Shaolin Journeys

[GeneChing]

Returning after 38 years

1981 precedes Shaolin Temple, the film that changed Shaolin history.

Reminiscing Shaolin
By Laurence Brahm | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2019-10-21 10:35

The author returns to Shaolin after 38 years. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Though it was over 30 years ago, I still remember the first time I came here. In 1981, I was a student at Nankai University in Tianjin. It was late August, and together with some classmates, we began our journey with a long train ride to Loyang. A rickety bus up a long, winding dirt road, mud-soaked from summer rains, brought us the rest of the way to a legendary temple called Shaolin at the sacred Mount Songshan.

We arrived at the iconic Shaolin Temple gate. Having grown up in America with the television series “Kung Fu” starring Keith Caradinne, and as a practicing martial artist immersed in Bruce Lee books and movies, arrival at the gate of the iconic Shaolin Temple was both personal and powerful. Clouds drifted above misty waters like an unmistakably classic Chinese painting. What we would find inside would further awaken the mind, suspended still in a dreamlike astonishment.

Climbing the steps past ancient steles, we arrived at the Great Hall, the ultimate training room for Shaolin’s martial arts monks. There was hardly anything in the room, only a rack of ancient rusted martial arts weapons leaning confidently against the wall. I never forgot the haunting power of this room, marked by large indentations in the stone floor from years of monks practicing their martial arts.

Master De Yang (Left), 31st Lineage Holder of Shaolin, greets the author in Shaolin Temple. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Those imprints in stone, worn over centuries by monks repeatedly practicing the same kungfu forms in unison to work towards achieving their perfection, revealed a lot to me about a value called perseverance. Expressed as “ren” in Chinese, the character is formed by two other characters, “dao” above “xin” meaning a knife pressing on one’s heart, with an additional line that symbolizes a drop of blood. The character conveys that perseverance is a task requiring what we in the West call “blood, sweat and tears.” Perseverance represents the reason for China’s economic success over these past four decades. And that requires another word “Kungfu,” which in Chinese really just means time. One must devote time and patience to achieve a goal. Perseverance is the key. Kungfu is the result.

At the entrance to Shaolin, Master De Yang greets me. A quiet, humble monk, De Yang is actually the 31st Lineage Holder of Shaolin. He points to stone tablets, steles raised over decades and even centuries by martial arts associations from all over the world recognizing Shaolin Temple as the source of their own lineage. There are even carvings and records cast in iron on ancient bells, and writings on the stone tablets recalling earlier times when Japanese monks came to Shaolin to study Kungfu, the origin of Karate, even a thousand years ago. Climbing the stairs 38 years later, once again I am in the Grand Hall where the monks of past centuries practiced martial arts. “This is the source of Kungfu,” explains Master De Yang pointing to the almost surreal indentations in the stone floor.

Master De Yang shows engraving on stone of a Yuan Dynasty stupa, records of Japanese monks studying at Shaolin. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In another hallway Master De Yang shows me a mural dating back to the Ming Dynasty, with an array of monks practicing different Kungfu styles on the grounds of Shaolin. In the mural I see different forms, the embodiment of various martial arts styles. “Shaolin has been recognized as the source of Kungfu by many schools from Karate, Aikido, Tai Kuan Do, and even Ninjitsu,” explains De Yang.

“But there is a common misunderstanding in the world,” he adds. “Many people think Kung Fu is about fighting. Actually, it is about self-cultivation. Making yourself a better person. Real Kungfu practitioners follow a strict code of self-conduct and discipline. Kungfu is to cultivate the body, mind and spirit. However, in history there have been exceptional situations, the stories become legends and even movies.”

He then pointed to another mural of Shaolin monks riding horses to protect the emperor during the Tang Dynasty when their martial arts skills were sought by the emperor as a last ditch effort to save the dynasty from invaders. The monks agreed and the Tang survived and thrived. The movie “Shaolin Monastery” is based on the story recorded in this mural.

I was then received by Abbot Shi Yongxin himself, who had just returned the night before from New York City, where he had presented a call for world peace before the United Nations General Assembly.

My return to Shaolin after nearly four decades made me think about the inter-connected matrix of all things. During ancient times, Shaolin monks were called out from their meditation and practices to save the nation. Maybe they are being called out once again - only this time, to help save the world.

The author is the founding director of the Himalayan Consensus and a senior international fellow at the Center for China and Globalization.

[GeneChing]

Ben Booth

[URL=“https://www.scmp.com/sport/outdoor/extreme-sports/article/3036923/around-island-race-rowing-and-zen-buddhism-are-perfect”]
Around the Island Race: rowing and Zen Buddhism are the perfect match for Booth, after Shaolin Temple training
Rowing has all of the ingredients of ancient mind-body arts, and gives the American the edge in competition
BY MARK AGNEW
8 NOV 2019

Rowing and ancient mind-body arts are natural partners, according to one of the top coastal rowers in the US, Ben Booth. He is in Hong Kong this weekend to take part in the Around the Island Race.

Booth has been on a 16-year journey, exploring the power of the mind and how it relates to his sport. He was beating people in competition he knew he could not beat in training, and questioned what role the mind was playing in his performances. So, in 2003 and moved to China to study in a Shaolin Temple for a year and has been continuously learning since.

“Rowing has all the same recipes as all the mind-body arts,” Booth, 42, said. “It’s repetitive, you’re in nature, you have to step away from yourself and into a bigger space of this water. Coastal rowing in particular exemplifies that as every stroke is the same but different. Because the water is always moving, you are always adapting to your environment.”

“When you stop thinking you are more effective, because you can’t out think the tumultuous movement of the water, you just have to be there, response and join that space,” he said.

Ben Booth spent a year in a Shaolin Temple and says rowing and mind-arts an natural bedfellows.

Day to day life in the temple was “just nuts”, Booth said. “There was no real logic to it either. We weren’t following this progressive training programme. From day one you were just full on.”

They’d wake at sunrise and run a marathon. A teacher would chase them on an old rusty bike, whipping them with a stick to keep them going. They’d then mediate and work on their inner energy. They’d next do high energy exercises, like jumping and sprinting, before lunch. After their meal, they’d have fighting practice, sparring, hitting bags. In total, there were 10 hours of work a day.

“It’s super physical,” he said. “The mental aspect of it is really getting through a day, day after day.”

The 45km Around the Island Race, organised by the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, is accepting solo rowers this year for the first time.

“Anything that was considered too far and too dangerous previously sounds right up my alley,” Booth said.

Last weekend, Hong Kong hosted the World Rowing Coastal Championships. Booth opted against taking part in both. He thought he had not trained for the speed of the shorter distance.

“I’m pretty competitive. It wouldn’t be fun coming to the race and not be racing for a top 10 position,” he said.

“If you’re doing it for the sake of it you, don’t get that personal growth,” Booth said. “If you have a bad race you have to examine why, was it mental, was it physical, what were the factors that weren’t in place? You have this arbitrary date in the future and on that date you have to be at your peak. For me, it’s a fascinating process and puzzle to work out.”

