a vow that he would never be content with his achievements until he shared his wisdom with all beings.

Some historians dispute the date, but legend states Ta Mo settled in the Shaolin Temple of Songshan in Hunan Province in 526 AD. We do know the first Shaolin Temple of Songshan was built in 377 AD for Pan Jaco' "The First Buddha," by the order of Emperor Wei on the Shao Shik Peak of Sonn Mountain in Teng Fon Hsien, Hunan Province. The Temple was for religious training and meditation only. Martial arts' training did not begin until the arrival of Ta Mo in 526 AD.

Ta Mo sought peace and converts to help him spread Charn Buddhism, later known as Zen in Japan, throughout China. Legend states that Ta Mo found that his meditation method caused sleepiness among the monks. The monks at that time also lacked stamina and the ability to defend themselves against warlords and bandits.

Ta Mo, a member of the Indian Kshatriya warrior class and a master of staff fighting, created a system of 18 dynamic tension exercises. These movements found their way into print in 550 AD as the Yi Gin Ching, or Changing Muscle/Tendon Classic. We know this today as the Lohan (Priest-Scholar) 18 Hand Movements, the basis of Chinese Temple Boxing and the Shaolin Arts.

Ta Mo's introduction of the martial arts to the Shaolin Temple was purely self-interest. He saw the monks as solitary types content to live their lives within temple walls. He dreamed of developing mobile, fearless warrior missionaries able to spread Charn Buddhism throughout the world. According to legend, Ta Mo developed a simple self-defense system to train Japanese Shorinji (Shaolin) Monks who traveled between Shaolin Temples in China, Formosa, Japan and India. Yamabushi (Ascetic Hermits), referred to this art of the staff, spear and empty hand as Goshin-Jutsu, the basis of Aikido, Judo, Jujitsu and Ninjutsu.

Ta Mo died in 539 AD at the Shaolin Temple at age 57, before the completion of his life's mission. However, Ta Mo created the basis of Shaolin Ch'uan Fa, an art that evolved into Sil Lum Kung-Fu, Shaolin 5 Animals Styles, Chung-Kuo Ch'uan and Shorinji Kempo (Japan).

To the Shaolin, religion and the martial arts were separate ideals. They walked a thin line between self-defense and non-violence. Vegetarians, monks would not eat meat or even ride a horse for fear of burdening the animal. On pilgrimages' monks carried staffs tipped with jingling metal rings to scare away insects in their path they might harm. However, a monk would kill to defend his life or protect the weak.

Shaolin Temple Boxing became famous as the finest system of martial art and was revered all over China. So great was its reputation that martial artists from other countries also wanted to study this system. Shaolin monks realized that there was great power inherent in these teachings and they were very reluctant to permit the teaching outside of the temple walls. With the fall of the Ming dynasty (c. 1644 AD.), outsiders were permitted to enter the temple and learn the boxing art in order to drive out the invading Manchurians. Thus Shaolin boxing left the temple and started to spread throughout China. Later in history, portions of this highly evolved art spread to Okinawa where it was called Shaolin Ryu, meaning Shao-lin fighting style. In Japan it was called Karate, meaning Chinese empty-hand fighting. Even Jujitsu was based upon a style of Chinese boxing called Chin Na which emphasized locks and flips. Chinese Temple Boxing was the mother system which gave birth to the other martial arts in Asia.

In 1644, Manchurians from Mongolia, invaded China to conquer it and set up the Ching Court. Legend tells of 108 Shaolin monks, Seng Bing (Priest Soldiers), who met and defeated 10,000 Manchurians in a single afternoon without suffering a single injury. Now national heroes, the monks unknowingly attracted members of Chinese secret societies such as the northern White Lotus Society and southern Hung Family League eager to learn a fighting method to drive the Manchus back to Mongolia.

By royal decree, only the Chinese Emperor and Masters of Shaolin Temples could possess complete martial arts' systems. The martial arts flourished due to the efforts of revolutionaries, bandits and rebels who resisted the Manchus and often sought asylum in Shaolin monasteries. Eager to fight, secret societies created a network of martial arts' schools in Chinese monasteries and villages the goal to drive out the invading Manchus.

