Théorie et Historique - Shí bā luóhàn shǒu yī lù 少林罗汉十八手
Foreword
Here is one of my hardworking translations I have done from the Shaolin Encyclopedia from Shi De Qian. I tried to be as precise as possible by the choice of my words and also by keeping the name and concept unchanged. If you ever have any questions of my translations, feel free to ask, I will give priority to your questions since the encyclopedia is about 4 volumes, 4000 pages.
Introduction
Luohan (Arhat) Eighteen Hands is one of the earlier elementary styles of Shaolin kung fu, and according to the “Shaolin Kung fu Manual Records”: as far as the Sui Dynasty, Shaolin Martial Monks created a series of fitness routines that involves relatively little activity and simple movements, for monks who have less physical activity due to the long periods of time they spending sitting in meditation.
In the beginning, it was based on the movements of the bronze Luohan statues, contains 18 movements, and is called the Eighteen Luohan Hands. It gradually evolved into a logical and rational martial arts set, and also became known as Luohan Eighteen Hands.
In the Tang Dynasty, it evolved into 36 hands, and by the end of Song and the beginning of Yuan, it had evolved into 173 hands by martial monks such as Jing Yuanjue and Qiu Yue (Autumn Moon). In the Ming Dynasty, the Hands were organized and consolidated via the content of each move and its evolution history, into 18 moves, consisting of a total of 324 hands. Beginning and ending movements were added to each move, making the Luohan Eighteen Hands into a set of Quan moves.
Not only is it stylistically unique and visually authentic, it also contains tight rhythm and clear awareness of both defense and offense, and has become officially listed as the standardized set taught by monasteries.
The First Set of Luohan Eighteen Hands
The First Set of Luohan Eighteen Hands contains a total of 18 moves, beginning with “Father and Son Fist Salutation” and ending with “Tiger Against Mountain”, rigorous offense and defense stretches throughout the entire set, and mainly focuses on kungfu of the hands, using snatching, flitting (liao), bringing in, pulling, smashing, blocking, inserting, etc, using both hands to attack the opponents’ vital spots. Main defensive strategies include backing away, turning, flashing, shrinking, and other moves to avoid the opponent’s attacks, and also cleverly and logically using attacking up and defending down, attaching left and defending right, using both real and face moves or both attacking and defending, or one attack and one defense, etc, in order to fulfill the goals of attacking without leaving weak spots, defending while searching for opportunities to attack, not losing when going against the strong, winning for sure when going against the weak, exercising if there is no fight, and winning if there is a fight. At the same time, attention must be paid to legwork, elbow work, body work, step work, and especially eye work, in order to coordinate and ensure that each move is:
“the eye is wherever the hand is, the eye follows the move, the eye follows the spirit of the movement, the eye decides before the move is made, the eye strategizes after the move is made… this is the key to the First Set of Luohan Eighteen Hands”.
Mnemonic
Shaolin Kungfu has been passed through the ages,
and the Luohan Eighteen Hand is especially unique,
Father and son fist salute and circle the moon,
White tiger washes its face and water flows upward,
Shallot is pulled from the mud and bones are pulled,
The wall is pushed down and the losing dog chased,
The flowering palm falls and cuts down the tree,
The fist splits against the face and blood flows,
Two hands wave and smash a thousand-jin (unit of weight measurement) hammer,
Smashing elbows show force that worries the sky emperor,
One hand can break a gold brick into pieces,
Fairy plucking the eggplant is an unique hand,
Backing up a step to chop the wood into two,
The sharpness of the elbow can make a thief lose his resolve,
Turn and use the force of the elbows again,
As if a live dragon has flown into the clouds,
Lift flowering hands and take three tight steps,
Songs of victory like fairies going back to their caves,
Show Shaolin hands against the mountain,
Shaolin heroes will live through the ages.
Sequence of Moves
1. Father and Son Fist Salutation（⽗⼦恭⼿ Fu4 Zi3 Gong1 Shou3）
2. Hugging the Moon (backwards palm)（懷中抱⽉ Huai2 Zhong1 Bao4 Yue4）
3. White Tiger Washes Its Face（⽩⻁洗臉 Bai2 Hu3 Xi2 Lian3）
4. Plucking the Shallots from the Mud（泥裏撥蔥 Ni2 Li3 Bo1 Cong1）
5. Forward Step to Push Down the Wall（上步推到牆 Shang4 Bu4 Tui1 Dao3 Qiang2）
6. Forward Step to Rob the Hand（上步掠⼿ Shang4 Bu4 Lue4 Shou3）
7. Clasping palm（扳掌 Ban1 Zhang3）
8. Right Smash Elbow（右崩肘 You4 Beng1 Zhou3）
9. Left Smash Elbow（左崩肘 Zou3 Beng1 Zhou3）
10. Lifting Hand Chopping Palm（揭⼿砍掌 Jie1 Shou3 Kan3 Zhang3）
11. Fairy Picking Eggplant（仙⼈摘茄 Xian1 Ren2 Zhai1 Qie2）
12. Fierce Tiger Turns Around（猛⻁轉身 Meng3 Hu3 Zhuan3 Shen1）
13. Heart-breaking Elbow（破⼼肘 Po4 Xin1 Zhou3）
14. Body Turn Smash Elbow（轉身崩肘 Zhuan3 Shen1 Beng1 Zhou3）
15. Body Turn Golden Shear（轉身⾦交剪 Zhuan3 Shen1 Jin1 Jiao1 Jian3）
16. Little Monkey Steals the Melon（⼩猴搶⽠ Xiao3 Hou2 Qiang3 Gua1）
17. Fairy Returns to Cave（仙⼈歸洞 Xian1 Ren2 Gui1 Dong4）
18. Tiger Against the Mountain（⽼⻁靠⼭ Lao2 Hu3 Kao4 Shan1）
Diagram of Movements
1. Preparation Feet point outward, touching at the back, arms hand with fingers together; torso is rigid and straight; eyes ahead (diagram 1).
