Shaolin Soccer for real

[GreenCloudCLF]

Shaolin Soccer Live! (http://www.collegehumor.com/movies/1668658/)

Brought to you by my friends at collegehumor.com...that means NSW ads people...and b00bs...

[shaolinboxer]

LOL

I've actually seen that happen. Of course the one kid in highschool who could do that trick was showing it off in the gym and he nailed some poor kid in the head.

The school nurse must have had a heart attack.

[GeneChing]

I posted this initially on the Shaolin Soccer thread in the Media forum (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1025111&postcount=21), but the story is still percolating so I'm posting it here now. Even Shaolin gets in on the World Cup action. :rolleyes:


Shaolin Soccer – kung fu monks take on brewery (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/malcolmmoore/100047140/shaolin-soccer-kung-fu-monks-take-on-brewery/)
By Malcolm Moore World Last updated: July 13th, 2010

At 5.30pm on Sunday, just a few hours before the World Cup final, eleven teenage Shaolin monks took to a field in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, Henan province, for their first-ever football match.

“The boys, who are training in kung fu, came up with the idea of setting up a team,” said Feng Weifeng, a spokesman for the Shaolin Temple’s Tagou Martial Arts School. “They are all mad about football. They have been watching the World Cup in their dorms every night. They all have their own team, and they tend to like Brazil and Argentina. Messi is their favourite,” he added.

Knowledge of the game, however, was limited. “Some of them had never touched a football before, and they kept using their hands,” said Mr Feng.

On the pitch, however, the athletic monks were a blur, entertaining the crowd with an array of flips, somersault and overhead kicks.

They were such a blur, in fact that no one is quite sure who won the match. According to Tsingtao, they triumphed by a modest 15 goals to 8. The Shaolin Temple, meanwhile, feels that it won 10 to 8. “It was hard to say,” said one commentator. “Most of the goals from both sides were offside.”

Unlike Holland, the monks did not rack up any yellow or red cards. Not because they did not foul, but because the referee did not have any cards. “Offsides, corner kicks, fouls and handballs were all overlooked,” reported one newspaper in Henan.

Anyone who has watched Shaolin Soccer, the film by Steven Chow which imagines a possible union between kung fu and football will be entertained to know that Wang Pengyu, the Shaolin goalie, managed to puncture a new ball by kicking it too hard.

“The ball did not fly through the air, but stuck on the end of the keeper’s toe,” said the newspaper. “They have Shaolin Kung Fu and strong legs,” remarked one fan.

“We have no plans for another match yet,” said Mr Feng. “The students are very busy and we are just having fun, not playing for a crowd”.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/files/2010/07/Shaolin-students-play-the-beautiful-game-at-Tagou-Wushu-School-in-Dengfeng-459x269.jpg


Kung football: Shaolin monk students show Holland's Nigel de Jong how it's really done (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1294343/Kung-football-Shaolin-monks-Hollands-Nigel-Jong-really-done.html)
Last updated at 2:54 PM on 13th July 2010

High kicks and brightly coloured outfits, these Shaolin students at a Chinese monastery have a lot in common with Holland’s footballers.

But unlike the fiery World Cup finalists, these yellow-robed youngsters know their martial arts from their two-footed tackles.

Kung flew: A Shaolin student delivers a flying football kick while practising at Tagou Wushu School in China

Their soccer efforts certainly outshine Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong’s astonishing challenge on Spain’s Xabi Alonso in Sunday’s tempestuous tie.

And unlike Holland’s hotheads, students at Tagou Wushu School in Dengfeng, central China, prefer to keep cool - and achieve this by meditating while balancing the ball.

They even laughed it off when an overly enthusiastic ‘tackle’ burst the ball, bringing an end to the team’s training session in the tranquil foothills of Mount Song.

The school is linked to the Shaolin Monastery in the Henan province, which was founded in the fifth century.

The students have just formed their football team and will be looking to take on fellow martial arts experts.

Let’s just hope messrs de Jong and co don’t get any new ideas.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/13/article-1294343-0A68CE3E000005DC-216_306x451.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/13/article-1294343-0A68CE56000005DC-744_634x438.jpg


On me 'ead.. (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/07/13/on-me-ead-115875-22409046/)
13/07/2010

Eat your heart out Nigel De Jong. When it comes to football high kicks you're Sunday pub league next to this lot.

Holland hardman De Jong was yellow carded for karate kicking opponent Xabi Alonso in the World Cup final.

But if he faced one of these martial art ****kids even De Jong would be likely to pull out of the tackle. The apprentice Shaolin monks showed off their amazing skills at Dengfeng, in China's Henan province, where a football school has recently been established.

Wearing bright robes, the students practised karate kicks and headstands while controlling the ball with ease.

Perhaps butterfingers England keeper Robert Green could pop in for a lesson.

[TaichiMantis]

Silly monks! You hit the ball with your laces not your toes :rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

The meetings with IOC leaders Rogge & Samaranch have little to do with this soccer angle, but the FIFA bit is amusing. Don't forget - we have the Shaolin Special 2011 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59604) coming at you - we're shipping them out to subscribers right now.

Shaolin monks do soccer (http://shanghaiist.com/2011/03/22/shaolin_monks_do_soccer.php)

http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/shang_shanghaiist/shaolin1.jpg
The Shaolin monks are famous worldwide for their impressive kung fu styling and recognisable yellow robes, but it seems that David Beckham and Lionel Messi had better look out. After bringing you something reminiscent of a scene from Shaolin Soccer back in July last year it seems Shaolin monks are intent on taking over the (footballing) world.

The Shaolin monks of Henan province have set up a football academy, which is quickly gaining support from the entire footballing community. The monks have been invited by FIFA to take part in the opening ceremony of the Germany Women’s 2011 world cup and have met with many influential sporting figures such as Jacques Rogge and Juan Antonio Samaranch, heads of the International Olympic Committee. They have also played against some big named players from the international football circuit and have made headlines worldwide.

Founder of the School Yan Lu explains that “the academy was born out of his passion for the sport and that of the students and that then there came a need for proper coaching and the coach for the Cameroon team got involved.” (“培养兴趣”，待这一步完成之后，接下来就是“拔高”，“从中选出有足球天赋，对足球喜爱的学生，成立足 球队。提供更好的条件和专门的教练”) He also , à la Shaolin Soccer believes that thousands of years of Shaolin history and the modern game of football are a perfect fit and the skills needed for both kong fu and football are very similar. There is apparently a lot of talent and potential in the team, whose ages range from 4 to 20 and the training they learn here could help with future careers involving all sorts of sport related teaching.

The reaction of people across China has been mixed, the vice president of Henan provinces football league has deemed the project useful and innovative although does have a few concerns. The primary one being that the team doesn’t have a pitch and is practising on a bricked surface, which could easily cause injuries.

Die hard football fans deem the project silly and perhaps just a publicity stunt. They don’t think there is any quick solution to Chinas football problem and think it needs to be handled like it is in Europe and Brazil; get children playing football as young as possible. However, given Chinas current success rate in the "beautiful game", they really need all the help they can get. Perhaps they could learn something from Shaolin soccer.

[Lucas]

thats right get kids playing as young as possible. shaolin kids!!!!! take the football world by storm!

[TaichiMantis]

I've always thought if I had started kung fu earlier in my soccer career I would have been a much better player....:D;)

[GeneChing]

20 stories on the newsfeed today. I cherrypicked a few for y'all here.


Can Shaolin Temple save Chinese football? (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iwmM0Pd7CpMfpV8Chy-qXcjFV0ug?docId=CNG.1b64a6725906cfcabaa4f4b42fc1a3 bf.721)
(AFP) – 11 hours ago

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/media/ALeqM5iDF4Pgu5w9qV45uLUUxnl_hvlbuw?docId=photo_130 1033483200-1-0&size=l
BEIJING — China's celebrated Shaolin Temple is training young kungfu disciples to play football in the far-off hope of reversing the flagging fortunes of the national team, state media reported.

In a case of life imitates art the initiative will likely draw comparisons with hit 2001 Hong Kong comedy "Shaolin Soccer" about a group of washed-up monks from the temple who apply their superhuman moves on the soccer pitch.

The temple, in central China's Henan province, which is famed for the acrobatic exploits of its warrior monks, opened a soccer training centre in October that has more than 40 martial arts students learning the "beautiful game," the official Xinhua news agency said late Thursday.

Shi Yanlu, head coach at the training base, said the discipline and ethos of kungfu can translate into effective football.

"Chinese football is in the doldrums, and when some elements of Shaolin kungfu, particularly its spirit, are integrated into soccer, we hope it will help improve the training level of football," he said in the report.

The legwork and physical coordination of kungfu could also help future Chinese footballers, he added.

China's national football team is a laughing-stock at home and a source of anguish for fans frustrated by the inability of the world's most populous country to succeed in the world's most popular sport.

China failed to qualify for last year's World Cup, has performed poorly in the Olympic Games and recently failed to reach the Asian Cup's knockout stages.

China's pro league also is reeling from a match-fixing, gambling and graft scandal that has resulted in the arrests of two former national football association heads and a number of lower-level officials.

The young recruits at the temple's training centre -- all around 10 years old -- are being coached by Alphonse Tchami, a retired Cameroonian national footballer, the report said.

The temple plans to attract more recruits among the 2,000 disciples who train at Shaolin, it added.


Shaolin Temple opens soccer school (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/98649/7331696.html)
16:56, March 25, 2011

The brilliant Brazilian and Argentine national soccer teams are often referred to as the "samba kings" and "tango group" on the world soccer stage. A "kung Fu" group will possibly emerge on China's soccer stage in the future.

The Shaolin Temple Buddhist Warrior Training Base recently opened a Shaolin Temple Youth Soccer School, hoping to integrate Shaolin kung fu with soccer.

When reporters visited the Shaolin Temple Buddhist Warrior Training Base, a plaque reading "Shaolin Temple Youth Soccer School" was already put up on the front gate. Scores of primary school students around the age of 10 were training on the playground under the instruction of a coach from Cameroon.

Although these boys appeared not to be professional, the coach, a former player on the Cameroon national soccer team, spoke highly of them, "They have excellent physical quality and good playing skills and have learnt quickly."

"There are similarities in many aspects between Chinese martial arts and soccer. Despite the current downturn in China's soccer sector, we seek to integrate some elements of Shaolin martial arts into soccer in hopes of enhancing the level of soccer training in China," said Shi Yanlu, head coach of the Shaolin Temple Buddhist Warrior Training Base.

The Shaolin Temple Buddhist Warrior Training Base established the youth soccer school from in 2010 with support from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The CFA donated 1,000 soccer balls to the school half a month ago.

[GeneChing]

Funny to watch how this gets passed on virally, yes?

Kung fu football school to improve China's soccer performance (http://news.myjoyonline.com/lighternews/201103/63422.asp)
Last Updated: Monday, 28 March 2011, 5:30 GMT Previous Page

http://news.myjoyonline.com/photos/news/kung_fu_football%201.jpg

Shaolin monks are hoping to improve China's poor football performance with a new training school which combines football with kung fu.

Shi Yanlu, head of the venture at the world famous Shaolin Temple, says he believes the disciplines of kung fu will benefit young footballers.

He has selected 40 young monks to train at the school under the supervision of martial arts experts and former international footballers.

Yanlu said: "Right now, China's football performance is really disappointing. We hope by combining kung fu elements and spirit, Chinese football can perform better."

As well as regular football training, the monks focus on aspects of the martial art, such as balance and leg strength, which will make them better footballers.

"They have superb physical qualities, and they are learning things very quickly. We will try to meld the kung fu into the football training, hopefully improving the level of Chinese football," added Yanlu.

"The kids here all have a spirit of hard-work. We will invite some outstanding coaches to teach them. Hopefully we can have several international football stars of the future here."

The Shaolin Monk Football Training Base is being backed by the China Football Association which has provided equipment, including 1,000 footballs.

It now plans to build more pitches for students to play on.

[TaichiMantis]

I still like the Adidas commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYSKdIsHAXE)that has the chinese women's team throwing down a tai chi inspired soccer ball challenge in a park;)

[GeneChing]

But I'd argue that it was in the wake of Shaolin Soccer, which was 2001. That FIFA ad was 2003.

It all starts at Shaolin. :cool:

Here's another news story. It's great to watch the slow viral spread of this. What amazes me is that they keep getting new pix. There's some savvy marketing with this particular Shaolin school for sure.


Martial arts monks trained at football (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3496095/Monk-from-famous-Shaolin-Temple-martial-arts-centre-performs-a-stunning-overhead-kick-in-football-match.html)
By ALEX WEST
Published: Today

IT'S Kung Futball! A monk from the famous Shaolin Temple martial arts centre performs a stunning overhead kick during a soccer match.

The Chinese hope to turn their national team into world beaters by training the acrobatic monks to play.

Maybe some will end up playing for Inter the Dragon Milan...
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01281/SNN2925B-682_1281412a.jpg
Great ball of China ... monk takes a shot, left, and goalie clears it off the line
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01281/SNN2925C-682_1281413a.jpg
Pass master ... controlling ball with chest



Kung fu football (http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/bizarre/China-53408.html)
29 March 2011

A school in China is combining football with kung fu.

Shaolin monks are opening the new training quarters to train youngsters under the supervision of martial arts experts and former international footballers to try and enhance the nation's poor performance in the sport.

