Shaolin's African Disciples

[GeneChing]

We ran an article on Saatenang in our last Shaolin Special (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=955): African Disciple By John Brown

The warrior prince (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2011-11/04/content_14034480.htm)
Updated: 2011-11-04 07:59
By Han Bingbin (China Daily)

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/attachement/jpg/site1/20111104/f04da2db1122101d77a12c.jpg
Dominique Saatenang, who studied at Shaolin Temple, aims to spread kungfu culture. Wang Jing / China Daily

A Cameroonian tribal king's son swaps his royal robe for that of a Chinese kungfu fighter. Han Bingbin talks to Dominique Saatenang.

Dominique Saatenang's journey spans not only continents but also identities.

The Cameroonian tribal prince swapped his royal robes for those of a Shaolin Temple monk and traded in the ceremonial spear of an African ruler for the sword of a Taoist martial artist.

And while he has forsaken his ascension as a king in his homeland, he has risen to become chairman of the French Africa Wushu Association (AFA WUSHU) and Association Kungfu Wushu du Cameroun. His mission, he says, is to train international "ambassadors of kungfu".

Saatenang left the successful company he had founded in Cameroon to come to Shaolin. While training at a school near the temple, he broke through a security line to shake hands with the abbot, Shi Yongxin.

The abbot surprised Saatenang when he brought the foreigner to the front of the line, gave him a name card and told him, "Find me again when you have time".

Saatenang was so excited that he registered at the temple the same day. A month later, he started what Shaolin's liason Wang Yumin describes as four "diligent and painstaking" years of studying martial arts and Buddhism.

That wasn't the first time the kungfu enthusiast had taken drastic action for his love of martial arts.

When he was 11, he told his father he would quit school if he couldn't practice kungfu rather than soccer, which he excelled at and his father hoped could offer him a brighter future.

The boy became determined to master kungfu after watching Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon.

"I'd found what I really needed in life," he says.

His father told him, "Everybody in China knows kungfu, but they still don't have any money."

After overcoming his father's objections, Saatenang faced another problem - there weren't any kungfu practitioners, let alone instructors, in Cameroon. His first teacher was actually a taekwondo coach, who had picked up kungfu moves from movies.

So Saatenang learned vicariously for six years, until he one day chanced upon a Chinese man practicing taichi in a park.

The Cameroonian couldn't speak any Chinese, but used every gesture he could think of - while shouting "Kungfu! Kungfu!" - to persuade the man to accept him as an apprentice.

The man smiled and wrote "5:30" on the ground.

That was the time the two met every morning for the next three years. Because they couldn't speak to each other, the lessons relied on body language.

Saatenang recalls trying to pay the man, who turned out to be an international volunteer, when the Chinese left Cameroon three years later.

He would only take a few small coins as souvenirs, Saatenang recalls.

Saatenang soon after met a Chinese doctor living in Cameroon, who also knew kungfu. They co-founded a martial arts association in Gabon.

Saatenang began traveling throughout the country to organize kungfu performances and training courses.

But he felt his dream couldn't be fully realized until he visited Shaolin, the most venerated place to Chinese martial arts, which he had learned about from Jet Li's 1982 film that shares the temple's namesake.

He made the pilgrimage to Henan province in 2000, at age 25.

During his stay in China, he returned home twice a year to keep tabs on the company he had founded, which supported his family after his father passed away in 1997.

He enrolled in a two-year course on contemporary martial arts at Beijing Sports University in 2005, after discovering traditionally trained fighters encountered difficulties entering international contests.

Saatenang started snapping up international competition awards, including the 2006 Hong Kong International Wushu Festival's top sword play prize.

He then moved to France and founded AFA WUSHU.

His organizations have more than 3,000 members and disciples. Saatenang is cooperating with the governments of five African countries to send two university students from each country to study at Shaolin Temple for free for five years.

The students will be trained in kungfu and sports medicine in the longest lasting and most comprehensive program the temple has offered for foreigners, Wang Yumin says. Foreign students previously stayed three weeks to one year, at most.

Six students have already arrived from Cameroon, Gabon and Rwanda.

Saatenang says he evaluates candidates on their motivations rather than their physical abilities. He hopes they will promote the Chinese martial art in their homelands, he says.

"If Chinese come to Africa to teach people kungfu, Africans might mistake their actions for cultural propaganda," he says.

"But it's easier for local people to accept an African teaching them."

To this end, he hopes to appear in a martial arts movie and has already finished acting classes at the Laboratoire de L'acteur in Paris.

"I just want to let people know it's not just Chinese people who can make kungfu movies," he says.

"Foreigners who study it can also do it."

[GeneChing]

"Neville trained for some time at a Shaolin temple in Shandong province..." ;)

Kung Fu: A philosophy in motion (http://www.nouse.co.uk/2012/04/11/philosophyofshaolin/)
April 11, 2012 | ONLINE ONLY

Neville Abbott is an unassuming man. He quietly contradicts the loud, brash stereotype of a South African. You would never guess he could kill a man with one punch.

But Neville is in fact the Master of a new Kung Fu school in York. Over a few pints of lager, he tells me about his journey through martial arts that has brought him from Apartheid South Africa, through a Chinese Shaolin Temple, to the founding of his Wing Chun Academy.

I begin by asking him about his awareness of apartheid as a white South African child.

“It’s not something I really realised at the time. It was all the propaganda. I can look back now and say, ‘Yes it was a completely fascist regime’, but actually the propaganda told us that we were a democracy and a free country. And I couldn’t quite understand why the rest of the world hated us. I couldn’t understand the difference between us and America.”

But you must have been very young?

“We’re talking pre-teens. Apartheid ended when I was 13, 14.”

Was it simply a case of not seeing black people in your social spheres?

“Yes, not at all. Not even remotely. The only black people you saw were your maid and your gardener – and everybody had a maid and a gardener, which is also something that’s quite odd in this country. We didn’t have a gardener, which was probably the definition of lower middle class – to only have one domestic servant! She would pick us up from school and look after us – it was cheaper than childcare, because both my parents worked.”

Neville’s au pair was a prominent figure in the most formative part of his childhood.

