If I, a white man, went to the Shaolin Temple (The actual temple) and wanted to join/enter it, would I be turned away?
I know everyone is welcome to learn there but would a westerner be allowed to enter the Temple?
My guess is they are so overwhelmed that they turn Chinese away tooo!!!
You might be able to go to the Wu Shu Guan and train, “IF” you have the $$, but to become a monk means you need to go to the Buddhist college first.
Hmm… I doubt the Chinese government would let you become a monk. And RD’s right, you’d have to have a degree in Buddhism first.
If I held a residents visa to China. (meaning that i’ve been notorized as a Chinese resident) would I have the right, as any other Chinese person does, to train at the Temple? Can anyone give me a telephone number or address where I can contact the Abbott at? If I can’t actually join the temple could I still train with the ACTUAL monks at Shaolin Temple? I know that there are people from different countries who reside at the temple and live and train there but I think they are classed as a different type of Shaolin monk. Not wenseng or wuseng but something else.
There’s no training going on in the temple itself. There are modern wushu classes down the street though, affiliated with the temple, which you could attend. Do a google search for “training at the shaolin temple” and you should find some people’s experiences.
Yeah, that whole buddhist thing is right, and I hear the Abbot has a thing for the buddhist college in bejing. The warrior monks all train at some of the different schools around Shaolin (most of which are now torn down) and in Dengfeng, the closest town. The monks do train and do “shows” occasionally at the temple, but I think a lot of the classes are elsewhere, like up on the mountain or out in some fields. If you are interested in training in China you should take a look at www.russbo.com for information. Doc, the guy who keeps that site (which is freaking enormous) is going again to train in and around shaolin soon, and goes pretty frequently. He has whole sections on going to china to train.
Aumitabha
I read an article a couple years ago on how you can attend in China for a fee. It was a two year program and was $10,000.00 10 years ago. I dont know if they still do it or the current cost.
This was from memory so I could be wrong on the price and length.
I think the Wu Shu Guan is the Shaolin Temples training facility, it is located right next to the Temple itself or in VERY close proximity. Last “I” heard all to the Martial Monks were livng and training there, and the Stricly Buddhist Monks were occupying the Temple itself.
Shaolin has always been split with the majority of the Monks being Buddhist in nature with no more martial training than you or I, but it also had “Soldier” Monks who’s primary focus was defence of the Temple - THEY are the ones who train like 9 hours a day and develop all the “Super Human” skills (Super human being used the same way as describing Michale Jordan in his prime). They also must be well versed in Buddhisum, but it is not their primanry foucus.
The Whu Shu Guan has dorms and accomadates westerners, including English speaking teachers.
Gene would know quite a bit more than I, as I am just repeating stuff he wrote in Kung Fu/Qigong magazine and stuff I read on Russbo.com (Doc’s site)
Shaolin FAQ
PG: To enter the sangha of a Chinese Buddist temple, especially one as notable as Shaolin, you have to have some authority on Buddhism. This means you must have graduated from China’s Buddhist college or built a significant practice elsewhere. To actually live in the temple, you must be accepted, and they’re not going to accept just anyone. To my knowledge, no westerner has penetrated that far yet.
You can train with the wuseng easily. You can train with a wenseng too, but they are harder to get to. As for being accepted as an actual Shaolin monk, well, that’s a different matter. I know at least one westerner who claims that he was accepted as a wuseng.
If you address a letter to the abbot of Shaolin Temple, it will get to his secretary, but it would have to be a good letter to get to the abbot himself. He’s a very busy man.
RD: The wushuguan’s around Shaolin aren’t that much $$. In fact, their pretty cheap by western standards. Full days of private lessons for a few bucks. More kungfu than you can eat.
Brad: I have heard of the PRC recognizing non-Chinese monks and non-Chinese monks studying at Chinese temples other than Shaolin. Shaolin is so prominent now that it falls in a different class than the others. There has been a movement in the last few years for Buddhist scholars to take a better look at what is happening in China. Many of the big developements in Zen happened in China, like the 6th patriarch or the blue cliff records, so there have been more pilgrimages of Westerners. Once you get past the whole tibetan thing, the Zen stuff is pretty interesting. It wouldn’t surprise me if Shaolin opened up soon, since Abbot Yongxin is pushing to build the Buddhism up even more, and the stay fo such a foreigner would bring such face, but I imagine that it would have to begin with a significant figure.
Braden: There is training inside the temple. I even trained there, although they were more like token lessons in the temple. But you’ll find private courtyards in the back with weights, heavy bags, weapons etc,. where the monks train.
NP: Abbot Yongxin graduated from Buddhist college in Beijing. He has been working very hard to re-establish Shaolin as a buddhist center. Now it is much more wu then wen, but hopefully, he can strike the balance.
Doc (a.k.a. Russbo, Richard Russell) is my younger disciple brother
Why go? You’d get better training here in the U.S. They actually invited Frank Yee there to SHOW THEM his version of Gung Jee Fuk Foo. Forget the movies. There are better teachers here, and plenty of Budhist Temples too.
Gene: Could you please give me the address for the abbott of the Shaolin Temple? I can speak Mandarin pretty well but writing it is a different story. I’ll have my friend translate it for me.
And whoever posted that whole Americans can train you better thing. It’s not just the martial arts that draws me to Shaolin, it’s the only place where i feel my life will have some purpose to it. I can’t really explain it, it’s just something I have to do.
The feed back has been really great. Thankyou everyone.
Gene: This is the best forums site I have EVER been on.
Gene - That’s cool. Are there regular classes there?
Originally posted by Spirit Writer
Why go? You’d get better training here in the U.S. They actually invited Frank Yee there to SHOW THEM his version of Gung Jee Fuk Foo. Forget the movies. There are better teachers here, and plenty of Budhist Temples too.
maybe they wanted to learn it in the first place :). it’s not like the shaolin temple teaches hung gar.
i don’t understand how you can undermine the ability of the teachers in shaolin. they eat, sleep, dream, and live kung fu. i’m sure the way they teach is AT LEAST on par with the way teachers in the u.s. teach, just different.
It’s not just the martial arts that draws me to Shaolin, it’s the only place where i feel my life will have some purpose to it. I can’t really explain it, it’s just something I have to do.
I hear a calling. If it calls that much, then follow your heats intent eh ?
Buddhist school is not so hard, it’s the actual detachment process that is difficult. Good luck !
Thankyou. It is my calling and I will answer it.
If people don’t have the courage to follow their callings or dreams, then what purpose is there to their lives?
Don’t mind me, just my two cents. Just that all the stuff I have seen out of Shaolin is pure Wushu, doesn’t seem too affective – again, this is just my opinion. It is not opinion however that martial arts has deteriated in China and most of the best have left to Taiwan or overseas all together.
Anyway, Respected, where on the Island are you? If you ever feel like getting together to cross train, let me know?
The problem with following a calling is that the dream is so important, it hides the truth.
It doesn’t matter what the truth is, as long as you’re doing something which feels right to you. No one should be discouraged by others opinions.
The truth is what it means to you.
Anywho, there is a lot of wushu being taught, however in all that lies a truth as well. The shaolin sets can look very wushu depending on whos doing them.
I found this on the USSD site.
“On June 6, 2000 Headmaster and founder of United Studios of Self Defense, Charles Mattera and his student Master Steve DeMasco were promoted to Grandmaster by Great Master Shi Yongxin, the Abbot of the Shaolin Temple. The Abbot presented the diplomas to Grandmaster Mattera and Grandmaster DeMasco in a ceremony which was witnessed by more than 160 United Studios of Self Defense students participating in this once in a lifetime event.”