New Shaolin Monk Show - Lotus & Sword

[GeneChing]

This link will probably only be good for the next two weeks but here it is - Lotus & Sword at the El Doarado in Reno (http://www.eldoradoreno.com/entertainment/shaolin_monks.php). The new show is put on by the team of Fetcher, Hartmann, and Wang, who did the original 1500th tour that started in Europe, then joined Lollapalooza, and wound up leaving three monks here in the USA after '98 (Xinghao, Xingying & Deshan - seemy archived e-zine article (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=349))

Personally, I can't wait to see this part: female Kung Fu mistresses will appear for the first time in America female Kung Fu mistresses.... oh I like the sound of that. Leave some of them behind this time.

[Shaolinlueb]

the shaolin nuns huh? :eek: :eek: :o ;) :D

[MasterKiller]

Bald chicks don't do it for me, personally.

[Shaolinlueb]

bald chicks are sexy. well, some are some aren't.

[GeneChing]

Probably just some female wushu stars. The Shaolin nuns are very few and they really shy away from cameras.

[Shaolinlueb]

Originally posted by GeneChing
Probably just some female wushu stars. The Shaolin nuns are very few and they really shy away from cameras.

they sound sexy :o

[GeneChing]

Shame on you. You need your wrists slapped with a ruler.

[Shaolinlueb]

:eek: agh no slapping. unless the ones are the ones with the rulers. which wouldn't surprise me cbeause nuns liked to hit students when they were bad. well at least before 1970.

[GeneChing]

There are actually only a few Shaolin nuns - less then a dozen now probably, plus students and disciples. I've been trying to find out more about them but they're pretty elusive.

[Shaolinlueb]

get some pics for the luebmeister and write an article for the next issue http://www.importlove.com/forum/images/smilies/winkok.gif

[norther practitioner]

You going to check this show out Gene?

[GeneChing]

Of course I'll check it out, as soon as I get the chance. Shaolin is my main field of research, so I try to keep abreast of it all (getting harder and harder nowadays - Shaolin is so vast). I even watched xiaolin showdown (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=26674) just to see what it was. I doubt I'll be able to make it to Reno for this show, but I'll try to catch the tour later, assuming there is one.

[norther practitioner]

but I'll try to catch the tour later, assuming there is one.

That was my next question....:D

[Shaolinlueb]

hmmm i wish i could go.

[Shaolinlueb]

so gene when are you going to write an article and get pictures of the shaolin nuns? i see you browsing :o ;)

[stimulant]

do people believe that real shoalin monks practising real shaolin kung-fu still exsist????

[wall]

Dear Stimulant,

Shi De Yang , to name one of "many" (relatively speaking).

W

[stimulant]

well lets put it this way...

a shaolin monk at shaolin temple uk apprently eats meat (very buddhist) and some of his students whom I know say he has or is having a child with his secretary.

That plus all shoalin monks were apprently wiped out quite a long time ago makes me suspicious, and amount of wushu in their kung-fu.

having said that...they are rock hard and i would hate to get on the wrong side of them!

[GeneChing]

We've discussed warrior monks at length here. Shaolin keeps a special order of monks known as 'wuseng' or warrior monks. They focus on the martial tradition of Shaolin and do not take all the vows. However, they are supposed to be celibate. Keep in mind, that a monk can leave the order at any time, but they should present themselves as a former monk under scrutiny. Additionally, as wall states, there are laymen disciples and folk masters that muddle the issue. FWIW, there is a tradition of what is known as 'jiurou heshang,' or wine meat monks, outside of Shaolin in China. Some Buddhists, like the Dalai Lama, are not vegetarian.

As for Shaolin, the fully ordained monks vary from 100-200. Some monks are travelling through and spending a study period at Shaolin, which is one reason why this number ebbs. Who knows how many martial monks there are? Lots. Additionally, there are a lot of what I call "performance monks". These are demo teams from the private schools that don robes.

As for the nuns, I actually got to train in the nunnery in 2001. I was training under my master, Shi Decheng, and the nuns allowed us to use their courtyard to train. I was also denied permission to interview the nuns in 1999. I'm still chipping at it. Maybe next trip.

[stimulant]

well gald they survived the mass executions during the cultural revoluiton. My shifu had to train with his father at 3am in the middle of a forrest durung that time!

[GeneChing]

Many of the senior monks and folk masters had to do the same. Fortunately, Shaolin is based on a mountain, so it wasn't too hard to evade the Red Guards by just hiking up into the mountains. However, a few monks who tried to stay were beaten and humiliated during that period. They were forced out of the temple, but once everything cooled down, those that survived trickled back. I've documented some of their stories over the years in our Shaolin Specials and in various other articles. Our most recent Shaolin Special 2003 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=397) would be a good starting point to learn more.

[stimulant]

I'm always sceptical - i've seen some impressive (but **** kung-fu) displys by said monks in several countries. And have heard from several sources that they were all killed, and that only non-fighting monks survived. Im fortunate to be on speaking terms with some very knowledgeable CMA masters from china, .....now my curiosity is aroused I'll make further enquiries.

I'm inclined to believe there are real shaolin monks, but the lineage is broken, thus making their kf more diluted. But thats just personal thoughts at this time.

Watching real shaolin kung-fu and watching what the monks do (not their preformances) is like watching a film with bad dubbing - you understand it and it makes sense, but its not as good as the original film with subtitles!!

[GeneChing]

If the Cultural Revolution broke the lineage at Shaolin, why didn't it break the lineage amongst the folk styles? And where do the monks come from, if not from regular folk?

[stimulant]

all questions I will ask, and answers I probably wont find, and the some of the answers I do find will contridict each other I sure.

I'll be sure to let you know what I'm told!

[GeneChing]

There's a lot of incense smoke and feng shui mirrors in anything Chinese, so don't be put off by contradictions. Just observe them. If contradictions confound you, leave the path of Chan this instant and never come back.