Since starting his spiritual journey, Booth has lived on the top of a mountain in Vermont for six months and spent three months in a cabin with no heater during winter in the wilderness, among other adventures. He now runs a non-profit organisation teaching tai chi, meditation and rowing.

Within a few months of starting meditation and mindful practices, Booth noticed a difference.

“There was just more clarity. It wasn’t a revelation, but it was a gradual unfolding,” Booth said. “After a number of months of feeling more mentally cohesive, and it wasn’t like I wasn’t cohesive before, I just noticed everything was more heightened. Everything improved.”

Wonder what he studied at Shaolin…

[GeneChing]

“Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Student

[URL=“https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/over-100-foreign-teenagers-experience-chinese-kungfu-in-zhengzhou-china-1028702290”]
Over 100 Foreign Teenagers Experience Chinese Kungfu in Zhengzhou, China
PRESS RELEASE PR Newswire
Nov. 19, 2019, 08:16 PM

ZHENGZHOU, China, Nov. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ – From October 21 to November 1, 2019, the final rounds of the 12th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students took place in central China’s Zhengzhou City, the birthplace of Chinese Kungfu. During the competition, more than 120 contestants from 105 countries visited Shaolin Temple and experienced the unique charm of Shaolin Kungfu.

“My biggest wish to come to China this time is to see the real Chinese Kungfu,” said Lu Jingmao from New Zealand. On Oct. 25, he came to Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Chinese martial arts, as he wished. Together with other competitors, Lu watched exciting Kungfu performances, listened to the legend of Shaolin Temple, and appreciated the long-standing Shaolin culture.

Vigorous and powerful Shaolin boxing, exciting Shaolin Hard Qigong, various forms of weapons in 18 kinds, splendid Shaolin martial arts won great admiration from the contestants. They took photos one after another, some even imitated the movements on the spot.

In addition to visiting the world-famous Shaolin Temple, the contestants also visited other local spots. In Zhengzhou Yellow River Scenic Area, the youngsters paid homage to the statues of Emperors Yan and Huang, and overlooked the magnificent scene of Yellow River. While in Sandu Camping Park, they put on Chinese traditional Hanfu clothing, and experience China’s ancient method of woodcut painting and papermaking. By visiting Zhengzhou Garden Expo Park, contestants realized the beauty of Chinese landscape gardens.

The colorful Chinese culture ignite competitors’ passion. “Chinese language makes me see the diversity of culture and the vastness of the world,” said Ma Hongbo, a 17-year-old Hungarian.

According to Zhengzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, member of the Preparatory Committee of the 12th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students, Zhengzhou is one of the eight ancient capitals of China and the birthplace of Chinese civilization. With profound culture, beautiful landscape and developed transportation network, Zhengzhou has been one of the most popular tourist destinations in China, attracting global tourists to explore China’s past, present and future.

As a large-scale international Chinese competition, it has attracted more than 1.4 million teenagers from more than 150 countries to participate since 2002.

Image Attachments Links: https://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=351302

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/over-100-foreign-teenagers-experience-chinese-kungfu-in-zhengzhou-china-300961508.html

SOURCE Zhengzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism
Wonder what they win?

[GeneChing]

Soft Power in Africa

Feature: When a street kid from Yaounde discovers Kungfu
Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-05 17:48:56|Editor: zh
By Qiao Benxiao

YAOUNDE, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) – At the top of Nkol-Nyada hill, the Yaounde Conference Center was built in the 1980s as a China-aid project, and remains to this day one of the landmark buildings in Cameroon. The story of Fabrice Mba, a Shaolin disciple, started there.

Little Mba grew up on the street. He had no dad, his mom could not take care of every child because there are so many. In 1987, at the age of eight, he left his home in the southern town of Sangmelima with his elder sister to settle in the capital. They lived not far from the Yaounde Conference Center.

Every morning, little Mba saw a Chinese man making movements on the square of the Conference Center. He and his friends, all barefoot and T-shirts torn, looked at the foreigner and imitated him. “It was very beautiful,” recalled Mba.

One day, the Chinese called them and asked them to take a posture, with knees slightly bent as if holding a tree in the arms. “We stood facing the wall. It hurted in feet, shoulders and arms so much that my friends fled, and I was left alone,” said Mba.

This posture which is called “zhan zhuang” is in fact a basic training method of the Chinese martial arts. The man who “mistreated” little Mba was a Chinese technician assigned to Cameroon to maintain the Conference Center, and the “very beautiful” movements that the Chinese made was obviously Kungfu.

Since then, little Mba came every morning to learn Kungfu. “He was very thin, but at the same time very strong,” remembered Mba of his teacher, without being able to say his name is Zhang or Jiang.

A year later, little Mba returned to Sangmelima. His big brother was a projectionist, little Mba often helped him sweep the movie theater. For the first time, he saw the Shaolin monks on the screen. “It spoke to me very loudly.”

After studies, Mba returned to Yaounde to make a living. Life has hurt him more than the posture of zhan zhuang. Each job did not last long, and he did not know what to do to eat. His friend, who worked as a guardian of a bakery, sometimes kept breadcrumbs for him. “I had it on my hands, face and in my nostrils.”

“I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, Kungfu is all I have,” said Mba, who continued to practice martial arts by learning from videos. To find inner peace, he trained in the morning in front of Conference Center, as his Chinese teacher once did.

In 2011, a professor from the Confucius Institute encountered Mba while he was playing Kungfu. After short exchanges, Mba was invited to visit this establishment for teaching the Chinese language and culture. In a very short time, he made close friends with Chinese teachers who believed in him a lot. “I finally had the feeling of becoming me.”

Four years later, after a selection of profiles by the Confucius Institute, Mba obtained a scholarship to be trained in China in martial arts and traditional Chinese medicine at the Shaolin temple.

“It was just like what I saw in the movies,” said Mba, only this time he was on the other side of the screen. “The great masters of Shaolin really edified and enlightened me.”

Between 2015 and 2019, Mba went to Shaolin temple three times for training. Back to Yaounde, he became a physiotherapist, and gradually, he has constant income. When he is not busy with his patients, he teaches for free Kungfu fundamentals at the Confucius Institute and in several schools in Yaounde.

For many Africans, Kungfu is presented only as a combat system, however, “by embracing the Chinese martial arts, I discovered their virtue,” he said.

“What Kungfu basically teaches is the production of a man of morality. When a man is rich in moral values, it is easier for him to be surrounded by people who love him and to have advancements in life,” said Mba.

He managed to convey this message to young Kungfu enthusiasts. “He teaches us to be a man of integrity, hardworking and respectful. If you have a problem with your friend, you have to keep cool and take a step back,” said Emmanuel Ze, a student of Mba.

In his collection of poems published in 2017 entitled “Breach in a stone wall”, Mba saw his difficult years as a wall of despair. If he was finally able to break a breach, it is due to China.

“I come with a story, which is more and more similar to that of a million Africans, to whom China opens its doors, to whom China changes (their) destiny,” he wrote in this autobiographical anthology.

Growing up on the street, Mba knows that many young Africans need help to break a hole in the wall of their lives. He is currently preparing a program to offer short-term training in physiotherapy and others to disadvantaged young people free of charge so that they can find work.

