An interesting delineation of Sek Koh Sam’s Shaolin is the following: ‘Lohan body & Monkey fist’. 羅漢體猴拳 Lohan Tee Kao Kun. The meaning of this is hard to explain, especially the ‘Lohan body’ section. Essentially it means a form of Kung Fu with a body which radiates a certain kind of power, self-confidence of an Arhat and empyrean. It symbolizes the iron skills such as iron body and a powerful and strong body. Monkey style is associated with agility, nimbleness, rolling & sweeping and crouching. These are the characteristics of Sek Koh Sam’s Shaolin.

Keeping the above discription in mind we can summarize and identify the style as following:

南少林    佛家派   高參門
羅漢體猴拳
Southern Shaolin – Buddist sect, Gaoshen Style
Arhat body, Monkey fist

Or just “ Sao Lim” as it is called in Penang. More on the name of the style here.

A brief description by Sifu Ong Ming-Thong (王膺通): “A person in this school starts with basic exercises (基本功), which consist of stretching (柔体), stances (马步), strengthening exercises (强化训练), toughening exercises (硬功), striking methods (打法), kicks (踢法), movements / stepping (趋动法), forms or sets (套路) and methods of showing respect (礼貌). These exercises are not restricted to beginners only. They are a must for beginners and in fact, continue doing them throughout their life time or as long as they practice the art. The training will then proceed to Qigong & Neigong practice (气功、内功), applications (应用法), and self-cultivation (个人修炼).”

Shaolin Martial Arts And Methods, by Chief Instructor Dato’ PNG Chye Khim DSPN, DJN, AMN, AMP PJK, PJM.

The origin of Shaolin martial art can be traced back to about 500 AC during the period of Bei Wel. The art is said to be founded by Boddidharma according to the legend. Since Boddidharma resided in the Shaolin Temple in Song Mountain in China, the art was named Shaolin Quan. Since then the art has been subjected to more than 1500 years evolution, and has never been lost during this long period of time. With time, Shaolin Quan has been studied and developed by the martial monks as well as the layman martial artists. This has contributed to the present form of Shaolin martial art which managed to expand and flourish beyond the border of China. Moreover, the experts in the art and the lovers of the art can be found everywhere in the world.

Through researches and development carried out by generations of Shaolin monks and layman martial artists, Shaolin martial art at present contains a complete system of trainings, which includes, among others, taolu (routines) and gongfa (methods). Shaolin martial art puts the importance on the balance between yin and yang, the equilibrium between hardness and softness, the rapidity in moving up and down and insisting in practically of the art in simple way without any decorative elements. Its attacks can be launched and retracted at will. It can be practiced within limited spaced; there are numerous ways to practice the art and the system includes internal and external practices

The Shaolin martial art taught in our association consists of basic sequences of movements, four empty-handed taolu (routines), four weapon taolu, all of these are still taught in the traditional way. As for more advanced taolu and training methods, I have developed them by carrying out researches during the past decades based on the teachings of many Shaolin experts from the previous generations. My objectives of doing this are to enrich the contents of Shaolin martial art and to enhance the combative capacity of the art.

I hope to encourage more martial art experts to do the same contribute to the heritage and expansion of Shaolin martial art. If everybody is willing to share his/her opinions in martial art practice and research, the theoretical and technical level of Shaolin martial art will be levied significantly.

I sincerely hope that all of us can work hard together towards the development of Chinese martial arts in this country.

Even though the methods in Shaolin martial art from different schools may be modified and developed with time, the basic training and the practice of qi (energy) remain similar. For readers reference, the descriptions in the following chapters start from the basic trainings and progressively lead to the more advanced training methods as it goes further.

A lot of the training is comes down to this:
1. Practicing the iron skills
2. Rehearsing the taolu or chapters/forms. Taolu is an individual style exercise with a series of fixed movements.

These 6 words are important no matter when we train or when we are in real fight:
功 (gong): workout effordly
顺 (shun): smooth
勇 (yong): brave
疾 (ji): fast or speedy
狠 (hen): fierce
真 (zhen): realistic

Basic taolu:
Before the actual taolu, there are some simple short taolu, preparing the beginner:

Sibian Quan: empty hand repetitive form.
‘eight step’ forms.:
Babu Quan – empty hand
Babu Dao – sabre
Recently expanded with:
Babu Qiang – spear
Babu Gun – staff
Babu Qiang – sword