2. Father and Son Fist Salutation Left foot step forward by a half step, right food follows and feet are together; bring hands from sides to the front and cross across chest (flower arranging hands), with elbows bent, right hand on top, both palms facing out, thumbs pointing up; eyes on hands (diagram 2).
3. Hugging the Moon (backwards palm) Do not move feet; hands go to the two sides at the same time, with elbows bent, bring hands back to front of chest, cross across chest, with left hand on top and right hand on bottom; eyes on hands (diagram 3).
4. White Tiger Washes Its Face Do not move feet; left and right hands circle and rub palms, right hand goes forward and up, pushing hands with elbow bent, fingers pointing upward, and palm pointing outwards; eyes on right hand (diagram 4).
5. Plucking the Shallots from the Mud Do not move right foot, upper body turns left by 45 degrees; left foot follows, lifting and leaving the ground, tip of foot touching the ground, forming a fake step; left hand chopping from up to down, right hand goes towards right, then towards the left, with elbow bent, protecting the chest, palm facing inward; following the momentum, both legs squat lightly; eyes on left hand (diagram 5)
6. Forward Step to Push Down the Wall Left heel touches ground, upper body body turns left by 45 degrees, right foot moves forward by a step, left leg pushes straight, into a right lunge; both palms steals forward from up to down, with elbows bent, palms facing forward and fingers facing up; eyes on hands (diagram 6).
7. Forward Step to Rob the Hand Right food does not move, left foot moves forward a step, falling outside of the right foot, forming a false step; at the same time, turn upper body to the right by 90 degrees; left palm comes back to front of chest, chopping left from up to down, right hand stealing from right to left, with elbow bent, palm facing in, protecting chest; eyes on left hand (diagram 7).
8. Clasping Palm Left heel falls on ground, right foot does not move, left foot stepping horizontally to the left, to form the horse stance; left hand moves from down to up and left, clasping hand move, with elbow bent, palm facing in, fingers facing up, right hand protecting chest; eyes on left hand (diagram 8).
9. Right Smash Elbow Both feet grinding the ground, body turns left by 90 degrees, so that two legs form the right bow stance; right hand chops forward and outwards, then bend elbow and push forward, swing from right to left; eyes towards right and front (diagram 9).
10. Left Smash Elbow Both feet grinding the ground, upper body turns right by 180 degrees, left foot steps forward one step, bends at knee, two legs forming left bow stance; left hand leads towards right and front, bringing elbow to smash up and push forward, right hand protects chest; eyes towards the front (diagram 10).
11. Lifting Hand Chopping Palm Right foot does not move, bring in left foot to stop beside the inside of the right foot, forming a false step; following the momentum, upper body turns right, legs bend at knee to squat; right hand chops from up to left and bottom, right hand protects chest; eyes on the left (diagram 11).
12. Fairy Picking Eggplant Right foot forward by one step, right left picks up knee, upper body turns right by 45 degrees; left hand flits towards left, right hand fiercely robs forward, palm facing up and fingers facing forward; eyes on right hand (diagram 12).
13. Fierce Tiger Turns Around Right foot takes a step forward, both feet grinds into ground, body turns left by 180 degrees to form left bow stance; at the same time, hands grab forward, then bring them back to front of chest, elbows bent; eyes towards the front (diagram 13).
14. Heart-breaking Elbow Both feet grinding the ground, body turns right by 180 degrees, right foot takes a step forward, forming the right bow stance; right elbow moves froward and to the right, palm downwards, right fist smashes towards right arm, then following momentum, again towards right, at the end of the elbow; eyes towards the front (diagram 14).
15. Body Turn Smash Elbow Left foot steps forward one step, both feet grinding the ground, body turns right by 90 degrees to from the horse stance; both hands follows momentum to set up elbows, both smashing outwards to the side; eyes towards the left (diagram 15).
16. Body Turn Golden Shear Both feet grinding the ground, body turns right by 90 degrees, left foot steps forward by one step, right left bends at knee to form left bow stance; at the same time, bring hands back to cross in front of chest, elbows bent, left hand outside and right hand inside, palms both facing out; eyes on hands (diagram 16).
17. Little Monkey Steals the Melon Right foot steps forward by one step, both feet grinding the ground, body turns left by 90 degrees, legs forming the horse stance, upper body following momentum to turn left by 45 degrees, palms grabbing from right to left, elbows are bent and hugged inward, palms towards inside; eyes towards the right side (diagram 17).
18. Fairy Returns to Cave Bring in left and right feet to align them together; palms flits from inn to out, then back to front of chest to cross, fingers upwards, palms outwards; eyes towards front (diagram 18).
19. Tiger Against the Mountain Right foot takes horizontal step towards left, so that legs form left bow stance; hands push out simultaneously from down to up, then form fists to attack towards the front, right arm bends at elbow to protect chest, left arm bends at elbow to protect waist; eyes towards the right side (diagram 19).
20. Conclusion Take back both feet so that they are aligned; arms hang naturally, with fingers together, circle across chest then hang down, placing them on either side of thighs, palms facing inward, torso straight; eyes towards the front (same as diagram 1)
Conclusion
Again, I do not say that everything here is the truth nor it could be partially true. Since forever the native creator of kung fu tends to keep information secret and especially from foreigner. I find this work interesting since, true or not, it still explains the thinking and process of creating a form and also how was the culture and mentality past the days. My goal is to make reachable information for all who are motivated by training hard and surpass his limit. For all who wants to learn martial arts and understand it.
On theses last words, stay strong, constant with your learning and keep most as possible a student mind.