Shaolin Eighteen Lohan Hands - by Sifu Wong Kiew
"The Shaolin Eighteen Lohan Hands were taught by the great Bodhidharma in 527 CE to monks at the Shaolin Monastery in China when this First Patriarch of the Shaolin arts found the monks weak and often sleepy during meditaion, which is the essential path towards enlightenment.
The Shaolin Eighteen Lohan Hands are fundamental qigong exercises that can bring tremendous benefits if they are practised as qigong. "
"But if they are practised as physical exercise, which is often the case nowadays, naturally the practitioner will only get the benefits of physical exercise. The crucial difference between chi kung exercise and physical exercise lies not in the outward form (which can be the same for both types of exercise), but in the internal dimensions of energy and mind. If one does not know what these internal dimensions are, it is unlikely that he (or she) has practised chi kung, although he may have performed the outward form for years.
At the Shaolin Monastery, these Eighteen Lohan Hands evolved into a kungfu set called “Eighteen Lohan Fist”, which forms the prototype of Shaolin Kungfu today. Because of its long history, there are many versions of the Eighteen Lohan Hands being taught today. Shown below are the Eighteen Lohan Hands taught in my Shaolin Wahnam School. The illustrations are reproduced from a manual used more than 10 years ago by my chi kung students. "