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: (8) Iron Head

TIE TOU GONG

Iron Head | Brief Description 

Excerpt from the book: Jin Jing Zhong. Authentic Shaolin Heritage: Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin >
The exercise “Iron Head” is hard Shaolin GONG FU, it trains external power (strength) and belongs to the category YANG. Besides, this method also has an internal aspect: it must rely on strong QI. It is necessary to train three parts of your head: top, forehead and back. Although external effect (force) is employed to strengthen skin, muscles and bones, it is also necessary to develop the internal force and QI. The head should be filled with QI and Spirit. One can achieve success if the internal and external aspect match and supplement each other. Otherwise, if only the force of external effect without supplementation of the internal force is used, you will get some result, but it will be far from perfection...
<  A full description of the training procedure is available in the book: Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin >

...If this method is used against a man (as saying goes "to butt with the mutton head"), you can easily knock him down. The head of a well-trained man is harder than a stone. A head blow can split a stone slab and crumple an iron sheet. It only demands frank sincerity in training and fulfillment of all requirements with all one’s heart and self-denial. It is necessary to reject all extraneous thoughts so that peace and tranquility would reign in the head. They rightly say that it is necessary to improve your character before starting to train Martial Arts. In that case you will not go to deadlock and reach the destination. This kind of GONG FU is not so rare. For instance, strolling acrobats often show such exercises as “Striking with a Big Hammer at the Head” (YOU CHUI GUANG DING), “Two Dragons Dive in the Sea” (SHUANG LONG RU HAI), “Breaking Bricks” (ZA ZHUAN) and others – all this is the display of GONG FU “Iron Head”. This Shaolin GONG FU must be used only for self-defense, you should not be the first who delivers the blow. It is worth mentioning that it is comparatively easy to attain success in it.

72 Arts of Shaolin: (8) Iron Head

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

About 72 SECRET ARTS OF MONKS FROM THE SHAOLIN MONASTERY

BOOKS: 72 ARTS OF SHAOLIN

DVD: Shaolin and Taoist Health Qigong

    Main Secret of the Shaolin Training in the Authentic Shaolin Book

    Jin Jing Zhong. Authentic Shaolin Heritage:Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin (Tanjin, China, 1934)