Shaolin monks Gok Yuen, Lee Sau and Bak Juk Fung enlarged the original 'Lohan 18 Hands' to 170 movements to make Sit Lum (Shaolin) Kung-Fu a more effective fighting system. A student began the study of the light staff before tackling a series of progressively heavier staffs. This strengthened the muscles and loosened the ligaments.

In 1662, the Manchus gained complete control of China. While the Manchus feared the Shaolin priests and the revolutionary activities connected to them, they refused to harm them largely because the Manchus were mainly Buddhists and the Shaolin priests were their spiritual leaders. The Shaolin priests were also valuable to the Manchu Ching Court as advisors and healers, and harming the priests would make them martyrs and cause the people to fight harder to dethrone the tyrannical Manchu overlords.

By 1736 the leadership of the Manchus had forgotten the services the Shaolin Monks had rendered to everyone including the Manchus themselves. The Manchus decided to rid themselves of the original Songshan Shaolin Temple and to thwart the plans of Taiwanese rebel commander Cheng-Cheng Gong. Gong had sent troops to the temple to seek refuge with Abbott Chi Tong and his 128 warrior monks. Fearing this alliance, two Manchu officials bribed Ma Linger, ranked seventh among the 128 monks, to spy for them and help destroy the temple.

At night, Ma Linger opened a secret temple passageway to the two Manchu officials, who set quick moving fires. Realizing that 10,000 Manchu troops were no match for the 128 warrior monks, Ma Linger placed sleeping potions in the monks' food supplies. Drugged monks died in their beds.

Only 5 monks escaped. They formed the Hung Family League, the chief resistance movement against the Manchus. They set up a new monastery in the village of Ch'uan Chow in Fukien Province to keep the Shaolin traditions alive and continue political pressure on the Manchus. It was at Fukien that the Five Shaolin Ancestors Wu Mei, Chi Shan, Bok Mei. Feng Daode and Miao Chian gained prominence as masters of the martial arts. Shaolin martial arts became known as Sil Lum in Cantonese, or Shorinji in Japanese. Study centered on the moves and attributes of the Tiger, Dragon, Snake, Leopard and Crane, the Five Shaolin Animals.

From the Crane came the Praying Mantis style, from the Tiger came the Eagle style, from Tiger and Crane, Hung style evolved. Snake and Crane gave rise to Wing Chun, and the list continued to grow.

Each animal form represented one of the "Five Essences" the Five Shaolin Ancestors felt all people possessed. The Dragon fuels the spirit; the Tiger trains the bones to resist heavy blows; the Leopard develops strength and footwork; the Crane loosens the sinews and ligaments; and the Snake builds Chi, internal strength.

Shaolin priests spent an average of 10 years behind Temple walls in a strict regimen of work, mediation, practice and study. Their day started at sunrise and ended at sunset. Graduation from the Temple consisted of three tests. The first was a difficult oral examination of Chinese history, martial arts theory, philosophy and healing. The next was full-contact sparring matches with several Kung-Fu masters, and the last was the Ordeal of the Lohan Hall.

The Fukien Province monastery contained the 36 chambers or levels of martial arts' instruction and the infamous Lohan Hall (also known as Priest-Scholar Hall and Den of the Wooden Men). Upon entering the Lohan Hall, the graduate student fought 108 mechanical wooden dummies armed with knives, spears and clubs triggered by the student's body movements. If the student survived, they had to make their way through an opening blocked by a 5OO-pound metal urn containing red-hot coals. Gripping the urn in their forearms, the student had to slide the urn to create an exit. In the process, he branded his forearms with the badges of the Shaolin master, the Dragon and the Tiger.

In 1768, the Manchus again saw the need to destroy the second Shaolin Temple. They sought the allegiance of Chang Sanfeng, a sung dynasty scholar and outstanding student of the Fukien Temple. His superior physical and mental abilities allowed him to graduate from the temple a full-fledged master in less than two years.

