Venerable Abbot Shi Yongxin to visit SF

[GeneChing]

This is somewhat a continuation of this prior thread (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=28719).

Check out our Calendar for March (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/news/index.php). You'll find some special seminars by Venerable Shi Guolin and HK film star Shi Xiaolong on March 19th and 20th. Our non-profit branch, TigerClawFoudation.org, is involved in this project. Guolin and Xiaolong are coming out to pay respects to Abbot Shi Yongxin, who is coming with the March 21st show at the Masonic Auditorium. The show is 80% sold already, so if you want to see it, better move. Also we are working on holding a banquet in honor of the Abbot from the local martial arts community, probably on the 22nd. I'll let you know more here as soon as things are more firm.

[GeneChing]

We just posted some more information about the seminars and banquet on our non-profit site - www.tigerclawfoundation.org. Check it out for details.

[Shaolinlueb]

why cant they come to the east coast once in a while? like NYC or boston? yeah we have a couple monks in nyc but a visit from the abbot would be :cool:

[GeneChing]

...he's a busy man. This trip has some major political backing - he may be even meeting with Barbara Boxer and Arnold Schwartzenegger.

This is only the second visit that the Abbot has made to the USA. We discussed the first one here (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=25073) when it happened. FWIW, I understand that following his trip to Anaheim, he came here to SF to meet with the people promoting this show. Now you see another card - an ace in the the great poker game of Shaolin. I met with my disciple brother, Rich Russell of russbo.com, and he said that Demasco is started to reneg on his Shaolin claims. Not to be honest, I haven't followed that as closely as some of you others, so I'd be interested to hear if any of you can confirm this statement. Moreso, I'd be interested on conjecture about why he might do this, if it is indeed true. Was Demasco a stepping stone? Did the Abbot go to Anaheim just so he could get a paid trip to SF?

There's more to this story to come - a lot of stuff I can't reveal at this time - not sure I'll ever be able to reveal some of it, but I'll publish what I can. I will say this, this trip may well be the beginning of something very big for American Shaolin, something that may change everything in the next few years.

how's that for a tease?

[norther practitioner]

damit gene....

You can be such a snob some times...

dish the dirt man.. you need another handle to do that I guess, you should get on as Joe Dirt, whenever you need to dish it man.

[MasterKiller]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0897501411/inktomi-bkasin-20/ref%3Dnosim/002-0460715-8217641

He was "certain that if this (certification) got out to martial artists, somehow they would find a way to discredit it."


:rolleyes:

[norther practitioner]

Check and Check...lol

Has anyone seen the stances he does in that book?

[GeneChing]

Abbot Shi Yongxin has a better date - with the govenor of California at the capital building.

The show at the Masonic is still on of course, as are our seminars by Shi Guolin on Yijinjing (http://store.martialartsmart.net/pr-gs001.html) but no banquet, sadly.

It's not that I'm a snob, it's that I don't have the whole story yet. The details are changing every minute. This is a big government visit - many USA and Chinese officials are involved. To be honest, it's stretching my scope as a reporter. I'm mean really, most of the stuff I report in martial arts is old news, yesterday's tournaments, etc. Right now, I'm trying to get a pass into the capitol building to see what happens when the Abbot meets Arnie.

This is a wacky one. It's another reason why I love Shaolin. No other style quite stretches me like this...:cool:

[Tsingtao]

Thanks for the info Gene but you can't leave us hangin like that. What I find very interesting is Guolin's attending this function and he didn't attend the other. Guolin is supposed to be "the man" in the US, maybe they're opening another branch.

I'm sure the Dam ASS co, Mattera thing won't last long. These guys are all about fame and $$$$$ and as you all know don't have the best reputation. They'll use the their shaolin disciple status and the shaolin name as long as they can financially benefit from it and then drop it and move on to the next martial arts craze. It won't take long for their true colors to show.

Then again maybe The Venerable Dam ASS co will be heading up Shaolin San Fran.......... :D

[norther practitioner]

Thanks for the update Gene... keep us posted.

[Tsingtao]

Speaking of Damasco............ It looks like he's hiring instructors for his schools off of monster.com....... LOL

Monster.com (http://jobsearch.monster.com/getjob.asp?JobID=21274288&AVSDM=2004%2D03%2D10+20%3A50%3A35&Logo=1&col=dltci&cy=US&brd=1%2C1862%2C1863&lid=&fn=&q=martial+arts)

I guess you don't need to be skilled to teach at a USSD!!! :D

[MasterKiller]

checkout his email address:

sdemasco@shaolindisciple.com

:rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

...one of you should apply to that monster site, just to see where it goes. It'd could be kinda like the Lazlo letters (http://www.lorain.lib.oh.us/localauthors/lazlo_interview.html) but for martial arts. If anyone can carry that off, post it here. :D

As for the Abbot, apparently this is a major political event - the feds were pulled in to approve the visas for the Abbot's monk entourage. There's the visit to the capital. A lot of CA policticians seem to be involved including something to do with DOD. It's very weird. There's been a rumor floating around here for years that a large chunk of land was donated to found a Shaolin temple right here in the Bay Area. The people organizing this show maybe involved. They certainly have the political clout. Mind you, that's just rumor now, don't get all excited. I hope to have more info on all this by the end of next weekend. Maybe I've said too much already. The men in black or the baldheads in orange may come and take me away....