“I got on very well with her. I thought the absolute world of her – and it’s just that kind of dichotomy. This is part of how you were conditioned from a young age. You wouldn’t call a gardener, a gardener; you’d call him a ‘garden boy’ – even though he might be in his 50s. Your maid was never ‘maid’; it was ‘the girl’. And you were encouraged to call black people boys and girls, because we were told that they were inferior. That their intellect was that of a child.”

People weren’t just going to hire black people, so you had to stipulate it in law. But unfortunately it meant that people like me couldn’t get jobs.

He sighs, with a sadness that feels like more than just personal guilt. Perhaps it is representative of a broadly felt empathy and regret for his nation’s history.

“That was normal, and I remember calling the maid the girl. I just knew no better at the time.”

When did that change?

“I became politically aware at a young age – before the fall of Apartheid. I was around 9 or 10. I kind of woke up and thought ‘Hang on this isn’t right, how we treat black people’. I remember getting into arguments with adults at that age, because there was an election around that point as well. It would have been the last or second last apartheid election, where black people weren’t allowed the vote. And I remember trying to argue with adults who were voting for the NP [National Party], which was the ruling party, and had been the ruling party since 1948, who instigated the whole regime. The main opposition was the DP, the Democratic Party, which was fighting for black rights. But they were still a minority. There was just no comparison. There was one ruling party and it was always going to be that way.”

But these issues did not just disappear after the fall of Apartheid. Life was not easy; people of all races suffered. It is perhaps surprising how frank Neville is about race, and its role in both Apartheid and post-Apartheid society.

“There’s a list: under Apartheid you had to hire white Afrikaans men, white English men, white Afrikaans women, white English women…

It was that specific?

“Oh yes, there was a whole hierarchy; and then below that it went through all the other racial groups. Chinese, Indians, Coloureds – who were a separate racial group to black people. Then down to black women right at the bottom. Now, apart from the masculine/feminine side, that list is pretty much exactly the opposite [as a result of affirmative action policy]. I do see the benefit of that. Racism was still rife; people weren’t just going to hire black people and so you had to stipulate it in law. But unfortunately it meant that people like me couldn’t get jobs. When I left, unemployment was around 30 per cent – and that was during the good times. And the only way you could go to university is if you were rich, which my parents weren’t, or if you get a bursary – which you wouldn’t if you weren’t disabled or black. I would have been able to go to university during apartheid. It was a lot cheaper. Everything was a lot cheaper. But it was all funded off slave labour – I wouldn’t have been happy with that.”

I ask him about the role martial arts played in this part of his life.

“I started my first Karate class at the age of seven. I’ve done martial arts ever since. So that’s twenty-six years now. I grew up on Kung Fu films, Bruce Lee films and all the rest of it. I did Karate, Aikido for a while, a bit of T’aijitsu, Jujitsu, Tai Chi and Muay Thai. I enjoyed them all but none of them ever clicked. I started my first Kung Fu class at the age of 18, and it clicked straight away. It just felt right, and I’ve been in love with Kung Fu and China ever since.”

And you can see his passion for the art. His animated expression and engaging enthusiasm shines through, as he describes its history. Like Neville himself, Wing Chun was born in an era of conflict, in the revolutionary war against the Ch’ing dynasty.

“Wing Chun is quite unique. Most styles of Kung Fu developed organically, over time. Wing Chun was designed. The Shaolin temple, because it is a Buddhist temple, was off limits to the government. It wouldn’t invade the temple, because it would be seen as bad luck. The Shaolin temples had been teaching Kung Fu for about 2000 years, so [the revolutionaries] could hide there and have a steady supply of soldiers who would fight for the revolution.

Armed combat: a Shaolin training hall

“Most styles would take 20 years, to learn it all, and a lifetime to master. But they were trying to train a revolutionary army, so they didn’t have 20 years. The top masters got together to make a system that they could teach, that would be the most effective way of fighting, that you could learn in the shortest possible time. And from that comes Wing Chun. You can learn it in four years, training part time. Four years to get your black belt. Studying it full time you could learn the system – not master it – learn it, and be able to use it to a black belt level in a little over a year.”

Neville trained for some time at a Shaolin temple in Shandong province, and he recalls a story of the one true master of Kung Fu he met there.

“Master Wong started at the Shaolin temple at the age of three. His parents dumped him at the door. Its traditional in Kung Fu if you have your own school to set up an open challenge policy, the theory being that if you’re good enough to teach, you should be good enough to take on any challenger. This Russian cage fighter challenged the head master. He insisted and insisted and eventually the head master agreed. But he said ‘you’re only in your twenties, so it’s not really a fair fight, because I’ve been doing it so much longer than you. So what I’ll do is I won’t use my hands’.

“You start off at opposite sides of the ring. Master Wong stood there with his hands behind his back, and this Russian guy charged him. You didn’t even see master Wong’s foot move. One moment he was stood there with both feet on the ground, the next moment his foot’s in the air, at roughly where the Russian’s head was, and the Russian’s on his back. Fight over.”
continued next post

[GeneChing]

There's 9 photos if you follow the link.

African apprentices practise kungfu at Shaolin Temple (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90782/7938426.html)
（Xinhua） 08:44, September 06, 2012

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/mediafile/201209/06/F201209060842152450630488.jpg
African apprentice Christ practises kungfu at the Shaolin Temple on the Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, Sept. 4, 2012. Ten apprentices from Africa have practised kungfu and learned Shaolin culture at the Shaolin Temple since last November. The temple provides them with a five-year training program and accommodation free of charge. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/mediafile/201209/06/F201209060842153072781357.jpg
Master Yanxiu (5th R) and his African apprentices pose for a group photo at the Shaolin Temple on the Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, Sept. 4, 2012. Ten apprentices from Africa have practised kungfu and learned Shaolin culture at the Shaolin Temple since last November. The temple provides them with a five-year training program and accommodation free of charge. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

[GeneChing]

We ran an article on Luc in our Shaolin Special 2012 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1036): Shaolin Dreamer with a Big Sword By Greg Lynch Jr.

