the jet li interview

[Shaolinlueb]

is it me or was he babbling about nothing when he answered all of gene's questions.

i got nothing out of the interview except for how he does what he does not for moeny but to get his message across. thats it but the rest was babble.

[GeneChing]

The cover story in the SEP/OCT 2006 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=671)print magazine is edited. Here's the unabridged version (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=670).

He clearly sidestepped the vegetarian question, but I wouldn't have said he was babbling. I think he was dancing around the whole "Final Martial Epic" advertising for FEARLESS. That's a bit of an awkward one to address with Rogue in production. I have an interview with FEARLESS director Ronny Yu in the queue for our e-zine (we'll publish it just before the movie comes out) and he's a bit more eloquent about this.

Thanks for the comment, you hobo (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41273) you.... ;)

[Songshan]

I thought it was in interesting read. I think we see an aged Jet Li looking at life after movies.

[GeneChing]

Compare our most recent interview to our previous cover stories on Jet:

Jet Li: From White House to Gold Mansion by Dr. Craig Reid (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=532) 2004 September/October (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=531)

The Big Jet Li Interview: by Martha Burr (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=143) 2001 November/December (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=142)

Jet Li is Still the Hero-Kungfu and Hip Hop Collide in Romeo Must Die by Martha Burr (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=114) 2000 April (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=113)

The Jet Li Story by Martha Burr (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=82) 1998 May (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=81)

Jet Li has been on our cover more than anyone else.

[Shaolinlueb]

the interview does seem like an aging jet li. but hes not 70 yet, thats how he sounds.

thats why i like jackie chan :D man im 50 I guess i should start using wires and more safety equipment.

[GeneChing]

Here are some more Jet Li interviews, exclusive to our e-zine:

New Jet Li Exclusive Interview: KISS OF THE DRAGON (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=311) by Martha Burr

Cradle 2 The Grave: Jet Li’s Tombstone? (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=314) by Dr. Craig Reid

I Need a HERO (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=342)by Dr. Craig Reid

Jet Li is Finally "UNLEASHED" in Hollywood (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=594) by Dr. Craig Reid

Here's a loose review of Hero too:
Zhang Yimou's HERO Comes to America (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=551)by Gary W. Shockley

And a peripheral interview with Jet's co-star:
Kiss of the Dragon's Bridget Fonda: Kungfu Magazine's Exclusive Interview (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=256)by Martha Burr

[Shaolinlueb]

gene you are a post master at this stuff. or have the fastest look up i veer saw. how many windows of IE do you have open at once on your desktop?

[GeneChing]

...I just know how to use the indexes (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/TOC/index.php) and have a general memory of things that we've published during my watch.

[street_fighter]

Yeah, when I was reading that I was thinking that a bit too. The sidestepping that is. I used to attribute that to the fact that he wasn't very good at english, but now he has definetly learned the sidestep. Its like watching a political debate. The vegitarian answer was just funny. But still, an interesting read for sure. I kinda like jet. He seems like such a soft, mousy kinda guy whenever I see an interview (or read). The 'last martial arts epic' was definetly just an advertising thing, that I unfortunetly fell for ^_^.

Geneching, Thats so cool that you get to interview these kind of people ^_^! How are the interviews usually conducted? I'm so envious.

[GeneChing]

I've been a fan of Jet's for years. I remember the premiere of Shaolin Temple (http://www.martialartsmart.net/dvd40021.html) in High School at the Pagoda Theater in S.F quite vividly. It was a major event in the local martial arts scene and as the years have gone by I now realize that this film changed the course of my life.

That interview was a phoner - I called Jet in Shanghai at a pre-arranged time - on Memorial Day no less. He was doing interviews all that day, mostly from UK reporters (due to a last minute schedule conflict, I couldn't make the U.S. reporters day and wound up having dinner with Joan Osborne*). It was scheduled to go for a half hour, but he really warmed up to me when I mentioned the Tiger Claw Foundation's (http://www.tigerclawfoundation.org)work with his ONE foundation; Jet's charity work is getting no press whatsoever in America beyond us and for Jet, it's the main thrust of FEARLESS, not the whole "final martial arts epic" thing. So we actually went 40 minutes until his agent had to cut us off.

