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More fuel
Just came back from some of the parts that you guys are talking about. (Cheng Zhou Province...Where one of the Shaolin Temples is located....two others were burned down.), Beijing, and Tokyo...went on a trek to see other styles in their supposed origins.
Just a little something, when the emperor felt that the Shaolin monks was a threat to him, he sent his troops to the temple to destroy the temple, kill the monks, etc., etc.. You know, standard Chinese way of denying ties to the origins.
The Shaolin kept extensive records of their attendees...written records (scrolls), but because the army burned all records, the country folk would learn the stories of the "heroes of Shaolin" and pass on the stories word of mouth.
Just as the stories were changed to fit the "storyteller" so were many of the martial art styles.
For example....many of you have been in the martial arts for at least 20 years...how many of you have visited the old school or followed up on fellow students who are now teaching...perhaps at their own school now.
Please bear with me now....There was a Kenpo school that I studied at which had 6 black belts in the dojo. Two were short and a little on the heavy side (5'3" tall, about 165 lbs.)the other four were between 5 ft.6 in. and 5 ft. 11 kinches. You can bet your bottom dollar that each school looked different in what was emphasized as to what techniques suited their likes , dislikes, and their physical attributes. Some techniques were even discarded and new ones"invented by the practitioner. or "borrowed"......and that's the long and short of many of the martial art styles that you guys are talking about.
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