Shaolin warrior shines (http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/778877.shtml#.UYKNzcosasI)
Global Times | 2013-5-2 19:38:01
By Zhang Wen
http://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2011/a9ba71a3-a264-4471-b413-2d23f4d4921b.jpeg
Luc Bendza Photo: Courtesy of Luc Bendza

For a lethal martial artist commonly portrayed as a villain, kung fu grand master-turned-actor Luc Bendza has a disarming smile that belies his intimidating on-screen persona. Since coming to China more than 30 years ago, Bendza has built a reputation he modestly shrugs off as the "African Bruce Lee."

A member of the International Martial Arts Association, the 44-year-old from Gabon is a pioneer among African entertainers in China.

"Most [foreigners] who practice kung fu come and go. They learn it or take part in competitions, but no one has stayed for years like me," he explains. "Most expat roles in TV and movies go to Caucasians. There are few black roles, which is a shame."

Married to a Chinese wife with a young son, Bendza has starred in dozens of films and TV drama series alongside superstars such as Jackie Chan. Showing some of his work to Metropolitan on a portable DVD player over coffee, his pride in his craft - and roles - is obvious.

"This is The Legend of Bruce Lee," he says in polished Putonghua, referring to a 50-episode series aired on China Central Television based on the namesake Hong Kong martial arts icon. "I play Jesse Glover, an American student of Lee's who later becomes his first disciple. Through this series, I learned my childhood idol was not only a kung fu master but also a warm, helpful person."

He says he learned Chinese because he wanted to know the culture behind the superficial martial arts gestures.

"When I came to China, I was a teenage filled with love for martial arts who had a simple wish to learn it well. When you need to learn martial arts on a deeper level, you have to learn the language, the technical terms and the culture surrounding it," he says.

Typecast as the villain

Bendza's martial arts prowess and African heritage ensure he regularly attracts attention from wuxia filmmakers, even if he is often cast as a villain.

"Maybe some directors think African actors are suited to certain roles, but I don't mind. When Jackie Chan and other Chinese film stars made their break in Hollywood, they also played bad guys," he says.

Bendza found the showbiz spotlight when he was scouted 20 years ago by a film director at a martial arts competition in Zhengzhou, Henan Province.

"I was crowned champion at that competition, and the director saw potential in me as an actor. I was recommended to his other friends in the industry, so I started to get roles in movies and TV series," he recalls, adding nowadays he lands roughly three TV or film roles annually.

"Unlike martial arts, acting is more about coordination with other people. You have to make sure that scenes are beautiful to watch and you don't hurt your fellow actors."

Bendza's most recent role was as a pirate in 2012 blockbuster Chinese Zodiac. Despite the film being panned by critics, he relished the chance to star alongside Chan."I really appreciated the opportunity to act in the same movie as my idol. I admire his professional dedication," he says.

Journey to the East

Bendza's parents, both former cabinet ministers in Gabon, had high hopes on their son, one of 10 children in the family, would follow in their footsteps and enter politics. But instead he became mesmerized by kung fu after watching classic Bruce Lee films.

"I watched The Way of The Dragon (1972) at the cinema and was amazed at how a single guy could beat all the villains. I would go to the cinema as long as there were movies [starring Lee]. I watched all his movies," he recalls.

When he first expressed interest in going to China to learn kung fu, his family were reluctant.

"Practicing martial arts in their eyes was fooling around," he says. "But it's more painstaking than what you see in the movies; it requires strict discipline. The process is boring and you have to take it step by step to master moves and know yourself."

Despite his parents' opposition, Bendza continued mimicking his hero by accompanying wild punches and kicks with high-pitched shouts.

Eventually, they agreed he could go to China after feeling more comfortable about the idea due to Bendza's uncle being Gabon's then-ambassador to the country.

He first went to kung fu's spiritual home, the Shaolin Temple, before learning martial arts at Beijing Sport University. Over the next 20 years, he gradually ascended to the rank of seventh duan, the third-highest level overall, and became a grand master.

"I used to carry two buckets of water with my arms parallel to the ground and bend my legs all the way back for 45 minutes daily. After all the pain, none of the challenges in life pose a problem to me," he says.

Kung fu ambassador

Having spent his entire adult life in China, Bendza describes the Middle Kingdom as his "second motherland."

"I practically grew up here. I don't think I will ever leave China," he says.

While his kung fu training ensures he can defend himself from any physical attacks, he finds it harder to fend off racism in daily life.

"It's very hard to get a taxi. A female taxi driver once told me that her boss had instructed her not to accept black passengers," he sighs.

Many of the negative stereotypes of Africans in China are rooted in ignorance, he adds.

"When talking about Africa, [Chinese] always think about war, famine and AIDS. But we also have cultural diversity and good business opportunities," he insists.

"I want to organize a Gabonese national martial arts team. It can serve as the bridge between Gabon, as well as Africa, and China."

[GeneChing]

More on Bendza (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1227573&post1227573)


An African boy fulfils his Kung fu dream in China (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90782/8328421.html)
(China Daily)
14:21, July 16, 2013

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/mediafile/201307/16/F201307161422011261720010.jpg
A young African boy came to China to look for the flying heroes he had seen in kung fu movies. He did not learn to fly, but other lessons had made him a hero in his own homeland, and an ambassador in China, where he has stayed for the last 30 years. He Na finds out the details.

Children often have big dreams, to stand in the limelight in front of the cameras, the football field, or even in politics, but perhaps Luc Bendza had the grandest dream of them all. He wanted to fly.

It was a special kind of flight he dreamt about - to be able to float through the air like all those heroes he saw in Chinese kung fu movies.

While flight has proven impossible, the 43-year-old from Gabon's fascination with Chinese kung fu did lead him to great things. He has won several international martial arts awards, he speaks fluent Mandarin, and he has appeared in several movies and made numerous appearances on Chinese television.

In addition to his acting, Bendza now works as a cultural consultant at the China-Africa International Cultural Exchange and Trade Promotion Association in Beijing.

Kung fu movies were popular in Gabon in the 1980s and Bendza was a huge fan.

"I really admired those people in the movies who could fly. They were able to fight for justice and help the poor. I wanted to be just like them, but when I told my mother I wanted to go to China and learn to fly she thought I was crazy," he recalls.

