the whole ethics behind this forum
I appreciate your situation, Shifu Xing Wu, and we've discussed it some privately. An online forum is an organic creature. Everyone and anyone with web access can contribute. We don't ask for ID, credentials or anything. This is not only because that is the general nature of a web forum, but also because we hope to cater to beginners too. Unfortunately, given that this is a martial forum, much of the daily banter has descended to locker room talk. Personally, I'm a little disappointed in that, but when something grows, there's always a pubescent stage. Also, despite our international access, our primary readership is American, and being from Oz I'm sure you'll agree that America is a country stuck in pubescence. ;)
That being said, a forum is a bit like a masquerade. Some of us, like Sal and me, go nekkid into it. We use the same names that are on our birth certificates. Some use their martial titles like you are, and others use whatever made up name they like. That's part of the sport of it, frankly, and should be taken with a huge grain of salt and a large dollop of humor. People besmirch my name here all the time, just like my teammates used to talk smack in the locker room.
Maybe LFJ is a senior Shaolin disciple. Maybe he's a Shaolin wuseng. Maybe he's a punk 11-year-old kid. The only legal identification I am obligated and able to divulge (and this would be in response to legal action) is his IP. Then it would be up to legal to chase down that IP. So it's totally up to LFJ if he wants to 'fess up to his true identity to you.
I'm sorry that your introduction to our forum here has been so volatile. We do have some very good Shaolin discussions here and given your involvement with Shaolin, would enjoy your participation. In movies, the Manchus need to kill your whole family before you take refuge at Shaolin. Here in the 21st century, it just takes someone talking smack to lure you into the first chamber of our forums. I hope we get over this dispute and continue this discussion of Xin Yi.
Sal has extended an olive branch, which is an honorable gesture at this point. As for LFJ, that's between you two gentlemen now.
Shaolin has always recognized the folk masters
It's more that the general public just wanted to see monks. But if you actually go to Shaolin, it's clear that the folk masters have substantial power and say about the direction of Songshan Shaolin nowaday. It's nice to see this official nod from the Abbot in terms of a publication. However, the Abbot has given many official nods in other media. Taguo, which is as folk master as you can get given that Liu Baoshan is a card-holding communist (so not Buddhist by any measure), set a grand stele within the innermost courtyard of the temple. That's a major nod.
My Nov Dec 2008 cover story was on a folk master - see Shaolin Masters Keeping the Faith by Gigi Oh and me. This is a prime example of why the monks take precedence. With Shaolin, we do our annual Shaolin specials, and it's a major sell point for a robed monk to be on our cover on the newsstands. So Chen Tongshan couldn't be on the cover of our Shaolin special. He wouldn't shave and robe up which is understandable; it would have been totally inappropriate if he did. So to put him on our Shaolin special cover would have been like stabbing ourselves in the foot.
But more to the point, in our 2003 Shaolin special, I penned (or rather keyboarded) an article titled So You Want to Train at Shaolin? Your Guide to Dengfeng and New Shaolin Village. In it, I listed the Tep ten Masters of Shaolin (only one had a monk title - Shi Deqian), as well as the 18 Diamonds of Shaolin and the 18 Lohan of Shaolin, both of which were mostly folk masters. These 3 lists were from official Dengfeng standings.
The folk masters of Shaolin are the hidden treasures of Dengfeng....hidden right out in the open if you're not blinded by bald heads and orange robes. ;)
Probably, but I don't know where...
It's basically the old 'raise your hands, palm up and inhale; lower your hands, palm down, exhale'. But it's not a formal salute. He's really just using it as an exercise. A lot of my younger shidi don't really get the breath coordination thing at all yet. They're young. They can do it all in one breath, totally unlike me now. I'll pant like a overheated dog if I don't reset my qi with that movement. But I still use the namaste bow because that's just my style. ;)
That's my implied point in all this. We can study the minutiae of the forms, but ultimately, there's variation within each lineage, so it's really muddled research. Of course, now we have youtube and can make some comparisons. But those youtube vids are just snapshots. I've someone was to take a snapshot of Yan Fei's class, they might get the wrong impression. He might be doing something different than his master taught him in an effort to transmit a lesson. I do something different than what Yan Fei teaches me because I've had different input. Decheng does something different than this Suyun bow, possibly because he was connected to the Wushuguan for so many years and they probably standardized all of that for unity of their performances. It's tricky research, and in the end, might have no real meaning whatsoever.
Don't get me wrong. I don't say that to discourage you in this research. In fact, I really enjoy reading it here. But in a typical Buddhist fashion, I wouldn't get to attached to it.