It is thought the martial arts training will improve their skills on the pitch.

The kids here all have a spirit of hard-work. We will invite some outstanding coaches to teach them. Hopefully we can have several international football stars of the future here.

Organiser Shi Yanlu said: "Right now, China's football performance is really disappointing. We hope by combining kung fu elements and spirit, Chinese football can perform better.

"The kids here all have a spirit of hard-work. We will invite some outstanding coaches to teach them. Hopefully we can have several international football stars of the future here."

[GeneChing]

There's a vid - follow the link - but just a slideshow of more pix.

Shaolin monks show Rooney how it's done (http://nz.sports.yahoo.com/news/article/-/9104495/shaolin-monks-rooney/)
Yahoo!Xtra Sport March 30, 2011, 11:04 pm

http://l.yimg.com/ea/img/-/110330/shaolinsoccer_16p601q-16p6028.jpg?x=292&sig=iuR3A6hxJ2D4Cq.2ZJvnMQ--
Shaolin monks show Rooney how it s done

They may be the subject of many a spoof, but it seems these shaolin monks are turning fiction into reality performing acrobatics on the football pitch that would leave Wayne Rooney and Nigel De Jong's high-kicking efforts for dust.

Apparently monks at the world famous Shaolin Temple are aiming to improve China's poor performance on the football pitch.

Despite having one of the world's biggest populations China have made it to just one World Cup, and were recently held to a 1-1 draw against the All Whites on home soil.

This has prompted the monks to come up with the novel idea of combining football with the age old art of kung fu.

Leading the initiative is Shi Yanlu, who believes the disciplines of kung fu will benefit young footballers.

Fourty young monks have now been selected to train at the school under martial arts experts and former international footballers.

“Right now, China's football performance is really disappointing. We hope by combining kung fu elements and spirit, Chinese football can perform better.” Yanlu is quoted in British newspaper the Daily Mail.

The kids here all have a spirit of hard-work. We will invite some outstanding coaches to teach them.

"Hopefully we can have several international football stars of the future here."

The Shaolin Monk Football Training Base is being backed by the China Football Association which has provided equipment, including 1,000 footballs.

It now plans to build more pitches for students to play on.
Football and kung fu a match made in heaven or a high-kicking disaster waiting to happen?

[Lucas]

a successful team wont sprout right away, but i think this has a lot of potential

[GeneChing]

Shaolin Temple denies it is training soccer players (http://www.china.org.cn/china/2011-04/11/content_22329797.htm)
China Daily, April 11, 2011

The Shaolin Temple in Henan province, which is renowned for its unique practice of kungfu, has refuted a claim that it was offering training in "kungfu soccer".

http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20110411/0019b93bd68d0f0ca63301.jpg
"Kungfu soccer"[File photo]

The temple said in a statement on its official website that no warrior monks have been sent out to coach students in soccer schools that had claimed they had hired kungfu masters from Shaolin.

The temple also said it never authorized training centers that claimed to offer courses in Shaolin martial arts.

The monastery said its reputation has long suffered from illegal acts of deception committed under the name of Shaolin.
Oh well. It's not all about the 'official' Shaolin. If we were limited to that, we'd never get anywhere. Our annual Shaolin Special isn't official (btw, Shaolin Special #12 is on stands now! (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1088339)) We do receive the Abbot's blessing in that he always graces us with an exclusive interview, but we're not official by any means.

Anyone have a contact for Shi Yanlu? ;)

[TaichiMantis]

Hmmm...I'm guessing the monks play a good game of pick-up ball, and probably tune in for the big competitions like world cup. Or was that a movie? ;)

[GeneChing]

The morning briefing ... the lighter side of sports (http://www.theprovince.com/technology/morning+briefing+lighter+side+sports/4666827/story.html)
Range.co.uk, McClatchy-Tribune April 24, 2011

haolin monks are hoping to improve China's poor football performance with a new training school that combines soccer with kung fu.

haolin monks are hoping to improve China's poor football performance with a new training school that combines soccer with kung fu.

S Shi Yanlu, head of the venture at the world famous Shaolin Temple, says he believes the disciplines of kung fu will benefit young footballers.

He has selected 40 young monks to train at the school under the supervision of martial arts experts and former international soccer players.

Yanlu said: "Right now, China's football performance is really disappointing. We hope by combining kung fu elements and spirit, Chinese football can perform better."

As well as regular football training, the monks focus on aspects of the martial art, such as balance and leg strength, which will make them better footballers.

"They have superb physical qualities, and they are learning things very quickly. We will try to meld the kung fu into the football training, hopefully improving the level of Chinese football," added Yanlu.

"The kids here all have a spirit of hardwork. We will invite some outstanding coaches to teach them. Hopefully we can have several international football stars of the future here."

The Shaolin Monk Football Training Base is being backed by the China Football Association, which has provided equipment, including 1,000 soccer balls. It plans to build more pitches for students.

Here's the disclaimer on the official Shaolin Temple website.

Fake Shaolin Organization & Individual Scams and Misguiding Publicity
Release Date：2011-03-29 (http://www.shaolin.org.cn/templates/EN_T_newS_list/index.aspx?nodeid=295&page=ContentPage&contentid=3999)
For years, there have been different fake or fraudulent “Shaolin Temple”, "Shaolin Kungfu Monk Corps”, "Shaolin Kungfu Monks”, and “Shaolin Masters” that are established and operating at home and abroad. Those organizations and individuals use Shaolin name to sell bogus drugs and swindle money from the mass, perform in fighting program and Kungfu shows, and even assault police, which have severely harmed the public interest and undermined the reputation of Shaolin Temple.

Recent days have seen continuous reports about Shaolin’s opening football school. Some report also made use of Abbot Yongxin’s supporting remarks on Chinese football, and made propaganda. Even worse, without sending the temple any confirmation inquiry into the case, most medias released false reports that Shaolin Temple had engaged in social work and set up social organizations. Shaolin Temple is in support of martial arts schools and students’ endeavors to develop football sports, and encouraging Shaolin lay disciples to utilize Shaolin Kungfu philosophy in the sports and push forward China’s football game. However, Shaolin Temple is a Buddhist monastery and all its activities involved in social work should go through a rigid application procedure. Any organization, individual or media that would make use of that case for propaganda purpose is not only against the religious community and also infringes related Chinese laws and regulations.

Shaolin Temple hereby makes the following statements:

1). Any football school, martial arts school, vocational school etc. that has opened with the name of Shaolin Temple, Shaolin Kungfu Monk Corps, Shaolin Monks or Kungfu Monks and is independent legal entity or not, ‘has no connection’ with China Songshan Shaolin Temple. Shaolin Temple has never dispatched any monk to teach in suchlike public or private schools.

2）The Sangha of Shaolin Temple is the bearer of Shaolin cultural inheritance. No public or private school has so far been entrusted to representing Shaolin Temple and taking on ‘the services of teaching, performing, visiting and promoting Shaolin Chan and Kungfu culture, as well as training talents’, and nor is accurate with the claim of ‘mainly composed of Shaolin Kungfu monks in its group’.

3). To report any suspicious organization, activity and performance’s use of names like “Shaolin Temple”, "Shaolin Kungfu Monk Corps”, "Shaolin Monks”, and “Shaolin Kungfu Monks” from home and abroad, please contact by phone 0371—62749305 or email us at shaolin.org@gmail.com. Religious events or activities that the monastic attend outside the temple will be announced in the official website of Shaolin Temple (www.shaolin.org.cn) in advance.

[GeneChing]

Now it's Shandong, not Shaolin...


Some Chinese sport schools to boost soccer with traditional Kungfu (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/shandong/e/2011-06/21/content_12745083.htm)
2011-06-21

JINAN: Some Chinese sport schools are attempting to combine soccer with the traditional Chinese kungfu in Shangdong province which draws support from Chinese soccer officials.

Since last year, Shangdong sport bureau has started to launch a campaign of developing soccer in local kungfu schools.

"Students like it very much. Playing soccer is much more fun than the daily kungfu exercises," a representative from Shandong Yuncheng Songjiang kungfu school was quoted as saying by local newspaper Qilu Evening News on Sunday.

Another representative from Shangdong Laizhou kungfu school said they would have a standard soccer field built up in the coming months and "hopefully we can reap some good results in five years".

As China is striving to lift the popular sport into a new level, the measure won applause from Chinese Football Association chief Wei Di.

"It is a creative measure and needs more attention," he said while visiting Shandong during the weekend.

Shandong is the place where Water Margin or Outlaws of the Marsh, one of the four great Chinese classics, set its background in the southern Song Dynasty period. Song Jiang is the head of a group of outlaws who fought against the governments' tyranny but eventually surrendered.

Editor: Wang Jingjing

Source: Xinhua


China’s latest fad — Kungfootballers (http://www.hindustantimes.com/China-s-latest-fad-Kungfootballers/Article1-712201.aspx)
Indo-Asian News Service
Beijing, June 22, 2011
First Published: 00:08 IST(22/6/2011)
Last Updated: 00:11 IST(22/6/2011)

Some Chinese sport schools are attempting to combine soccer with the traditional Chinese kungfu. “Students like it very much. Playing soccer is much more fun than the daily kungfu exercises,” a representative from Shandong Yuncheng Songjiang kungfu school was quoted as saying. Another repre
sentative said they would have a standard soccer field built in the coming months and “hopefully we can reap some good results in five years”.

The move won approval from Chinese Football Association chief Wei Di. “It is a creative measure and needs attention,” he said.

Forty young monks from the world famous Shaolin Temple have also been selected to train at a training school known as the Shaolin monk football training base where the hope is that the incredible balance and leg strength of kungfu disciples will lead to them becoming top class footballers.

Future rivals of the Chinese team should think twice before committing a foul against any of this lot.

[GeneChing]

not much news, but still making it...


Shaolin Soccer school set up (http://blogs.loughboroughecho.net/goaltastic/2012/05/shaolin-soccer-school-set-up.html)
By Isaac Ashe on May 4, 12 11:35 AM in Oddballs

http://blogs.loughboroughecho.net/goaltastic/assets_c/2012/05/shaolin%20soccer-thumb-450x285-181285.jpg
THE blockbuster mega hit movie that was Shaolin Soccer has become a reality!
Finally!
Kung fu mecca The Shaolin Temple in China has established a kung fu soccer school, and a group of 40 monks are being taught to combine football with the ancient martial art by a group of retired Chinese pros.
Head of training Shi Yanlu said: "Kung Fu has a lot of similarities with football.
"Right now China's football performance is really disappointing. We hope by combining Kung Fu elements and spirit Chinese football can perform better."
Rumours Nigel De Jong has signed up have yet to be confirmed.

[GeneChing]

Follow the link and to see Vermaelen do a little yinshougun (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48637)

Shaolin soccer! Vermaelen takes up Chinese art as Arsenal prepare for Far East tour (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2175290/Arsenals-Thomas-Vermaelen-Shaolin-warrior.html)
By Sportsmail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 05:22 EST, 18 July 2012 | UPDATED: 06:21 EST, 18 July 2012

Just when you thought you had seen everything in pre-season, Arsenal look to have taken it a step further.

In an effort to combat a leaky defence that conceded 49 goals in the Premier League last season, the club seem to have dabbled in the arts of Shaolin – with Thomas Vermaelen leading the way.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/18/article-2175290-141B85CB000005DC-915_634x711.jpg
Arsenal's new third kit? Thomas Vermaelen poses as a Chinese warrior

The defender, fully clothed in the attire, looked a natural learning the discipline which is enough to make any striker worried about facing the centre-back next season.

But fans concerned that becoming a Chinese warrior is taking defensive duties a bit too far can relax as the art is only a tribute to Arsenal’s fans in the Far East.

Chinese supporters greeted the Gunners team on a pre-season tour last year by unveiling a banner with the Belgian dressed as a warrior.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/18/article-2175290-141B85D5000005DC-526_306x423.jpg
In focus: Vermaelen was dressed as a warrior to pay tribute to fans in China

Under the tutelage of Shaolin Kung Fu master Shifu Shi Yan Kun, Vermaelen is (with the assistance of some creative editing) captured completing a range of traditional moves that are intended to reflect his style of play on the pitch.

Vermaelen, who liked the supporters' artwork of him so much he asked to take the banner home with him, said: ‘The welcome we had on tour last year was just amazing.

‘Those banners of us all as ancient warriors - and the work that must have gone into making them - summed up the dedication of the fans we met all over.

‘Making this video, and learning some of the moves from Shifu Shi Yan Kun was just a small way to try and thank them for that, and to get supporters ready for our return next week.’

Arsenal will return to China when they face Manchester City on June 27 inside Beijing’s Bird’s nest Stadium.

