Su Kong Tai Jin
1849 – 1928
The last GrandMaster of the Fukien Temple was born in the Fukien Province in 1849. He suffered a genetic condition called Hypertrichosis Lanuginosa which caused his entire body to covered with long hair. Believing the infant to be the offspring of a demon, his superstitious parents abandoned him in the jungle to die. He was found and raised by the monks of the Fukien Temple who named him Tai Jin. Most students at the temple studied a single system under one of the Masters. Tai Jin did not fit into any regular category and thus was permitted to study from all the Masters. Tai Jin did not fit into any regular category and thus was permitted to study from all the Masters. That is why our system has such a rich and extensive knowledge of the Martial Arts. No matter what Art you study, you will find some of it in Shaolin-Do!
Sometime during the reign of the Emperor Kwang Hsu (1875 to 1908) the Fukien Temple was destroyed. The Ch’ing government had been plotting the downfall of the temple for some time. The deed was accomplished through out the manipulation of the head monk of the Omei Temple, Chi Tao Su (also known as Pai Mei Lao Jen). Knowing the approach of a strong government force, the head abbot of the monastery called the monks together. He told them that the only way to prevent the monastery and its knowledge from falling into the hands of the government was to burn the temple themselves. After agreeing to gather and rebuild the temple at another time, they destroyed it and fled. Tai Jin eschewed society and sought refuge in the mountains of Fukien province where he became a teacher of the Shaolin Martial Arts.
Ie Chang Ming
1880 – 1976
Ie Chang Ming was born in the Fukien province of China in 1880. He became a student at the Shaolin Temple a few years before its destruction. Being so impressed with GrandMaster Su, Ie Chang Ming followed him into the mountains when he fled. He became a dedicated disciple. GrandMaster Ie possessed an extra-ordinary ability for meditation and became famous for his tremendous strength and chi. He even slept at night with his head on one chair and his feet on another, suspended in mediation. GrandMaster Ie’s special area of mastery was IronPalmTraining.
There was Chaos in China brought about by the fall of the Manchu Dynasty and the unsuccessful Boxer Rebellion. The country was devastated by warlords and their competing armies. The town in southern China where Ie Chang Ming lived was occupied by one such warlord. One day GrandMaster Ie took a short cut across the compound and was stopped by a sentry. Many soldiers gathered around as he was harrassed and humiliated. Things got out of hand to the point he was told to lick the soldier’s boots or die. Their decision cost eleven soldiers their lives. GrandMaster Ie escaped and fled China to Indonesia with a price on his head. He was a wanted man. He settled in the mountain city of Bandung where he eventually began teaching. In Indonesia Chinese were a minority and were often the object of resentment and discrimination. So to avoid negative publicity or trouble, Grandmaster Ie took his style underground by dropping the outward appearance of being a Chinese style of martial arts. The name was called Shaolin-do and the Japanese belt ranking system was adopted. Other than these superficial changes he taught in the traditional manner.
Grandmaster Sin Kwang The’
Sin The’ was born in 1943 in Bandung Indonesia. Both his parents had immigrated there from Fukien province in China. Sin began his training in the martial arts at 6 years of age. He was a student of Huo Sha Chang (sandburn) Iron Palm. After a short time his teacher stopped the training because of a terrible accident by another teacher related to the dangerous aspects of this art. His father took the young disappointed Sin The’ to meet Shaolin GrandMaster Ie Chang Ming. At age eleven Sin The’ received his 1st degree blackbelt.
In 1965 Sin The’ came to the United States to pursue his education at the University of Kentucky. Several years before GrandMaster Ie’s death in 1976(at the age of 96), he promoted Sin The’ to the honorary position of tenth degree blackbelt and GrandMaster of Shaolin. On June 22, 1992, GrandMaster Sin Kwang The’ returned to China to the Honan Shaolin Temple. There he was honored by Su Xi, the thirtieth generation Chief Abbot of the Shaolin Temple. They commemorated a Stone tablet at the temple that documented the lineage of GrandMaster Su Kong Tai Jin through Ie Chang Ming to Our GrandMaster, Sin Kwang The’.
Senior Master Robert Green
In 1968 Robert Green began to learn the martial art of Shaolin Karate-Do from GrandMaster Sin Kwang The’. He received his 1st degree blackbelt in 1970. He opened the Berea Shaolin Karate Club. Shortly after. In 1993 he received the Rank of Master. His most notable areas of mastery are in Chi Kung and the Monkey system.
Sensei Bill Adams
Bill Adams began his martial arts training in 1969 while living in San Francisco, Calif. He moved back to his home state of Kentucky in 1970 and graduated from Madison Central High School in 1971. In 1974 he began his training in Shaolin Do under Master Green at the Berea club. When the club moved to the Armory in Richmond Bill followed. There he received private training from Master Green That training changed his life and introduced him to a whole new level of martial arts through traditional training.
Bill received his blackbelt on Dec, 8th 1979. When the Richmond club moved to Big Hill Ave. in 1983, Bill once again followed his Master. There he survived Master Green’s second class of Traditional training. Sensei Adams is a senior student of Master Green and proudly opens the Kirksville Martial Arts Club for him in deep gratitude for his teaching.
Some Text and pictures on this page have been used from the book; "SHAOLIN-DO: Secrets from the Temple" by James R. Hallady and GRANDMASTER Sin Kwang The' and from www.shaolin-do.com.
