Criminals under the guise of Shaolin monks busted.

[The Xia]

http://www.lse.co.uk/BizarreNews.asp?Code=BG55980X&headline=criminal_monks

[GeneChing]

Thought I'd cache this one for posterity's sake.


Criminal 'monks'
Tuesday, 5th December 2006, 23:53
LIFE STYLE EXTRA (UK) - A group of nineteen Chinese men have been detained by police after conning people out of money by impersonating monks.

The detainees are part of a group of 50 men who have been selling fake or shoddy goods in the district of Wuhou, in the city of Chengdu.

The group have shaved heads and wear monk robes and claim to be from the "Shaolin Temple Martial Arts Performing Troupe".

A local police officer said: "They aren't monks, they are con artists."

Intimidated residents notified police of the group's activities, and when they arrived on the scene they found the gang attacking journalists who had been trying to film them.

Around 180 officers were called to the scene and gave chase when the 'monks'

sped off in two vehicles. Only 19 members were detained and the others are under investigation.

The sad part is that it reflects poorly on Shaolin, even though they are not directly involved. This sort of thing has happened before. It's nice to see one get busted for a change.

[MasterKiller]

There will be no Roof-Top Kung Fu for these guys!

[The Xia]

The practice of using the cloth for refuge (for a multitude of reasons) is present all across world history and is nothing new. Gene, I recall brief mentions in some readings that even in the "old days" of Shaolin, this kind of thing wasn't unheard of. Can you point me in the direction of finding some more facts on this?

[GeneChing]

Dr. Meir Shahar has a few good historic references along these lines, but his work isn't published yet. I discuss his progress in the Shaolin Special (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=687) (on stands now ;) ) in The Shaolin Avant Garde: Three New Books Bring Fresh Perspectives on Shaolin Temple.

[lunghushan]

When I first read the headline my first thought was, "They're finally shutting down the 'Shaolin' temples???" LOL

Seriously, what's the difference between a bunch of guys dressing up like monks and taking $$$ and the so-called Shaolin guys dressing up like monks and taking $$$? Doesn't seem like there's any difference at all.

[Shaolin Wookie]

Hmm....government officials shut down fake Shaolin monks for bilking money out of unsuspecting tourists? Sounds familiar.....but seriously...

The PRC just should've sent a troop of the "real" Shaolin monks down into the city to handle the riffraff. We'd all have seen real quick who the "real" monks were, and who the imposters were.

We can dog the current residents of Henan all we want. Truth is, though, they train more/harder than 99% of us--even the most dedicated of us--despite the fact they do put on wushu shows, etc. They would've made mincemeat out of the fakes.

Hell, their "fake" Shaolin would probably be better than any of our American Kung-fu....I'm sorry, I forgot where I was.....

Our real, dyed-in the wool, forever unchanged, universally accepted, continentally displaced :rolleyes: TCMA...;)

[lunghushan]

So the diference is Shaolin are better martial artists?

Anyway, whatever. I don't understand the entire commercialization of monks in the modern age and Gene says it's never really been any different, but it still seems kindof fake.