“Be your own boss” is the slogan of his program named “Lotus and Water Lily”, because “these are the only flowers that are able to grow in a polluted environment, and succeed in producing white flowers,” he explained.

“I was a street kid, destined to be a bandit or a robber, but I discovered Kungfu which teaches me to become a man of moral excellence even if I had no money”, he said.

“All these children who are in difficulty like once I was, who are destined for a bad life, can become lotuses and water lilies if they are given the opportunities.”

THREADS
Shaolin Journeys
Confucius Institutes
Shaolin’s African Disciples

[GeneChing]

Harsh Verma

I had a blissful life transformation at the Shaolin temple
By Harsh Verma January 17, 2021 18:22

I had a very interesting, blessed and blissful life transformation at the Shaolin temple. In 2014, I had knee surgery, but my recovery was not good. As I was a professional football player, it was difficult for me to stay away from physical activities. So, I did some research on the Chinese acupuncture therapy and got in touch with representatives of the Shaolin temple. They invited me to the temple and asked me to carry all my medical records.

Initially I had to face several challenges at the temple. Shaolin is an isolated monastery located on top of a mountain in a village where no one spoke English. Getting used to the food was another problem. But I knew I was at the right place to do the right thing and I did not want to give up. My first three months were spent undergoing acupuncture therapy for my right knee, combined with a little bit of strength training. Gradually, I started feeling a lot better.

The temple was filled with so much of knowledge and there was always so much more to learn. I decided to learn Mandarin. I ordered some books to study and I observed and listened when others around me spoke in Chinese. Studying around 20 to 30 new words every day from my dictionary made me feel confident. People in the temple, including my master, told me that I was putting more and more effort every day by not only doing physical training but also learning the local culture.

We had several duties and services to perform, like cleaning our rooms and the training and dining halls. My concentration, focus and commitment became much stronger after the training I received at the Shaolin temple. I got a new family by helping foreign students with translations, by learning medicine, philosophy and martial arts and by performing various other duties and services. Learning about the culture and history of the temple brought so much meaning to my life.

Everything in the Shaolin temple comes from India. I want to introduce the Shaolin culture in India when the time is right.

Verma is the first Indian to be part of the Shaolin performing monks’ team.

Everything in the Shaolin temple does NOT comes from India.

[GeneChing]

Medha Jaishankar

The cure to my quarter life crisis By Medha Jaishankar January 17, 2021 18:10 IST

Medha and fellow students with actor Jason Scott Lee (standing second from left), when he visited Shaolin temple

The year was 2012. I was in my late 20s, recently single, jobless, and in general having what many would consider a quarter life crisis. So I did what I thought was the most sensible thing I could do. I decided to go study kung fu.

I knew nothing about martial arts at the time. I had somewhat experimented with Thai boxing, though I had barely set foot in a gym. I spoke no Chinese. I had seen one or two Bruce Lee films. That was essentially all the prep I did before I bought my train ticket and headed to Zhengzhou, eventually making my way to Shaolin.

Arriving at the temple, I was extremely intimidated by all the young children I saw, doing flips in the air and a variety of movie-like stunts. These children (mostly boys) were probably around seven or eight years. They were doing repeated rounds of various moves that made them look like they were literally flying! But after practice, these young lads immediately chilled out on their practice mats, chatted with each other, and pulled out their phones and started playing video games. Despite their fancy moves, I was put at ease, knowing that they were just like any other kid their age.

Medha performing basic kung fu stancesMedha performing basic kung fu stances

I was enrolled in a class with a group of Russian students as all the foreigners at the temple trained under an English-speaking monk/teacher. Our teacher would make us train for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. Much of our practice consisted of lots of jumps and basic kung fu stances.

My fellow Russian students were definitely more agile than me, though by the end of my ten days I was able to do much better than I thought I would!

I was extremely sore after the first day. But luckily everyone in the community—from our teacher-monks, to my fellow students, to the locals working and residing in the area—was very encouraging of a new student like myself. A man I met while walking to class felt obliged to show off his moves!

The Shaolin temple was not just about exercise. They also had an onsite acupuncturist, who persuaded me to do a therapy that involved running an electric current between needles. And with all my sore muscles I was offered a massage that involved burning a towel on my back.

Our class had the honour of meeting Jason Scott Lee, who had portrayed Bruce Lee in the 1993 film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. Although he was at the temple to shoot a documentary, he also took time to learn from our teacher/monk.

By the end of training, I was lighter, quicker and fitter than I had ever been. But more importantly, I learned to truly embrace new experiences, no matter how intimidating they may initially seem! And by the end of my stay at the Shaolin temple, I was finally cured of my quarter life crisis.

The author is a senior producer at a digital media and entertainment company.

The Week is doing a lot of Shaolin coverage lately.

[YinOrYan]

[QUOTE=GeneChing;1320084]Everything in the Shaolin temple does NOT comes from India.[/QUOTE]

You can’t expect an actor, or a researcher for the movies to be close to historically accurate. Even academics doing text analysis are going to be off a good percentage of what is Indian and Chinese, epecially when its around 80 or 90%.

Even for something like sets of the Shaolin Temple for the original Kung Fu TV Series (which BTW are gathering dust in a warehouse) are just an approximation of what the temple looked like only a couple hundred years ago…

[GeneChing]

YinOrYan

[QUOTE=YinOrYan;1320088]You can’t expect an actor, or a researcher for the movies to be close to historically accurate. .[/QUOTE]
True, but I can endeavor to make corrections here. If anything, KFM members should know (along with supporting our sponsor MartialArtSmart).

[GeneChing]

Shaolin Retreat with Verma

More on Verma here. Maybe he needs his own thread?

Dharana at Shillim announces the Shaolin Retreat
The three-day retreat from 3rd to 5th December 2021 has packages beginning at INR 48,000 for single occupancy and INR 61,000 for double occupancy, excluding taxes
27 Nov 2021

Dharana at Shillim is encouraging guests to embark on a journey to find peace and experience healthy living through a 3-day Shaolin Retreat at its property. It will be conducted by Harsh Verma, the first Indian to be absorbed by the Shaolin Temple as the warrior monk.

The three-day retreat from 3rd to 5th December 2021 has packages beginning at INR 48,000 for single occupancy and INR 61,000 for double occupancy, excluding taxes. It includes all meals and accommodation.

Located in the lap of the Shillim valley of the Sahyadris, Dharana at Shillim is an ideal eco-wellness retreat to channel one’s inner warrior monk. The estate is a short 2.5-hour drive from Mumbai and a 2-hour drive from Pune by road. The Shaolin Retreat helps them discover the ancient philosophies of the Shaolin Temple. Indulge in self immersive healing through meditation, and achieve conscious wellness.

The Shaolin Lifestyle is believed to support individuals and help them become a better version of themselves by learning to nurture the mind and body to be parallel through the daily practice of Zen. Harsh Verma (Shifu) is the only one to have studied the principles of Shaolin Culture in Mandarin. The retreat has been designed to give a walk one through the basics of Shaolin Kung Fu and introduction to Shaolin Kung inclusive of Soft Kung F, Qi Gong and Ba-Duan Jin.