A Taoist, Chang Sanfeng left the temple to start a monastery in Hubei's Wu Tang mountain range. Here he created Wu Tang Martial Arts, merging the hard arts with the mystical Chi Kung (Internal Power) arts. This led to the creation of T'ai Chi Ch'uan, "The Grand Ultimate Art," of which, one account reports, Chang Sanfeng as the acknowledged founder. Sanfeng created T'ai Chi Ch'uan as a combat art after seeing a snake defeat a hawk, later discovering its health and fitness benefits.

Sanfeng's revolutionary internal power building techniques and promise of increased fighting ability attracted many students to him. Manchu officials encouraged the rivalry between the Wu Tang disciples and the Shaolin. After many clashes the more peaceful Shaolin monks left looking for areas of peace to live, study and teach. The Fukien Temple was eventually burned to the ground.

Shaolin monks moved to India and Southeast Asia. Some remained, posing as tradesmen, farmers and artists. Certain Shaolin monks started the infamous Triad Society, a group that began as political movement and later fell into criminal activities. Others settled on Ermei Mountain in Szechuan Province, an area that developed many martial styles.

Shaolin monks were responsible for creating China's three major styles, Hung Gar, Choy Li Fut and Wing Chun. One of the most spectacular acrobatic styles, Shantung Black Tiger, was created in China's Northern Hunan Province to defend against multiple opponents on rocky terrain. It is the basis of Kun-Tao, an art popular in Southeast Asia.

Gee Sim, a Shaolin Monk and Master of the Tiger Fist, taught his art at the seaport of Canton after the destruction of the Temple. Gee Sim's innovations aided the development of Shaolin Ch'uan Fa.

Choy Fook, another Shaolin monk, moved to Kwantung in South China to his mountain retreat at Law Fo Shan. Here he taught disciple Chan Heung the entire Shaolin Kung-Fu system and four internal Lohan Qigong (chi kung) forms. This became the popular Chinese art of Choy Li Fut, and the beginning of wooden dummy training. Chan Heung recorded Choy Li Fut's 138 forms in the Kuen Po, or Manual of Fist Work. This the first recorded mention of the term Ch'uan Fa in connection with the Shaolin arts.

During this period, the Chinese people rarely used the term Kung-Fu, a generic term for skill of any kind. They often lumped all fighting arts together as Wu Shu. the Mandarin expression of Kou-Shu, "National Martial Arts."

Dynasties Of China
Pre-T'ang dynasties before AD 618
T'ang 618 - 907
Sung 960 - 1280
Yuon (Mongol) 1264 -1348
Ming 1368 - 1644
Ch'ing (Manchu) 1644 - 1912
At times rival dynasties coexisted for a few decades. Some have gaps in between them, during which minor dynasties flourished or else the Dragon Throne remained unoccupied.

Japan and Okinawa

During the years 906 AD to 1911, Chinese masters had a tremendous influence on the martial arts of Japan and Okinawa. Many warrior monks, or Yamabushi, lived on the slopes of Mt. Hiei near Kyoto. They often visited the Shaolin temples of Songshan and Fukien to study Zen and refine their martial art of Shaolin Ch'uan Fa. These Japanese Buddhist monks honored Ta Mo, or Daruma Daishi as the Japanese call him, as their spiritual father.

Some Yamabushi renegades developed mystical powers through the practice of Tibetan-inspired Mikkyo Buddhism at a monastery on China's Mt. T'ien T'ai. These warrior priests formed the basis of Ninjutsu. Shaolin-trained martial artists called Vagabonds often traveled the Far East as performers in circus-like acting troupes to conceal their identities on secret missions. The first Ninja were actually Shaolin priests. Many Shaolin monks excelled in guerrilla warfare tactics. They were the first to use blinding powders, smoke bombs, booby traps and hidden weapons. They excelled in the art of invisibility, so well that Chinese today believe that a Shaolin Monk can walk through walls!

