Shaolin Buddhist Temple

Lineage and History of Lung Ying Dragon Sign Kung Fu

The teachings we give to any who wish to learn are over 2000 years old and have been passed down unchanged through generations of monks, and students, through family trees and now to everybody who wishes to learn.

Originally, these ancient teachings were developed and practiced by Shaolin Monks. These Monks were both Buddhist and Taoist practitioners. They recognised that all movement needed to be studied; both earthly and celestial; and the relationship between them. They practiced these movements for health of body, mind and acceptance of the heart.

When the communist party came to power in 1949, the Shaolin Monks were persecuted and hunted down, seen as a threat to the communist regime. By 1966, most of the temples were bombed or burnt down, the monks were executed, jailed and tortured, and the teachings suppressed.

 

Lam Yiu Quai
Around the time of the massacre of the Shaolin monks, a student of the Yellow Dragon Temple in Quangzhou, China called Lam Yiu Quai (Tiger Lam), faced the same fate as his fellow monks.

He underwent torture and imprisonment, had his legs broken and was scheduled to be executed. By pure chance, two of the communist soldiers who assaulted the temple, recognised Lam Yiu Quai, and helped him escape. They brought him to Tai-Po in Hong Kong which was under British rule at the time.

Lam Yiu Quai set about teaching straight away, but had to do so in secret, as communist agents were always a threat.
Nevertheless, he sought to teach the pure forms of Buddhism, Healing and Meditation.

The Bruce Lee/ Kung Fu craze of the 1960’s and 70’s only strengthened the thought that Shaolin monks were a violent race of fighters, nothing was further from the truth. This misrepresentation was an insult to those who were dedicated to a life of spirituality. One of Lam Yiu Quai’s earliest students was his son Lam Chan Kwong who taught Chiu Chung.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Nicholas Costello first began teaching in Ireland in 1980 and in 1983 he was officially certified as a Sifu (Teacher) of Lung Ying Kung Fu. He travelled to Hong Kong in 1987 and began learning from Chiu Chung, travelling between Dublin and Hong Kong several times each year.  In 1998, he established the Shaolin Buddhist Temple in Slane, Co. Meath, and has taught thousands of individuals the true essence and purity of chi, and how it can empower humanity.

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Our aim is to continue these Buddhist teachings, unchanged, so that all may benefit.

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