Guests can dive into their wellness journey starting with an arrival consultation with a doctor. Guests would receive a personalized holistic wellness itinerary that would also include meals from the wellness cuisine and everything Shaolin Retreat has to offer. The retreat would conclude leaving them with a calm mind and mesmerized with the beauty of the wilderness surrounding the property.

The ancient art of Shaolin Culture in harmony with the spiritually artistic wisdom of Dharana Wellness Retreat unveils compassion, humility, and moderation in oneself. With its deeply Indian-rooted philosophies, Art of Shaolin Culture is aligned perfectly with the philosophies of Dharana at Shillim.

[GeneChing]

James Waters

The Swansea Wind Street bouncer who went to train at the Shaolin Temple in China and is now a shaman
James Waters spent ten years working on the doors of Wind Street, but then decided he wanted to change his life and headed to one of the most prestigious training institutions in the world

ByDemi Roberts
05:00, 19 DEC 2021

James teaching students after his training (Image: James Waters)
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James Waters has lived a life that most of us have only seen on TV.

Most days, you’ll find him teaching martial arts such as Tai Chi or Kung Fu to a cohort of eager students, and on one special day of the month, you’ll find him in his woodland back garden near Penllergaer woods guiding guests through an intense shamanic breath work ceremony.

While James’ days are colourful and unique today, his day-to-day life twelve years ago looked somewhat different.

Before attending the Shaolin Academy and the Shaolin Temple in 2012 - some of the most prestigious training institutions in the world - James worked a more innocuous job: he manned the doors of various Wind Street pubs and clubs as a bouncer. You can read more Swansea stories here.

James initially got into martial arts as a teenager, which is what attracted him to the job in the first place.

He said: "I started doing martial arts as a teenager - I started with a Korean style of martial arts and it just hooked me. I loved exploring the different ways to use the body to generate power. I was asthmatic as a child so I wasn’t particularly fit - I couldn’t run around on a football pitch for 90 minutes, but short, sharp bursts of exercise worked really well for me. I really enjoyed it.

"I worked as a bouncer on Wind Street for about 10 years, and did the odd private security job in Primark and various other places. It flew past, and it was martial arts that actually led me to work on the doors. One of my instructors used to be a doorman and he told me that I had a good temperament for it.

“I loved it - I loved working with the boys and the comradeship that comes with it. I still keep in touch with a lot of them, but I just wanted to spend my time doing different things.”

James working on the doors of Wind Street in his bouncer days (Image: James Waters)
James, now 36, moved back to Swansea aged 19 after living in Surrey for some years. When he first came back, he studied American Kickboxing before going on to study the ancient art of Aikido.

He said: “When I moved back to Swansea, I did a bit of American Kickboxing. I was training with one guy who was brilliant - a tough guy, cauliflower ears, the lot - but I didn’t want to be that type of fighter. I wanted to be able to do more than just take hits to the face. I went on to do some freestyle karate and kickboxing before doing on to Aikido, which is a beautiful art that’s about body manipulation - manipulating the attacker’s body, manipulating the power coming in.”

The Welsh Shaolin

“During training, somebody lent me a book called ‘The American Shaolin’, which was about the first westerner to train at the Shaolin temple in the early 1990s. I read this book and I just thought: that’s what I have to do. I put some extra hours in on the door to save up enough money to go, and then I went out to China for the most part of 2012.”

Inspired by the book, James jetted off to Shandong to study at the Shaolin Academy, and later to the Shaolin Temple in Henan.

He said: "It was a shock to the system in many regards. I first went in January and I didn’t expect it to be as cold as it was. It was minus 10 Celsius, and we were at the top of the mountain. I remember waking up in the middle of the night once for a drink of water and a lump of ice just hit me in the teeth.

“The training was as mental as it was physical. We’d have to sweep every day. If was raining, we’d sweep the puddles. If it was snowing, we’d sweep the snow, and if it was windy, we’d sweep the leaves. It was a huge mental exercise - an exercise in futility in some ways, but I could feel it changing me as a person from the inside.”

James during his Shaolin training (Image: James Waters)

James, right, pictured with his master, left, while training in China (Image: James Waters)
"In the Shaolin Academy we did two hours of meditation every day. I did a bit of meditation when I was younger, but not on this scale. It was the middle of January and we’d be standing there with our arms out in the freezing weather, just breathing. All the other students would be there looking serene, and I’d look at the clock and think wow, I still have 50 minutes left.

“It felt like an eternity, but then, after two weeks, I felt this bolt of energy between my hands while meditating, a feeling like two magnets. I just stood there and played with that feeling, and the time just flew past.”

This ‘bolt’ of energy that James felt is often referred to as the ‘qi’ - pronounced ‘chi’ - in Eastern philosophy.

“I didn’t actually believe in [Qi Gong], until I felt it myself. After getting that feeling, I turned my studies to Qi Gong, which means ‘life force’. It was a big moment in my life because I had to ask myself, ‘what else don’t I believe in that might be real?’ In that moment, energy became tangible.”

For James, being a good martial artist is about much more than fighting: for James, it’s as internal as it’s physical.

He said: “In China, my master was a doctor of Chinese medicine, and when giving a lecture one day he said, ‘a good martial artist is also a good doctor’. What this means is that you have to strike a balance between the yin and the yang - the harsh energy with the soft energy - to maintain balance within the body. The goal is never to present yourself as a ‘hard’ person who fights - it’s about being somebody who helps other people, too.”

Shamanic breath work

James said: "I first came across shamanic breath work when travelling to India. It’s a certain way of breathing that sends you on a deep journey within yourself, and the goal is to release emotions that get trapped in the body. We’ve all had that feeling where you want to cry, and you swallow that lump in your throat. That stays within the body, trauma can stay in the body, so the breath work is really about releasing that.

“I trained with a shaman in India who taught me how to bring that experience to others. It’s a special practice that can be utterly life-changing for people.”

James holds his shamanic breath work sessions every month from the comfort of his garden (Image: James Waters)

James performing reflexology - a holistic therapy that brings relaxation and healing to the body (Image: James Waters)
James added: "I compare martial arts to being a musician. You don’t just play a guitar to make noise - you practise so that with time, it makes beautiful music. Similarly, when you train the body and practise over time with martial arts, you can do beautiful things with it. Martial arts can defend you if needed, but it’s about more than that - it’s about infusing the body with positive energy so that you can have a long, healthy and happy life.
A Shaolin Shaman, eh?

[GeneChing]

Shaolin Journeys

Denmarks TV2 orders Shaolin Monk adventure format from Metronome
By Richard Middleton 6 days ago

Shaolin Heroes

TV2 in Denmark has partnered with Banijay-owned Danish label Metronome on a new adventure series that will focus on the Shaolin Warrior Monk community in China.

Shaolin Heroes will test celebrities as they embark on a life-changing journey to master the ancient martial art of the Shaolin Warrior Monks.

Each contestant will receive training to improve their physical attributes, as well as learning the Shaolin philosophy to confront their deepest fears and develop as a person. The format will be sold via Banijay Rights.