Few know of the legendary Chin Gempin, a legendary 16th Century Chinese Ch'uan Fa Master who had untold influence on Japanese and Okinawan martial arts. A Chinese mystic and wandering Yamabushi monk, Gempin fell in love with a Japanese woman. Forced to change his Chinese name (Chin Cen Pinh) to become a Japanese citizen and stay in Japan, Gempin kept his total Chinese Ch'uan Fa art a secret. He supported himself by teaching his grappling arts of Kumiai-Jutsu ("The Tackling Art") and Atemi-Waza ("Nerve Striking Techniques") to Ronin (Masterless Samurai). Gempin also founded the art of Yawara Jutsu, a short rod self-defense system on which the modern Kubotan is based.

In 1532, Takenouchi, a master of "Combat Sumo," challenged Gempin and was soundly beaten. Takenouchi became Gempin's student, learning 5 secret "arresting techniques" and the short rod method called Yawara. Takenouchi went on to establish the first official Ryu or School of Jujitsu near Kyoto. Many Japanese historians, not wanting to credit a Chinese Ch'uan Fa Master for helping to create their beloved Jujitsu or influencing the arts of Judo, Aikido and Yawara-Jutsu, merely refer to Chin Gempin as an "ascetic hermit and teacher of Takenouchi."

In 1560, the Mitose family, founders of a monastery on Japan's Mt. Akenkai, received a Chinese Ch'uan Fa system from Kosho, a Shinto priest. Kosho traced his lineage to Ta Mo, founder of Zen Buddhism. Kosho had studied the Shaolin arts at Japan's Shaolin-inspired Shorinji Temple. He eventually took the Mitose family name. In a dream, he received new Ch'uan Fa secrets and renamed his system Kosho-ryu Kempo. The system had eight aspects:

1. energy collection or chi development
2. meditation
3. philosophy
4. yoga
5. nutrition, consisting of proper diet, healing arts and herbalism
6. the arts of punching, kicking and self defense combinations
7. push-pull arts
8. jumping patterns permitting escape from danger with no physical contact.

After Kosho's death, Mitose's more recent ancestors changed Kosho's Shaolin-inspired art to a more linear Japanese system.

The Okinawan Islands benefitted by being near China, Korea and Japan. The area's turbulent weather and tricky ocean currents swept many travelers - pirates, soldiers, scholars, Buddhist monks - to Okinawan shores. In 1372, Okinawa's King Satto pledged his islands to the Chinese Ming emperor and Shaolin Buddhist ideals. Peasants and farmers mastered martial arts that were once the exclusive domain of the military and upper classes.

In 1470, Okinawan King Shohashi viewed his people's fighting ability as a threat and confiscated their weapons. Left to their own devices, Okinawans developed the crude combat arts of Te ("hand") and Tode ("closed fist"), a mixed bag of Asian fighting styles. Practitioners hardened their natural weapons against fence posts and trees to punch through Samurai armor, the "One Punch, One Kill" concept.

In need of ways to increase their empty-hand fighting abilities, Okinawans sent fighters to China and Taiwan to learn Ch'uan shu ("The Artful Use of One's Fists") Kento (Fist Fighting) from top Ch'uan Fa Masters.

In 1609, the armies of the Japanese Satsuma Clan conquered Okinawa and again banned all weapons. The Okinawans were ready for the Japanese, having mastered Okinawa-te Karate, Chugo-ku Kempo and Kobudo, simple farm tools to thresh and harvest grain were readily at hand in the field for use as weapons.

The Okinawans kept Kobudo from outsiders for more than 300 years, grudgingly introducing the Bo staff, Kama sickle, Sai, Nunchaku and spinning Tonfa to Japan in the early 1940s.

At advanced levels of Okinawa-te Karate, students learned Shaolin animal forms. Shaolin-inspired arts such as Pakua Chang Gung-Fu and Ch'uan Fa (Kempo) influenced Okinawa's Goju-ryu Karate, as founder Chojun Miyagi had traveled to China's Fukien Province to study these arts. Major Okinawan arts have strong Chinese roots. Kobayashi-ryu's founder learned two styles from a Buddhist priest in Northern China. Uechi-ryu Karate is an Okinawan term to describe the Cantonese Poongai Gung-Fu forms as learned by founder Kanbum Uechi, who traveled to China in 1901 to study Ch'uan Fa.