[GeneChing]

Thomas Vermaelen Ditches 'Verminator' Alter-Ego in Favor of Shaolin Style (http://www.nesn.com/2012/07/thomas-vermaelen-ditches-verminator-alter-ego-in-favor-of-shaolin-style-video.html)(Video) by Marcus Kwesi O'Mard on Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 12:27PM

Arsenal fans have taken to calling club vice-captain Thomas Vermaelen "The Verminator" because of his steely glare and futuristic style of play. But the Belgian defender could be turning in his Terminator tag for one a more timeless one. Vermaelen recently participated in a video shoot, in which he donned a Shaolin warrior costume. And he didn't just dress the part. He played it as well. Vermaelen followed instructions from Shaolin kung-fu master Shifu Shi Yan Kunshowed and showed off the techniques he learned for the cameras. It was a believable show until he started juggling a soccer ball and gave himself away. The idea was inspired by a banner one of Vermaelen's fans made during last year's preseason tour of China. Vermaelen liked it so much that he took it back home with him, the Mail reports. "The welcome we had on tour last year was just amazing," Vermaelen said. "Those banners of us all as ancient warriors -- and the work that must have gone into making them -- summed up the dedication of the fans we met all over. "Making this video, and learning some of the moves from Shifu Shi Yan Kun was just a small way to try and thank them for that, and to get supporters ready for our return next week." Arsenal is set to embark on another tour of the Far East. The Gunners will visit Malaysia and China as part of its preseason preparations. Vermaelen will be present unless he signs with the Wu-Tang clan before the Arsenal plane leaves London.


Here's the vid: Imagined by China, made by Arsenal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUmwHHmcNaI)

[GeneChing]

Teammates getting in on the kung fu action...


Everybody was kung-fu fighting... Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain given special lessons as Arsenal make friends in China (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2179145/Arsenal-stars-Theo-Walcott-Alex-Oxlade-Chamberlain-enjoy-Kung-Fu-lessons.html)
By Nick Metcalfe
PUBLISHED: 03:09 EST, 26 July 2012 | UPDATED: 06:32 EST, 26 July 2012

Things are changing at the Bank of England club, it seems.

While their major rivals Manchester United, Chelsea and the others have been making their faraway summer tours for many years, it's a relatively new thing for Arsenal.

But they seem to be enjoying themselves in China, judging by these pictures.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/26/article-0-1438AC1A000005DC-377_306x404.jpg
Kung Fu Fighting: Theo Walcott was given special lessons in Beijing on Thursday

With the whole sporting world turning its attentions to London for the Olympics, Arsene Wenger and his men are in Beijing, which hosted the Games so memorably four years ago.

And youngsters Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott were given lessons in traditional Kung Fu.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/26/article-0-1438AC47000005DC-71_634x444.jpg
Be careful, lads: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott were given a lesson by traditional Kung Fu Master Zhang Yuxan

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/26/article-0-1438ABDF000005DC-639_634x433.jpg
Well done, lads: Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott with Zhang Yuxan

Zhang Yuxan, a traditional Kung Fu Master, put the pair through their paces. They looked happy enough, but I think it's fair to say they should probably stick to football.

A number of players also attended a special football clinic for young children in the Chinese capital on Thursday.

On Friday, Arsenal play Premier League champions Manchester City at the Birds Nest.

Thomas Vermaelen can't wait to play at the stadium, telling the club's official website: 'Four years ago I was in China for the Olympics with the Belgian national team.

'We travelled all over the country, not just Beijing, and it was the first time I had been to the country. We had a great tournament too and almost won a medal.
Nice save, Wojciech: Szczesny in action amid the skyscrapers of Beijing

'We didn't play in the Bird's Nest, but I went to the stadium to watch the athletics, and it was a great experience.

'It looks fantastic, and I think the atmosphere will be.'

[GeneChing]

...and this is still in the news... :rolleyes:


Can Shaolin Temple save Chinese football? (http://en.tengrinews.kz/sport/Can-Shaolin-Temple-save-Chinese-football--396/)
Friday, 25.03.2011, 12:51

http://en.tengrinews.kz/userdata/news/2011/news_396/thumb_b/photo_3047_en.jpg
©AFP
China's celebrated Shaolin Temple is training young kungfu disciples to play football in the far-off hope of reversing the flagging fortunes of the national team, AFP reports quoting the state media.

The temple, in central China's Henan province, which is famed for the acrobatic exploits of its warrior monks, opened a soccer training centre in October that has more than 40 martial arts students learning the "beautiful game," the official Xinhua news agency said late Thursday.

Shi Yanlu, head coach at the training base, said the discipline and ethos of kungfu can translate into effective football.

"Chinese football is in the doldrums, and when some elements of Shaolin kungfu, particularly its spirit, are integrated into soccer, we hope it will help improve the training level of football," he said in the report.

The legwork and physical coordination of kungfu could also help future Chinese footballers, he added.

China failed to qualify for last year's World Cup, has performed poorly in the Olympic Games and recently failed to reach the Asian Cup's knockout stages.

The young recruits at the temple's training centre -- all around 10 years old -- are being coached by Alphonse Tchami, a retired Cameroonian national footballer, the report said.

The temple plans to attract more recruits among the 2,000 disciples who train at Shaolin, it added.

[Empty_Cup]

...and this is still in the news... :rolleyes:

If you want to develop talented young soccer players, train them in SOCCER!

European development programs have been doing this for decades.

[GeneChing]

If you want to develop talented young soccer players, train them in SOCCER! But what if you want to promote your Shaolin school in Dengfeng, where there are dozens of competing schools right next door? :rolleyes: I'm actually impressed that this can still get attention with all the other stuff on the web.

Combining Shaolin Kungfu with Football Skills (http://english.cri.cn/8046/2013/08/09/2361s781041.htm)
2013-08-09 18:22:35 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Wang Wei
Recently, a martial arts school in central China's Henan province training football players by mixing Shaolin Kungfu with football skills became a hit on the internet, Henan-based news website dahe.cn reports.

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2013/08/09/b4342c32ea084128accffd3757ca9f6d.jpg
Shaolin monks practice their football skills. [File Photo: Xinhua]

Recently, a martial arts school in central China's Henan province training football players by mixing Shaolin Kungfu with football skills became a hit on the internet, Henan-based news website dahe.cn reports.

According to Shi Yanlu, chief coach of the training base of the Songshan Shaolin Temple Martial Arts Monks, combining Shaolin Kungfu, especially its kicking skills, with football skills will improve the power and balance of football players.

Shi said they had already carried out technical research related to combining Kungfu with football and implemented some of their research results by putting them into practice.

The training base of the Shaolin Temple Martial Arts Monks has organized a teenage football team since October 2010.

Cooperating with a local real estate corporation, the training base plans to invest 2 billion yuan towards building an international football school, including a football academy, a playground and two sports stadiums.

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2013/08/09/0dc1ee0a9a2e4c258cb3d840716f8a3c.jpg

[David Jamieson]

Just so everyone is aware, Football(soccer whatever) was invented by the Chinese in the Tang dynasty.

In fact, they even invented the ball itself and it's multifaceted skin and bladder of air.
As well as this, the Chinese also invented Polo which is now known as the sport of Kings.

The British only added uprights and wrote some rules out to the game. But it was amusement in the courts for literally 1000+ years. In fact, women were very good at it and up until the Qing dynasty, many of the best players were women. Then...foot binding became popular and women no longer played in the court.

true history folks, it's more interesting than sunday morning cartoons! :)

[GeneChing]

Reporters on this topic should really refine their websearch fu. If they just looked up this thread, they could get a much better picture of the whole story.


Shaolin Temple denies investing in soccer academy (http://www.scmp.com/news/china-insider/article/1296104/shaolin-temple-denies-investing-soccer-academy)
Monday, 12 August, 2013, 2:47pm

Patrick Boehler patrick.boehler@scmp.com

Shaolin students show their skills as they play soccer at Tagou Wushu School in Dengfeng, Henan, in 2010. Photo: AP

Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Chinese martial arts, denied involvement on Monday in a two billion yuan (HK$2.53 billion) effort to create a new generation of Chinese soccer players armed with its ancient skills.

China’s most prominent kung fu temple said in a statement published in the Guangzhou Daily that it had “never sent monks to teach” soccer at an academy carrying its name.

A kung fu training camp, named Shaolin Monk Training, based some 10 kilometres from the temple, announced last week that it would set up a Shaolin soccer academy in Dengfeng, Henan province, sparking a national debate about excessive commercialisation of its traditions.

Combining soccer with kung fu is controversial. In 2001, censors had temporarily delayed the Hong Kong comedy movie Shaolin Soccer's screening on mainland silver screens, arguing that associating the millennial Buddhist practice with the Western sport in the film’s title could be considered offensive.

Likewise on Monday, some, such as the Communist Party’s Guangming Daily, accused Shaolin Temple of abusing its position as the guardian of a national treasure to maximise profit. But others, including broadcaster Zhengzhou TV, said the move could give hope to the desolate state of Chinese soccer.

The temple was not involved “by even half a mao” (HK$0.06) with the training base, the statement said on Monday. The soccer academy was one of many attempts to “swindle money, hurt the people, disturb social order and seriously damage Shaolin Temple’s reputation”, it read, comparing the soccer project to “advertising lamb but selling dog meat”.

Shaolin Temple has had to routinely fend off allegations of abusing its 1,500-year-old legacy for material gains. Its current abbot, Shi Yongxin, often dubbed the CEO monk, had to backtrack on plans to raise one billion yuan by listing the temple on a stock exchange in 2009 after fierce public criticism.

The training base, along with the Henan Jianye Football Club, will invest two billion yuan to construct the school, a stadium and two gyms, Zhang Songxian, a project manager told the South China Morning Post.

Construction of the school is scheduled to begin early next year and last until 2017, Zhang said. The base, which has had a soccer team since 2010, plans to take up to 8,000 disciples with its new facilities.

Zhang emphasised that the training camp had no financial links to Shaolin Temple. He dismissed allegations of illicitly using the temple’s name, saying that the school would make kung fu even more popular and bring China’s unique characteristics to soccer.

“In a few years we might look into rugby,” he said.


DJ - can you cite that Tang soccer reference?


Kung Fu to help boost Chinese football (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90779/8360825.html)
(Xinhua) 11:42, August 12, 2013

While many people practise Kung Fu for body building, a school has been launched in central China with the purpose of helping Chinese soccer development with the ancient martial art.

The soccer school, being constructed in Dengfeng City of Henan Province, is located only miles away from the Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Kung Fu. It is expected to recruit more than 10,000 students opon completion in three years.

However, a monk from the Shaolin Temple said on condition of anonymity that the temple was not part of the project and no disciples were involved.

The "Shaolin Jianye International Football School" was launched earlier this year.

It was founded by the Ruling Circle of Song Shan Temple Monks Training Base Mission Education (Group), a local institution founded in 1997 that focuses on martial arts teaching, and Henan Jianye Football Club, a former A-list team in China, which was relegated in 2012.

The two sides will invest 2 billion yuan (324 million U.S. dollars) in the school, which covers an area of 55.7 hectares. A stadium and two gyms will also be built.

Shi Yanlu, founder of the school and a former disciple of the current abbot of the Shaolin Temple Shi Yongxin, told Xinhua on Friday that the football school aims to integrate the spirits and skills of Kung Fu into sports.

"The grasp of attack and defense in Chinese Kung Fu will benefit football training," said Shi.

Although soccer fans still have to wait three years for the construction to be completed, 500 football players have already been chosen out of 15,000 teenagers from the group's martial arts school. They have already been through high intensity training since 2010, said Shi.

Football training, martial arts practice and general knowledge courses occupy one third of the player's time respectively, said Shi.

He said the players had no match experience and had no plans to join professional football teams at present.

"For now their priority is to build a firm foundation of their skills," said Shi. "We don't want them to achieve quick success. We want to do something tangible for Chinese martial arts and football."

He added, "As long as we have good players with high potential, they will be discovered even in 'deep forests'."

Wang Zhongren, Henan Jianye Football Club spokesman, told Xinhua on Saturday that the major purpose of the school is to popularize sports.

Teenage players who perform well and have potential are likely to join the reserve team of the club, said Wang.

The reason that Chinese Kung Fu is gaining popularity at home and even around the world is that so many people love it, said Shi Yanlu, expressing the hope that Chinese football can also become as attractive as Kung Fu.

[GeneChing]

There are still lots of comments and articles floating about the Shaolin newsfeeds. Netizens love this topic.

This article is strangely amusing to me.


'Shaolin Soccer' will destroy both Soccer and Kung-fu (http://english.people.com.cn/90779/8364390.html)
(People's Daily Online) 08:03, August 15, 2013

http://english.people.com.cn/mediafile/201308/15/P201308151444361601829151.jpg
Kung Fu soccer team trains at Songshan Shaolin training base

If Chinese Soccer wants to flourish, it needs to go step by step, following the successful experience of modern soccer and respecting the relevant laws. Applying the useless label "Kung-fu" to soccer will achieve nothing.

Recently, talk of "Shaolin Soccer" has been hyped by the mass media. One martial arts coach claimed that Kung-fu could combine successfully with soccer. He suggested that kicks in Kung-fu such as the twelve-routine of snap-kick boxing, Standing Qigong, and other fist positions would help to improve the students' footwork, impact resistance, and physical coordination. He hoped that applying these techniques in regular training would enhance soccer skill levels.

The news that Shaolin Temple is going to establish a soccer school together with Henan Jianye Soccer Club, and bring Kung-fu into soccer training, comes as something of a shock. It can be seen from the Tianshan Martial Art Festival that some schools of martial art have nothing to do with real combat, and to a certain extent they are no more than a form of cosplay. An incident where the head of a school was almost defeated by an ordinary member of the public highlights the fact that much of Kung-fu is no more than a legend.

