The reciprocal conversion involving yin and yang is the kernel thesis of traditional Chinese culture. The thesis is important not only to Confucianism and Taoism but also to Chinese Buddhism. Shaolin gong-fu is regarded as one of the dharma-gates of Buddhism. Although the thesis of yin and yang is involved in the philosophy underpinning Shaolin gong-fu, yet Shaolin gong-fu has its own characteristics which are diverse manifestations of Buddhist doctrines. Apart from Shaolin gong-fu, there are numerous schools of wushu in China. However the highest goal pursued in wushu training by all the other schools of wushu in China is “tactical as well as strategic flexibility”. By the expression “tactical as well as strategic flexibility” is meant that in the course of a martial-art confrontation, every move made by a martial artist taking the offensive or being on the defensive, should be tactically or strategically so flexible as to be completely unpredictable for his opponent. But the highest goal pursued in training by Shaolin gong-fu is different. Gong-fu monks of Shaolin Monastery seek to use Shaolin gong-fu as a means to intensify their self-cultivation effort and to improve their constitution and do not regard the acquisition of tactical and strategic flexibility as the top goal of their gong-fu training. The highest goal pursued in gong-fu training by a monk of Shaolin Monastery is seeking the ultimate enlightenment, the attainment of which would enable him to possess “invulnerable equanimity”. By “invulnerable equanimity” is meant whatever transpires in his surroundings, a Shaolin martial artist remains absolutely unperturbed and unconcerned. And he has the willpower to set his every action completely at the command of his Chan faith which is in turn at the command of rationality. In that case he would be a human being who knows no obstacles, no fears, and no impetuosity even when he is humiliated. “Invulnerable equanimity” is a manifestation of the Chan-based wisdom. In the work entitled A Canon of Pugilism of the Shaolin School, there is a passage which reads: “Training in Shaolin gong-fu, if dissociated from Chan self-cultivation, would entail only a strong constitution. A Shaolin gong-fu training program conceived and devised by the Buddhist Chan Order must focus on inculcating a trainee with the tenets of Chan. Otherwise a trainee would become a soulless creature or brute. Gong-fu and the Chan tenets should never be dichotomized. It has never occurred to other schools of martial arts that wushu training should be associated with a morality. That is why they cannot ascend and have never ascended to the status of a topnotch school of martial arts.”
The definition of the term “wushu” (武术) does not encompass the definition of the term “gong-fu” (功夫). Actually the definition of “wushu” is merely a portion of the definition of “gong-fu”, because “gong-fu” encompasses <1> wushu and <2> moralization of a wushu practitioner’s psyche. Wushu is capable of changing its practitioner’s constitution, while moralization of a wushu practitioner’s psyche concerns itself with his outlook. Although practicing wushu bears on a practitioner’s constitution, physical strength, willpower, and vitality, yet it cannot change his outlook. But in the case of Shaolin gong-fu training, moralizing a gong-fu trainee’s line of conduct means helping him with carrying on his self-cultivation program.
The relation between practicing Shaolin gong-fu and practicing self-cultivation is a dialectical one. In other words, the two—practicing Shaolin gong-fu and practicing self-cultivation—form “a unity of the opposites”. The monkhood of my monastery refers the unity as “gong-fu imbued with Chan”. When the unity is manifested in a practitioner of self-cultivation, he is benefited not only with good health by taking up Shaolin gong-fu training but also with a dharma-gate which is conducive to his execution of self-cultivation. Moreover after a practitioner of self-cultivation has become highly proficient in the Shaolin gong-fu, he can become an abler guard of Shaolin Monastery. It is a popular saying in Shaolin Monastery that “Practicing Shaolin gong-fu can be used as a means to speed up a practitioner’s self-cultivation, whereas Chan can function more perceptibly if its practitioner would at the same time take up Shaolin gong-fu training.” This accounts for the dialectical relation between practicing Shaolin gong-fu and practicing self-cultivation. Neither can leave the other alone. In this way practicing Shaolin gong-fu and practicing self-cultivation reside in a unity. Mobility symbolizes practicing Shaolin gong-fu, whereas immobility symbolizes seated meditation, and the two are dialectically united in a practitioner. Ever since Shaolin Buddhist Monastery was constructed fifteen centuries ago, there has never been even one monk in the monastery who has sidestepped doing seated meditation and applied himself exclusively to practicing Shaolin gong-fu. In the history of Shaolin Monastery did emerge a great number of very famous Shaolin gong-fu masters, but none of them was not an outstanding Chan master. The monastery’s ancient archives are replete with biographies of such celebrated monks. Chan serves to optimize an individual’s psyche, and Shaolin gong-fu serves to optimize an individual’s constitution. Of the two, Chan and Shaolin gong-fu, the former is of primary importance, and the latter is of secondary importance. When the two are incorporated in an optimal unity, the practitioner must be carrying his self-cultivation very successfully.
