Yung's Shaolin-Do Martial Arts Page

Grandmaster Ie Chang Ming introduced the modern belt ranking system into the discipline and thus, the students' training is split up into "learner" five levels before reaching the black belt - white, yellow, blue, green, and three degrees of brown. Each rank consists of new material as well as material learnt in the previous rank. Shaolin students are divided into 4 categories - student, disciple, master and grandmaster. Ranks white through brown are considered students of the art while black belts are divided into disciples, masters and grandmasters.

There are ten degrees of black belt but since the 10th degree black belt can only held by the highest Grandmaster, there really are only nine degrees. Black belt holders from the 1st to the 4th degrees are considered beginners still. When they reach the 5th degree, they are awarded the title of Associate Master. 6th through 8th degree holders are considered full Masters while 9th degree black belts are recognized as a Grandmaster, although not the highest. In the days of yore, there were often several grandmasters in the Shaolin temple but only one as the highest ranking Grandmaster - the one person entrusted and charged with ensuring the continuation of the Shaolin art in its purest form. Today, that person is Grandmaster Sin Kwang Thé (pictured right.)

The Shaolin Do students of today learn open hand combat, several weapon styles, sparring and, of course, the famous animal forms. By the time a student reaches black belt level, he/she would have learnt 21 long forms which includes 6 weapons and 7 open hand combat techniques.

In brief, those forms are:

Si Men Tao Lian (four directions attack)
Fei Hu Ch'u Tong (flying tiger comes out of cave)
Tai Peng Sin Kun (giant mythical bird spreads its wings)
Ch'u Chi Kuan Su (first level staff form)
Bei Huang Ch'i Gai Pang (stick of the northern beggar)
Luo Han Chuan (fist of Lou Han, which is also used in Praying Mantis fist)
White Crane system (3 forms)
Shaolin Bird system (3 forms)
Tie Cha Ch'uan (sais)
Se Pa Kuan (four-eight staff)
Tiger system forms (3 types)
Hai Lung Chang (sea dragon cane)
Kwang Kung Tao (General Kwan's sword-halberd)

Some of the weapons used in the Shaolin system include (but are not limited to):

staff (kuan)
nunchakus
sais
broadsword
cane
spear
halberd (kuan dao)
sectional staff
short stick (escrima)

A lot more weapons and forms are taught in the advanced levels of black belt. 1st degree black belt alone has 17 new forms to learn! In addition to the regular curriculum, Grandmaster Sin often offers special seminars on advanced forms. Any rank can sign up for these seminars. At times, some of these seminars are offered in conjunction with a scheduled tournament.

On February 24th, there will be a Year of Snake tournament in Austin, sponsored by the Shaolin-Do of North Austin. (For more information on this tournament, please visit the Shaolin-Do of North Austin site.) Several of us from the Lubbock Shaolin Do school will be attending and competing in the tournament. There will also be another tournament in March sponsored by the Shaolin-Do Association. Held in Lexington, KY, this is Grandmaster Sin's semi-annual Spring Tournament.

Check back here at a later date for pictures from the tournament. In the meantime, check out these pictures from a recent demonstration held by Sifu Andy Van Arum and some of his students, showcasing some of the Shaolin forms.

Click here to view the pictures.