Modern football was invented in UK in 1863. Developing over the course of more than one hundred years, especially since professionalization in the European countries, football has become a sports with clear rules, skills, tactics and training methods. During its development, there was no connection with Kung-fu and Martial Arts. Soccer's specific rules already provide clear answers to questions such as which parts of body can touch the ball, and what constitutes legitimate contact. A combination of Kung-fu and soccer would result in nothing but confusion.

There are two likely outcomes of trying to combine Kung-fu and soccer. The first is that China's dreams of becoming a high-level soccer country will die. Football would become an exuberant Kung-fu show instead of a contest of will, skill, triumph, and tragedy. Secondly, having lost its opportunity to achieve worldwide popularity, Chinese Kung-fu will lose its credibility.

In any case, Kung-fu will never make China a powerful force in the world. Many Chinese have dreamed for years that Kung-fu would make China powerful. Various films and television programs encourage this myth, showing Chinese thrashing foreigners to demonstrate the strength of the nation. In Ip Man, which has been filmed several times - as True Legend, Fist of Legend, and Fei-hung Wong, the audience sees a handsome and simple individual - a 'national hero' - who strikes down a powerful foreigner at the end of the movie.

If Chinese Soccer wants to flourish, it needs to go step by step, following the successful experience of modern soccer and applying the relevant laws. The government should increase its investment in the sport and build more soccer fields, providing more teenagers with the chance to engage in the sport. Government regulation also needs to be separated from club management. Applying the useless label "Kung-fu" to soccer will achieve nothing.

As a matter of fact, there is no reason why an individual who is talented at Kung-fu should not be able to make a contribution to soccer, but it has to be done sensibly. Soccer and Kung-fu belong to different sporting disciplines. Let us not mislead the public by suggesting that Shaolin Kung-fu will enhance training levels, for the sake of commercial gain.

[TaichiMantis]

Heh, I played soccer 31 years before I found kung fu. If I had found it first, I'm sure it would have helped my game.;)

[Pete]

Just so everyone is aware, Football(soccer whatever) was invented by the Chinese in the Tang dynasty.

In fact, they even invented the ball itself and it's multifaceted skin and bladder of air.
As well as this, the Chinese also invented Polo which is now known as the sport of Kings.

The British only added uprights and wrote some rules out to the game. But it was amusement in the courts for literally 1000+ years. In fact, women were very good at it and up until the Qing dynasty, many of the best players were women. Then...foot binding became popular and women no longer played in the court.

true history folks, it's more interesting than sunday morning cartoons! :)


it's also worth noting that shaolin kung fu originated from england in around 478 ad. it is believed a monk from the famous temple was on a pilgrimage to stone henge , while travelling through england he witnessed a drunken Uther Pendragon pimp slapping a barmaid down his local. he was in awe of the event, using the hands to strike another human was a mind boggling concept. after meditating for a whole year in a cave inside the white cliffs of dover he returned to china to spread what has now become known as 'kung fu'

:o

[TaichiMantis]

This kick (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2051243-cristiano-ronaldo-scores-absurd-goal-to-salvage-a-draw-for-real-madrid?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial&hpt=hp_c3) keeps Real Madrid's LaLiga title chances alive!

[sanjuro_ronin]

Defense should commit seppuku.

[mawali]

Shaolin basketball or Shaolin cricket anyone?

[GeneChing]

As the World Cup is in Brasil this year, I'd expect Capoeira (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?282-Capoeira&p=1270514#post1270514). I did not expect Samurai soccer.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk4vnVsx2wc

[TaichiMantis]

Cool...but closer to ninja skills;)

[Jimbo]

As the World Cup is in Brasil this year, I'd expect Capoeira (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?282-Capoeira&p=1270514#post1270514). I did not expect Samurai soccer.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk4vnVsx2wc

I'm betting the reason for the 'samurai' theme is an acknowledgement of Brazil having the world's largest Japanese population outside of Japan, and having become integrated into the culture(?).

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRjYewEPASM

[GeneChing]

...vs. ninjas!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV6SgZD37fA

[TaichiMantis]

Awesome find!

[GeneChing]

I know, I know, Rugby ain't soccer, but this still seemed like the best place to post this one.


'Kung Fu Rugby’ joins expanded Sevens entertainment package (http://www.scmp.com/sport/rugby/sevens/article/1708753/kung-fu-rugby-joins-expanded-sevens-entertainment-package)
PUBLISHED : Monday, 09 February, 2015, 9:51pm
UPDATED : Monday, 09 February, 2015, 9:52pm
SCMP Reporter

http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2015/02/09/scmp_hk7s_entertainment_080215.jpg?itok=0-aaGNyK
Traditional Chinese cultural ceremonies will play an integral role in the HKRFU’s entertainment offerings at this year’s Hong Kong Sevens. Photo: HKRFU

In honour of this year’s 40th Hong Kong Sevens, the HKRFU is expanding its entertainment offerings at the tournament.

In addition to the Village People taking centre stage after the much-loved March Past on the Saturday (March 28), there will be a variety of performances designed to encapsulate Hong Kong’s east-west synergy.

The HKRFU is partnering with Ming’s Media Productions to bring fans an expanded opening ceremony, which will immediately follow the women’s Cup final on the Friday evening.

“Moving the opening ceremony later in the day will provide spectators with a better opportunity to enjoy what we believe will be a spectacular performance that pays a fitting tribute to Hong Kong’s cultural heritage and perfectly sets the stage for the weekend’s excitement,” said Robbie McRobbie, general manager of Rugby Operations and Commercial at the HKRFU.

The ceremony will have the traditional Chinese lion eye-dotting ceremony, but will also include both flying and giant dragons and 17 lions.

Sunday will feature what the HKRFU is billing as the “perfect representation of east-west crossover” – a performance of “Kung Fu Rugby” in the style of “players” like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li.

With the help of beer-sponsor Carlsberg, the union has recruited an elite group of martial artists and has them training in a secret camp in China, where they are being instructed by legendary master Yeung Pan-pan with a view to them taking on an all-star side in a special challenge match.

In addition to all this, fans on the concourses will be able to watch a variety of acts as well as some of Hong Kong’s best young musical talent on the mini-stage, which this year is being managed by the community project YRock.

[GeneChing]

Maybe this will deserve its own thread soon. :rolleyes:

There's a short vid if you follow the link



Kung Fu Rugby designed to give Hong Kong Sevens fans a kick (http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1745608/kung-fu-rugby-will-take-rugby-sevens-new-level)
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 24 March, 2015, 1:45am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 24 March, 2015, 9:37pm
Kevin Kung kevin.kung@scmp.com

http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2015/03/23/3ac7820594c71560d6ccd0f534cf0e56.jpg?itok=csDxlTak
Performers in the Hong Kong Sevens 'Kung Fu Rugby' entertainment show rehearse ahead of Sunday's aerial extravaganza at Hong Kong Stadium. Photo: Nora Tam

The 1974 disco hit Kung Fu Fighting will spring to mind when Hong Kong Sevens fans are treated to a special show on Sunday.

Organisers hope the Kung Fu Rugby show will entertain the crowds as part of celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the annual rugby extravaganza.

The 20-minute show will slot in between the qualifier semi-finals and world series semi-finals on the competition's final day.

At a sneak peek for the media yesterday at Hong Kong Stadium, it was revealed that the show - involving singer Fred Cheng, young stuntmen from Hit Hut Cinematic Action and employees of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union - will be played not only on the ground but also in mid-air.

It will feature performers connected to wires using their kung fu skills to tackle and pass the ball.

Watch: Kung Fu Rugby extravaganza to give Hong Kong Sevens fans a kick

The mastermind behind the concept is Sharon Yeung Pan-pan, who is a Hong Kong kung fu movie star and founder of Hit Hut. Yeung selected and trained her stunt apprentices for the "special game". Besides starring in kung fu movies, Yeung is also a stuntwoman who performed numerous daring feats for television shows in the 1980s and 1990s.

This time, however, she is directing the action.

"We were invited by the Rugby Football Union and have been discussing and planning this for over a year," said Yeung.

"In the show [rehearsals], we took up the whole field to stage action scenes that you would normally see in movies. The huge area gave us many challenges in creating our show.

"This is something that I had been hoping to achieve for more than a decade."

Stuntmen will be joined by members from the local rugby community. One of them is mini rugby coach Michael Wan Chun-ting, whose job is very simple - kick the ball twice down the field.

"I am not good enough to play at the Sevens, so I am really excited to do this in front of the huge crowd," said Wan. "I think it [kung fu] reflects our culture."

The backing track is anyone's guess - but maybe "everyone will be kung fu fighting" by the end.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Kung Fu Rugby extravaganza to give fans a kick

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6p4AsVp7KE

[GeneChing]

Shaolin Soccer School to bring Kung Fu to soccer training (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-11/10/c_134801945.htm)
English.news.cn 2015-11-10 15:01:22

ZHENGZHOU, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- A soccer training base for teenagers has been set up in Central China's Henan Province with the purpose of helping Chinese soccer development with the famous martial art, or Kung Fu.

The soccer training base was built jointly by local government and Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School which is located only kilometers away from the Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng City of Henan Province, the birthplace of Shaolin Kung Fu.

"To set up this soccer training base is a bold try to bring Shaolin Kung Fu into soccer to deepen soccer reform and to create a new brand of 'Shaolin soccer', because Henan is the birthplace of Shaolin Kung Fu and we have made much research for that", said Zhang Wenshen, director of the Sports Bureau of Henan province.

Two classes with 100 teenagers has been set up, 50 boys and 50 girls, and government sent three experienced coaches to the base. Football training, martial arts practice and general knowledge courses will occupy these teenagers' time.

"It's just the beginning, more children will start to play football and I believe it will foster some soccer talents", said Liu Haike, vice-president of Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School which has 35,000 students from all over the world.


Actually, anytime anyone delivers a big kick in the sport of soccer, it gets credited as 'shaolin soccer' or 'kung fu kick'. I thought about dedicating a thread to it because they get some massive kicks in, but never bothered.

[GeneChing]

There are about half a dozen other similar articles on the newsfeed today in the wake of yesterday's article.



The real Shaolin soccer: Football training base set up in China's largest kung fu school (http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1877773/football-kung-fu-style-soccer-training-base-set-near-shaolin)
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 11 November, 2015, 2:40pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 11 November, 2015, 6:47pm
Kwong Man-ki in Beijing phoenix.kwong@scmp.com

http://cdn2.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2015/11/11/shaolin-girl-soccer-net.jpg?itok=uYLtZORG
Girls training at the school in Henan. Photo: Chinanews.com

A coaching base for young footballers has been set up near the Shaolin Temple in northern China with pupils who have learned kung fu taking up soccer training, according to a news website report.

The soccer base is at the Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School in Dengfeng in Henan province, the China News Service reported.

“This is a bold attempt by the province to bring Shaolin kung fu into soccer to deepen football reform and promote the Chinese martial art,” Zhang Wenshen, the director of the government sports bureau in Henan was quoted as saying. Monks at the Shaolin Tempe are world famous for their martial arts skills.

Three experienced football coaches had been sent to the training base by the bureau since last week, the report said.

The school has set up two classes of 50 pupils for boys and girls aged 10 to 12.

The children were chosen from pupils attending the kung fu school.

The article did not say how knowledge of martial arts might be applied to football.

The government set out plans earlier this year to set up a national system of training bases to try to raise the standards of the game in China.

The national team has only reached the finals of the World Cup once and they failed to win a match.

The Tagou Martial Arts School was built in 1978 in response to the revival of kung fu in China due to the popular Jet Li film Shaolin Temple.

The original Shaolin Monastery, on land above the school, was built by a Buddhist abbot who came to China from India in 464AD to spread Buddhist teachings and has been destroyed and rebuilt many times throughout history.

The physical training of monks at the Shaolin monastery during the 5th or 6th century by a Buddhist monk named Bodhidharma is said to have been the origins of Shaolin Kung Fu, or Wushu, and is among the oldest institutionalised styles of Chinese martial arts.

Shaolin Kung Fu has evolved into many different styles, but its core content usually consists of the basic skills of stamina, flexibility and balance, qigong meditation and combat skills.

Shaolin Soccer is the title of a 2001 Hong Kong martial arts comedy film written and directed by Stephen Chow, in which a former Shaolin monk reunites his brothers after their master's death and applies their exceptional skills to play soccer and bring Shaolin Kung Fu and practices to modern society.

[GeneChing]

This one is a little more complete. Good ol' Daily Mail. :cool:



Is this China's answer to winning the World Cup? Chinese city establishes a 'Shaolin Soccer' academy that incorporates kung fu into its football regime (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peoplesdaily/article-3315789/Is-China-s-answer-winning-World-Cup-Chinese-city-establishes-Shaolin-Soccer-academy-incorporates-kung-fu-football-regime.html)

35,000 students currently train at the Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School
100 male and female students chosen from those are in the new academy
The camp is based in Dengfeng, China, and will mix kung fu and football

By Chloe Lyme For Mailonline
Published: 13:29 EST, 12 November 2015 | Updated: 13:40 EST, 12 November 2015

One hundred young footballers have taken training to new extremes at the historic Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School in east China's Dengfeng city, Henan Province.

