Which Shaolin site do you like most? Only 5 answers but if you like other sites more just reply!
shaolinwolf.com is a good site
g.e.
shaolinwolf.com gets my vote
did you like the varity of what they had on hte site :confused
g.e.
this one!
c’mon guys, there’s more to this place than the forum.
tons of info on Shaolin in the Kungfumagazine site and magazine itself as well as in the archived and current e-zine articles.
peace
Kung Lek
It’s funny you say that, Kung Lek. I’ve had the main forum page bookmarked for as long as I care to remember (blue-white with “spiral notebook” edge days). I sorta forgot this was part of a larger site.
..
i’m glad to see that www.shaolin.com has not gotten any votes so far. very few of the styles that they mention are actually practiced at the shaolin temple, and are mostly lay styles, compiled together because they are based on animals. it’s such a hodge-podge of styles and inaccurate descriptions of them that could have been learned from any hack by looking over the internet (and i’m sure did). :rolleyes:
ummm
in re: shaolinwolf.com
why are shi yan mings feet incorrectly placed in his horse stance?
in a horse stance, toes should face forward or slightly inward. his are clearly pointed outwards.
nobody knows… :rolleyes:
He’ll tell you but you have to write an essay and give him $300 first. 
wow.
Charlie, I am very surprised and dismayed to see that comment. You never struck me as the sort to attempt to craft baseless crap into a joke at best, and at worst repeat things that firmly reside in the category of derisive gossip…propaganda does not suit you and I would hope it has no place in the life you’ve chosen.
From your website and posts you always struck me as someone concerned with what you perceived to be the truth and espousal of such. Your “$300 and an essay” slight can only refer to the Discipleship ceremony which I do not recall seeing you at or you participating in- not that you could have. If you had bothered to ask someone who had been a participant, instead of thinly veiling a slight against Yan Ming within the context of an attempt at humor and repeating some crap you scraped up in one of these forums, you would have a very different understanding of what it was all about. If you have any questions about it feel free to ask them. If you are going to talk and make jokes about it you may as well have accurate information. Personally I don’t see the humor in it.
Where I do find humor is in these myriad comments I see deriding people’s skill levels. I’ve seen quite a few derisive comments scroll across these forums. I’ve also seen quite a few of the monks both here in NYC and in China now and I can assure you these personal slights are totally and absolutely baseless. I don’t see any deterioration in the reasons why I made the choice I did. Well people say what they will. I find it humorous especially when it comes across in a forum filled with people who more likely than not will never approach the speed, power, or martial/philosophical knowledge some of these monks have developed in their own lifetimes. In fact I can say with no hesitation that it is my belief that 9/10ths of all internet posters, and we can expand that to say most gong fu practitioners here in the states, would crumple in the conditions which these men trained in. After the first week of tofu, noodles, and maybe a pork or red bean bun 3 times a day many would exercise their ability to leave- and we haven’t even mentioned the training. Nevermind hot water…no running water at all? I bet that would shave a few participants down to the wick. Train in the same clothing day in and out? No beds? Wood pillows? Repeatedly splitting your knuckles to make a fist in bone cold weather and frostbite? So I think that anyone who had the slightest inkling as to what exactly went into making that wai bai tui as fast and as powerful as it is would clam up before they started talking about skill levels or making snide comments. Not too many people walk their talk.
I find it particularly distressing that you would post that Charlie because you are the student of a monk. Shaolin has enough internal problems without it’s students spreading baseless crap and lobbing inuendos.
I hope this post is construed as constructive and not spiteful, or as me ‘leaping’ to the defense…otherwise it will have proven to be an exercise in wasting time.
Amitabha,
richard sloan
a.k.a arhat from russbo.
I agree that what I said was rude, infantile, and stupid. I also intended it as a joke.
I do think it’s funny that essays are reqired for so many things at the USA temple and it’s also bloody expensive. I didn’t say “YEAH! IT’S FUNNY THAT HE DOESN’T KNOW KUNG FU!!!” I do think it’s silly to require an essay and so much money. shrug I don’t need to talk about that with anyone to have an opinion on it.
Also, I do talk to people about it. I read all the posts on Russbo and ShaolinWolf. Hell, I most likely gossip more with your school than my own.
It was a silly comment which, were it to be taken seriously, should have been ignored. I thought my opinions were well enough known for a comment like that to be taken with a bag of salt. I appologise.
[This message was edited by Charlie Clements on 11-09-01 at 09:17 PM.]
where’d you get the idea…
…that it cost $300 to become a disciple. There seems to be some perception that discipleship was for sale. That is erroneous. $300 is ALLOT of money. If someone did feel that it was necessary to give such a large sum as a gift, God Bless 'Em.
It is the custom to give the accepting master a gift during the ceremony during the kow tow. Traditionally, that sometimes comes in the form of money in a red envelope. Usually, it is a sum of a certain combo of numbers depending on the tradition. Most of us gave red envelopes. Some gave artwork. Some gave books. One disciple gave his favorite well worn, and often read copy of the comic Kabuki. It was completely up to you what you gave. Each gift was happily accepted, and at the ceremony excerpts of what people wrote as their reasons for seeking discipleship were read aloud and shared amongst the community. Things got very emotional. It was really quite a nice way to give the ceremony an added level of personal depth and a well received move towards sangha building.
Sorry for the essay.
Richard, never be sorry for an essay, i love reading your posts.
I wasn’t refering specifically to the discipleship ceremony with the $300, I was refering to the cost of being a student.
curious
What’s your new name and what is the significance of your name? How were people selected for descipleship? How many peaple were accepted and what has changed with you and your Sifu since you were made a desciple (did it take you a long time to get used to be being called by a new name)? No essay, sorry, more of a quiz. 
Oh, and Charley put the winking icon, of course he was making a joke! I don’t think it was too offensive.
Besides, if someone had asked the same question about Shi Guolin I would have said, “He’d tell you… but you’d have to find him first.” since he’s been so busy lately with Temple business.
rubs legs then again that doesn’t mean the other teachers are less painfully hard. 