The Okinawans steadily increased their martial arts' know-how. Legend states an Okinawan, Sakugawa, left for China in 1794, and was not heard from again for many years. He reappeared in Shuri, Okinawa, demonstrating advanced Shaolin Ch'uan Fa techniques that attracted hundreds of pupils. Sakagawa's success and influence inspired the Okinawans to stylize their arts under a "Karate Kempo" banner.

Credit must also be given to Shionja, an Okinawan master, who along with Chinese friend Kushanku, returned to Okinawa from China in 1784 to spread their "new" style of Chinese Arts. They succeeded in creating so many martial art students, Japanese authorities could not stop the spread of the art.

In the late 1800's a Chinese monk named Kosohun brought Shaolin Ch'uan Fa to Japan. The Japanese soon threatened his life and deported him, since his Ch'uan Fa art was far superior to existing Japanese martial arts and he had attracted too many followers. Kosokun decided to fragment his total Chinese martial art system to prevent the Japanese from copying it. In Okinawa, he taught only fist techniques; in Taiwan, thrusting with the fingers; in China, hand and foot fighting.

Before 1936, Japanese calligraphy represented Karate as Kara-te, or Tang Dynasty Hands. Thus Karate was The Art of Chinese Hands. The Koreans also acknowledged the Chinese influence on their martial arts. One example is Tang Soo Do, The Way of Chinese Hands, a forerunner of Tae Kwon Do.

Gichi Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan who brought Karate to Japan from Okinawa, wanted to limit the credit the Okinawans gave the Chinese for their martial arts. He felt that a Chinese name would hamper the spread of Karate among the nationalistic Japanese. Funakoshi petitioned the Japanese government to change the ideograph for Kara from Tang to Ku, a Zen term meaning "nothingness". Thus Kara-te became Karate-do, The Way of Empty Hands. This change angered the Okinawans, but they later agreed to change their Kara ideograph to conform with the Japanese version.

The United States

Hawaii was the place where Ch'uan Fa masters found an environment to develop and refine their arts. Chinese coolies, restricted from marrying or owning property, fled the harsh treatment in Hawaii for California. Here they found dangerous work in gold mines and building America's Transcontinental Railroad. This is the period in which the popular Kung-Fu television series, featuring the Shaolin monk Caine, was set.

William Pitt stated, "power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." The history of the martial arts had similar problems. Chinese clans whose members spoke the same dialect created Hui Kuan, or associations for protection. Hui Kuan and secret Chinese societies clashed in a struggle for total supremacy. Americans dubbed these blood purges, 'Tong Wars.' Tong is American slang for Tang, the Chinese word for hall, or meeting hall of a Hui Kuan association.

Tang enforcers were given the name 'Hatchet Men' for their skill with meat cleavers. Unfortunately, they became the oppressors of the people they were sworn to protect. Law abiding Chinese found it necessary to import Chinese Kung Fu masters to strengthen their Tang clans as teachers and bodyguards. Traditional weapons played a part in many Tang battles. American blacksmiths in Trinity County, California, had a booming business manufacturing tridents, spears, pike poles, scythes, swords and shields for Tang warriors.

At the turn of the century, the generic terms Chinese Boxing, Boxing and Chinese Temple Boxing became popular with Westerners after news reports of Ch'uan Fa fighters using bare feet, fists and bladed weapons against firearms during the bloody "55 Days at Peking" we know as The Boxer Rebellion.

The Chinese persisted in their refusal to teach Ch'uan Fa to anyone who was not Chinese. In 1957, T.C. Lee, a naturalized citizen from China, gave the first public demonstration of T'ai Chi Chaun. This allowed other Chinese masters to come forth and reveal their martial arts secrets to anyone regardless of race. Although Chaun Fa arts flourished in Hawaii among the Chinese community, it was confined to Oriental inner circles who referred to it as Ch'uan-shu and taught it in secret.

