34. Exercise "Piercing the Curtain"

CHUAN LIAN GONG

Brief description*

*Excerpt from the book: Jin Jing Zhong. Authentic Shaolin Heritage: Training Methods of 72 Arts of Shaolin. ISBN: 978-1440474170

Shaolin exercise “Piercing the Curtain” is the “soft” GONG FU, it trains the internal energy and belongs to the section “Skill of Light Body” (QING SHEN GONG). The purport of it lies in the ability to make horizontal leaps like a swallow’s flight. We often see performances of roaming acrobats who show leaps through rings with daggers or burning torches on the ring perimeter. That is just a demonstration of that kind of GONG FU. The audience see: one leap and an acrobat already passed through the ring with daggers or burning torches on the edges. It seems to be simple and easy. Nobody thinks about the fact that to achieve it, one has to pass through hard and difficult training, much more difficult than in many other kinds of GONG FU....

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... If you can, even in this case, freely fly through the frames, it means that Shaolin GONG FU “Piercing curtain” has been acquired to perfection. In that case, if the opening passes your body, you can freely “enter” and “leave”. However, it is necessary to train yourself for 5 years at least, may be even for 8 to 10 years.

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