Shaolin Kungfu is famous both at home and abroad as a highly-effective method of self-defense and building health. It has quiet internal side and a mighty external side. Combining external and internal, "hard" and "soft" exercises, Shaolin Kungfu involves various methods of fighting techniques, consisting of barehanded boxing and weaponry combat.

Ⅰ. 72 Arts of Shaolin

The 72 Arts of Shaolin are the foundation of the utmost mastery in all styles of Kungfu.

Seventy-two precious arts are kept in a brocade bag, they are kept like a great treasure. Eighteen of them are the essence of the famous treatises on pugilistic arts. Eighteen other arts describe training methods in detail with the use of special tools and training equipment. There are wonderful methods of attaining flexibility of the breath called Qi, exercises in obtaining hardness and lightness, clenching methods that are written with the blood of monks in books that are kept like a treasure in the brocade bag.

The 72 Arts of Shaolin represent an example of the personal experiences of monks from the Shaolin Temple. This experience was obtained by hard exercises in combat arts during many epochs. The best samples of those seventy-two arts are such effective methods as qigong, breathing exercises Qi, exercises to obtain hardness (ying gong) and lightness (qing gong), acupressure massage (dian xue), clenching arts (qin na), the art of setting dislocations and broken bones. Shaolin exercises develop the forces of the whole human organism, all joints and bones.

Ⅱ. Zen Buddhism

While the monks' astounding physical abilities have garnered them worldwide fame, Shaolin teachings maintain that martial arts are merely the material manifestation of an inner state, and the root of Shaolin Kungfu really lies in Zen Buddhism.

Zen advocates sitting quietly and cultivating one's morality. The Buddhist monks get up to do some practicing after sitting quietly in order to get rid of cachexia and sleepiness. There is also a miraculous Kungfu created by combining sutra recitation, quiet sitting and breath balancing.