The coaching base opened a new football academy on November 10, which will combine Shaolin kung fu with football, reports The People's Daily Online.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/12/16/2E5E895D00000578-0-image-a-27_1447346925749.jpg
Thousands of young Shaolin students training in unison combining football and martial arts in east China

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/12/17/2E5E898E00000578-0-image-a-28_1447348193111.jpg
Extreme: A female footballer heads the ball at the Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School in east China's Dengfeng

The are two classes, split into male and female, with 50 pupils in each. All of the students are aged 10 to 12.

Children who attend the football training have been specifically chosen from the martial arts school, so they are already young kung fu masters in the making.

They know every aspect of the art, which consists of stamina, flexibility, balance, meditation and combat skills.

Zhang Wenshen, the director of the government sports bureau in Henan, told South China Morning Post: 'This is a bold attempt by the province to bring Shaolin kung fu into soccer to deepen football reform and promote the Chinese martial art.'

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/12/17/2E5E897400000578-0-image-a-29_1447348346276.jpg
Combining the two! Shaolin monks among young footballers as they train in the most extreme way in China

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/12/17/2E5E896900000578-0-image-a-30_1447348349798.jpg
Punching for glory! A new football training scheme in China combines the sport with Shaolin martial arts

The academy is equipped with three senior football coaches responsible for training the young athletes and junior coaches.

Training is motivated by the 'great three-five-eight battle plan.'

They expect to see massive improvements in three years, success in five, and to be an established brand in eight years.

Mixing football and kung fu together is a bid to strengthen the standards of the game in China. It is well-known across the globe that Chinese President Xi Jinping is a massive football fan.

Unfortunately the Chinese national team has only made an appearance in the FIFA World Cup once in 2002, but failed to score a goal.

This is not the first time the country has mixed kung fu with football.

In 2001 the film 'Shaolin Soccer' was released in China, starring Hong Kong actor Stephen Chow.

The film was about a former Shaolin monk reuniting with his brothers after their master's death, they applied their outstanding kung fu skills to playing football.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHNe9P3n3fM


Kung fu football: New Chinese academy plans world domination (VIDEO) (https://www.rt.com/sport/323845-kung-fu-football-china/)
Published time: 28 Nov, 2015 19:41
Edited time: 28 Nov, 2015 21:31

A Chinese martial arts school has introduced a new twist to a classic sport, opening a football academy which will combine Shoalin kung fu with football in a bid to produce more skilled footballers in China.
Tens of thousands of young Shaolin students train at the historic Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School in Dengfeng, China, every year. This year the training takes on a different nature as the school puts 100 of its best students into a government-backed academy that will combine Shaolin kung fu training with football coaching.

The goal is to develop better footballers on a national level by training students who are already physically and mentally adept through the school's kung fu training.

Zhang Wenshen, the director of the government sports bureau in Henan, said, "this is a bold attempt by the province to bring Shaolin kung fu into soccer to deepen football reform and promote the Chinese martial art."

The new academy has three senior football coaches responsible for training the young athletes as well as other coaches.

[GeneChing]

I've been watching China grab up soccer players. I'm not a soccer fan at all so it didn't mean much to me, but this article distills the movement from China now.


Is China A Future Soccer Power? (http://thesportsquotient.com/soccer/2016/2/17/is-china-a-future-soccer-power)
by James Chelminski 17 February 2016, 12:20 PM

Gervinho is now one of several stars plying their trade in China. Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
With the Chinese Super League growing, is China’s rise toward becoming a soccer power inevitable?
The Chinese Super League (CSL) may not have been on many soccer fans’ radars prior to January 2016. However, recent transfers to the league have many people wondering what China’s future role in the sport will be. Aside from all completing moves to the CSL, the likes of Jackson Martinez, Gervinho, and Alex Teixeira have something else in common: they are in their physical prime and had recently been playing at the highest levels in Europe.
Here are some notable players currently in or heading to the CSL:

Player Age Transfer Fee (in millions) Former Club
Jackson Martinez 29 $46 Atletico Madrid
Alex Teixeira 26 $56 Shakhtar Donestk
Gervinho 28 $20 AS Roma
Fredy Guarín 29 $14 Internazionale
Ramires 28 $29 Chelsea
Ezequiel Lavezzi 30 $11.2 Paris Saint-Germain

While it may be initially puzzling as to why so many stars would head to China, the biggest appeal of the CSL appears to be money. In fact the CSL has spent more money during this transfer window than any other league in the world. In addition to European clubs getting paid handsomely for players, the players themselves are paid at high rates.
In February 2015, Asamoah Gyan of the CSL was ranked as the sixth-highest paid soccer player in the world. Even more astonishingly, the CSL is rumored to have offered Yaya Toure a contract worth 40 million Euros per year, a contract which would make him the third-highest paid player in the world, behind only Messi and Ronaldo!
The ambition and drive of Chinese soccer did not arise overnight though, but rather, it has been a dream in the making.
The Plan

Much of China’s recent push toward growth in the soccer world can be attributed to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Described as “soccer-mad,” Xi Jinping has created a presidential cabinet that deals with soccer and has pushed a plan that has an eye-raising end goal.

China’s ambitious plan:
Make an impact at the FIFA Club World Cup
Take part in the World Cup
Host the World Cup
Win the World Cup

Chinese clubs have been competitive in the Asian Champions League, with Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande FC even winning two out of the last three championships. Evergrande also went on to have respectable showings at the Club World Cup. While success at the club level is great, the emphasis appears to be on improving and developing its international side.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX1x_EUPIuE

As part of its initiative to develop its own players, the CSL allows for only four foreign players on each club, with all goalies needing to be Chinese. The Chinese Football Association and club sides have also spent considerable resources on coaching youth. China boasts the largest professional soccer academy in the world, which also happens to be run by former coaches from the Real Madrid system.
While young players are put under pressure, the current squad endures much scrutiny as well. Foreign coaches that helped take China to its only World Cup in 2002 have been called back to help the team’s efforts on the 2018 Road to Russia.
With two games left to be played in the current round, China sits third in its World Cup qualifying group, behind Qatar and Hong Kong. Qatar have already ensured entrance into the last round, which leaves either Hong Kong or China a chance of sneaking in as one of the best-ranked second-place teams. This likely means that China needs to win both of its two remaining games — home against the Maldives and home against Qatar. While not easy, perhaps the coaches that took China to its only World Cup appearance can repeat their feat and spur on the first steps of Xi Jinping’s dream for Chinese soccer.
Edited by Joe Sparacio, Jacob Greenberg.

[GeneChing]

Shaolin Soccer (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?46486-Shaolin-Soccer) has become prophesy. :eek:


China could win World Cup within 10 years, says Sven-Göran Eriksson (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/23/china-win-world-cup-10-years-sven-goran-eriksson?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1)
Ex-England manager says huge investment starting to pay off as Xi Jinping vows to turn China into footballing superpower

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c6c34d99f330f68cde24865205a4c6f0680f1185/0_61_3000_1801/master/3000.jpg
Sven-Göran Eriksson: ‘I’m at the right place at the right time. You can feel how football is growing in China.’ Photograph: Michael Dodge/Getty Images
Tom Phillips in Beijing

Tuesday 23 February 2016 04.50 EST Last modified on Tuesday 23 February 2016 07.08 EST

China could lift the World Cup within a decade, former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson has claimed, as Xi Jinping pushes on with his football revolution.

The Chinese president, lionised by Communist party spin doctors as a die-hard football fan, has vowed to turn China into a footballing superpower as well as an economic one.

Construction work has begun on thousands of football academies since he took office in late 2012, as part of the president’s roadmap to transform his country’s on-field fortunes. Top European and South American clubs and coaches have been invited to help China revive its domestic game.

Speaking on Tuesday ahead of an Asian Champions League (ACL) clash between his current side, Shanghai SIPG, and Melbourne Victory, Eriksson claimed those efforts were paying off, saying: “The future for China is great.”

“I think I’m at the right place at the right time. You can always feel how football is growing in China,” he added, according to Xinhua, Beijing’s official news agency.

“I’ve been in Italy during the 90s when every player wanted to come to Italy because the football was very good, then I was in England during the 2000s and all the players wanted to go to the Premier League because of more money and the good football,” Eriksson said.

“Now, in 2016, it seems that every player wants to come to China for the same reasons. [All the money] will make the clubs much stronger. Maybe 10 or 15 years ahead, I’m sure China’s national team will compete well [enough] to win the World Cup.”

China’s determination to use its munificence to boost the beautiful game has been underlined in recent weeks with a series of high-profile arrivals in the Chinese Super League, which was only founded in 2004.

Among star players signed by Chinese clubs during the latest transfer window are £20m Brazilian Ramires from Chelsea, £31m Colombian striker Jackson Martínez and £38.4m Brazilian midfielder Alex Teixeira.

“China is the new El Dorado,” the Brazil coach and World Cup winner Dunga said last year.

The Chinese spending spree has prompted warnings, however, including from the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, who believes Premier League clubs should be concerned “because China looks to have the financial power to move a whole league of Europe to China”.

Eriksson’s predictions about the future of China’s national team are even more optimistic than those of Beijing itself.

The Chinese dragons are ranked 93rd in the world, sandwiched between Botswana and the Faroe Islands. Chinese officials have suggested the country should seek to first host, then win a World Cup. The first World Cup for which Beijing could bid would be the 2026 finals.

Speaking last year, the president of the Chinese Football Association, Cai Zhenhua, said: “The development of Chinese soccer must be a long process. It’s not three years or five years, it’s not eight or 10 years.”

“In the long run, we shouldn’t judge the work by the performances of national teams in a short period of time,” Cai told Xinhua.

[GeneChing]

China’s soccer teams spent $430 million buying new players to impress president Xi Jinping (http://qz.com/627311/chinas-soccer-teams-spent-430-million-buying-new-players-to-impress-president-xi-jinping/)

https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/xi-jinping-kicks-a-football-in-his-visit-in-the-uk-in-2012.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=1600
Playing offense. (Reuters/David Moir)

WRITTEN BY Zheping Huang
OBSESSION
Business of Sport 7 hours ago

Professional soccer has become the latest target of China’s “explosive shopping sprees.” Chinese Super League clubs spent €337 million ($366 million) in the most recent January-February “transfer window,” outstripping the world’s other soccer leagues.
The record-beating fees, paid for player transfers during the two month session that ended on midnight of Feb.26, are four times more than China’s previous record, and nearly $100 million more than the English Premier League’s €253 million blowout. They are also more than the other four major European leagues (Italy, Germany, France, and Spain) spent combined, according to Transmarkt.

https://atlas.qz.com/i/atlas_NkphSxAol.png

Taking the second-tier League One soccer clubs into account, China spent nearly €400 million ($434 million) in the past transfer period. Of that, nearly €290 million went to foreign players. (Twice a year, in the winter and the summer, soccer teams can bid for rival teams’ players, by offering a fee to the team to buy them out. Then, they pay a separate salary to the player.)

Some of the world’s top soccer players have headed to China amid the gold rush, including former Atletico Madrid striker Jackson Martinez and former Chelsea midfielder Ramires. In one €50 million deal, China’s Jiangsu Suning beat Liverpool in the bidding for Brazilian striker Alex Teixeira. The 26-year-old was the most expensive of the winter transfers, but four other CSL players made the top 10.

https://atlas.qz.com/i/atlas_4JSa_y0oe.png

To put it bluntly, money is only reason China has suddenly become appealing to big-name players. Far from first-class, the Chinese Super League needs to spend more on transfer fees and salaries to lure stars. A top player who leaves Europe’s major soccer leagues for China will face far less competition on the pitch, which is bad for his career. Teixeira earns a reported €10-million annual salary in his four-year contact with Jiangsu—a huge salary for a player who has never made it to the national team in any major European championships.
China’s property tycoons own most of China’s soccer clubs, and their deep pockets are rarely because of the love of soccer. Instead, the spending spree can be traced to top leader Xi Jinping’s publicized obsession with the sport.

Even before he rose to power, Xi’s personal love of the game and ambition to build China into a soccer superpower was well known. Since he became the most powerful man in China, that has only intensified. In March of 2015, Xi’s central reform group made soccer a compulsory part of the national curriculum for students in elementary and secondary schools. Schools to cultivate young players will increase ten-fold to 50,000 by 2025, according to the plan. Overall, Xi’s tenure has witnessed explosive growth in China’s soccer league:

https://atlas.qz.com/i/atlas_NJK7qeRoe.png"]https://atlas.qz.com/i/atlas_NJK7qeRoe.png

Xi’s love of soccer may have also spurred Chinese investors to bet on foreign teams. During his October visit to the UK, Xi famously took a selfie with Argentina striker Sergio Aguero and British prime minister David Cameron during a tour of Manchester City’s stadium.


Manchester City FC ✔ ‎@MCFC
.@aguerosergiokun tells Mike Summerbee & Denis Law about the selfie he just took with President Xi! #CFAStateVisit pic.twitter.com/4r5flEScyu
Follow
Manchester City FC ✔ ‎@MCFC
.@aguerosergiokun: "Thank you for the selfie, President Xi" 感谢能与您自拍，习主席！#CFAStateVisit pic.twitter.com/4du2zIaacY
4:32 AM - 23 Oct 2015

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CR_6lVWUwAABhPB.jpg


Two months later, two state-backed Chinese companies bought 13% of the shares of City’s parent company, the latest example in a series of China’s overseas soccer investments.