Peter Hansen, chief creative officer at Banijay Nordic, said: I have always loved karate, and together with Henrik Rasmussen, the head of programmes at Metronome, we developed the idea of celebrities being trained by real-life Grandmasters into an ambitious new adventure reality format, and this show is set to be a high-end offering for Danish audiences.

Tina Chistensen, MD at Metronome, added that the format would offer epic cinematic production values and the potential for international remakes.

Dorthe Thirstrup, channel controller at TV 2, said: In addition to offering tremendous production values, we also believe that the programme can inspire us all to cut off unnecessary noise, find peace and our inner strength.

Metronome is behind dating format Alone Together, as well as relationship show Fabulous Dads. It also produces long-running unscripted series including The Island, MasterChef, Taskmaster, The Block and Ex On The Beach.

threads
Shaolin Heroes for Denmark TV
Shaolin-Journeys

[GeneChing]

Anna Mattinger

NOVEMBER 10, 2022
An epic ‘gap decade’
Anna Mattinger spent her 20s traveling the world, living in the wilderness, training under a Shaolin monk, and creating pyrotechnics at Burning Man – among other adventures – before enrolling at Stanford this fall to study computer science and artificial intelligence.
BY ALEX KEKAUOHA
Growing up in the suburbs of Silicon Valley, Anna Mattinger felt like an aberration. She said she was a “problem kid” who was often restless, belligerent, and rebellious.

Anna Mattinger took a “gap decade” before enrolling at Stanford this fall. (Image credit: Andrew Brodhead)

“In Cupertino, that made me stick out like a sore thumb because I was surrounded by a bunch of really good kids,” she said, adding that although she enjoyed learning and performed well academically, she didn’t like the structure of traditional school. “I felt very much in a bubble, and I really wanted to get out and see the world.”

After completing high school through concurrent enrollment at a community college, she continued to take classes but eventually burned out. “I didn’t really know why I was there, what I was doing, or what I was trying to prove,” she said. “And that’s when I left.”

At 19, Mattinger signed up for the Back Country Trails Program. For five months she lived and worked off-the-grid under grueling conditions in the wilderness of Kings Canyon National Park where she built hiking trails. She planned to use the time to clear her head before returning to school, but by the end of the program, she decided to change course.

“After that, I was like, ‘I think I want to keep going!’” she recalled. “And that turned into 10 years of globetrotting and doing a bunch of different things.”

Mattinger said that a whirlwind of experiences around the country and the world gave her greater perspective and purpose and made her better prepared for a formal college experience and the rigors of Stanford. “I’m really happy with the way I spent the early part of my adulthood,” she said. “I really needed the whole gap decade to get to where I am now.”

Globetrotting

Mattinger’s travels have taken her to Europe, Africa, South America, Oceania, and Asia. In 2017, her interest in martial arts took her to rural northwestern China to train under a Shaolin monk. His school, located in a cornfield between the Siberian and North Korean borders, accepts about 10 students at a time. During each of the three visits, Mattinger underwent intense training for 40 hours a week.

Mattinger training under a Shaolin monk in China. (Image credit: Courtesy Anna Mattinger)

“I would go for a couple of months at a time and when I was finished, all of my joints were falling apart,” she said.

Her love of martial arts also took her to Thailand to learn Muay Thai. In 2018, she joined a gym and by the end of her first week, the head trainer and gym owner asked if she’d compete in a paid fight. Mattinger agreed and they ramped up her training.

“I lost that first fight, but I think I learned more from the loss than I would’ve from a win,” she said.

Mattinger said that one of her more memorable experiences was her four-month solo bike trip from Key West, Florida, to Bar Harbor, Maine, in 2015. She said the experience was one of the best things she’s ever done with her life because of the physical challenge, long stretches of solitude, and some harrowing moments, like getting lost and even getting hit by a car.

“Getting myself through those moments really enhanced my trust in myself and my sense of competence and stability,” she said.

Throughout her 20s, Mattinger worked various seasonal jobs to pay for her travels, including as a farm hand and a ski instructor at resorts in Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Mountain. She also worked as a freelance writer and model for small artists and designers. But it was her years working at Burning Man – the annual weeklong art event in Black Rock Desert, Nevada – where she learned to play with fire.

Burning Man

In 2012, Mattinger landed a gig as a golf cart mechanic at Burning Man. There, she also joined a team that built a full-scale replica of a Spanish galleon ship crashed into a pier. The event was an experience she has never forgotten, because of the artwork and the unique social dynamics.

Mattinger canoeing in Bergen, Norway. (Image credit: Courtesy Anna Mattinger)

“Burning Man provides a weird alternate context,” she said. “Everyone is confronted with the bodily realities of being literally ‘out of our element’ in an alkaline lakebed, often in extreme dust and heat. A lot of societal pretense and niceties go away in that environment, and people are often compelled to try on different ways of presenting and being themselves.”

She returned to Burning Man in subsequent years to join teams constructing large art installations, which allowed her to learn carpentry and pyrotechnics. In 2013, she plumbed propane “poofers” that shot 30-foot fireballs from the top of The Control Tower, a six-story bamboo structure covered in interactive LED lights.

For the 2014 event, she spent six months helping build an installation called Embrace, a seven-story structure shaped like the torsos of two people hugging. “Inside were mechanical beating hearts and spiral staircases to the heads, where you could look out the eye sockets,” she said. “It was the tallest thing out there that year.”

Mattinger’s travels continued, including to Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, where she attended regional “burns” inspired by Burning Man.

She noted that her gap decade was a contemplative experience that gave her time to consider various social, economic, environmental, and technological challenges.

“All industries, and the solving of most problems, are becoming increasingly entangled with computing and engineering. Computing, in particular, will increasingly have more power and reach when it comes to making things better—or worse—than anything else,” she said, adding that her intellectual curiosities reignited her interest in academics. “I’d been toying with the idea of eventually going back to school, and then the pandemic hit and my life was cancelled so I thought, ‘Well, there’s no better time than now!'”

Becoming a Cardinal

In 2020, Mattinger returned to California and enrolled at De Anza College to take classes online – mostly STEM courses. It was also the first time she’d ever signed a lease.

“Being domestic did feel like a novelty, but I was surprised by how easily I adjusted,” she said. “It helped that I was really into what I was studying. It felt really fulfilling.”

She applied to several schools but said that participating in the Aeronautics and Astronautics Community Research Experience cemented her interest in Stanford. Since enrolling this fall, she’s also enjoyed the nostalgia of being on the Farm; she spent much of her childhood here while her father was a Stanford graduate student. Although she hasn’t declared a major, she intends to study computer science and artificial intelligence.

Mattinger said there’s still much more she’d like to experience, but she is glad to be a student again and eager to see what Stanford has to offer. “I’m happy that I waited to go back to school because now it feels right,” she said. “I have a purpose and I actually want to be here.”

When asked where she sees herself in ten years, she said she doesn’t believe in making long-term plans.

“If you’re living life correctly, then in two or five or ten years you will know more, have greater perspective, and will be able to make better decisions about what you do next,” she said. “Right now, I’m just excited to be here.”

