Shaolin monks hone their kung fu skills in the courtyard of the Shaolin Monastery. Murals in the White Hall of the Shaolin Temple.

Authentic Shaolin Heritage: Training Methods of Shaolin Monks

72 Arts of Shaolin: (38) Hand of Sun Rays

YANG GUANG SHOU

Hand of Sun Rays | Brief Description

Excerpt from the book: Jin Jing Zhong. Authentic Shaolin Heritage: Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin >

Shaolin skill of “The Arm of Sun Rays” is a soft GONG FU, it develops the internal power and belongs to the YIN category. It is somewhat easier to obtain mastership in this GONG FU than in such skills as “One finger of meditation Chan” (see par.#7) and “Cinnabar Palm” (see par.#17), and so there are many known masters in this kind of WU SHU (Martial Arts). One of them, my acquaintance, lives in the province of Liaoning. He is Guo Li Zheng, a master in SHAOLIN QUAN, already over seventy. He is a stone-deaf Taoist who acquired this kind of GONG FU during three years. Once I witnessed such a scene: he pointed the hand at a dog at some distance from it and it began to bark at once. Another man (I don’t want to disclose his name and surname) learnt XING YI QUAN (HSING YI CHUAN) at first, then became a disciple of GUO and perfected his Shaolin WU SHU. At that time master Guo was the head of the society for learning WU SHU in the town of Shenyang. A quarrel happened between the tutor and his disciple because of some or another insignificant reason. The disciple even allowed himself to insult his tutor. Guo unconsciously moved a fist toward his disciple. In the beginning the disciple did not feel anythin...

A full description of the training procedure is available in the book: Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin >

...If you punch a man at a distance of two or three steps without touching his body, that man will feel sharp pain. Specialists think that QI which is set to motion by a fist belongs to the YIN category, therefore it is difficult to oppose to such a punch with anything.

72 Arts of Shaolin: (38) Hand of Sun Rays

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