Secrets of Northern Shaolin Kung-fu. Brian Klingborg

      

      NORTHERN

       SHAOLIN

       KUNG-FU

      The History, Form, and Function of

       PEK SIL LUM

      NORTHERN

       SHAOLIN

       KUNG-FU

      The History, Form, and Function of

       PEK SIL LUM

      Lai Hung and

       Brian Klingborg

      Tuttle Publishing

       Boston • Rutland, Vermont • Tokyo

      Disclaimer

      Please note that the author and publisher of this book are NOT RESPONSIBLE in any manner whatsoever for any injury that may result from practicing the techniques and/or following the instructions given within. Since the physical activities described herein may be too strenuous in nature for some readers to engage in safely, it is essential that a physician be consulted prior to training.

      First published in 1999 by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd., with editorial offices at 364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, VT 05759 U.S.A.

       Copyright © 1999 by Brian Klingborg

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from Tuttle Publishing.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Klingborg, Brian, 1967

       The Secrets of Northern Shaolin Kung-Fu: the history, form, and function

       of Pek Sil Lum / Brian Klingborg and Lai Hung

       p. cm.

       ISBN 0-8048-3164-5 (pbk.)

       ISBN 978-1-4629-1697-9 (ebook)

       1. Kung fu. I. Lai, Hung. II. Title

       GV1114.7.K54 1998

       796.815’9-dc21 98-48403

       CIP

      Distributed by

      USA

       Tuttle Publishing

       RR 1 Box 231-5

       North Clarendon, VT 05759

       [phone]

       (800) FAX-TUTL

       Email:[email protected] Web site:www.tuttlepublishing.com

      Southeast Asia

       Berkeley Books Pte. Ltd.

       61 Tai Seng Avenue, #02-12

       Singapore 534167

       Tel: [phone]

       Fax: [phone]

       Email: [email protected] Web site: www.periplus.com

      Japan

       Tuttle Publishing Japan

       Yaekari Building 3rd Floor, 5-4-12

       Osaki Shinagawa-ku,

       Tokyo 141-0032

       Tel [phone]

       Fax [phone]

      Canada

       Raincoast Books

       8680 Cambie Street

       Vancouver, Canada V6P 6M9

       [phone]

       [phone]

      First edition

       05 04 03 02 01 00 99 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

      Printed in the United States of America

       Book Design by Peter Holm, Sterling Hill Productions

      Acknowledgments

      Sincere thanks are owed to all those who contributed their time, expertise, and enthusiasm to this book, especially: Sifu Mark Poppendiek of the UC Davis LHCMAI and Sifu Gary Tang of the Richmond LHCMAI—both of whom offered valuable advice on the text, helped with the tortuously complicated photography process, and shared insight and knowledge gained from more than twenty years with Lai Hung; Harriet Lai, for her invaluable help with translation; Michael Henry, for contributing to the photography; Mark V. Wiley, for seeing potential in the initial manuscript and for guiding me along the way; and above all, my wife, Lanchi, for her encouragement, patience, and support, and also for letting me hog the computer!

      In my collaboration with Lai Hung, I provided the written words and he provided the martial expertise. Although I have done my utmost to present Lai Hung’s considerable knowledge as accurately as possible, any defects or errors contained within the following pages are due solely to my incomplete grasp of his teachings rather than to any imperfections in Lai Hung’s mastery of the Pek Sil Lum art.

      A Note on the Text

      A variety of dialects are spoken in China, two of the most widespread being Mandarin and Cantonese. Since the majority of Chinese martial arts instructors currently teaching in the United States and Europe have their ancestral roots in the province of Kwangtung, they are primarily Cantonese speakers, and as such, Cantonese tends to be the dialect used when referring to martial arts techniques in the Chinese language. Most of the terms in this book, however, are presented in Mandarin, because that is the dialect with which I am most familiar. There are several types of pronunciation guides available for rendering Mandarin into phonetic symbols, but I have chosen to use the Wade-Giles system of Romanization. Notable exceptions to this rule are the name of Lai Hung and the term Pek Sil Lum, both of which are presented in their Cantonese form.

      Contents

	Introduction
Part One: History and Overview
1.	What Is Kung-fu?
2.	A Brief History of the Chinese Martial Arts
3.	The Origin of Pek Sil Lum
4.	Sifu Lai Hung
Part Two: Theory
5.	On Ch’i and Ch’i Kung
6.	Chinese Medicine and Martial Arts
7.	The Chinese Martial Arts Code of Ethics
Part Three: Pek Sil Lum Basics
8.	The Pek Sil Lum Bow
9.	Stances
10.	Footwork