Shaolin to Burning Man…:rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

Enoal & Shaolin

Shaolin Temple student stars in Netflix’s new Enola Holmes movie
By Maanya Sachdeva - 1st December 2022

Serrana Su-Ling Bliss
A student at Junction Road’s Shaolin Temple has earned new fame with her breakout role in Netflix’s Enola Holmes 2 starring Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill.

The film’s cast also includes Harry Potter stars Helena Bonham Carter and David Thewlis, as well as Sam Claflin and Louis Partridge.

Serrana Su-Ling Bliss plays Bessie Chapman, a factory girl who approaches young Enola played by Brown, to help find her missing sister Sarah, played by Hannah Dodd.

“During filming, [Brown] had her pet rabbit and poodle in her tent, and I would play with them. Her boyfriend Jake [Bongiovi] was also there a lot, and we sometimes played UNO together,” Bliss said.

In an interview with Islington Now, the young actor recalled meeting “these huge stars” on set, adding that she “loved hanging out with” Brown.

Bliss recounted other memorable moments from her time filming Enola Holmes 2, including speaking to Cavill about his costumes in The Witcher, and getting acting tips from Thewlis.

“I also had my 12th birthday on set,” she said, adding, “It was so much fun, and they sang me ‘Happy Birthday’ on set.”

Bliss, who lives in Haringay with her family, has been training at the UK’s only Shaolin Chan Buddhist Temple, near Tufnell Park station, for nearly seven years.

“Actually, the reason I started kung-fu was because I saw the animated film Kung-Fu Panda, and I loved how Master Shifu made the flower blossom,” Bliss said.

“I said to my mom, I want to learn kung-fu so I can make a flower bloom.”

Bliss told Islington Now that she got her first acting gig – in a commercial for Lawn Tennis Association – through doing martial arts.

“In the advertisement, I start out playing tennis but then transform into a ninja with a tennis racquet and do some martial arts moves,” she said.

Bliss, now 13, said she feels “very lucky to be able to train” at the Temple, with Grandmaster Shifu Yanzi.

“I think it’s a very unique, rare community. It’s given me so much confidence, and the instructors have been such amazing?mentors,” she added.

Bliss made her acting debut as Sharon Nicholas in Kenneth Branagh’s Oscar-nominated Belfast, which was released last year.

She is also part of the child dance ensemble cast in Matilda the Movie, which released in UK cinemas on 25 November.

Enola-Holmes
Shaolin-Temple-UK
Shaolin-Journeys

BTW, I watched S2 of Enola and enjoyed it more than S1. Maybe I’ll review it here someday…:rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

Matt Jane

23:10, 09-May-2023[URL=“https://newseu.cgtn.com/news/2023-05-09/The-modern-Shaolin-the-kung-fu-mom-and-the-young-warrior-1jFyUpceVBS/index.html”]
The modern Shaolin, the kung fu mom and the young warrior: London’s kung fu family
Updated 19:45, 10-May-2023
Yubin Du

A small town just north of London might not be somewhere you would expect to find a Shaolin temple. And Matt Jane might not be your typical kung fu warrior. But the 35-year-old has established one of Europe’s foremost centers for the ancient martial art.

In Cheshunt, a town of 45,000 people a dozen miles north of London’s city center, there is a Chinese-style temple for people who love practicing martial arts. The owner is Jane, a Londoner who went to China at 16 years to train for five years as a Shaolin warrior in the mountains of central China’s Henan Province.

Jane – also known as MJ, or ‘The Modern Shaolin’ – and his wife Chun, ‘The Kung Fu Mom,’ have won international renown through appearances on blockbuster TV shows such as America’s Got Talent and its British equivalent.

In addition, they have gathered millions of fans around the world through social media videos featuring jaw-dropping feats like standing on iron rods or cracking bricks on a bare head.

“The world is so much more open given social media, and the power and wisdom of kung fu can be spread across the world,” MJ tells CGTN Europe. “I’m very happy to be one of the individuals to help spread this culture, which has helped change my life and in turn can help change other people’s lives too.”

The show that changed his life forever

MJ’s passion for martial arts began with movies he watched as a small child – “I had posters all over my walls of Jet Li, Jackie Chen and Bruce Lee” – but it was a non-fiction presentation that really caught his imagination.

“It wasn’t until I was 11 years old that I saw a show called The Wheel of Life, about Shaolin monks practicing kung fu,” recalls MJ. "They were touring the world, and this was the first time I’d seen kung fu live on stage in front of me.

“I saw things like finger handstands, iron bars being broken across the head, flying in acrobatic movements – things I thought were not real from the movies. And now seeing them first-hand, it gave me a dream – to become a Shaolin warrior.”

Outside the Cheshunt temple. /MJ

At 16, having struggled through the British education system, he decided he needed a new focus in his life and traveled to China.

“I went to a Shaolin temple where I trained and lived like a Shaolin warrior, waking up every day in the early hours of the morning, running up mountains, crawling back down on my hands and knees, doing headstands on concrete for hours and hours,” he says.

“I learned a lot about becoming an adult whilst living at the temple. The very simple, basic day-to-day routines really touched me and gave me a new insight into how life could be and essentially should be.”

Ten years after he first watched The Wheel of Life, MJ became the first and only non-Chinese Shaolin warrior to be part of the show.

“My dream had come true, and I found myself touring the world with the Shaolin monks,” he says. “It was incredible.”

The making of the kung fu family

MJ met his future wife Chun in a restaurant in Dengfeng, Henan Province. She was immediately attracted to him – and didn’t realize he had a linguistic advantage.

“I encountered Matt when I was just 18 years old,” Chun says. “I told my friend in Chinese ‘He’s got beautiful eyes’ – but I didn’t realize he understood Chinese, and his face turned red.”

The attraction was mutual, and MJ set about impressing some very important people.

“He danced for my mom and sang for my mom – so my mom fell in love with him straightaway,” Chun laughs. “He looks after my little brother like a father, and I thought ‘He’s very much good husband material.’”

The family members now pass on what they have learnt. /MJ

When she was 19, Chun discovered she was pregnant. The young couple decided to get married and move to the UK. Setting up home in Cheshunt, they started the temple to offer local youngsters martial arts classes and a taste of Chinese philosophy.

In the same year, their son Xiao Tian was born. He grew up alongside their new venture, practicing kung fu from his first years. Now nicknamed the Young Warrior, he is the proud holder of an Official Guinness World Record for performing backward handsprings on a platform supported by his colleagues.

The value of martial arts

MJ teaches his students and followers not only the physical skills of kung fu but also the philosophy behind Chinese martial arts. The gestures used by warriors often have significance behind them – for instance, the greeting formed by placing one palm on the other fist, which is a call “to stop the fight.”

MJ says kung fu has helped him find happiness and a better way to live – and his mission now is to enable others to follow the same path.

“All the virtue of martial arts is finding the perfect blend between positive and negative, yin and yang,” he says. “Through meditation and physical martial arts training, you can find balance.”

In the modern world, where young people can easily become disenchanted and distracted, learning how to direct the power of mind and body can be the solution to avoiding conflict, he believes.

“To be honest, it wasn’t just about kung fu – it was a way of life which I’d never seen before,” he admits. "Growing up in London, I had quite a big ego and didn’t have a wide opinion of the world, because I hadn’t seen much.

