The 10 Core Forms Are The Heart of Northern Shaolin

The Ten Core Forms are the heart of  Northern Shaolin.  The Ten Forms are an encyclopedia of martial arts techniques.  Learning all Ten Forms is a great achievement.  Mastering them is the work of a lifetime.  Although it takes awhile to learn them all, the good side is,  you get to keep learning really cool new moves for a long time.  It is like a good book; once you get started you don’t want it to end too soon!  The construction and design of these forms is very deep.  The longer you spend with them and the more you put into them the more they will gradually reveal their mysteries.

Length Of The 10 Core Forms of Northern Shaolin

In the Northern Shaolin Kung Fu Ten Core Forms five are short and five are long.  The five short forms contain about forty techniques.  The short forms are #4 Penetrating Heart,#5 Martial Practice, #6 Close Fighting, #7 Plum Blossom, and #8 Jumping Step. The five long forms contain about eighty movements. The long forms are #1 Enter The Gate, #2 Leading Steps, #3 Riding Horse, #9 Connecting Links, and #10 The Method.   Because the long forms are also much more complicated and athletically challenging they are really three times as hard as the short forms.  Athletically challenging means many high kicks, low sweeps, leaps, balance moves and difficult combinations.

Order Of The 10 Core Forms of Northern Shaolin

Nowadays the the Northern Shaolin Kung Fu forms are usually taught in reverse order  of difficulty.  That means the easiest are learned first and the more difficult are learned last.  This order would be 6, 7, 4, 5, 8, 1, 2, 3, 9, 10.

Unique Moves Of The 10 Core Forms of Northern Shaolin

All of the Northern Shaolin Kung Fu forms contain movements that are unique to that Form mixed with moves that are shared by the other Forms.  When describing a form as emphasizing, or teaching, a certain skill we refer to the unique movements or combinations found only in that form.  These unique techniques are usually about 20 – 40% of  the Form.  The 20 – 40% of the moves that are unique in each form are  incredibly valuable because they give you variety with which to achieve surprise and because many are deadly.  There are so many different techniques that you can choose a diverse set to personally specialize in.  Ten People can pick their favorite moves to master from the Northern Shaolin Kung Fu system based on their body type and personal preference and all ten will have completely different fighting methods.

Consistent Style Of The 10 Core Forms of Northern Shaolin

From the observers point of the view all of the Northern Shaolin Kung Fu Ten Forms resemble each other more than they appear different.  The four Preparatory Forms all are more different from each other and from the Ten Forms.  In this way the Ten Forms display a consistent style and approach.    The are very integrated and really fit together as a series.

What You Will Become!

If a person learns and practices Northern Shaolin Kung Fu Ten Core Forms there is no doubt that they will become healthy, strong, well coordinated, flexible, balanced, and with a strong focused mind.  In addition, they will be able to protect themselves and their loved ones with powerful combat skills.