Bendza began by studying Chinese with the help of Wang Yuquan, a translator working with a Chinese medical team in Gabon. Sometimes he skipped school to study with Wang, and also called him in the evenings to talk about China.


http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/mediafile/201307/16/F201307161422072651119510.jpg
Luc Bendza practices the Chinese martial arts with a sword. (China Daily)

"When my mother heard me speaking Chinese on the phone she was surprised," he says.

"She even took me to see a psychiatrist. But I told her that I had made my decision no matter whether she agreed or not."

Then Bendza opened a video rental store without telling his parents and saved $1,000 to help fund his move.

"In the 1980s, $1,000 was really a lot of money. When I presented the money to my parents I could see the surprise on their faces," he says. "After they had confirmed the money wasn't stolen they both sighed with relief."

But they were still not convinced. What finally swayed them was a phone call from Wang.

"I begged Wang to make the call," says Bendza. "Wang told my parents how serious I was and asked them to give me a chance."

Bendza's parents were both government officials and had hoped he would follow in their footsteps. However, they accepted his plans, while also betting with their son that he would soon return.

It was 1983 when Bendza moved to China, at just 14 years old. There were no direct flights so he was forced to travel through several countries on a long arduous journey.

"It was a really long and complicated journey for a child, but luckily I wasn't abducted by traffickers," he says.

Bendza's uncle worked at the Gabon embassy in Beijing and picked him up at the airport.

"He was puzzled that I kept looking left and right, my eyes searching for something," says Bendza. "I was looking for people who could fly."

His uncle laughed when he said this and explained that it was movie technicians who made people fly.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/mediafile/201307/16/F201307161422051000519307.jpg
Bendza shows up in a TV series in traditional Chinese costume. (China Daily)

"I kept saying no and begged him to find the flying people for me. So he took me to Beijing Film Studio where I saw actors flying, hauled into the air on ropes," he says.

He was disappointed and after just two months in Beijing, decided to go to Shaolin Temple in Henan.

"There were few foreigners in China in the 1980s, especially black people from African countries. Wherever I went people pointed fingers at me like I was from another planet, but I wasn't annoyed because they were all very friendly," he says.

"The people at Shaolin Temple were really amazing. Although they couldn't fly like in the movies, still their martial arts made a deep impression on me. I told myself I had gone to the right place."

Bendza's Mandarin still wasn't good, so after less than a year he left the temple and returned to Beijing where he studied Mandarin at university for a year.

After that he enrolled at the Beijing Sport University studying traditional Chinese martial arts.

"I stayed at the university for more than 10 years and finished both bachelor and postgraduate studies," he says.

"I really need to thank those teachers who not only taught me Chinese martial arts history and other subjects, but also helped me build a solid foundation for being a real martial artist."

Bendza's natural aptitude for martial arts, and hard training saw him progress rapidly and won him recognition from many martial art masters.

"The teacher would put a nail with the sharp end up under your bum when you were practicing a stance so if you lowered yourself too far the nail would hurt you," Bendza recalls.

The tough training paid off though as Bendza won awards in China and abroad.

He also attracted the eye of directors and he went on to play roles in both movies and television series.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/mediafile/201307/16/F201307161422032077785931.jpg

He did not tell his mother about these successes, and she only found out when she read about him winning an international martial arts competition in France.

Bendza began to gain recognition for his achievements in Gabon, but the media there were initially unkind. One newspaper ran a front-page cartoon of him standing with two suitcases, a foot in China and a foot in Gabon, but with his head turned toward China. The insinuation was that he had turned his back on his homeland.

"The media used the cartoon to show their dissatisfaction," he says. "When I returned to Gabon my mother told me I had to do something to change this bias against me. She took it very seriously."

Bendza organized a free martial arts show as a way of changing opinions and media coverage become more positive.

"When I left, my parents saw me off at the airport and told me they thought I was great. When they said that and my mother hugged me, I cried like a baby. That was the first time in 10 years I had won recognition from my mother," he says.

Martial arts changed his life and he has hopes to promote it across Africa. But his work has also moved away from purely performing toward promoting cultural exchanges.

As a member of International Martial Arts Association, he organizes Chinese martial arts teams to perform and teach in Africa.

Bendza has been in China for 30 years and witnessed the country's reform and opening up process. He married his Chinese wife in 2007 and they have a 16-month-old son.

"I have become used to life in China and enjoy being here with my family very much," he says.

[GeneChing]

African students learn Chinese culture while living at Shaolin Temple (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2013-07/22/content_16808921.htm)
Updated: 2013-07-22 08:17
By Xinhua in Zhengzhou ( China Daily)

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/attachement/jpg/site1/20130722/02c88e4d86011356c80e28.jpg

African students learn Chinese culture while living at Shaolin Temple

Clenching fists, flying kicks, snapping punches - Shaolin kung fu made a big impression on the children in Mabre N'guessan Valerie's village in Cote d'Ivoire when he was young.

"The Shaolin Temple is very famous in my country. I fell in love with Shaolin kung fu when I was 10 years old when I first watched The 36th Chamber of Shaolin," said Valerie, 23, referring to the classic 1978 kung fu movie starring Gordon Liu.

However, the dreams of the children in his hometown mostly faltered in poverty. With neither education nor training, many young people struggled to survive.

"I'm a lucky dog," said Valerie, who entered the Shaolin Temple as a Shaolin charity education program student in February 2012.

Wang Yumin, dean of the Shaolin Temple's Foreign Affairs Office, said that nine students from African countries, including Gabon, Cameroon, Uganda and Cote d'Ivoire, have been admitted with free room and board for a five-year course in Shaolin culture.

Valerie struggled to adapt to Shaolin life at first. "We were not used to the food here, and the language is difficult," he said with a slight French accent.

But 18 months later, he gets along well with his Chinese peers and speaks decent Chinese.

An ordinary day is simple but meaningful, said his compatriot, Yahou Hugues Michael, 29.

They rise at 5:30 am, half an hour before kung fu practice, and by 7 am, they are having breakfast. At 8:30 am, the second morning session starts.

Chinese classes are compulsory from 10:30 am until midday.

After the third training session, in the afternoon, the students are exhausted.

"It's extremely tiring but I am used to it," said Valerie, who added he is physically stronger than when he started.

Wang, the dean, said the temple does not force its beliefs on the African students.

