Shaolin Kung Fu Combat Styles: 1. small Buddha’s 18 hands (罗汉十八手: luohan shiba shou)

instructor: monk De Yang __________________ - combat strategy: in Shaolin kung fu, ’Zen and martial art unite (禅拳合一)’. it advises to avoid engagement in violence as far as possible. in a confrontation, ’peace is better than victory, retreat rather than engage, avoid rather than oppose, parry rather than block, block rather than hurt, hurt rather than wound, wound rather than kill, because life is respectful, and a life lost is lost forever.’ However, in a confrontation, there may be no choice other than violence. Chinese Kung Fu has “36 famous tactics“ of fighting. in a fight, techniques are governed by the tactics and tactics by the strategies. a strategy is a collection of tactics that are chained together. in Shaolin kung fu, fighting strategies are taught by the 10 famous combat styles. each style is comprised of a pair of or just one solo form, 18 forms total. these shape a perfect collection of various manifestations of the fighting t