Manchester City FC ✔ ‎@MCFC
.@aguerosergiokun tells Mike Summerbee & Denis Law about the selfie he just took with President Xi! #CFAStateVisit pic.twitter.com/4r5flEScyu
Follow
Manchester City FC ✔ ‎@MCFC
.@aguerosergiokun: "Thank you for the selfie, President Xi" 感谢能与您自拍，习主席！#CFAStateVisit pic.twitter.com/4du2zIaacY
4:32 AM - 23 Oct 2015

It is unclear how long-lasting a soccer spending spree linked to one man’s love of the game can be, but European club owners and managers are concerned. “China looks to have the financial power to move a whole league of Europe to China,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said of China’s spending spree in early February. “I don’t know how deep the desire in China is, but if there’s a very strong political desire, we should worry.”
Some of China’s soccer investors, meanwhile, have been very open about the political push behind their deals. China’s richest man Wang Jianlin, owner of Wanda Group, has a 20% stake in Spain’s Atletico Madrid. The 56-year-old property mogul reportedly wrote in a recent book: “The government leaders care about it very much, and the Chinese administration of sports made several appeals, so I came back and am offering support for Chinese football.”

If China does win the World Cup, I hope one of the team players is from that Tagou school.

[GeneChing]

...this is what I was waiting for here, when Shaolin Soccer becomes for real... :cool:



AFC Cup: Casemiro Mior - Mohun Bagan are strong in attack (http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/3629/afc-cup/2016/03/08/21102212/afc-cup-casemiro-mior-mohun-bagan-are-strong-in-attack)

http://images.performgroup.com/di/library/goal_uk/43/e9/south-china-fans_16o37eqcw8wfu1g1ord5hkn72q.jpg?t=-1820698388&w=620&h=430
South China fans

08-Mar-2016 06:15:10
The coach of the Shaolin Temple wants his team to ensure that Mohun Bagan does not get a free pathway into their box…

South China are to host Mohun Bagan in their AFC Cup group G clash at the MMongkok Stadium, Hong Kong on Wednesday evening. The Caroliners will look to register their first win in the competition this season after suffering a 2-1 loss to Myanmar’s Yangon United.

Coach Casemiro Mior opined that their tie against I-League champions, Mohun Bagan wouldn’t be an easy one as they have some of the best foreigners in Sony Norde, Katsumi Yusa and Cornell Glen in attack.

“This will be a tough game as Mohun Bagan have very good players like Sony Norde, Katsumi Yusa and Cornell Glen. In their last AFC Cup game, they won against Maziya with 5-2. They are in a very good shape. But we have to win our home game, as we lost the first one in Myanmar,” he said.

The Brazilian will be joined by former coach of Hong Kong’s Rangers, Jose Ricardo Ramba on the bench. Mior mentioned that his presence will be a vital addition to his think-tank and that his side must ensure that the Green and Maroon brigade aren’t allowed to get into the box seamlessly.

“Jose Ricardo Rambo comes back to be my assistant and this will help a lot, as he can adjust the defence line-up which is very important. Mohun Bagan is strong in attack and we must stop them not to go to the box easily,” he opined.

Leung Chun Pong stated that his side rely on counterattacks against Bagan and look to seal three points in front of their fans.

“This will be a difficult game as the rival team is in good condition. We may play more defensively and make some good counter attacks. We are so determined to play a nice game for the local fans. We need three points in each of our home games to secure the qualification to the next round,” said the 29-year-old midfielder.

[GeneChing]

We should've seen this one coming...:rolleyes:


Shaolin shocker: Mass brawl erupts in Chinese FA Cup match between Jiangsu and Wuhan (http://www.firstpost.com/sports/shaolin-shocker-mass-brawl-erupts-in-chinese-fa-cup-match-between-jiangsu-and-wuhan-2778240.html)
AFP May 12, 2016 15:11 IST


Shanghai, China: Chinese football authorities launched an investigation on Thursday after a mass brawl erupted at a Cup match involving big-spending Jiangsu Suning, with one player receiving a kung fu-style flying kick.
Violence broke out when towering Jiangsu striker Ge Wei scored in the ninth minute of extra time for a 1-0 win against amateur side Wuhan Hongxing, prompting enraged Wuhan players to attack the visiting team.
The ruckus saw Chinese international midfielder Wu Xi receive a flying kick to the back as fists flew and combatants chased each other across the pitch.

http://s3.firstpost.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Jiangsu-Suning-China-footbal-fight-Twitter.jpg
Jiangsu Suning's player being kicked in the back by a Wuhan Hongxing player. Image courtesy: Twitter

Jiangsu led a world-leading transfer spending spree earlier this year but because of Chinese FA Cup rules, megabucks signings Alex Teixeira, Ramires and Jo were not playing on Wednesday.
The incident is embarrassing for Chinese football, which has made intense efforts to clean itself up after a series of scandals and sees itself as a future global power in the sport.
The Chinese Football Association called it a "very serious breach of discipline".
"The Chinese FA takes this matter very seriously and have already launched a formal investigation," the body said in a statement.
"We are firmly against any kind of violent, ill-disciplined or harmful actions on the pitch and call on all participants at football matches, including fans, players and staff, to behave in a rational manner at all times."
English teacher Jamie McIlroy, who was at the match, told AFP: "I’ve never seen anything like it... The Wuhan bench just all ran on the pitch and started attacking the Jiangsu players."
Jiangsu, managed by former Chelsea winger Dan Petrescu, did their best to break down a Wuhan side who often resorted to time-wasting tactics -- with the stretcher coming on 11 times in the second half alone.
"It was totally Wuhan's fault," said McIlroy. "They kept wasting time blatantly and I think they simply couldn’t take getting beat."
Wuhan general manager Huang Chenggao, in an interview with Sina Sports, apologised for the fight and said: "The players involved will be fired."
With international interest at an all-time high following the capture of a series of top players, national media lamented that the incident would reflect badly on Chinese football.
CCTV commentator Han Qiaosheng said: "I hope the police get involved. There is no way we can let violence ruin our rejuvenated game here -- the severest punishment must be meted out to the offending players at once."
Watch the ugly incident below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DErQeL1rUG0

[GeneChing]

Will this never end? Imagine if they actually succeed.


Shaolin Soccer the movie gets real in China (http://thestandard.com.ph/sports/221829/shaolin-soccer-the-movie-gets-real-in-china.html)
posted November 19, 2016 at 12:01 am by AFP

China's national team is struggling: the world's most populous country ranks a lowly 84th according to FIFA and the latest setback to its fading hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia was a 0-0 home draw this week with Qatar -- which has only around 300,000 citizens.

But China is investing hugely in football training and has vowed to have 50 million school-age players by 2020, as the ruling Communist party eyes "football superpower" status by 2050.

http://mst.com.ph/panel/_files/image/shaolingsoccer3.jpg

The vast Tagou martial arts school, a few miles from the cradle of Chinese kung fu, the Shaolin Temple in Henan province, has 35,000 fee-paying boarders, who live in Spartan conditions and are put through a rigorous training regime.

Some 1,500 of its students, both male and female, have signed up for its new soccer program, centered on a pristine green Astroturf football pitch where dozens of children play simultaneous five-a-side-games.

A concrete viewing stand is under construction to accommodate future spectators, with cement mixers churning and a crane swinging girders above the children as they practiced.

http://mst.com.ph/panel/_files/image/Shaolingsoccer2_%281%29.jpg
Shaolin monks show off their football skills during a demonstration game in Dengfeng, central China's Henan province. China's celebrated Shaolin Temple is training young kung fu disciples to play football in the far-off hope of reversing the flagging fortunes of the national team, state media reported. AFP

"We are responding to the country's call," said Sun Dawei, a crew-cut former martial arts champion who took a soccer coach training course last year.

"What we want to do is combine Shaolin martial arts with football and create an original concept," he added.

Sun's class of 12-year-olds wore red jackets emblazoned "Shaolin" and the canvas-style shoes favored by practitioners of Chinese martial arts, known as wushu.

They cartwheeled from one side of the pitch to another, before assembling in formation and running through tightly choreographed routines of high kicks and punches.

"With a foundation in wushu, their bodily flexibility and force is a great help when they are playing football," said Sun. "Their jumping ability is helpful."

Awesome movie

The training base has drawn comparisons with the hit 2001 Hong Kong film "Shaolin Soccer," about a ragtag band of out-of-shape martial artists who defy the odds to storm to victory in a football tournament.

The film's heroes play in yellow monks' robes, flying through the air, carrying out dazzling dives and overhead kicks of tornado-like power and winning one game 40-0.

"The flying and those sort of awesome things I can't do," admitted 12-year-old winger Sun Linyuan.

But he added: "In the future I will be able to do spinning kicks and bicycle kicks. Then I'll be a better footballer."

When the soccer program opened a year ago the province's top sport official Zhang Wenshan addressed a ceremony which saw thousands of students carry out a tightly choreographed martial arts routine.

"We have carried out deep research into using our province's advantage in traditional martial arts to develop youth football," he said.

A provincial document vows to "build shaolin soccer into a brand", and the school has given itself five years to become one of the province's top three youth teams.

Each child who signs up for the soccer program practices for several hours every day and the school has signed a deal with a British firm to import coaches.

Work in progress

Sun's group split into two teams, with captains assigning positions. One striker in a number 10 jersey backflipped his way onto the pitch.

Despite their years of kung fu training, the students' football skills were still a work in progress, school staff admitted, with sloppy defending, shaky shooting and poor ball control all in evidence.

"You're just running wherever the ball is! Do you think that's ok?" an exasperated Sun told his students in a half-time huddle. "Should you be marking people or not?"

"Yes!" the students all affirmed at once.

Long a football fan, Sun admitted there was a "vast" difference between the Beautiful Game and Shaolin kungfu.

Still, he said, "We are the number one school for martial arts. So we have the confidence that in another area we can also be among the nation's best."

[GeneChing]

The key point here that the author misses is that Taguo is not a direct branch of Shaolin Temple. It's run by the Liu clan, and they are CCP members. Communism does not extol Buddhism, or religion of any sort.


China’s investor-monks offer divine example (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/opinion/foreign-perspectives/Chinas-investormonks-offer-divine-example/shdaily.shtml)
By Kunal Sinha | December 22, 2016, Thursday

IN China’s startup scene, restaurant delivery firm Ele.me is a standout success story. With 20,000 employees picking up food ordered from 300,000 restaurants, mostly over the mobile phone, it serves over 40 million users in 1,000 cities, and racks up a daily turnover of 60 million yuan (US$8.65 million).

So even as the company recently raised capital from the likes of Tencent, Sequoia Capital, and CITIC Capital pushing its market cap beyond US$1 billion, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the angel investors in the fledgling firm was none other than a fund started by the monks at Shanghai’s Jade Buddha Temple. (Shanghai Daily, 13 December 2016).

The firm’s founder and CEO, Zhang Xuhao started the company while still a student. But when he was about to go bankrupt in 2009, he received a 100,000 yuan sponsorship from the temple. Ele.me never looked back — and its founder calls the investment his “lucky money.”

Devotees across the globe shower wealth on their deities, their Gods and Goddesses, in the belief that their prayers will be answered. It is extremely rare to hear of instances of monks and priests investing the money they have received from the grateful into social good, especially in young people. Granted, they feed the poor and sometimes build charitable hospitals. But venture capital for the young? It is indeed a move that merits applause.

Out-of-the-box thinking

For a temple to be aligned to a national, or societal interest — such as boosting entrepreneurship and employment — requires out-of-the-box thinking.

This is something that the Tagou school of martial arts, a training ground for thousands of Shaolin monks in Dengfeng County, Henan Province, has also demonstrated. Even as China invests big in football training, vowing to have 50 million school-age players by 2020, some 1,500 students at the school (all trained in the martial arts) have taken to football. The program’s founders, all Shaolin monks, believe that the martial arts form with its emphasis on body flexibility, jumping, control and force meets essential requirements for the game. Their investment is of a different kind, but one that shows an engagement with a young community and their ideals.

Why did these stories appeal to me so much? I’ve been reading about how much money is being collected by temples in India right now, in the aftermath of the country’s demonetization drive.

Unable to convert their “black” money legally, many people are dropping them into collection boxes in temples, hoping for a karmic payback.

The collection at one of Mumbai’s most popular temples, the Siddhi Vinayak Temple dedicated to Ganesha, increased from 4 million rupees (US$59,000) a week to 6 million. At the Tirumala Temple in Tirupati, arguably India’s richest temple, daily collections have similarly increased from 20-30 million rupees to almost 60 million — even as the number of devotees came down slightly.

I wonder what the temples in India would do with so much extra cash. I would urge them to take a leaf out of the book of the monks at the Jade Buddha Temple and Shaolin Temple and invest in providing young people startup opportunities. Or invest in building the infrastructure that the country desperately needs, even if it is about doing it in the immediate vicinity of the temples. These are places that are often in need of better hygiene and sanitation, parking lots and wider streets. We need the priests and policymakers to sit down together and work out where the collaboration can have the quickest payoff.

Such investment can really be the kind of divine intervention that could boost the fortunes of any society.



Kunal Sinha has over 25 years of unearthing and commenting on consumer and cultural trends, and helping companies profit from them. Based in Shanghai for over a decade, he is the author of two books about creativity in business: China’s Creative Imperative, and Raw – Pervasive Creativity in Asia, and has taught at some of the world’s leading business schools.