Traditional Chinese martial arts are part of China’s cultural heritage which is the crystallization of the creativity of our forefathers. Being not a blaze of modern business maneuverings, they are particularly worth revering. Although they can be adopted as sports events, yet they weren’t created for playing the roles of some sports events. Since they were originally created for fulfilling some culture-related functions, it is only rational to leave them to play the role they have been playing for over fifteen centuries.
The ultimate origin of Shaolin gong-fu is the tenets of Buddhism. And Shaolin gong-fu is a manifestation of an aspect of Buddhist culture. When an individual takes the Buddhist vows, his motive for doing so is both seeking to start a new way of life which is different from and superior to his previous worldly life and trying to surpass his former self. Moreover a Buddhist votary may aspire to acquire some superhuman capability or wisdom. To acquire some superhuman capability is in most cases one of the lifetime goals of a Buddhist votary.
To be frank, I have always been opposed to some people’s advocacy of the term of “Shaolin wushu” when referring to “the martial arts of the Shaolin school” which, I think, should be rightly called “Shaolin gong-fu”. The reason I have often referred to the martial arts of the Shaolin school as “wushu imbued with Chan” is exactly for highlighting the significance of the term of “Shaolin gong-fu”. The term “gong-fu” (功夫) is originally an expression coined and used exclusively in the Buddhist Chan Order, and the meaning of the expression is “the specific fruition which a practitioner’s self-cultivation has come by in a given time”. For example, on seeing a practitioner engage himself in doing a stint of seated meditation or in attending a “koan” session, a Buddhist of the Chan Order tends to say that the practitioner is applying himself to “mastering gong-fu”. The aim of a practitioner who strives to master gong-fu is twofold. On the one hand he wants to master the martial arts. On the other, mastery of the martial arts is one of the prerequisites for his ultimate enlightenment which can turn him into a sagacious human being whose psyche is completely different from a lay person. Shaolin Monastery is the place of origination of the Buddhist Chan Order. It is obligatory for its monkhood to practice Shaolin gong-fu, because practicing Shaolin going-fu is a component part of his self-cultivation program. In this sense his Shaolin gong-fu practice should be duly referred to as “wushu imbued with Chan” or as “a unity of wushu and Chan”. Of course all those who practice Shaolin gong-fu are not applying themselves to carrying on a self-cultivation program or to “mastering gong-fu”. And there maybe even such a case as a Buddhist monk living in Shaolin Monastery, who, though regularly practicing Shaolin gong-fu, is not necessarily addressing himself to carrying on his self-cultivation program. The crux of the matter lies in whether he really intends to attain enlightenment. No abbot is in a position to compel all practitioners of Shaolin gong-fu to simultaneously practice a self-cultivation program. Nor can an abbot give the order to the monks living in his monastery that the attitude taken by each of them to practicing Shaolin gong-fu must be completely the same as that taken by him to practicing self-cultivation. However one point I would like to make clear here is this: The attitude taken by an individual to practicing Shaolin gong-fu can dramatically inform the result of his gong-fu training. In the final analysis, the attitude an individual takes to his Shaolin gong-fu training is closely associated with his own morality. A gong-fu master must be a virtuous man or woman. Else he or she might take advantage of his or her gong-fu and physical strength to bully the weak.（From My Heart My Buddha）
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