"Though we provide free accommodation and training, and even robes, shoes, socks and other basics for needy African students, we don't force them to cultivate themselves according to a strict religious doctrine," said.

However, Valerie and his friends attend morning prayers, which he said are "pleasant to hear and can quiet our hearts".

Emmanuel Ngalle, 26, from Cameroon, has taken longer to learn Chinese than Valerie has, but Ngalle likes meditating and is interested in Chinese art. In his spare time, he listens to Chinese pop songs and can now sing two Chinese hit songs.

Emmanuel's next goal is to learn Henan opera. "We have a cook where we live, and he likes Henan opera, so he tunes into the same channel on the radio every day," he said.

After 19 months in the Shaolin Temple, Emmanuel is still getting used to Chinese food.

Wang said: "Each student is different in personality. Some convert to Buddhism when they come here. Others focus more on kung fu."

They also pick up other aspects of Chinese culture as they continue their studies.

Michael wants to study Shaolin medicine, but "my language is not good enough. Once it is good, I'll learn medicine and tuina massage."

Despite their uniform gray robes and cotton shoes, they have different dreams for the future.

"I want to go home to find a kung fu school and teach kung fu to local children who cannot afford to study in China," Valerie said.

"Maybe I'll start a school with different courses, not just kung fu, but Chinese language and culture," said Emmanuel.

(China Daily 07/22/2013 page7


When I stopped by a stand selling the stuff they sell there to ask directions to Damo's cave (got confused because it's labeled as 'Dharma Cave'), two of the monks operating the stand said (in Chinese of course), "Hey, you're the guy from Kunming who trained at Guandu Shaolin Temple and wrote the article on Shi Yanbei!" I did a major double-take and lo and behold, these two guys I just happened to ask directions from were monks who had been stationed at the Guandu Shaolin Temple while I was there. Nice! Good place to plug the article (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1092). ;)

[ShaolinDan]

There's 9 photos if you follow the link.
African apprentices practise kungfu at Shaolin Temple
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90782/7938426.html

Just got back from a three day training stint at Shaolin Temple and some of these guys were staying at the new Disciple's Home with me. Really nice friendly guys. Been there for about a year and a half now and their kung fu's improved a lot since those pictures were taken--their Chinese is really good now too. They seem to have been enjoying their time there a lot.

The trip to Shaolin was fun, I'm glad I decided to take a few days to train, not just visit as a tourist. The Disciple's Home is a pretty good set up, plenty of training space, a punching bag, weights and stone locks, and a nice friendly crowd of people. Sunday is their day off, and last night a bunch of us went out drinking and dancing in Dengfeng. Gates close at the Disciple's Home at 10pm, but there's an easy way to sneak in down an alley and over the roof. Good times. :)

[GeneChing]

Maybe the African disciples need their own thread now. They have their own program. :rolleyes:




African Disciples Learn Kung Fu at Shaolin Temple (http://english.cri.cn/11354/2013/09/27/2361s789805.htm)
2013-09-27 16:43:30 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Wang Wei

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2013/09/27/1765b388637844d99e359410112c4136.jpg
http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2013/09/27/94f03f47841b44a7b0b71a08c62750d7.jpg
Foreign disciples practice kung fu at Shaolin Temple, located in Mount Songshan of Zhengzhou, central China's Henan province. The Ministry of Culture launched a "Shaolin Kung Fu Training Class for African Disciples" on Sept. 25, 2013. Twenty disciples from five African countries started a three-month training session at the temple. [Photo: CFP]

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2013/09/27/706e745d21e44e769754736f516c245f.jpg
The Ministry of Culture launched a "Shaolin Kung Fu Training Class for African Disciples" on Sept. 25, 2013. Twenty disciples from five African countries started a three-month training session at the temple. [Photo: CFP]

[GeneChing]

I'm getting tempted to peel these African disciple posts off into their own thread.



Disciples learn peace (http://africa.chinadaily.com.cn/weekly/2013-10/25/content_17058286.htm)
Updated: 2013-10-25 12:59
By Qi Xin and Han Bingbin ( China Daily Africa)

Cultural exchange course offers young Africans tough but rewarding expereince at famous Shaolin Temple

At 4 am in a hotel in Dengfeng, Henan province, a 32-year-old Nigerian woman, Peace Emezue, wakes to the cries of "jihe"! (assemble). Half an hour later, still sleepy, she shows up in the lobby to join 19 other young Africans, all dressed in gray robes and canvas shoes.

They walk in two lines for 15 minutes to a temple. This is the routine six days a week while living the life of a Shaolin monk. Founded in the fifth century, the monastery is long famous for its association with Chinese martial arts and particularly with Shaolin kung fu.

The morning classes start with these "disciples" closely following the monks' moves and listening to them chanting, a chance to observe and hopefully experience for themselves a state of tranquility.

Like her name, Peace says she has sensed the spiritual moment several times.

"When I came to Shaolin, I was surprised because the life here is peaceful and simple," she says. "But it is also quite tough - the morning exercises, the hard training. We do it every day except Sundays. It is a lifestyle I am not used to, but I am getting used to it now."

To strengthen cultural exchanges between China and Africa, the Ministry of Culture launched "Shaolin Kung Fu Training Class for African Disciples" last month, enrolling 20 students from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda and Nigeria. The course lasts three months.

Peace is one of only three women in the group. The other two are Chinese-Africans from Mauritius. As a karate champion, Peace was chosen by her local government for the program to encourage women in Nigeria to take up martial arts, especially kung fu.

"Women also love kung fu and Chinese culture, and I will return and teach my ladies how to meditate and do the moves of kung fu and qigong (breathing exercise)," she says.

"Since I came here, the training has really made me strong, especially my legs, because we do a lot of running and mountain climbing."

Wang Yumin, dean of the Shaolin Temple's foreign affairs office, says many foreigners are attracted to Shaolin because of its reputation for kung fu and its use in Buddhism.

Shi Yanbo, a kung fu master at the temple, says many of the disciples had experience of other martial arts or had learned moves from watching films, but simulating them was not enough. Kung fu is deeply rooted in the culture, he says.

http://africa.chinadaily.com.cn/weekly/img/attachement/jpg/site581/20131025/0013729e4abe13d449e759.jpg

So students also have to learn meditation and study Buddhist doctrines that guide people's actions. To help them gain greater understanding of Chinese kung fu, the students are also offered Chinese language courses.