[GeneChing]

Stephan Chow should make another Shaolin sports film. Shaolin Synchronized Diving? Shaolin Rhythmic Gymnastics? Shaolin Curling?


Darkest day for Hong Kong football as ‘Shaolin Temple’ South China withdraw from Premier League (http://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2096980/hong-kong-giants-south-china-withdraw-premier-league)
The best-supported club in the city say they will play in the First Division and focus on youth development
PUBLISHED : Monday, 05 June, 2017, 6:17pm
UPDATED : Monday, 05 June, 2017, 10:06pm

Chan Kin-wa

https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2017/06/05/d122ee5a-49e0-11e7-a842-aa003dd7e62a_1280x720_205106.JPG

Hong Kong Football Club Soccer Section Secretary Les Collett (left), Hong Kong Football Club manager Richard Ewart, Hong Kong Football Club Soccer Section General Committee Member Neil Jensen and The Executive Centre’s Gigi Li attend a press conference at Hong Kong Football Club on 8 July 2016. Photo: SCMP Pictures
he money: Hong Kong Football Club won’t be splashing the cash with budget of just over HK$1 million
The best-supported and most successful club in Hong Kong history said in a statement that they would compete in the First Division in the new season to focus on junior development, which they say has been lacking in local soccer over the years.
“It has always been the target of South China to develop potential players but so far we haven’t seen this happen to help the sport in Hong Kong,” the statement said. “Since last season, we have started a 10-year programme to nurture youth players and the decision [to play in the First Division] is also in line with this aim.
“Hopefully we can build up a strong foundation for future development so that we can one day come back to the Premier League stronger.”
South China have been a stalwart of Hong Kong’s elite division for decades, even when they haven’t been successful. Their decision to pull out of the Premier League is one of the biggest setbacks in Hong Kong football’s recent history.

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South China, also known as the Caroliners – the road in So Kon Po on which they have their clubhouse – have won a record 41 top-flight championship over their 100 years in Hong Kong. They only played in the second tier competition during their early years of joining the league.
Hong Kong Football Association chairman Brian Leung Hung-tak said they accepted South China’s decision at its board meeting on Monday, saying there was little they could do.
“We have to respect their decision although we all know South China have the longest history in Hong Kong soccer and are the most popular club,” said Leung. “Their decision will certainly affect our competition but hopefully it can be minimised with other clubs such as Eastern and Kitchee getting stronger and stronger.
“Following South China’s withdrawal, we are planning to have 10 teams in the Premier League next season – one less than this season but if the teams can keep playing well, the fans will still come.”
Kitchee crowned Hong Kong Premier League champions after rout of Eastern
In the previous season, Metro Galley declined to stay in the Premier League and were allowed to play in the First Division.

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South China finished fourth in the just-completed season and businessman and convenor Wallace Cheung Kwong-yung decided to quit the club after spending HK$50 million without any major silverware after three seasons.
However, Cheung and the club still have to resolve some players’ contracts. Nine players are believed to be contracted for next season with a total salary close to HK$10 million.
Former Hong Kong team coach Tsang Wai-chung said it was hard to imagine a Hong Kong top-flight division without South China.
“It’s just like Bayern Munich having withdrawn from the Bundesliga,” said Tsang, who had a brief stint as South China coach in 2008 but quit suddenly after their first game of the season against Citizen.
“The club has been known as the Shaolin Temple of Hong Kong soccer and is the biggest pillar of the league. It is hard to imagine their absence.”
Seasoned soccer administrator Peter Leung Shou-chi felt sorry after hearing the news, saying he was sadder than when his team Eastern surrendered the league title to Kitchee after losing 4-1 to their opponents.
“I don’t think there is anything to do with the budget as there are always zealous people who want to take charge of the club as the new convenor,” said Leung, who has worked with South China in the past. “Hopefully their management can change their decision and make a return to the top flight as soon as possible.”
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as:
Dark day as South China quit top flight

[GeneChing]

There are 15 pix in this album, but I'm only posting a few.



Arsenal stars pull off kung fu moves at fan party in China - photos (http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/630336/Arsenal-China-kung-fu-fan-party-sportgalleries)
ARSENAL players showed off their kung fu moves during a fan party at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Shanghai today.
By Jack Watts / Published 17th July 2017

Arsenal stars pull off kung fu moves at fan party in China

ARSENAL players showed off their kung fu moves during a fan party at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Shanghai today.

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GETTY
Arsenal stars at fan party

Arsenal stars at fan party Arsenal stars at fan party Arsenal stars at fan party Arsenal stars at fan party Arsenal stars at fan party Arsenal stars at fan party Arsenal stars at fan party

The Gunners are currently taking part in a tour across China.

They face Bayern Munich in Shanghai on Wednesday before squaring up to Chelsea in Beijing this Saturday.

And the Arsenal players soaked up some of the local culture by donning martial arts gear and performing kung fu in front of supporters at an event this morning.

Mesut Ozil, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alexandre Lacazette all took to the stage for the show.

Ozil seemed to be the star attraction with the supporters - and he appeared to be enjoying himself.

New signing Lacazette, on the other hand, didn’t look too impressed with the situation!

Meanwhile, the likes of Laurent Koscielny, Olivier Giroud and Mohamed Elneny got to sample different types of tea at Lu Bo Lang Restaurant in Yuyuan Gardens.

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Someone needs to tell these footballers about Kung Fu pants (http://www.martialartsmart.com/11-17.html).

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y27eKJvw1WY

[GeneChing]

http://image5.sixthtone.com/image/5/6/230.jpg
DeepTones
Kung Fu Kids Kick Their Way to Soccer Dream (http://www.sixthtone.com/news/1001178/kung-fu-kids-kick-their-way-to-soccer-dream)
Under a national plan to elevate Chinese soccer, a top martial arts school trains the next generation of star players.

Yin Yijun
Nov 14, 2017

HENAN, Central China — In the final minutes of the game, kung fu master-turned-soccer player “Mighty Steel Leg” Sing launches into the air and, with a seemingly light kick, sends the ball flying at supersonic speed, knocking the opposing team’s goalkeeper and other players back several feet into the net.

But the scene from 2001 Hong Kong comedy film “Shaolin Soccer” is nothing like what Chang Yirong and her classmates are learning in real life, says the Shaolin Tagou Wushu School student. “It’s too much like science fiction,” Yirong says.

The 14-year-old is one of more than 1,400 students enrolled in the newly launched soccer program at Tagou, a prestigious private martial arts school in the rolling hills near Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, Henan province. The program, which aims to groom a new generation of soccer talents, is part of President Xi Jinping’s plan to transform China into a soccer powerhouse.


We kung fu kids are physically stronger, and some kung fu moves are related to soccer.
- Chang Yirong, Shaolin Tagou Wushu School soccer player
So far, China’s only appearance at the FIFA World Cup was in 2002, when the team failed to score a single goal. The team’s lackluster performance then and in subsequent games riled Chinese soccer supporters. As a fan of the game himself, President Xi laid out a 50-point blueprint to propel Team China up the world rankings. By 2020, the country aims to build 20,000 training centers and 70,000 pitches. Also by that year, 50 million citizens — including 30 million school-age children — will play soccer regularly.

The long-term goal is for China’s national team to win the FIFA World Cup. Currently, the men’s team ranks 57th in the world, with its highest ranking of 37th achieved in 1998. The women’s team is doing much better, currently sitting at 13th in international rankings.

Two years ago, Tagou and the Henan provincial sports bureau jointly launched a unique soccer program that incorporates elements of kung fu to help China realize its dream of soccer greatness. “We are a martial arts school; as both martial arts and soccer are sports, they share similarities in training,” says Xie Gentong, the director of the soccer program. “The Chinese government also attaches great importance to soccer.”

With tuition fees set at 16,000 yuan ($2,400) per year, Tagou is one of the cheaper sports schools in the area. Other specialized soccer schools, such as Evergrande Football School in southern China’s Guangdong province, cost more than three times that amount.

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Chang Yirong, 14, participates in martial arts training at Shaolin Tagou Wushu School in Dengfeng, Henan province, Oct. 18, 2017. Yin Yijun/Sixth Tone

Tagou’s trial soccer classes intrigued Yirong, who was specializing in martial arts at the time. “Running on the grassy field makes me feel in command,” says the slim, tanned teenager, who is a forward on her team. “The more I learn about soccer, the more I love it.”

Yirong didn’t get to play on grass until May this year, when the school’s new soccer field was completed. Before that, she and her teammates practiced in a brick courtyard on campus. The provincial sports bureau plans to provide 1.5 million yuan in annual funding for 2017 and 2018 to further develop the program, according to bureau official Ma Hong.


The Chinese government also attaches great importance to soccer.
- Xie Gentong, Shaolin Tagou Wushu School soccer program director
However, Xie believes there are many challenges ahead. “Our biggest problem is the lack of [professional soccer] coaches,” he says. Tagou has 58 coaches in total, each in charge of around 20 students. However, most of them only have experience teaching martial arts, not soccer. Some instructors have participated in soccer coach training run by the provincial soccer association, but even with the training, they can only teach basic skills and lack the expertise to coach the school’s top teams. Tagou has only six experienced soccer coaches, three of whom are from Barcelona, Spain, and have a background in training young players. They are expecting a fourth coach from Barcelona this month.

A kung fu protégé-turned-coach, Wen Lihua has witnessed the program’s development from the beginning. The 30-year-old took a teaching position at the school after a brief career as a professional practitioner of sanda, a form of traditional Chinese freestyle combat.

Although not a soccer fan, Wen saw great potential in what the school was doing. “This is a shortcut to developing soccer in Henan and [all of] China,” he says. He believes the kids in the program, who have already endured rigorous martial arts training, have what it takes to learn another sport: a strong physique and a tough mind.

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Chang Yirong (center, in blue) plays soccer at Shaolin Tagou Wushu School in Dengfeng, Henan province, Oct. 18, 2017. Yin Yijun/Sixth Tone

The soccer program currently enrolls students aged 7 to 14 and divides players into two groups. Those 10 and older are put into “key classes,” which train six days a week, whereas the younger students only practice soccer twice a week.

Yirong is in the former category and plays on the school’s best team. She gets up at 5:30 every morning, spends half the day in mandatory academic classes — such as languages and math — and devotes the rest of her time to rigorous kung fu and soccer training.


Soccer is just a hobby in the minds of the older generation.
- Wen Lihua, martial artist and soccer coach
Tagou is run like a military school. The more than 30,000 students must ask for permission to leave campus, and the year-round curriculum means that Yirong can only visit her family — who live an hour and a half away from the school by car — once a year during the monthlong Chinese New Year break. Even on visits home, she can barely put down her soccer ball and continues to practice the skills she has picked up at school.

Though she isn’t learning the gravity-defying Shaolin Kung Fu moves from the movie, Yirong says she believes kung fu can give her and her teammates an advantage. “We kung fu kids are physically stronger,” she says while performing a leg-sweeping technique with ease, “and some kung fu moves are related to soccer.”

In Yirong’s mind, the secret to success is not kung fu or innate talent in any sport, but rather hard work. She admires Argentine athlete Lionel Messi more than Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo for this very reason: “Ronaldo was born with talent,” Yirong says, “but Messi is different because he actually worked hard to get to where he is today.”
continued next post

[GeneChing]

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Chang Yirong (front) and her soccer teammates listen to instructions from their coach at Shaolin Tagou Wushu School in Dengfeng, Henan province, Oct. 18, 2017. Yin Yijun/Sixth Tone

Yirong dreams of becoming a star player like Messi, but her path hasn’t been smooth thus far. She still remembers her first match last year: The team had been training together for only a few months when they played against a local public school and lost 0-9. “We all burst into tears as we left the field,” she says. But with guidance from professional coaches and intense training in the months since, Yirong says a shutout like that will never happen again.

Not everyone involved in the program is enthusiastic about mixing kung fu and soccer. “It's better if they only play soccer all the time,” says Spanish coach Mateu Muñoz Servera, the head coach of Yirong’s under-14 women’s team, “but I think kung fu is another tool to increase [soccer ability]. For example, they have more flexibility.”

Despite skepticism about the “bold trial” — as the director of the provincial sports bureau called it — Yirong’s parents are supportive of what she is doing, with some reservations. “To be honest, I don’t want my daughter to suffer [from strenuous training],” says Yirong’s mother, 44-year-old Chang Xueli, “but there is no use forcing her to do things she doesn’t like.” Chang says she recalls visiting Tagou on several occasions and finding her daughter injured, only to have Yirong assure her family that she was fine out of fear that they might withdraw her from the school.

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Left: Swords for martial arts training lie on the grass at Shaolin Tagou Wushu School in Dengfeng, Henan province, Oct. 19, 2017. Yin Yijun/Sixth Tone; right: a student poses for a photo at Shaolin Tagou Wushu School, Oct. 16, 2016. Courtesy of Shaolin Tagou Wushu School

Some parents of Tagou students are far less supportive of the school’s soccer offerings. Coach Wen says he has encountered many families who would only ever consider enrolling their children in the martial arts program. “Soccer is just a hobby in the minds of the older generation,” he says. “They think martial arts is a legitimate skill, a normal career path.”

