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Tie Bu Shan. Iron Shirt training is an important part of many Kung Fu systems. Developed slowly over the centuries it can be broken down into a general schema: introduce the movement, introduce the breathing, show the Jing or energy, focus the mind and then strike the body or have the body struck. It is important to know that these different levels were not always taught at once. So this version of the Iron Shirt excludes the striking practice. It can still be considered Iron Shirt training though more for health perservation than fighting. This method is said to have been passed from Tong Zhou (in the Song Dynasty) and then refined by Tao Shi (priest) Deng Kun Len during the Ming Dynasty. Wu Dang Great Harmony shows a collection of forms and exercises of great interest for training methods if nothing else. The demonstrator, Fan Ke Ping, is the author of an unusual series of books with illustrations of practitoners dressed in old style Chinese garb demonstrating a number of unique forms like the split kniv