Zhang Lifei, the group's Mandarin teacher, says because the 20 African disciples do not speak the same African language, they are divided into two groups, each containing someone who can speak English and can help the others.

"I can speak a little French," Peace says. "By paraphrasing, I help them able to understand what the teacher is saying."

When the morning culture and language class is over, the students join the monks for a typical temple lunch that begins with a ritual.

One of the monks walks out of the dining hall with a bowl of rice. After gently tapping on a wooden fish, he places a ball of rice on a stone as a tribute to all beings, while the monks and students chant from scriptures and clap their hands until tapping of the wooden fish again signals the start of the meal.

Then they all eat in silence.

"Life in Shaolin Temple is unimaginably lovely and peaceful. It's not like the real world where there is so much hustle," Peace says.

"I have found a lot of peace of mind here and to be at peace with myself. I would like to teach more people how to do that."

Contact the writers at qixin@chinadaily.com.cn and hanbingbin@chinadaily.com.cn

http://africa.chinadaily.com.cn/weekly/img/attachement/jpg/site581/20131025/0013729e4abe13d4498851.jpg
A ritual before eating at Shaolin Temple. Photos by Xiang Mingchao / China Daily

http://africa.chinadaily.com.cn/weekly/img/attachement/jpg/site581/20131025/0013729e4abe13d4499952.jpg
Ng'usila Manlidi Shabani, from Tanzania, practices kung fu at the temple.

http://africa.chinadaily.com.cn/weekly/img/attachement/jpg/site581/20131025/0013729e4abe13d449b555.jpg
Students do warm-up exercises before kung fu classes.

http://africa.chinadaily.com.cn/weekly/img/attachement/jpg/site581/20131025/0013729e4abe13d449c856.jpg
Students study Chinese at the temple.

[GeneChing]

I culled the African posts off the Journeys (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49520) thread to address the emerging movement of African students and disciples studying at Shaolin Temple.


Path to inner peace (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90782/8439525.html)
By Qi Xin in Kaifeng and Han Bingbin in Beijing (China Daily) 08:29, October 29, 2013

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/mediafile/201310/29/F201310290835192696115750.jpg
African students join the monks for the lunch at Shaolin Temple that begins with a ritual before eating. Photos by Xiang Mingchao / China Daily

A cultural exchange course offers young Africans a tough but rewarding experience at the famous Shaolin Temple.

At 4 am in a hotel in Dengfeng, Henan province, a 32-year-old Nigerian woman, Peace Emezue, wakes to the cries of "jihe"! ("assemble"). Half an hour later, still sleepy, she shows up in the lobby to join 19 other young Africans, all dressed in gray robes and canvas shoes.

They walk in two lines for 15 minutes to the Shaolin Temple. This is the routine six days a week while living the life of a Shaolin monk. Founded in the fifth century, the monastery is long famous for its association with Chinese martial arts and particularly with Shaolin kung fu.

The morning classes start with these "disciples" closely following the monks' moves and listening to them chanting, a chance to observe and hopefully experience for themselves a state of tranquility.

Like her name, Peace Emezue says she has sensed the spiritual moment several times.

"When I came to Shaolin, I was surprised because the life here is peaceful and simple," she says. "But it is also quite tough — the morning exercises, the hard training. We do it every day except Sundays. It is a lifestyle I am not used to, but I am getting used to it now."

To strengthen cultural exchanges between China and Africa, the Ministry of Culture launched the "Shaolin Kung Fu Training Class for African Disciples" last month, enrolling 20 students from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda and Nigeria. The course lasts three months.

Emezue is one of only three women in the group. The other two are Chinese-Africans from Mauritius. As a karate champion, Emezue was chosen by her local government for the program to encourage women in Nigeria to take up martial arts, especially kung fu.

"Women also love kung fu and Chinese culture, and I will return and teach my ladies how to meditate and do the moves of kung fu and qigong (breathing exercise)," she says. "Since I came here, the training has really made me strong, especially my legs, because we do a lot of running and mountain climbing."

Wang Yumin, dean of the Shaolin Temple's foreign affairs office, says many foreigners are attracted to Shaolin because of its reputation for kung fu and its use in Buddhism.

Shi Yanbo, a kung fu master at the temple, says many of the disciples had experience in other martial arts or had learned moves from watching films, but simulating them was not enough. Kung fu is deeply rooted in the culture, he says.

So students also have to learn meditation and study Buddhist doctrines that guide people's actions. To help them gain greater understanding of Chinese kung fu, the students are also offered Chinese language courses.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/mediafile/201310/29/F201310290835209838230131.jpg
Peace Emezue (left) and her fellow African students warm up before attending their kung fu class at the temple.

Zhang Lifei, the group's Mandarin teacher, says because the 20 African disciples do not speak the same African language, they are divided into two groups, each containing someone who can speak English and can help the others.

"I can speak a little French," Emezue says. "By paraphrasing, I help them to understand what the teacher is saying."

When the morning culture and language class is over, the students join the monks for a typical temple lunch that begins with a ritual.

One of the monks walks out of the dining hall with a bowl of rice. After gently tapping on a wooden fish, he places a ball of rice on a stone as a tribute to all beings, while the monks and students chant from scriptures and clap their hands until tapping of the wooden fish again signals the start of the meal.

Then they all eat in silence.

"Life in the Shaolin Temple is unimaginably lovely and peaceful. It's not like the real world where there is so much hustle," Emezue says.

"I have found a lot of peace of mind here and to be at peace with myself. I would like to teach more people how to do that."

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/mediafile/201310/29/F201310290835202070411572.jpg
Tende Uswege Mwaseba, 25, from Tanzania, practices kung fu with his classmates.

[GeneChing]

Did the Abbot and Mandela ever meet?


Shaolin abbot praises Mandela's life and legacy (http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/830487.shtml#.UqJvieIsasI)
Xinhua | 2013-12-6 22:29:12
By Agencies

The abbot of a famous Buddhist temple in China said Nelson Mandela left a precious spiritual legacy to mankind, inspiring the world with his Buddhist-like spirit.

