Authentic Shaolin Heritage: Training Methods of Shaolin Monks
72 Arts of Shaolin: (31) Fist Like a Bullet
DAN ZI QUAN
Fist like a Bullet | Brief Description
Excerpt from the book: Jin Jing Zhong. Authentic Shaolin Heritage: Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin >
Shaolin exercise “Fist like a Bullet” is a hard external exercise, it belongs to the YANG force. It is designed for perfecting blows at the enemy with the joints of the second finger phalanges set forward as regard to the front surface of a fist. It is also one of the Shaolin methods of “Deadly Arm”.
The training method is quite simple and resembles the Shaolin exercise “Saddle” (MA AN GONG). But the exercise “Saddle” trains the force of the front striking surface of a fist and this exercise, finger joints. The hand is not completely clenched into fist, the fingers in the first phalange bend and take their place near the third joints (i.e. under the joints of the third phalanges, at the edge of a palm from the finger side). Fingers are not completely clenched into fist. The inner part of the hand (from the palm side) forms a plane. The thumb, bending, is placed in the central part of the palm. The hand position is like that one during a seizure of an enemy’s arm in the technique CHIN NA (Shaolin art of grappling with simultaneous press at vulnerable points). After the acquirement of proper shaping of the hand position, deliver blows...
< A full description of the training procedure is available in the book: Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin >
...Therefore, training in “hardness” must also include “soft” effort. The ability to chisel a depression in a steel plate with finger joints shows that a high level of the skill has been achieved. But it needs four or five years of stubborn training at least to attain that. This Shaolin GONG FU also belongs to the section “Deadly Arm”, but it is more effective as compared with Shaolin skills of “Finger Lock” (SUO ZHI GONG) and "Making Holes in Stones" (DIAN SHI GONG). In many methods fingers are used, but in this case joints are employed. Joints have no other practical use except hitting the enemy. After the successful end of training you will be able to deliver a blow so hard that it will be fatal to the enemy. In a peaceful situation one must not have even a desire to injure a man, that’s why a trainee who has acquired this method well must be always cautious and careful. Under no circumstances should you, if you rely on your skill, behave rudely and arrogantly, you will not, then, happen to injure a man because of reckless or careless behavior. Forerunners said: “Harm can be done suddenly and accidentally, those who learn combat techniques must be very watchful”. One can injure bones by a blow after learning this skill during one year. It is similar to the method “Bone Injury” (XIE GU) of the Shaolin style “Tiger’s Claws” (HU ZHAO QUAN).
72 ARTS OF SHAOLIN | Brief Descriptions
(1) Diamond Finger - (2) Twin Lock - (3) Striking with Foot (4) Pulling out Nails - (5) Ringing Round a Tree - (6 ) Four-Part Exercise - (7) One Finger of Chan Meditation - (8) Iron Head - (9) Iron Shirt - (10) A Series of Blows - (11) Sweeping with an Iron Broom - (12) Hand - a Bamboo Leaf (13) Jumping Centipede - (14) Raising a Weight of 1000 JINs - (15) Celestial’s Palm - (16) Method of Hardness and Softness - (17) Cinnabar Palm - (18) Lying Tiger - (19) Swimming and Diving Skill - (20) Sluice Shutter weighing 1000 JINs - (21) Covering with a Gold Bell - (22) Finger Lock - (23) Luohan’s Exercise - (24) Lizard Climbs the Wall - (25) The Art of Lash - (26) PIPA - (27) The Pole of a Falling Star - (28) Poles of Plum Bloom - (29) The Art of Stone Padlock - (30) Skill of the Iron Arm - (31) Fist like a Bullet - (32) Soft Bones - (33) Frog - (34) Piercing the Curtain - (35) The Force of Eagle’s Claws - (36) Iron Bull - (37) Skill of Eagle Wings - (38) Hand of Sun Rays - (39) Exercise for Groin - (40) Iron Bag - (41) Method that Reveals the Truth - (42) Skill of Tortoise Back - (43) Skill of Deft Jumps - (44) Skill of Light Body - (45) Iron Knees - (46) Technique of Jumps - (47) Palm of Iron Sand - (48) Pulling a Silk Thread - (49) Method of drawing in YIN - (50) Rubbing and Thrusts - (51) Stone Pile - (52) Neither Lances nor Broadswords Can Wound - (53) Gong Fu Flight - (54) Hand of Five Poisons - (55) Skill of Water Separation - (56) To Fly Up to the Ridge and to Walk on a Wall - (57) Skill of Somersaulting - (58) Pole of Cypress - (59) Ba Wang’s Elbow - (60) Pinching a Flower - (61) Pushing a Mountain with Palm - (62) Technique of Horse Saddle - (63) Skill of Nephrite Belt - (64) YIN Fist Method - (65) Skill of Sand Bags - (66) Piercing Through Stones - (67) Pulling Out a Mountain - (68) Claws of Mantis - (69) Gong Fu Bag - (70) Palm of Guan Yin - (71) Raising a Pot - (72) Rubbing Palms