“Going to China, I learned a lot about myself. Kung fu wasn’t just about learning to fight. Instead, it was about learning to live.”

There’s a video too…

[GeneChing]

Shaolin Journeys

Exclusive: Pawan Kalyan is level-headed, calm and clear, reveals co-star Shaolin Warrior Monk Harrsh Verma
The first Indian to be adopted into the Shaolin Temple, is currently working with Pawan Kalyan in his Telugu film debut, and he has nothing but praises about the veteran

Written by S Devasankar Updated on Sep 08, 2023 | 08:30 PM IST | 71.9K

Pawan Kalyan is level-headed, calm and clear, says martial artist and trainer Harsh Verma (PC: Harsh Verma Instagram and Pawan Kalyan FC)

Pawan Kalyan is one of the biggest names when it comes to the Telugu film industry. The veteran actors next film is an action flick titled Hari Hara Veera Mallu, directed by Krish Jagarlamudi.

The film also features the likes of Bobby Deol, Nargis Fakhri, Nidhi Agarwal, and the debutant actor, Harsh Verma. Verma is one of the most sought-after celebrity martial arts coaches in the country, training the likes of Vicky Kaushal, Sara Ali Khan, Kriti Sanon and more

In an exclusive interview with Pinkvilla, the martial artist said that he got to be Pawan Kalyans martial arts trainer and action designer for the film, all thanks to Shyam Kaushal, the veteran stunt director.

But what started off as training quickly built the bond between them, as Pawan Kalyan himself is a trained martial artist. Verma also stated what an opportunity it was to be working with the Bheemla Nayak actor, who was ecstatic to be working with Indias first shaolin warrior monk.

Commenting about the veteran actors working, the shaolin warrior said that Pawan Kalyan is one of the easiest celebrities he had worked with, also stating that the actor had a profound mental balance.

He is just so level-headed, he is just so calm And he is just so clear. His vision is just so straight. He is not black or white, he is just straight. Verma said in the interview.

Watch the full interview below:

//youtu.be/2U_q9XZJaKQ

The martial artist also said that the Gopala Gopala was calm and composed, giving inputs when necessary, without hesitation. Above all, the thing that stood out for Harsh Verma was the fact that in spite of being such a huge star in the industry, the actor-turned-politician was so down to earth. In fact, it was Pawan Kalyan who made way for the martial artist to make his Telugu debut, when he expressed his interest in becoming an actor.

More about the Movie

Hari Hara Veera Mallu is in its final stages of production with one schedule still left to be shot. The final leg of shooting will begin soon, once Pawan Kalyan is done with his political commitments.

You can even hear the entire podcast on the following channels:

You can hear the entire podcast on our channels - Google Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music, Podcast Index, RSS community, and Listen Notes.

Hari Hara Veera Mallu
Shaolin-Journeys
Harsh-Verma

[GeneChing]

Shi Dejian

Shaolin pivots to a future beyond kung fu
While mountain temple is globally famous, other cultural attractions are also gaining foothold
By Wu Yanbo in Dengfeng, Henan | China Daily | Updated: 2024-03-19 06:26

The heads of the St. Petersburg Shaolin Culture Center practice their moves in the Russian city. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Fourteen years ago, Australian cancer sufferer David Ian Burn visited Songshan Mountain in Henan province to learn Zen techniques to try and improve his chances of beating the disease.

While the area is famous around the world for Shaolin Kung Fu, it is also becoming known for other cultural aspects including Chan Wu Yi, which combines Zen meditation, kung fu and traditional Chinese medicine, and has been promoted by Master Shi Dejian for 30 years.

In 2010, Burn stayed for two weeks on the steep mountain and learned about Chan Wu Yi from the master.

“This time was really important to my recovery,” said the Australian, now aged 72. “His (Shi Dejian’s) counsel and support enabled me to go into the hospital well-prepared, confident and relaxed. He also provided me with some herbal medicine, which was very useful to me after the surgery.”

Since then, Burn has continued to live as a vegetarian, and still practices Chan Wu Yi.

“Practicing internal cultivation has become a normal part of our lives, and it can be said that Chan Wu Yi is our basic way of life. I am grateful for the connection with the masters and their continuous kindness,” he said, adding that he is writing a book to provide an understanding of Chan Wu Yi culture to more Westerners.

Stretching from east to west for over 60 kilometers, Songshan Mountain is eulogized in folklore as the "origin of all mountains "and according to ancient script has “72 peaks on the mountains and 72 temples below”.

Its spectacular, well-preserved angular rock shapes were formed by three violent movements in the earth’s crust, the most recent 570 million years ago, when the Himalayas and the entire Qinling Range were submerged under the sea.

However, it is the 1,529-year-old Shaolin Temple, nestled in a mountain forest near Dengfeng, and its style of kung fu that has left the biggest impression on the world. Today, 162 Shaolin cultural centers have been established in over 50 countries and regions, while the Shaolin Temple attracts nearly 7 million Chinese and international tourists and martial arts enthusiasts every year.

A view of Songshan Buddhist Academy in Henan province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

But located 8 km from the temple is Songshan Buddhist Academy, the main practice center for Chan Wu Yi. Chan means Zen, Wu means kung fu, while Yi means medicine.

In 1994, Master Shi Dejian, under the guidance of his mentor, initiated the restoration of the academy’s dilapidated buildings to help promote Chan Wu Yi. Eleven years later, the Songshan Chan Wu Yi Research Institute was established near Songshan Buddhist Academy, with Shi Dejian serving as its director.

Shi Xingjia, a disciple of Shi Dejian, said the institute also operates an official website to provide free public education on Chan Wu Yi culture, which has attracted nearly 1 million followers.

Chen Ruiyan, a professor and clinical psychologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who specializes in the brain and nervous system, is one of Master Shi Dejian’s disciples. She has set up a research team that has found indications that practicing dan tian breathing enhances brain function, and eases emotional, sleep and gastrointestinal problems.

“The practice of dan tian breathing is the foundation of Songshan internal cultivation, the basic method of Shaolin Chan practice, and is also a good way to improve people’s psychological and physical condition,” Chen said.

She has been practicing Chan Wu Yi for over 10 years, and her research results have been published in several international academic journals. Chen has also written two books on the subject — The Way of Mind Peace and Dejian Mind-Body Therapy.

Songshan Buddhist Academy has established an ecological health culture base at Lingnan Chan Temple in Luhe county, Shanwei, Guangdong province, to provide information on Chan Wu Yi culture to the public.

A performer demonstrates moves at the Shaolin Zen Music Ritual performance. [Photo by Lu Ping/China Daily]

Largest live stage

Every evening from late February to early December, in Daixiangou, 7 km from Shaolin Temple, a large-scale live-action performance captivates thousands of tourists from home and abroad.

The Shaolin Zen Music Ritual performance takes place deep in a canyon surrounded by slopes, streams, waterfalls, bridges, boulders, trees and temples.

The performance area covers nearly 3 square km — with the highest point 1,400 meters above sea level — making it one of the largest live stages in the world. The audience members sit on 3,000 cushions provided for them.