Often, my watch over Kung Fu Tai Chi is very trying. There's a lot of behind the scenes crap that the public never sees, just like any job. But occasionally I get the honor of talking with someone truly inspirational like Jet and many of our featured masters. It's an honor to be here.

*OK, I just could resist dropping her name. We were only eating at the same table and we didn't have a conversation. It's not like we were out on a date or anything. But I had a commitment when the initial date was offered (they only told my a few hours before it was supposed to happen). I was very nervous that I had missed my chance because interviews with Jet can be difficult to secure. It was just a weird coincidence that I would be backstage eating dinner next to Joan when the interview was supposed to have occured.

[The Xia]

Still, I wonder why he didn't give a straight answer to the vegetarian question.

Based on him talking about eating chicken wings on Leno, and an interview where he talks about Chinese meals vs. American fast food, where he mentions burgers (which implies he has eaten them), I'd say he isn't a vegitarian.

[GeneChing]

Take it from me. I was a carniverous Buddhist for years. I only converted to vegetarianism recently. And I still eat things that don't wail when you kill them. That's in accordance to what my Shaolin master told me. So I eat seafood, bugs, amphibians and reptiles, although it's hard to find well prepared bugs in America and I don't care for the taste of amphibians or reptiles at all. If I go back to China, I may eat other meats again, the kinds that scream when you kill it. I'm just not that into American factory-farmed meat anymore.

The Dalai Lama is a meat eater. A lot of Tibetan buddhists are. They claim it's because it's so hard to grow vegetables in Tibet. Plus some tantric Tibetan Busshist cults practice ritual meat eating of forbidden meats. Of course, the Dalai Lama no longer lives in Tibet. He lives in India where there's more vegetarians than probably anywhere else on the planet, but that's a whole other issue.

[The Xia]

In all honesty, I've seen nothing in Buddhist philosophy that makes Vegetarianism a must. The choice of eating meat (or consuming alcohol) is really up to the individual Buddhist. Out of curiosity, what made you drop red meat Gene?

[GeneChing]

Check out Professor Ron Epstein's Buddhist Resources on Vegetarianism and Animal Welfare (http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/BuddhismAnimalsVegetarian/BuddhistVegetarian.htm) for starters. I had the honor of meeting Dr. Epstein when he was at SFSU. My wife studied under him.

For me personally, my Bodhisattva Vows contained the following:
A disciple of Buddha does not take life
A disciple of Buddha does not take what is not given
A disciple of Buddha does not intoxicate self or others*
But I took my vows nearly 11 years ago and didn't stop eating meat until after a retreat I was on at Tassajara Zendo. I just stopped. I'll probably start again someday, but strangely, I don't miss it much. My family is vegetarian, and in the past I've gone months without eating meat (save fish) especially when I was travelling in India, Thailand and Indonesia. But i fyou ask me why I stopped,. I suppose it was mostly because vegetarianism is a Buddhist discipline and I've always found the pursuit of Buddhist disciplines to be personally rewarding. So far, vegetarianism has been surprisingly rewarding. It has reduced a lot of noise, simplified my options by eliminating a lot of them. I wouldn't say I felt much healthier though, like some proponents claim. I would say it's increased my sensitivity, which is quite important for a writer. I find it really interesting that vegetarians can usually sense other vegetarians, just like drug users, spies and ****sexuals can sense each other. I'm not a strict vegetarian by any means. Like I said, I still eat those that don't cry when you kill them (and I'm not ready to give up garlic yet). But maybe someday. I try to remain un-attached.

Here's another OT resource you might check out: Meat, Wine, and Fighting Monks: Did Shaolin Monks breach Buddhist Dietary Regulations? (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=521) by Dr. Meir Shahar

*Some of my friends who bore witness to my vow taking ceremony commented that I stumbled on this vow. :o

[Banjos_dad]

A diet of vegetables can be very tasty, healthy and satisfying... but that * is the very devil...no substitutes, except maybe when you reach nirvana. lol

My mom went to Tassajara in the seventies but just to visit for a retreat, not to convert really. She did bring back the cookbook though... mmmm yummy bread.

--Gene, about the interview, was that conducted in English?... Jet's end of the conversation read a little choppy.

