Who here has actually trained with a Shaolin Monk?

I'll start. I've trained at Shaolin Temple under my master Shi Decheng. I've taken lessons (albeit some of them were rather short) under Shi Sugang, Shi Deshan, Shi Xinghong, Shi Xinghao, Shi Yanming and Shi Guolin. Has anyone else here trained directly under the monks and to what extent?

Gene Ching
Asst. Publisher
Kungfu Qigong Magazine & www.KUNGFUmagazine.com

The Shaolin Master left in 1928-1933. How old are you?

I train as a Shaolin practioner, Under a Shaolin Master of an animal system.(no longer monks)

Those that are at the temple now are contemporary wushu athletes dressed up to look the part of Monks.

I have been training under the (late) Shaolin Master Grandmaster Chee Kim Thong.

I have also trained at the southern Shaolin Temple in Quanchou with the monks there and I can assure you that while their forms style is like wushu, they are excellent martial artists.

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You have no chance to survive - make your time.

There're many drug takers who call themselves monks solicitating contrban material around the Shaolin temple. To avoid the authorities, they dress themselves up as monks.

But you don't have to travel all the way to China to learn Shaolin Kung Fu in Shaolin surroundings and be away from all the modern ammenities.

At the Dr. Fu's Shaolin Theme Park in New Orleans, you can learn true Shaoin Kung Fu. The surroundings have been recreated (scale model) to give the realness of feel. There're also lots of joy rides and 3D adventure tours and pop sodas for the kiddies.

I am transcended!

Gene,
As a Sanshou fighter, I have had lots of experience with Shawn Liu (Shi Deru).
Since he is also a very close friend of my Sifu (Mike Barry) when he comes to town he often teaches his qigong and staff forms !

A strong man controls others. A man who controls himself is truly powerful. -Lao Tzu

What did you think of Sifu Yan Ming?

"There are no shortcuts in Kung Fu only long days of Hard Work."

sorry and what about Sifu Guolin I know they are both in NY and was thinking of joining their schools, so any info about them would be good. like did you like their training methods...etc..etc

thanks

"There are no shortcuts in Kung Fu only long days of Hard Work."

Well, I'm glad to see that there are some people out there who have actually trained under the monks, instead of just dissed them from afar.

To ShaolinTiger00
Actually, Shawn is a layman disciple, not a monk, but he was certainly Shaolin trained. It's funny, I've known him for years but never taken a lesson from him. What did you think of his teachings (esp. his sanshou)?

To Gumyilo
Yanming and Guolin run very different schools. It's ironic, they both defected from the same tour and were in so many of the old books together. Now they have severely split philosophically. Guolin sticks pretty close to Chinese community. Yanming is truly crossing over to America, especially in hip hop/rap!

Guolin has other monks teach Buddhism and Kungfu. His temple is separate from his training hall. Hengxin is his martial monk. That temple is in Flushing, right under the flight path to La Guardia unfortunately. Buddhism is taught in Chinese only.

Yanming does all the teaching himself. He's a fireball, that one. His school is in Manhatten on Broadway. He used to offer some Buddhism classes (I don't know if he still does) and his English is great.

There are two others in NY - Yancheng (who I've never met and I've heard some unconfirmed rumor he went back to China) and Xingpeng (who left the order and teaches only on a small scale - he also has great English).

I would visit each school and find out which class is easier for you to attend. Find out which school appeals to you more, then go for it. The character of each school is so different - you need to determine for yourself which resonnates with you better.

I just wish a monk would stay in CA. You NYers are spoiled - good knishes and good monks.

Gene Ching
Asst. Publisher
Kungfu Qigong Magazine & www.KUNGFUmagazine.com

hi gene.

never trained with a shaolin monk but did train
with a master from the wudang temple

"when you expect your oppoent to yield/you also should avoid hurting him"

lol, yes we are spoiled, don't you just love us.
Thanks for the info gene, I visted Yanmings place they still teach buddishm, one quick question, do they teach the same way, like the format of the classes?

"There are no shortcuts in Kung Fu only long days of Hard Work."

What system of kungfu do you study under these Monks?

I'm pretty sure they teach Shaolin Kungfu, If I'm wrong someone correct me

"There are no shortcuts in Kung Fu only long days of Hard Work."

md1: Who was that master? What did you study?

gumyilo: The format of the classes (and I'm assuming you mean kungfu classes, not Buddhism) are similar and the same as most of the stuff I've seen at Shaolin. It starts with some quick warm-up stretches, then basics (jibengong). The basics progress the kicks, line drills, then some form lines. There is a lot of overlap, but no two masters use exactly the same patterns. Then it's form practice and/or free fighting. The classes are separated to train in small groups of similar skill levels.

reemul: I really don't want to get into the shaolin/wushu/fake monk debate again. Been there, done that.

But to address your question, I've been working on shaohong, dahong and lohan with most of these monks. They all know those, so they usually ask to see one of them, then give me pointers. With my own master, Shi Decheng, I've trained a bunch of different forms of Shaolin kungfu and qigong. I've been focusing on the traditional Shaolin, but in '96 I did train in a wushu form there - zuiquan. I figured I had one wushu form left in my body (I played some wushu in my college days, but only nibbled in it - never learned a complete form). What amazed me was that Decheng had viable applications for every single move. It made me rethink wushu. Shi Sugang is different. He gave me a Chin Na lesson in '95 that I never figured out. Everytime he sees me, he askes if I remember, then proceeds to test me by twisting me in knots, after which he tells me to remember next time, which I don't because I spent most of his lesson trying to avoid getting seriously hurt.

Gene Ching
Asst. Publisher
Kungfu Qigong Magazine & www.KUNGFUmagazine.com

Shawn's Teachings are excellent. Although his English does have a stacatto, rapid-fire machine gun sound, I just nod and follow. His sanshou is great. Very technical and clean. Everything a good coach should be. :-)

A strong man controls others. A man who controls himself is truly powerful. -Lao Tzu

You misunderstood the question, I didn't mean what forms you are learning, but what is the "system". Shaolin Kungfu is merely a global term for all the systems of of Shaolin Kungfu. At least prior to 1928. The Shaolin temple was seperated into different schools of training similar to the way a university has different schools of learning. So what system do you study?