Ancient Martial Art: Floating on Water

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The Shaolin “floating on water” trick consists of running accross 0.6 cm thick plywood, floating on the water. This is not as easy as it seems. Since, putting too much wait on the thin sheet of plywood would either cause it to break, to make you sink, or to make you unbalanced and fall in the water. Seen on the picture, is Shi Liliang a Nan Shaolin Monk performing such a feat after months of training, using a combination of speed balance and a certain branch of Shaolin Kung Fu called “lightness”, after a 10-meter run up, Shi Liliang “flew” a total of 15 meters, beating his previous record of 10 meters.

The Shaolin master says that he trains his “lightness” art every day, by putting weights on his arms and legs and going for long-distance running, when he takes his weights off after running, he says it makes him feel light, and its precisely this lightness you have to feel in order to perform such a thing.

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Shi Liliang also pratices leaping over walls and roofs using the explosive force in his legs, this training helps him aquire the speed he needs so crucial to running on the plywood without falling through.

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Shaolin Monks that have acquired enough mastering of these techniques can be seen doing such stunts as standing on a single finger, or “floating on water”. Other things Shi Liliang does to cultivate his sense of balance is running on the 10 centimeter rail at their monastery or hanging off the face of a cliff and meditate on Neijia phylosophical teachings.

Shaolin Kung Fu created during ancient China, when monks developped these arts to fight off non-believers of buddhism, has been torn by war and age, and many of the most fantastical teachings have now been lost, but we are now rediscovering certain secrets lost through the ages like “floating on water”. Shaolin Kung Fu is also the father of the most common martial arts of today, like Karate, Tai-Chi, or kick-boxing. Jackie Chan once started as a Shaolin monk, which is where logically he learned his karate techniques, altough when they found out he also had a good voice to go with his skills they decided to turn him to show-business instead 

A video of Shi Liliang performing his “floating on water” record can be found at this address : http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTI4MDcwNzQ0.html