Many historians credit American citizen James Masayoshi Mitose for officially introducing Ch'uan Fa to Hawaii on December 7, 1941 as a protest against the Japanese for the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. However, the first person to formally introduce Chinese arts to the West was Chojun Miyagi, the founder of Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate and student of Chinese Grandmaster Kaju Toonda. In 1934, Miyagi taught pure Ch'uan Fa to more than 100 students on the Hawaiian island of Kauai for more than 8 months, this was substantiated by newspaper reports of that era. Miyagi was proficient in Pa-Kua Chang, Wing Chun and Shaolin Chaun Fa from his time spent with Masters in China's Fukien Province.

Miyagi used the term Kempo Karate because he didn't want to encounter resistance from the large Chinese community who kept their Ch'uan Fa arts hidden. He also wanted to blend more Chinese Chaun Fa into his Kempo Karate system, "...to use the more profound Chinese knowledge to improve and unify Karate." Chojun Miyagi never saw this happen, his beloved Goju-ryu yielding to mainly Japanese linear stylizing by his successors after his death.

In 1942, James Mitose opened the Official Self-Defense Club at the Beretania Mission in Honolulu teaching Kempo Jujitsu. Mitose felt that most Americans could identify with the term Jujitsu, an art popular in the Islands at the time. He taught Kempo Jujitsu as a fighting art made up of eight aspects: punches, kicks, chops, thrusts, pokes, throws, locks and take downs.

Mitose later downplayed the importance of grabs and throws' feeling they wasted energy and exposed one's vital points in combat against more than one opponent. Mitose's art was primarily linear in nature with little circular footwork.

According to the late American Grandmaster Ed Parker, who met Mitose in the early 1970's, Mitose's Kempo Jujitsu "...leaned toward impractical methods of application, and almost total void of circular movements...they seemed to lack continuity and forethought, and left him (Mitose) dangerously exposed." It appears the changes Mitose's family made to the original system taught at their family temple in Japan did not "weather the test of time."

In the western United States a major development of modern Ch'uan Fa came through the efforts of Hawaii's William Kwai Sun Chow. Born in 1914, Chow studied Shaolin Kung-Fu from his father, the monk Hoon Chow of Shanghai.

Only one of six students given a black belt by James Mitose. Chow mastered Kosho-ryu Kempo's linear techniques and take downs. Chow focused his studies on developing "War Arts," feeling that Ch'uan Fa should remain a pure combat art. Which, due to the martial arts environment of Hawaii at that time made a degree of sense.

Chow saw a need to blend the Chinese circle with the Japanese line returning back to the ways of the Shaolin. This minimized the opening's on a fighter's body, yet allowed a fighter to launch explosive counterattacks. Of below-average height, Chow was strong, quick and accurate. His ability to have an opponent miss - he rarely blocked - as he countered to an exposed area earned him the nickname 'Thunderbolt.'

Chow called his art by three names: Chinese Kempo, Kempo Karate and Lightning Kempo Karate. He believed, as did Mitose before him, that the Hawaiian people would more easily recognize the term Karate or Jujitsu. A demanding teacher, Chow stressed full-contact training and practiced mainly the death arts. Few students trained with Chow very long. William Chow died in his 50"s. Although a recognized great fighter, some have suggested more balance with the healing arts would of greatly prolonged his life.

Our Generation

There are a number of excellent masters in the martial arts worth reviewing. Each are individuals both influencing the arts and influenced by the arts. Here are a few examples:

Professor Nicholas R. Cerio was born in Boston, MA, in July 1936. He began boxing at a early age. His first interest in the martial arts was in 1958 under Judo instructor George McCabe. He then met Ted Olson in 1961, a Tae Kwon Do stylist, and began to study with him. In 1962 he met George Pesare who taught him Kempo for the next four years. And in 1966 he received his black belt and opened his first school.