Shi Yongxin, monastery head of the Shaolin Temple, on Friday expressed his respect to the former South African President, who passed away on Thursday night at the age of 95.

"Mandela impressed me as a very benevolent elder," said Shi, as he recalled their meeting in South Africa in 2008, in which Mandela praised the temple's principles and encouraged cultural exchanges.

"He spent all his life pursuing racial equality, which chimes with the Buddhist spirit of extending love and mercy to all beings," Shi told Xinhua during a telephone interview.

Mandela was best known for leading an arduous yet triumphant campaign against apartheid rule in South Africa, and Shi said his commitment to the just and humane cause would live on.

Shi also drew similarities between Mandela and Buddhism, which emphasizes spiritual achievement. "Buddhism gives people confidence, hope and joy. Likewise, Mandela embodies the power of forgiveness, which encourages equality and mutual understanding and beams hope for peace-loving people."

On Friday, Chinese leaders and the public expressed grief over the passing of Mandela, who was an "old friend of China" and an active champion of bilateral friendship and cooperation.

[ShaolinDan]

Did the Abbot and Mandela ever meet?

Yes.

http://www.shaolin.org.cn/templates/EN_T_new_list/index.aspx?nodeid=387&page=ContentPage&categoryid=0&contentid=2273

[breeze]

Yes.

http://www.shaolin.org.cn/templates/EN_T_new_list/index.aspx?nodeid=387&page=ContentPage&categoryid=0&contentid=2273


and: http://www.shaolin-tempel.eu/shaolin/index.php/de/home-2/neuigkeiten/64-zusammentreffen-mit-nelson-mandela

[GeneChing]

There's a vid if you follow the link

The China Factor: Shaolin Kung Fu draws people from around the world (http://english.cntv.cn/program/newshour/20140204/102035.shtml)
02-04-2014 12:46 BJT Special Report: The China Factor |

By CCTV reporter Xia Ruixue
What the world considers a uniquely Chinese discipline - Kung Fu. Shaolin Temple is a veritable mecca for Kung Fu lovers. Made famous around the world in countless martial arts movies, each year it attracts many martial arts enthusiasts keen on studying the discipline.
Dressed in a gray robe and canvas shoes, 24-year-old Ishimwe Fidele from Nigeria starts his afternoon class at 2pm, practicing the famous Chinese Kung Fu at Shaolin Temple.
It’s been the same routine in China for Ishimwe and seven other African disciples six days a week for the past two years.
Ishimwe Irene Fidele, African disciple, said, “We have been learning a lot of things, both performance and tradition.”
Shi Yanxiu, Kung Fu master of Shaolin Temple, said, “They live the life of a Shaolin monk and the Chinese language is not a big obstacle. They learn meditation and study Buddhist doctrines as well. It’s definitely a tough but rewarding experience for them. ”
The Shaolin Temple might conjure up images of a quiet and peaceful monastery on a serene mountain where dozens of monk practice Kung Fu.
But nowadays the temple is a crowded tourist attraction where people come to worship and reflect. Here in Dengfeng, where the temple is located, there are more than a hundred Kung Fu schools. 60,000 martial arts enthusiasts aged from five to 40 come to hone their fighting skills and achieve their Kung Fu dream.
Thanks to Bruce Li and Jacky Chan’s movies, but there’s nothing romantic about the pain during the training."
This is the fourth year 23-year-old Franz Burger from Austria has practiced Kung Fu in a school near Shaolin Temple.
Franz was inspired as a boy by the monks’ amazing physical feats in the Kung Fu movies. His biggest dream is to become a grand Kung Fu master and open a martial arts school himself.
But he’s found the training tough since he came here and his body is covered with scars.
Franz Burger, Kung Fu enthusiast, said, "The people from Shaolin and people who train Kung Fu. They have such a strength inside and really powerful mentality. So this is what I want to learn and this is what inspired me. "
For centuries Shaolin Temple has represented justice, uprightness, sympathy and love... the roots of ancient Kung Fu. This spirit runs deep in the hallowed monastery.
There are a thousand understandings of Kung Fu in a thousand people’s eyes. But for most admirers, it stands for moral and physical strength.
No pain, no gain. All the hard work will go into the dazzling moves and finally help achieve what the master calls a spiritual fulfillment.

[GeneChing]

The African disciples sure get a lot of press...


UPDATED: February 13, 2014 NO. 5 JANUARY 30, 2014
Kungfu Dream
Africans are trained at the martial art's birthplace (http://www.bjreview.com.cn/quotes/txt/2014-02/13/content_596011.htm)
By Zheng Yang

http://www.bjreview.com.cn/quotes/images/attachement/jpg/site23/20140125/1390623108832.jpg
SHAOLIN STYLE: An African student performs a kungfu form as Chinese and African pupils look on at the famous Shaolin Temple in Henan Province (CFP)

When a gray day dawned upon the sleeping Dengfeng City in Henan Province, a group of people were already well awake. After a short walk along the stone path, they soon gathered at an old temple. They pressed their palms together and bowed to their master, a Chinese monk in a yellow robe, who returned the courtesy.

The day's exercise began.

Among the early morning mist, the picturesque scene was like something out of a Chinese kungfu movie, except for the fact that all of the students were Africans.

The 20 students, from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda and Nigeria, came to central China in September 2013. Over three months that followed, they were trained at the Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Shaolin kungfu.

"With all this, my life will never remain the same," Ogwang Mark, a Ugandan, said about his Shaolin experience.

Work hard

The program Shaolin Kungfu Training Class for African Disciples was launched by the Chinese Ministry of Culture as part of the government's plan to further promote cultural exchange between China and Africa. The 20 "disciples" were selected from among the most outstanding martial arts practitioners in African countries, but the life in the Shaolin Temple was still an enormous challenge for each of them.

"I cried a lot in the first couple of days," said Peace Emezue, a 32-year-old Nigerian woman. In Nigeria, Emezue works as a fitness coach, and as a karate champion, she was selected for the program by the Nigerian Government in a bid to encourage women in Nigeria to take up martial arts.