Yirong’s mother also worries about her daughter’s future in soccer. Compared to the 16 men’s teams in the Chinese Super League, there are only eight teams in the Chinese Women’s Super League. To improve Yirong’s career prospects, her mother considered transferring her to Evergrande but was dissuaded by the high tuition fees, set at 55,000 yuan per year.

Despite receiving substantial funding and support from the government, the national teams are far from achieving global dominance in soccer. China’s women’s team is just a shadow of its 1999 self, when the team played the United States in the FIFA Women’s World Cup final. In recent years, the team has seen few victories in international tournaments.

With the future of soccer in China uncertain, Chang is anxious about where her daughter will end up. “Chinese soccer is not doing well right now,” she often tells Yirong.

But her daughter always responds, “As I improve, Chinese soccer will also get better.”

Editor: Doris Wang.

(Header image: Students practice martial arts at Shaolin Tagou Wushu School in Dengfeng, Henan province, Oct. 19, 2017. Yin Yijun/Sixth Tone)

Shaolin Soccer (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57758-Shaolin-Soccer-for-real) & Tagou (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?23563-Tagou)

[GeneChing]

He's still trying to milk Shaolin Soccer? srsly? That came out nearly a decade and a half ago.



Lam Chi Chung lost money with "Funny Soccer" (https://sg.news.yahoo.com/lam-chi-chung-lost-money-022200458.html)
Heidi Hsia
From Cinema Online Exclusively for Yahoo Newsroom 12 January 2018

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/AezncjLoQJeIkBeqJfHHvw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en-SG/homerun/ybrand.cinema.com.my/7310c47274c1d49eb504cb1e6f7fc6b8

13 Jan – Hong Kong actor-turned-director Lam Chi Chung recently admitted that his big directorial effort "Funny Score" was a disaster at the box office and a disaster for him and his investor, financially.

As reported on Oriental Daily, the actor, known to many as Stephen Chow's sidekick in "Shaolin Soccer" and "Kung Fu Hustle", shared that a lot of bad things happened throughout the movie's production - from poor promotions to the getting conned by a supposed intermediary for international distribution.

"The movie was poorly promoted in mainland China and didn't get a lot of shows when it was released. After only a few days, its run was abruptly ended and was regarded as a box office bomb," he said.

He also stated that the movie was supposed to get an international release, but that the intermediary turned out to be a conman who disappeared with the money.

Lam said that he and his investor ended up losing over HKD 20 million.

The actor said that it disappointed him vehemently as it was a pet project that started ten years ago.

"I really liked the script and spent a year preparing it for production. The actors also gave the project their all. Benny Chan didn't take a cent in order to support the project," he said.

Lam said that he previously thought about sharing some of the movie's profit with Benny, but ended up losing his own money instead.

"I am very sorry for that," he added.


thread: Shaolin Soccer (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?46486-Shaolin-Soccer)
thread: Shaolin Soccer for real (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57758-Shaolin-Soccer-for-real)

[GeneChing]

Does Tagou have an ice rink now? And a wave machine? Shaolin is land-locked and the river isn't big enough to surf. :confused:


Shaolin martial arts school promotes soccer on campus (http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1159453.shtml)
By Shan Jie in Dengfeng Source:Global Times Published: 2019/7/28 17:53:39

○ A Shaolin martial arts boarding school is developing youth soccer training

○ Players with a martial arts background have some advantages, say their coaches

○ The school is also training talent for ice hockey, skating and surfing

http://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2019/2019-07-28/b9abf128-4619-4bf7-a694-b0c6ddd9e75c.jpeg
Wan Yi (center) celebrates victory with teammates Zhou Jiangyin and goalkeeper Zhou Aoxiang. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Wan Yi is upside down.

The mid-July sun burns. He begins to shake, breathing heavily. Sweat drops from his face to the ground. The azure soccer jersey soaks into a deeper blue. His face turns beetroot.

A few minutes earlier, Wan and his 10-year-old teammates ran off the artificial grass field, having just won their match. Wan decided to celebrate in his own unique way, ball between feet.

It's his superpower. He acquired it from five years of martial arts training.

Five minutes over, Wan puts his legs down and stands up again.

"Only I can do this!" Wan says, picks up his ball and races to join his teammates on the stand.

About 200 schoolmates on the stand cheer the players in an extremely organized way.

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Tagou school players cheer from the stand. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Behind them all, another intense match is occurring between older boys.

Wan, 10, is a student at the Tagou martial arts school in Dengfeng, a county-level city administered by Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan Province.

All the students take martial arts training in the school.

When this relatively remote school with its deep links to the mythological Shaolin Temple unveiled its youth soccer training project in 2015, massive online attention ensued.

In the popular imagination, kung fu soccer is using a superpower - 10 bald superheroes in plain robes flying around the pitch and volleying the ball from a goalkeeper who apparently has eight arms…

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Internet users yearned for Tagou's secret kung fu skills to rescue China from centuries of soccer humiliation.

The 2001 movie Shaolin Soccer would appear more than a lightweight comedy movie for many online soccer aficionados.

Or as Wan puts it, "Soccer was invented in China. People will laugh at China if we do not play well."

A midfielder in one of the school's under-11 teams, Wan's goal is to play for China's national team and in the FIFA World Cup.

China's men's team played once in the World Cup, in 2002, and went home without a single goal from three group matches.

The government in 2015 stepped up efforts to promote soccer on campuses across the country.

Tagou started youth soccer training in December 2015. Wan was one of the earliest to join the program when teams were formed in 2016 by selecting children with perceived soccer talent.

Tagou, the only official Shaolin soccer youth training base under the sports bureau of Henan Province, has 1,519 young boys and girls aged 4 to 15, 23 teams based on different ages and capabilities.

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Girls in Henan Tagou shirts prepare for kickoff at Tagou martial arts school in Dengfeng, Central China's Henan Province. Photo: Li Hao/GT

"Children with a martial arts background are quicker, more flexible and determined," Liu Songpu, who is in charge of the soccer department in Tagou school, tells the Global Times.

In four years, China has made notable progress in promoting soccer in schools through enhanced training, more games and upgraded facilities, Wang Dengfeng, a senior official at the Ministry of Education, said on July 23 in Beijing, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

China has named 24,126 primary and middle schools across the country as specialist soccer schools to spearhead youth soccer development, Xinhua reported.

Mysterious team

Zhu Xinggang scores in the U12-13 match of the Second Youth Games of China in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Right fist meeting left palm, Zhu bows solemnly and salutes the opposition goalkeeper.

But the kung fu bow backfires as the referee warns Zhu, believing the gesture by the Tagou school right winger was intended to humiliate his opponent.

"They don't understand," Coach Liu says. "The gesture is actually showing respect in martial arts."

This is the first time Tagou's soccer team played at a national level and crowds follow the mysterious team with Shaolin in its name.

At the end of the day, the team from Shaolin finish a respectable, if unmagical, fourth.

"People thought that soccer at the Shaolin kung fu school must be something mysterious," Liu says. "But we are just the same."

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A Tagou player demonstrates the "controversial" kung fu bow at his dormitory. Photo: Li Hao/GT

The students take regular compulsory education courses including Chinese, math, English and science. They have two hours' soccer training daily.

Every day all the players at Tagou have 1.5 hours' training in martial arts.

"They have learned the Da Hong Fist, Xiao Hong Fist, Shao Lin Fist and Qi Xing Fist," Zhao Yaodi, a coach to 20 young players under 7, tells the Global Times.

Zhao, 20, graduated from Tagou four years ago. He stayed at the school as a soccer coach after some training.

Most of the soccer coaches at the school have a martial arts background.

In three years, the number of soccer students has grown from 900 to 1,519.

As one of the most famous martial arts schools in Dengfeng, Tagou school has a deep connection with the Shaolin Temple.

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Tagou students practice martial arts after lunch. Photo: Li Hao/GT

The school was built in 1978 by Liu Baoshan, who is from a martial arts family in the village near the temple.

The boarding school today has its original campus, which is only 2 kilometers from the Shaolin Temple.

In total the school has more than 35,000 students and teachers on three campuses, reads its official website.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

First match

July 16 was the first match day for the school's annual sports meeting.

In the afternoon, the youngest players experience their first-ever formal game.

Coach Zhao's team plays a five-a-side against a girls' team the same age coached by Ma Yu, 18 years old.

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Girls team coach Ma Yu directs her players. Photo: Li Hao/GT

The match is strictly by the rules. The girls must remove their flower headbands and tooth amulets. The players have full kit including shin guards and captain's armband.

At kickoff, the girls appear unready.

Ma finds she must constantly shout instructions at her players, who appear a little overwhelmed by the occasion.

Zhao's team are the more aggressive and experienced. They even appear to use some simple tactics. It's a mismatch.

The girls quickly crumble to lose 10-0.

"I don't mind we lost," Ma tells the Global Times. "But they have to maintain a more focused attitude during the game."

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A boy scores from coach Zhao Yaodi's team. Photo: Li Hao/GT

The Henan provincial sport bureau says women's soccer development is a key project and it is also encouraged at the school.

Zhao and Ma's players take care of themselves at boarding school.

Zhao's 20 players have three aunties who look after them. Before the children arrive from canteen after lunch, the three are making beds, turning on the air conditioning and bringing them water in red plastic buckets.

When the players get back, they wash, change clothes and nap in their small wooden beds.

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A dormitory assistant helps a boy wash his face. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Step by step

The school has 39 canteens but only three soccer pitches.

Players compete for space with thousands of other schoolmates in the crowded campus.

Coach Liu Songpu once visited the soccer school under Luneng Taishan Football Club in East China's Shandong Province. Luneng has 26 pitches for hundreds of players.

"I am jealous," he says.

A new campus with 10 soccer pitches is being built, says Zhao.

There's no denying the coaches also need to improve.

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Zhou Jiangyin (left) in match action. Photo: Li Hao/GT

"It's OK for me to teach basic skills, but I lack knowledge of tactics," Zhao admits.

The school has six Portuguese coaches sent by Henan sport bureau through the youth training promotion project. They have different duties - management, fitness, tactics and techniques.

"I often communicate with the foreign coaches to learn from them," Zhao says.

When the Global Times reporter visited the school, the Portuguese coaches had gone back to their country for visas.

Talent treasure trove

Tagou is also tasked by the General Administration of Sports to find athletes for the summer and winter Olympics.

According to Henan government's website in June 2018, 143 athletes left Tagou to join national training teams in sports including freestyle skiing, snowboarding and surfing.

An ice hockey team is also to be found in Tagou.

They practice with roller skates on the floor.

"These with martial arts background can make achievements in a very short time," Feng Weifeng, who is in charge of publicity for the school, tells the Global Times. "They have great balance and flexibility."

"We aim at the Olympics," he says.

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Newspaper headline: KUNG FU KICKS

THREADS
Shaolin Soccer for real (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57758-Shaolin-Soccer-for-real)
Tagou (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?23563-Tagou)

[GeneChing]

ttt for Kung Fu Games (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?27388-Kung-Fu-Games)
Slightly OT for Shaolin Soccer for real (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57758-Shaolin-Soccer-for-real)


KungFu Kickball Will Be Making Its Way To All Platforms In 2020 (https://www.player.one/kungfu-kickball-will-be-making-its-way-all-platforms-2020-129168)
The team-based fighting game is "easy to learn, but hard to master."
by KENNETH ARAULLO @KENNETHARAULLO
08/16/19

https://cdn.player.one/sites/player.one/files/styles/full_large/public/2019/08/16/kungfu-kickball.png

Blowfish Studios officially announces KungFu Kickball, set to release for the PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC in Q1 2020.
BLOWFISH STUDIOS

An action-packed team-based fighting game will be launching soon for multiple platforms
in Q1 2020. Titled KungFu Kickball, the game was announced by publisher Blowfish Studios (War Tech Fighters, The Deer God) and developer Whalefood Games (mobile game Too Many Snakes).

KungFu Kickball is set in a mystical fantasy world where fantasy sports is all the rage. The sport, which is the lovechild of soccer and kung-fu martial arts, will have players flying through the air whilst unleashing a flurry of punches, kicks, and mystical arts to overpower the other team and smash the ball into their bell. If the bell rings, that counts as a point. The team with the most points when the time runs out will emerge victorious.

Currently, KungFu Kickball has 1v1 and 2v2 online multiplayer matches, which players can either join locally or online, either with friends or randoms. The game presents itself as quite simple, with only three buttons to keep track of; however, the three buttons can be mixed and matched to result in numerous combinations that are definitely hard to pull off and master. Each game will take place on one of six unique stages, and as already seen in its brief announcement trailer, there are three player classes to choose from: the Monk, the Ninja, or the Old Master.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsSuBu-wMLo

Gameplay looks very interesting, and very unique, too. The idea behind needing only three buttons to be pressed is quite daunting, given that there should be quite a deep learning curve for games that present themselves as “easy to learn, hard to master.” Still, the game should please those who find themselves drawn to multiplayer games, as the idea behind KungFu Kickball is quite novel and original.

The “sports and martial arts” based fighting game will launch for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Mac by Q1 2020. It will feature support for English, Italian, French, German, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, and Simplified Chinese.

For those who are interested and want to see more gameplay for KungFu Kickball, it will be playable at PAX West this year, which runs from August 30 to September 2.