-JI-KANG GONG
"Temper your body will resist until the weapons of the adversary, strengthens the muscles and the will, which is stronger than the material. Nothing can overcome the force of the spirit, no spear will hurt your body and against it are shattered even if the weapons of the opponent of iron. When fire meets ice, prevails those who refuse to acknowledge the power of the other. "
When the body's vital organs suffer damage, life itself is endangered, so all the warrior monks of Shaolin, undergo a special training called kang-ji-gong, a series of exercises to strengthen ' body, in order to increase the resistance to physical pain and gain power out of the norm. These daily exercises are to be hit with a stick, kicked and punched and breaking bricks in the different parts of the body, in order to achieve the perfect physical and mental control that makes it invulnerable.
Out of the red walls of the Temple, in the forests of Mount Shao-shi, in a beautiful landscape, located along the stream, there is our secret place of training. It's there that the legend becomes reality. There are practice exercises kang-ji and Qi-gong-gong to absorb the energy of nature, then we express in our own unique abilities. The strengthening of human qualities, which depends on the proper management of physical energy, mental and spiritual, allows Shaolin Monks to perform incredible feats. The story attributed to our ancestors the ability to climb over the walls of a city with the help of a beam, jumping on the roof of the house from the ground and break down a door with one kick. The secret of these extraordinary powers is the purity, because the purity is the force. We are taught to conserve our energy, and invested in the technical development and especially in advancing the spiritual. This voluntary acceptance of certain difficulties, in view of a greater benefit, which reorders the priorities and goals in life, is defined discipline or austerity. As monks we must practice austerity of body, speech and mind.
The fundamental principle of Shaolin, consists in the awareness that the strength of will manages the physical, so physical development, training of the mind is a priority. The mental discipline is to maintain the serenity, simplicity, gravity, purity of thought and self-control. The monaco reaches the ease when the mind away from material enjoyment, liberation from hypocrisy and engaging it in noble thoughts, faces the good of all. The severity of thought or silence, the monaco requires a constant concentration in spiritual realization. While the purity of thought, depends on the moral rectitude, to be frank and direct behavior, and ultimately is to become enlightened. Austerity of speech consists in using a language truthful, pleasant and beneficial, tended not to shake the other, and also in regularly reciting the scriptures (sutras). Finally, the austerity of the body is to show due respect to superiors, to maintain the interior and exterior cleaning, becoming simple in his behavior; in observing celibacy and practicing non-violence. All these austerities enable, through special exercises, Shaolin Masters who have passed on, to achieve the purity and strength necessary to advance in spiritual realization and strengthening the body and mind. Austerity enhances the determination of man, while the worldly scatters in a thousand ways.
The Scriptures bear this out: "Who is on the spiritual path is steadfast in its efforts and pursue a single goal, but the intelligence of someone who is not resolved, is lost in many branches."
.
