Northern Shaolin styles

[Kung Lek]

Hi-

There are five main "families" of Northern Shaolin Kung Fu.

Cha and Hong are the most prevalent today.
(Hong being Sil Lum).

Bak Sil Lum or North Shaolin of Kuo Yuo Cheong is said to be most intact with its system maintained in entirety. it contains two preliminary sets and 10 core sets.
The system takes about 5 to 10 years to learn dependent upon the students adeptness and about another 5 or 10 years to gain mastery of.

Bak Sil Lum is the system I am most familiar with as it is the Northern system my Si fu is giving me.
It is quite difficult to perform even the 2 beginner core sets (Tun Ta and Moi Fa) but there is a lot of info that is good in the prelim sets which are Lien Bo Chuan and Tan Tui (10 row).
Lien Bo and Tan Tui introduce the practitioner/student to some of the concepts held further into the system.

The sets are performed fast and fluidly and contain many difficult moves. Tun Ta is the beginner core set and you are introduced to the Tornado kick in it (right off the hop!) this kick is an aerial 360 degree inside crescent kick.
It also contains front inside broom sweep followed by back broom sweep.

So, it is a fairly demanding system of Kung Fu when measured against other systems.

Many of the techniques in Bak Sil Lum are "disregarded" by other ma practitioners because of the level of difficulty but over time North Shaolin is really quite combat effective.

When one learns it along with a "shorthand" system, you can acquire quite the arsenal of fighting techniques.

There are of course other northern systems but I cannot speak to them as I do not practice them.

peace

Kung Lek

[N5Animals]

Hi-

There are five main "families" of Northern Shaolin Kung Fu.

Cha and Hong are the most prevalent today.
(Hong being Sil Lum).

Bak Sil Lum or North Shaolin of Kuo Yuo Cheong is said to be most intact with its system maintained in entirety. it contains two preliminary sets and 10 core sets.
The system takes about 5 to 10 years to learn dependent upon the students adeptness and about another 5 or 10 years to gain mastery of.

Bak Sil Lum is the system I am most familiar with as it is the Northern system my Si fu is giving me.
It is quite difficult to perform even the 2 beginner core sets (Tun Ta and Moi Fa) but there is a lot of info that is good in the prelim sets which are Lien Bo Chuan and Tan Tui (10 row).
Lien Bo and Tan Tui introduce the practitioner/student to some of the concepts held further into the system.
Kung Lek

It is acutally the Cha style. Of course Cha Quen is considered a Northern Shaolin but it had been developed for hundred years and it is generally considered a seperated style or even a shool. It is also called Muslim Style as it was mostly practiced within Chinese Muslim Cummunities.