There are many styles of Shaolin Kung Fu. How am I to understand what is genuine and what is not?

Shaolin is like a great tree with roots that grow wide and deep. The earth and sky feed and nourish the tree that gives shade to sentient beings. The tree brings forth fruit that in their turn become either food or the offspring of other trees.

It is from both heaven and earth that Shaolin draws its own nourishment. As it is then the tree itself comes from other than itself, being that it is dependent upon heaven and earth for its very existence.

The branches of the tree are like the many schools of Shaolin Kungfu. They add beauty, variety, and also draw nourishment from Heaven and Earth. These gifts and the nourishment that comes from them, are not dependent upon the tree as much from the air, light, heat, water, earth, and spirit; all of this within the framework of the seasons in space and time. Without these there is no tree, no root, and no branches.

The tree cannot exist without the root, but neither can it be called a tree without its branches and leaves and stature. Everything works in consort as part of a complete whole: root, tree, and branches.

Some seed will fall nearer the tree and if it is too close, there will be no independent life and the seed cannot take root and live separately. Other seed will be carried away by wind or by means of sentient beings that take from the tree some of its original nature and carry it to a place far enough to have its own existence apart from the original tree.

Seeds that take root in another place will grow into a similar tree. As with all sentient life and organic things even of the same family, they will have their own unique face. Although the face itself is similar it is also different in the same way human faces are similar and also different. Even so it is the same tree, whether Oak, Maple, Redwood, Mahogany, or any other kind of shrub, tree, plant, or animal.

A new tree has its own life. The old tree already has in its possession the full measure of the life that belongs to it. In order for there to be new life, new branches will have to be grafted onto the old tree and the old tree will have to accept the graft. If the graft is not accepted then the life of the tree is as it is and no new life can be added. The new tree however, has not yet possessed the full measure of its life, which is yet to come.

In the case of Shaolin it must be understood that Shaolin apart from the name is nothing more than an idea. The name "little forest" was not a name originally conceived to give birth to the idea of martial arts. It was about a place where Buddhism was practiced, and martial art was an idea that came later. The "Shaolin" idea has changed and continues to change in the same way the seasons change and nothing can stop this change, neither should one want to stop it. To stop the change is to stop the very breath that keeps Shaolin alive.

If we compare this idea to a human, it is like a corpse. If there is no breath the body dies and then comes the process of decomposition. However, even this decomposition is nothing more than the changing from one state to another. Nothing is ever lost in this world.

If a person eats a bowl of rice, the rice ceases to be rice and becomes the person who is eating it. In the same way Shaolin changes its face and its nature on account of consumption and change. In the years I have had eyes to see, I have never seen a person perform even a single technique precisely the same two times. Every similar movement although belonging to the family of a certain idea, method, or technique is always modified by use in the same way we change that which we eat by the very act of eating and digestion. One should not sigh because of this for that is the nature of things.

Today the Shaolin Temple in China is thriving again because of the support of many who wish to promote Shaolin as an enterprise. The Shaolin Monastery Complex is a well-known and respected campus of contemporary and traditional martial arts. Its original identity as a Buddhist Monastery is not emphasized to the general public. But this is also an aspect of the Temple style. Many of the schools in the complex definitely show little regard for the spiritual or religious aspect of the martial arts. To them it is more the idea of Wushu and Chinese Nationalism. Wushu and China!

The idea of Shaolin is what you are in fact pursuing. The offspring of Shaolin are multitudinous and show many variations; depending on what region or time period we investigate. Even from teacher to teacher there are differences.

A Shaolin style is nothing more than a tool. Tools are for doing work and making things. In the case of Shaolin, the idea is to make an authentic true human being. If it does not do this, then it does not matter what, where, or how you train. In such a case as that, even the Shaolin Wushu would fail to accomplish what it was originally intended to accomplish and would no longer mean very much.

To say that one style is authentic Shaolin and another is not can be misleading and create a great miss. There are things that are true and things that are true only if we believe them. But what is the truth can sometimes be difficult to comprehend. To paraphrase Laotzu, 'That which gives birth to the life of the Universe is not itself born, what is born from it is that which is born. In the same way, what gives birth to change is changeless and does not change itself, what it changes is what changes.'

The Shaolin Style has many trees and branches and any branch can be grafted on another branch to create something entirely unique, as all branches are unique in the same way all people are unique. This is the strength of the Shaolin idea. It is truly a wondrous heritage that is as broad and as deep as the ocean.