I guess that when you interview celebrities, they all have their agenda, and things they want to express. I was interested to hear that Jet was not planning on teaching (wushu/kung fu). I have to respect him for that decision: there are already too many teachers who should not be teaching, but teach anyway although that conflicts with their true feelings or their nature.
Interesting that it especially hurts him as a Buddhist when people take their own lives.

Maybe he will do an autobiography some day detailing his training, both martial and the religious training he alludes to.

As far as eating meat and being intoxicated. that's why I will never be anything close to a boddhisattva.
Still, trying to follow the path as best I can otherwise will only resulkt in a net benefit to both myself and the rest of the world.
Sorry Shaolinlueb for blathering on and on, on your good thread.

[GeneChing]

...and I'm still pondering how a discussion of Jet Li has turned to my mediocre practice of vegetarianism, but so be it.

On Jet, I think one thing that must be considered is that Jet was an international celeb before he hit puberty and has never really left the public eye, at least not in China (the most populous nation in the world). That's got to have a profound effect on his character. It puts him in a class like Michael Jackson or Britney Spears. They've never known a 'normal' life. That being said, I was surprised to find his tone was really down to earth. He was frank, earnest and cheerful. He sounded so grateful that we had brought attention to his charity work. That impressed me. I have little respect for any public figure that does not charity work. Of course, he's an actor too, so it's always hard to tell with that.

But as for an agenda, anyone and everyone that consents to be interviewed has an agenda. For most people, it's fairly translucent. It's all about them. For movie stars, you usually only get a crack at them when they are promoting the movie, so you always have to work your way back to that while slipping the more revealing questions in between.

I always ask the veg question to Taoists and Buddhists, perhaps because I wrestle with it myself. After all, whenever I interview people, it's part of my own personal warrior's journey. I'm seeking their wisdom too, for personal reasons. There's a lot of restrictions in some forms of Buddhism. Some are very restrictive, like giving up garlic and onions. You know, it's funny, I was just having this conversation at Esalen Institute last weekend. This woman and I were sitting in the hot tubs and she was reading some Buddhist writings and wanted to share it. I mentioned that some schools of Buddhism are hella formal about how you read the sutras. There are all sorts of restrictions that must be observed in certain schools, and I told her sitting naked with strangers probably wasn't allowable. Of course, back in the day, living in the solitude of a temple, it was easier to observe such rituals. Nowadays, we do the best we can. We had a good laugh about it.

Vegetarianism reduces noise because it reduces my degrees of freedom. Now I don't even have to engage a whole bunch of stuff on the menu. Things are much easier when you have less choices. As for the sensitivity issue, it's primarily an internal one, but I find my meditation practice has gone considerably deeper, as well as my ability to read intentions. I'm hoping that it increases my ting jin, but that remains to be seen.

[Shaolinlueb]

jet's hero, yes he is chinese not japanese.

gene is.... well gene is gene.

[GeneChing]

We'll be posting my interview with FEARLESS director Ronny Yu very soon. I'm a big fan of his work too. In fact, the whole FEARLESS blitz should be kicking off very soon. We got a little thrown off by the release date change, but that's Hollywood for ya.

[BM2]

Gene, was it bad karma to add "Cheat if you have to" to the Jet Li prize package give away under comments when I signed up? Instead, should it been more proper to offered a bribe? Please let me know ASAP so that I can correct it.

[GeneChing]

But if it's any consulation, we don't really look at those comments until long after the sweepstakes. We just put them all in a single file, sort out the bogus, redundant and robot entires, and then draw the winners.

[BM2]

Well I changed my Avatar to Earl from "My name is Earl" TV show for good Karma, just in case. ;)

[Nards]

Just scrolling through past topics and curious if you're still vegetarian. You mentioned you may start eating meat again and it's been a little while. Has that happened or are you still going strong? :D

I've found that after a short time, it becomes second nature... you don't even think about it, no cravings, etc.

Regarding the fish thing, one of my main reasons for not eating it is because of all of the other animals killed in the fishing industry (dolphins, seaturtles, etc).

Also, there are studies regarding the fishing industry that illustrate the magnitude of the ecological concerns in the future if overfishing does not decline. Check into it if you're interested (here's a quick Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overfishing ). It's quite scary, although, unfortunately, not suprising.

[GeneChing]

I still eat seafood and shun land animals. Thanks for asking.