The show mainly focuses on Shaolin history, culture and martial arts, and incorporates traditional Chinese music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Eighty-eight traditional zithers are used in the show and nearly 600 martial artists participate. The performance depicts the seasonal changes of spring, summer, autumn and winter, to the accompaniment of Buddhist music.

“We need to find a new way to showcase the charm of Songshan Mountain to the world, breaking away from the monotonous tourism concept of ‘climbing mountains and visiting temples’,” said Zhou Dingjun, the deputy general manager of the show.

Most of the performers are students from martial arts schools and professional dancers from art schools, along with some local theater troupes and part-time actors.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

Continued from previous post

Two students practice martial arts at Chanxinju Homestay. [Photo by Lu Ping/China Daily]

Homestay havens

In Yangjiamen village, 5 km from Shaolin Temple, residential courtyards with old brick and mud walls, small bridges, flowing water, and scattered rocks, trees and fields create a picturesque rural landscape.

In 2018, Yangjiamen was listed in the fifth group of China’s traditional villages.

Much of the village is now Chanxinju Homestay, or Zen Mind Homestay. Chanxinju has established a traditional cultural study center that integrates food and lodging, Shaolin Kung Fu and a rural lifestyle. It has also co-founded the Qingnong School (Songshan Mountain) Rural Development Research Institute in conjunction with Tsinghua University.

Liu Shaoli, manager of Chanxinju, said before 2011 it was a desolate and abandoned village. Due to its location in a hollow of the mountain and inconvenient transportation access, the villagers had gradually moved out and left behind the dilapidated old buildings.

The founder of Chanxinju, Lu Hailong, is from a rural family in Liyang, Jiangsu. Lu spent over 10 years repairing the old village houses with the idea of preserving the past for future generations to enjoy.

Two students practice martial arts at Chanxinju Homestay. [Photo by Lu Ping/China Daily]

The first completed courtyard, Chongshan Academy, began operations in 2014, offering enrollments to students from Lu’s martial arts school and organizing a series of traditional cultural experience courses and summer and winter study programs. The renovated buildings opened in 2018, with 13 guest rooms for visitors.

“The interiors feature simple Zen-style modern facilities, along with a vegetarian restaurant, a cafe, and a camping and barbecue area, attracting many young people from nearby cities such as Zhengzhou and Luoyang to visit, take photos, experience nature, and enjoy the quiet and old-style rural life,” said Liu, the manager.

Historically, the village was an important stop on the way to Shaolin Temple and Luoyang, she added. “The village has a long history, and there are many ancient trees and buildings around it worth exploring. It is even more beautiful on rainy days when the mountain villages are shrouded in clouds, it’s like a fairyland,” Liu said.

During long holidays like Spring Festival, Chanxinju receives many tourists from across the country. Every summer, Lu Hailong’s foreign martial arts disciples bring their friends who love Shaolin Kung Fu to study in the village, said the founder.

[Photo by Lu Ping/China Daily]

Russian disciples

While changes are happening on the ground, Shaolin culture is also strengthening its foothold overseas.

In January, Russian Oleg Gizatullin, or Shi Yanfu by his monastic name, returned to Shaolin Temple to participate in a Shaolin Kung Fu examination. The 56-year-old has practiced kung fu for more than 30 years.

Gizatullin was accompanied by his 36-year-old wife Svetlana Vsemirnova, or Shi Yanbin, who has practiced Shaolin Kung Fu for 13 years. The pair have established the St. Petersburg Shaolin Culture Center at a sports school in St. Petersburg, which currently has over 30 students.

“Every morning we practice Shaolin Kung Fu by the banks of the Volga River, starting with qigong and meditation,” Gizatullin said.

Vsemirnova, who spent four years studying at the Harbin Institute of Technology and is fluent in Chinese, said Shaolin Kung Fu culture has helped her spiritual cultivation. She said everyone encounters different issues and finds their own way to heal themselves.

“Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, practicing qigong regularly has been greatly beneficial in improving our lung and heart functions, enhancing our immunity and alleviating anxiety caused by the pandemic,” Vsemirnova said.

“Now, every friend around us has been influenced by Shaolin culture. They come to us for help when facing problems, and we teach them qigong to relieve depression and stress, promoting self-cultivation.”

She said she hoped to eventually live in Dengfeng for a lengthy period and further her studies of Shaolin culture.

I reported on Shi Dejian in our May+June 2005 issue cover story: Shaolin Trinity: Shaolin Monk Shi Dejian Discusses the 3 Treasures

Shaolin-Journeys
may-june-05

[GeneChing]

Kung Fu leading tourism

China
China’s visa-free policies boost cultural tourism, with Kung Fu leading the way for global visitors
2025-01-02 03:06 Last Updated At11:27

China’s expanded visa-free policies have sparked interest among international travelers for traditional Chinese culture and fueled a surge in local cultural tourism.

In the first 11 months of 2024, China welcomed 29.218 million foreign visitors, with 17.446 million entering visa-free, up 123.3 percent year-on-year.

This surge is leading to a growing demand for immersive cultural experiences. China, home to 1,557 nationally recognized intangible cultural heritage items, offers them opportunities to explore these traditions.

In Quanzhou City, east China’s Fujian Province, string puppet show has been a popular attraction for international visitors.

“The plate spinners and the puppet that balances the jug on their head, the lion dance and the ribbon dance also. I like seeing these things,” said an American visitor.

“I think it’s very interesting. I’ve never seen a doll like this before. And I think it’s a very imaginative way. See what the culture sort of outfits were like. I really like it,” said an Indonesian student participating in a doll clothes-making workshop

A survey by the China Tourism Academy revealed that over 60 percent of respondents cited experiencing Chinese culture as their primary reason for visiting. World Heritage sites, the four ancient capitals, and intangible cultural heritage items like paper cutting, flower headband, and shadow puppetry are proving to be major draws for international tourists.

Shaolin Kung Fu, one of the most famous traditional martial arts in China, is a globally recognized symbol of Chinese culture. The Shaolin Temple in Quanzhou has seen an influx of international visitors eager to witness and learn this martial art.

“Because martial arts transcend borders. It’s a body language understood worldwide,” said Li Gang, head coach of Quanzhou Shaolin Temple Warrior Monks Troupe.

Eros, an Italian living in the city for nearly a decade, is a devoted Shaolin Kung Fu enthusiast. He attends performances every month and shared photos on social media to share the moment with his family and friends.

Thanks to the visa-free policy implemented for Italians by the end of 2023, Eros’s mother and friends were finally able to visit him and experience Chinese culture.

“If you watch the show, you can just feel the power, the energy. I needed to send my passport for my visa to Chinese consulate. So, you need to plan in this one month before. You don’t need to follow this rule now. And you can easily come to visit China,” he shared.

China’s visa-free policies boost cultural tourism, with Kung Fu leading the way for global visitors

I got a visa when I went last summer. I guess I didn’t have to do that. :o

[GeneChing]

For Better Life in 2025

//youtu.be/GRhQwVbSuzc

Shaolin what now? :rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

#ishowspeed is trending for this…

37+ M subscribers

//youtu.be/GutqOcN-cE0