At that time, Sensei Cerio had learned of a renowned Shaolin Ch'uan Fa instructor in Hawaii, Professor William K. S. Chow, and had strongly desired to study under him. However, he was first instructed to study with one of his top pupils, William Chun. This was traditionally done as a test of patience, honor and skill. After training with William Chun, Sensei Cerio was given permission to train under Professor Chow and he then traveled for the first of four visits to Hawaii. On August 15, 1967 he was awarded his Shodan in Shaolin Ch'uan Fa by Professor Chow.

Over the course of time, he has trained with other various martial artists and renowned instructors such as: Larry Garron - jujitsu; James Benko - Master of Hakkoryu jujitsu; Ernest Lieb - Chung Do Kwan; Master Fumio Demura - Shito-Ryu; Ed Parker - American Kenpo; Master Tadashi Yamashita - Shorin-Ryu; Master Gee Gin Soon - T'ai Chi Ch'uan; and Master Gan Fong Chin - Sil Lum Kung Fu.

His 5th Dan (Degree Black Belt) was awarded by Professor Chow in December 1971 on his last visit to Hawaii. The highest rank awarded by Professor Chow.

In 1973, Master Gan Fong Chin awarded him 8th Dan in Karate and title of Sifu in Kung Fu, the first of only three advanced degrees to receive such certification from Master Chin. This ranking was given because Master Chin insisted that Shihan Cerio's all-around skills were that of an 8th Dan or title of Sifu in Kung Fu.

It was in 1974 when Nick Cerio opened his current martial arts methods of instruction.

Shaolin Ch'uan Fa is a complete system composed of circular blocks, direct strikes, grabbing, sweeping, throwing, joint locking, pressure point techniques, and chi (qi) development and use. There are many types of kicks and hand positions, stances and movements used, the choice being dependent upon the results desired. "In this system, the strike is the block and the block is the strike," states Shihan Cerio. Shaolin Ch'uan Fa is neither an exclusively hard nor soft style, but a well balanced system of both. Both the internal and external arts are utilized. A key is fluidity and continuous motion with no loss of focus. The applications of this system are as many as they are ancient: self defense, sport, fitness, and chi development being examples.

In 1983 Nick Cerio was acknowledged as a 9th Dan by Ed Parker. This was a rewarding experience and an honor, for he highly respected Master Parker as a peer under Professor William K. S. Chow and how master Parker had developed afterwards.

In early 1989, Shihan Cerio was designated a Professorship by Soke Thomas H. Burdine. However, his greatest accomplishment came in late 1989 when he was awarded the position of Soke by the World Council of Sokes. The World Council of Sokes is an organization of elite Grandmasters, with only 21 members worldwide, who have the recognized authority to critique and evaluate all styles of marital arts. Having obtained the highest formal goal possible, he shall cherish it forever.

Since 1988, the Nick Cerio International Martial Arts Association (NCIMAA) has been promoting the best attributes in the arts. Here students and leaders in the arts can benefit from Professor Cerio's life experiences.

Sifu Par'eo Nemodomini taught his Shaolin arts to certain family members and at times their friends. He learned from his father and his father from his father's father. He was born in China, raised in Hong Kong but he chose to live in North America. He loved the Shaolin Five Animal arts believing that the Tiger, Leopard, Snake, Dragon and Crane represented the most complete system for fighting and health when balanced with both the Northern and Southern Shaolin ideals, (the hard and the soft, the long and the short). When asked by a student which was his favorite animal style he would always pick a different animal justifying his choice with excellent logic and ability. By studying the personality and body style in relationship to different environments, each animal's unique attributes were important. To master one animal was to deeply understand them all.

Sifu Par'eo's Shaolin animals are as follows:
The Dragon is used to show the strength of the mind and spirit. The dragon uses the mind to outwit his opponent or to solve a problem. It whips and whirls the body, using whatever tool necessary to complete its task. Hidden strikes are common. The dragon carries its energy high, always thinking. Sifu Par'eo taught that the strength of the dragon was its wisdom and its weakness was its intelligence. By nature, all dragons were intelligent but not all were wise enough to use it successfully. Some in fact would "outfox themselves" in combat. Getting too close to the tiger to be dragged down to earth, becoming too acrobatic or caught up in their own beauty.

