Читать книгу Taekwondo Black Belt Poomsae. Original Koryo and Koryo онлайн

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Grandmaster Chun (left) and Master Cook at Bulguksa Temple in Korea. Courtesy of Patty Cook.

Moreover, beyond the borders of Korea, within the vastness of China, lies the Shaolin Temple, widely regarded as the fountainhead of the Asian martial arts. There, in the early sixth century, formal exercises used as a vehicle for cultivating physical discipline and defensive tactics begin to materialize when we examine the life of the Zen Buddhist patriarch Bodhidharma, third son of the Brahman Indian king, Sagandha. Early references are made to Bodhidharma’s association during his youth with a warrior caste known as the Kshatriya. Through this alliance, he became schooled in the empty hand fighting art of vajramushti. It is conjectured that Bodhidharma traveled to Hunan Province in Northern China, eventually finding his way to the fabled Shaolin Temple. Upon his arrival, he discovered that the clerics inhabiting the monastery were incapable of sitting in meditation for extended periods in part due to the extremes of their environment coupled with a weakened state of mind and body. As a result, Bodhidharma initiated a series of formal exercises that came to be known as Shih Pa Lo Han Sho, or the Eighteen Hands of Lo Han. These movements were imparted with the hope of strengthening the residents’ ability to concentrate while preserving the spiritual harmony required in monastic life. Given Bodhidharma’s adherence to Buddhist doctrine, the Shih Pa Lo Han Sho routines were, in all likelihood, initially intended as a non-violent form of discipline, but may well be credited with spawning many of the taolu, kata, and poomsae prevalent today. Furthermore, since their religious ideology forbade the use of weapons, teaching the Shaolin monks how to defend themselves from wild animals and marauding bandits during their travels, both valid concerns of the day, through the use of empty hand techniques, came as a secondary benefit. It is also claimed that Bodhidharma was responsible for teaching the clerics methods to cultivate ki, the vital life force, in the form of Da Mo’s Wei Dan (Bodhidharma’s Internal Elixir).⁵ Aimed at concentrating this internal energy within specific parts of the human anatomy for martial purposes while at the same time insuring against ki blockages that can result in illness, these exercises are said to be the precursor of the routines found in modern day qigong.