Shaolin Temple in Henan Province

9. Kungfu Exercises at Shaolin Monastery

In ancient times progressing from a novice to a master Shaolin Warrior Monk took many years of hard work and study. The young were required to attend a series of two hour training sessions each and every day and after that they would carry out their assigned chores in the temple. Junior monks would attend three sessions and senior students, a fourth class at midnight. So it took huge amounts of hard work and discipline to become a Shaolin monk. If a monk wished to leave the temple as a Shaolin master he was required to pass a test. Only after he was successful would he truly become a Shaolin monk. The monks had to defend themselves at a series of five gates guarded by their teachers. The master monks would choose methods of defense from five different fighting styles based on animal behavior namely the tiger, leopard, snake, crane and dragon. Today the animal techniques number 170!