Sifu Par'eo used the dragon to explain the need of education both quoting and by practical examples of how innocence destroyed any chance of real individual freedom. He felt training the body was important but not to overshadow training the mind and spirit. He lived what he taught.

The Leopard is known for its speed. Pound for pound it is stronger than the tiger. Its energy is often described as a lightning bolt. Once it attacks, its goal is to do as much damage as possible in the shortest amount of time. It can fight like a tiger when the opponent is smaller than itself but will not stand its ground if not to its advantage. Its weakness is its dependence on speed if put in an environment where speed is restricted. The leopard has the life and enthusiasm of a youth. It will sometimes leap before it looks relying on its speed to escape any problems. Leopards do not always live long but they also do not die of boredom.

The Crane is conservative. It would rather avoid than confront. Its main body is weaker than the other animals and therefore prefers to keep back while striking out with its long wings and beak. It dislikes grappling preferring to keep distance between itself and others. The classic story is of the crane and tiger meeting and a frustrated tiger leaving with one eye. Of course the weakness of the crane is just one solid hit from a tiger and its life is usually over. Once a crane does decide to fight it can be very aggressive towards an exposed target. There is a degree of deception in the crane as it leaps away just to return in again if defenses drop. Likewise the wings and long feathers will often mask or hide a strike.

Par'eo's marital art Snake is known for its strikes to vital areas and wrapping movements. Thus it uses pressure points and grappling. The weakness of the snake is it basically has one strike and then must recoil, climb a tree, etc. Therefore the aggressive snake usually waits to allow another to come to it. It is common for cranes to beat snakes if the snake's first strike misses. Many snakes are very defensive in personality. They will leave at the first sign of trouble. If that is not possible they will hide and after that they will coil up and even warn you by rattling.

The Tiger is strength or shear power. It is strong and massive. In its purest form the tiger never retreats. It is like an advancing wall of energy. Thus the saying, "When two tigers meet one is dead the other dying." Its strength is its simplicity, its weakness is it can be "outfoxed." It is common to see both the tiger and the dragon in Chinese murals depicting opposite ideas.

Sifu Par'eo's English was poor but he disliked the use of any other language as he felt it disrespectful to do so in an English speaking country.

He required all to learn to heal any injury you could inflict. Anytime more than this was necessary he felt he had failed on his part. He believed there was no such thing as bad students only poor instructors. He led a simple life. He talked little of himself or of his accomplishments. The Shaolin arts were his life and after 50 years of training he still looked forward to further levels of understanding and development with the excitement and awe of a youth.

Others thought highly of him and masters would often seek his advice. It wasn't until his funeral services that the public became more aware of his many accomplishments. His students continue to carry on Sifu Par'eos tradition of martial arts like those before him. It has proven to be a good way of life.

Today, masters from North and South America travel to China, Japan, Okinawa and Taiwan, the countries of the "East" to teach and share the arts once developed there.

A Shaolin school exists in Songshan founded by ancient monks, but modern China is controlled by a government who continues to influence the martial arts, according to some for bad, and from others for good.

The I Ching states:
The Town may be changed,
But the well cannot be changed.
The martial arts is like a well with archetypal springs feeding it from deep within the unconscious mind of it's people.

The modern history of the martial arts is still being written...perhaps one day your name will be remembered when a student reflects, "if I could be like my master...."

Those who know the truth
are not so great
as those who love it;
Those who love the truth
are not so great
as those who live it.

A man is born gentle and weak.
At his death he is hard and stiff.
Green plants are tender and filled with sap.
At their death they are withered and dry.
Therefore, the stiff and unbending is the principle of death.
The gentle and yielding is the principle of life.
Thus, an army without flexibility rarely wins a battle.
A tree that is unbendable is easily broken.