The Lineage
From Bodhidharma to Shifu Wu Nanfang
1500 years ago, the Indian monk Bodhidharma arrived at Shaolin Temple. He encountered a problem.
The monks were lost in ritual and study, distracted from the essence of Zen, which is the direct experience of reality. Their minds were cluttered, their bodies weak.
He retreated into a cave for nine years where he sat, facing a wall, penetrating into the essence of mind. To balance the time in sitting meditation, he practiced Qi Gong to vitalise and harmonise the body.
He returned to Shaolin Temple to introduce this true meditation together with a system of physical practice.
His deepest teaching was Zen itself: direct transmission from mind to mind, beyond words and scriptures. This understanding passes between master and student in moments of recognition.
This planted the seed of Chan Wu—Zen martial arts. Not fighting techniques or performance, but Zen expressed through the body.
The Tradition Takes Form
For a thousand years, monks at Shaolin developed this understanding. Martial practice became another door to realisation.
Chan Master Sengchou, Shaolin's second abbot, embodied this fusion. Texts describe him as "swift and courageous, with a light body"—the natural result of unified practice.
The system crystallised under Master Wuyan Zhengdao (1592-1609). He established Yonghua Hall and systematised the complete transmission:
Chan (Zen meditation)
Wu (martial arts as spiritual practice)
Yi (medicine and healing)
Fourteen generations carried this forward. When the Qing Dynasty banned martial arts, Master Zhanmo preserved the teachings at remote Shigou Temple.
In 1836, a five-year-old boy arrived there.
Wu Gulun: The Bridge (1831-1914)
Wu Gulun came from poverty. His family sent him to become a monk.
He was taken directly to Master Zhanmo, keeper of Shaolin's deepest teachings. The boy received the Dharma name Jiqin.
The Qing ban on martial arts had lasted over a century. Monks trained in secret at night. The floor of the Thousand Buddha Hall still shows depressions worn by generations of feet.
Wu Gulun excelled. When he asked for Shaolin's highest teachings, Zhanmo refused. So he studied in secret for three years.
Then Zhanmo summoned him: "Show me what you've learned."
It was a test of determination. Zhanmo transmitted everything. Wu Gulun became the 15th generation successor.
The monks called him "White Tiger Star." Stories tell of him crushing stones to powder, crossing rivers without wetting his shoes. These represent mastery of internal energy.
In 1869, with China in chaos, the temple leaders gave Wu Gulun an unprecedented mission: Leave. Return to lay life. Marry. Have children. Preserve the teachings.
Before departing, he passed the "Mountain Gate Test." He was the last monk to complete this examination.
Wu Gulun settled in Tangzhuang, married, practised medicine. Word spread about the former monk. After confrontations endangered his family, he moved to remote Yangshumiao Village.
There he transformed temple practices into a system for daily life. Farming became training. Medicine became philosophy.
Wu Shanlin: The Keeper (1875-1970)
Wu Gulun's second son inherited techniques and understanding. From childhood, Wu Shanlin farmed, studied medicine, and trained alongside his father.
He was first to teach outside the family. Locals called him "Master of Massage."
In 1928, warlord Shi Yousan burned Shaolin Temple. Eighteen buildings destroyed. Thousands of texts lost.
In 1931, surviving abbots invited Wu Shanlin to resurrect Shaolin's martial arts. He trained over forty warrior monks. Many later masters traced their lineage through him.
At 88, when Wu Shanlin demonstrated Xin Yi Ba, officials declared: "His skills are consummate."
Through war and revolution, he kept the transmission alive in a farmhouse. Before dying at 95, he instructed his descendants: Wait until the world understands Chan Wu isn't about fighting—it's about transformation.
The Warriors: Wu Tianyou and Wu Musheng
Wu Tianyou (1898-1950) was the designated successor. His father trained him in all aspects—techniques, philosophy, medicine.
By his twenties, he was teaching. In 1937, he established a school at Zhongyue Temple.
When Japan invaded, Wu Tianyou founded resistance training camps. He led a broadsword unit through enemy lines. Near Zhitan, he was shot close to the heart. The wound never healed.
Knowing his time was limited, he intensified training his son Wu Musheng. When the Korean War began, he sent Wu Musheng to serve. A month later, the old wound reopened. Wu Tianyou died.
Wu Musheng (1930-2013) had mastered the complete system by twenty. His military service earned honours. North Korea offered him wealth to stay and teach.
He returned to Yangshumiao Village. For sixty years, he refined the teachings. He never married, dedicating everything to preservation.
He recognised his nephew Wu Nanfang's qualities. He trained him with absolute intensity, ensuring perfect transmission to the fifth generation.
Wu Youde: The Silent Master (1908-1980)
Wu Shanlin's second son maintained the internal transmission. Quieter than his brother, equally dedicated.
He taught select students and security forces. When Wu Nanfang showed promise, Wu Youde handled his foundation training.
In 1975, two robbers ambushed the seventy-year-old. Within seconds, both lay unconscious. Wu Youde had barely moved. This is Xin Yi Ba—spontaneous perfect action.
Wu Nanfang: The Fifth Generation
Born in 1962. Great-grandfather Wu Shanlin recognised something in the child.
Young Wu Nanfang slept beside his great-grandfather, absorbing presence and stories. Days watching every movement, witnessing Chan Wu in every gesture.
The family took him to Shaolin's Baiyi Hall. Murals depicted ancestor Wu Gulun. Standing there, his path became clear.
He studied under Wu Youde, Wu Musheng, Qiao Heibao. Twenty years with Master Xingxing in martial and Zen practice. In 1995, he took refuge with Venerable Shisu Xi.
Wu Nanfang spent decades collecting scattered knowledge. Every lead followed. Every source honoured.
"If I don't pass down this essence," he says, "I'll have failed my ancestors."
Shifu Wu Nanfang Through My Eyes
Ben Lucas
Ten months of daily training with Shifu Wu Nanfang. Every day we practise, drink tea, exist together.
In ten months, I've never seen him irritated, nervous, or worried. He lives in constant inner harmony. At 63, he looks unchanged from videos fifteen years ago.
Perfect balance—powerful yet peaceful. Forceful without aggression. His presence uplifts everyone.
He lives simply. Of all masters I've met worldwide, only he remains untouched by commerce. Only he makes me think: "This is the goal."
Everyone recognises it immediately—he's found something real. Deeply spiritual without pretense. Everything from direct experience, not books.
For him, spiritual and daily life are one. Kung fu exists in pouring tea, in walking, in being. Never rushing. Never imbalanced.
His purity inspired my total commitment to preserving these teachings.
The Urgency
Shifu Wu Nanfang holds authentic internal Shaolin kung fu. It exists only through his family's five-generation transmission. No other teachers. No other schools.
Without successful transmission, this lineage ends.
This shapes everything. No commercial pressure. Traditional methods unchanged. The practice remains as Wu Gulun established 150 years ago.
This isn't modernised kung fu. Training requires patience, dedication. But for those seeking the original—Bodhidharma's fusion of Zen and martial arts—this is the source.
Master Wu Nanfang seeks sincere students to carry the transmission forward. The opportunity is finite. The responsibility is real.