[GeneChing]

I just picked up Shaolin monk Venerable Shi Guolin, monk Ping Dao and Shaolin movie star Shi Xiaolong up from the airport. We spent a sparkling day in SF. The seminars start in a few hours, so it'll be a big Shaolin weekend. I'll touch base here next week with how it all went.

[Banjos_dad]

If only. Im being sarcastic ok? Which would be better. Working for USSD, or Sifu Z.:)

[dimmakseminar]

Dear Fellow Martial Arts Enthusiasts:

Interesting indeed that Mr. Demasco is utilising Monster.com to search for instructors. If it was not noted that his is the largest martial arts organisation in the USA, one might infer that the need to advertise is in fact a commentary on the current students, and therefore a reflection on the quality of the current instruction.

Sincerely,

dimmakseminar

PS: Great news about the Shao-Lin triumvirate's safe trip over.

[GeneChing]

...It was a solid show, all in all. I'll report on it more formally in the magazine, but FWIW, there was a lot of traditional Shaolin demonstrated. I think that's the first time that there has been such a focus on the traditional. They'd do some showy modern stuff, interspersed with some older monks doing traditional. The show had it's clunkiness, somewhat impinged by being for Chinese community so it was in the classic HK male and female MC's with their evening dress and silly banter in Cantonese. Also there was a lot of political proclamations and such. And a disasterous failed dim mak demo. But the traditional stuff rocked - it was a real delight to see. I only caught the first part of the show. During intermission, the Abbot called Gigi, me and Dr. Shahar (our guest) in for a private meeting and we missed most of the second part. We got charged with a mission by the Abbot, but that's another story.
Anyways, more to come, stay tuned....

[sean_stonehart]

Aw c'mon... you can't just leave us hanging!!!

What goofed up on the dim mak demo?

[norther practitioner]

During intermission, the Abbot called Gigi, me and Dr. Shahar (our guest) in for a private meeting and we missed most of the second part. We got charged with a mission by the Abbot, but that's another story.

:eek:

Cool, I've heard, ahem rumors about this... etc... there has been a buzz, you've got to come forward soon Gene :D Don't keep us in suspense, or are you writing a whole article on it.

See, thats just straight out of a ma flick...

[GeneChing]

We're not sure if it's a mission that we can accept because it is very demanding to meet the deadline. So I'll let you know more after we decide a course of action.

The Dim Mak demo was by some visiting master - not one of the monks. They asked for a volunteer and like 50 people rushed the stage. The show production brokedown - no one could see what was happening. Then said master tried to do some kind of knock-out hit - socking three guys in succession at what looked to be the edge of the bottom of the rib cage, possibly the point of the floating rib. None of them went down. It was an embarrassment and upstaged the rest of the show.

On the whole, production values of the show drew a lot of negative response. I guess I'm used to that from Chinese community. Many people walked away with a bad feeling about the performance. For me, like I said, I really enjoyed seeing the tradtional forms from some older masters. Also for the political stuff, I was busy being a press photographer. Then, like I said, I missed the second half. So my perception of the show was skewed. I'd love to hear comments from others who might have seen it.

[sean_stonehart]

Laughs on the "dim mak" demo...

Let us know what's up with the "mission" as soon as feasible... //theme music... "mission impossible" ....\\

[GeneChing]

...i'm sure that the failed dim mak demo will be all that anyone is talking about this show. Nothing like a snafu to upstage everything else, especially in the martial world.

[Shaolinlueb]

Originally posted by GeneChing
...i'm sure that the failed dim mak demo will be all that anyone is talking about this show. Nothing like a snafu to upstage everything else, especially in the martial world.

so the review of the show and plenty of pcitures will be in the next issue, exluding the dim mak demo?

[GeneChing]

...that was the review above. I will be reporting on other stuff that happened in conjunction with this show, but the show itslef wasn't really worth anymore of a review than I just gave.

BTW, here's something from the Marin Independent Journal about the recent happenings (there was also an article in the World Journal, but it's in Chinese).

Zen Buddhist monks display skills in Assembly chamber

Tuesday, March 23, 2004 - Associated Press

The highest figure in Chinese Zen Buddhism and a group of his monks attended yesterday's Assembly session during the monks' first visit to the United States.

The group of Shaolin martial artists from Songshan, China, demonstrated their world-famous Kung Fu on the Assembly's green carpets, after Venerable Master Abbott Shi Yong
Xin led the morning prayer.

The performance included acrobatic flips and shows of strength by the monks.

One performed a handstand balanced only on his index fingers, and another stood coolly while former Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson, D-Culver City, repeatedly kicked him between the legs. The monks urged Wesson to kick harder.

Republican Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy of Monrovia was invited to deliver a series of blows to another's midsection. After being socked three or four times by the legislator, the monk was unfazed.

The monks belong to the 1500-year-old Shaolin Temple, the place credited with creating the beginning of Zen Buddhism.

They were invited to the Assembly session by Speaker Pro Tempore Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, and performed Sunday night in San Francisco.