Emezue was amused by the simple and peaceful life in the Shaolin Temple, but the tough training and early morning exercises were beyond imagining. She had to get up at 5:30 a.m. and kept practicing until 9 p.m. The routine went on six days a week for three months.

The word "kungfu" literally means "work hard," and people who work hard are described as having a lot of "kungfu." According to Abbot Shi Yongxin, the training program is too short for serious kungfu study, but the first three months are full of hardship for any practitioner.

The differences in weather and food posed more difficulties for African students. Wamala Peter from Uganda said that many students came down with colds when the winter came in November, "Even though [we became sick], our confidence and will were always strong, because the energetic and responsible instructors and masters have been helping us."

The training program also included a Chinese language course to help the Africans better understand the master's teaching. For most of the students, who came to China for the first time, learning Chinese was even more difficult than kungfu.

"I never thought of an opportunity to learn the Chinese language. It's really hard, but I will continue to learn it through the Internet when I'm back home," said Peter Zanang Kazah, a Nigerian karate practitioner.

When the program came to an end, most of the students had become well-adapted to life at Shaolin, which turned out to be quite rewarding. Some of them lost weight but gained a stronger constitution. During the graduation ceremony on December 18, the African students gave a kungfu performance to show what they had learned in the three months at the temple, which included classic fist routines and fighting techniques with swords and sticks as weapons.

http://www.bjreview.com.cn/quotes/images/attachement/jpg/site23/20140125/00123f55b17b144d806049.jpg
DISCIPLES: The African students give a kungfu performance during their graduation ceremony on December 18, 2013 (CFP)

Shaolin students

Dawit Terefe is an Ethiopian kungfu actor who has practiced martial arts for more than two decades. Before coming to Shaolin, Terefe expected lessons from the program on higher-level techniques like faster moves or more accurate strikes. He was right, but that's only half of it. Another important lesson the African students learned at Shaolin was how to best utilize rest.

Every Wednesday afternoon, there was a one-hour meditation class. Students sat in contemplation for 40 minutes, learning how to attain spiritual peace.

Meditation is an important element of Chan (Zen) Buddhism. Although the foundation for modern kungfu began in 527 when the Indian monk Bodhidharma arrived at the Shaolin Temple and created the 18 Buddhist Fists. The Shaolin Temple is also the place where the Chan doctrines were first preached in China in 495.

"After coming to Shaolin, I realized that it's more than just fighting techniques, and has a profound religious background," said Peter Zanang Kazah. "Now I'm ready to learn the real meaning of the kungfu and its culture."

"Some people asked me how many people are learning Shaolin kungfu around the world," Abbot Shi Yongxin said. "I would say millions, or even more than that."

Since a German became the first foreign disciple in 1989, the Shaolin Temple has been promoting its martial arts and culture abroad by setting up overseas training centers. Every year hundreds of people still come from all around the world to the temple in Henan Province, to spend several months or even years on a unique experience, or to achieve an advanced level of kungfu. They know there is something one can never find outside of the temple.

Here, all the students, Chinese and foreigners, are required to act like real Shaolin disciples. They dress in grey robes and have vegetarian dinners complete with rituals before eating. They also join the monks' morning classes every Monday.

Abbot Shi Yongxin believes that Shaolin kungfu not only strengthens a person's body, but also spreads a lifestyle that allows followers to obtain inner peace. He told his African disciples to take the Shaolin Temple as their "second and spiritual home."

"The Shaolin Temple is a good place where I met people with different religions and cultural backgrounds," said Emezue. "I'm sure that I will become a new person when I'm back home. The things I learned at Shaolin are priceless."

[GeneChing]

muntjac. Had to look that one up.



China’s Shaolin Temple monks spread their gospel of kung fu in Africa (http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1429791/chinas-shaolin-temple-monks-spread-their-gospel-kung-fu-africa)
Monks broaden outreach to continent where Chinese martial art hasbeenovershadowed by tribal variety but isgrowing in popularity
PUBLISHED : Monday, 17 February, 2014, 9:30pm
UPDATED : Monday, 17 February, 2014, 9:30pm

http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2014/02/17/e8f9d9c788ccef2cb1d37e4fc8105259.jpg?itok=T92fo2Mg
Monks from Shaolin temple have been wooing sell-out crowds in nations across the African continent since 2008. Photo: AFP

Ten grey-suited Buddhists crouch like leopards stalking a muntjac, a type of deer, before barrelling across the stage in an explosion of gravity-defying pivots, kicks and somersaults that would make an osteopath wince.

These are the warrior monks of China's fabled Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of kung fu which is spreading its gospel to Africa as part of a wood-smashing, sword-dancing, spear-balancing grab at global ubiquity.

"Shaolin kung fu isn't simply a physical exercise," said 26-year-old Shi Yancen as he limbered up at the Chinese-built Grand Theatre in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, ahead of the monks' first ever show in west Africa.

"Through learning kung fu you can also learn and admire the culture of Buddhism."

Shi, who has a gentle face and looks barely out of his teens, has been mastering kung fu for half his life in the austere surrounds of the Shaolin Temple, nestled in the forested mountains of Henan , one of China's most impoverished provinces.

A common sight for years across Asia, the United States and Europe, the Shaolin monks are turning their attention to Africa, where kung fu has been overshadowed by tribal martial arts but is growing in popularity.

Since 2008, monks from the temple have been wooing sell-out crowds in South Africa, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Uganda, Eritrea, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Malawi, eyeing Africa's huge untapped potential.

The attention is paying off, with thousands of youngsters taking up kung fu each year, and 12 nations, including Senegal, participated in the fifth pan-continental kung fu championships in Madagascar in September.

The temple has no schools yet in Africa but its foreign liaison officer, Wang Yumin, said its strategy was to bring pupils to China and get them to spread the message of "love, justice and health" back home.

"The Shaolin Temple has the mission to spread our tradition and Africans have the same demand to share our legendary culture," she said.

Students from six African countries started five years of training at the temple in 2011 and the monks have also begun shorter courses, all funded by China.

"Life in the Shaolin Temple is unimaginably lovely and peaceful. It's not like the real world where there is so much hustle," one of the graduates, Nigerian Peace Emezue, was quoted as saying in state-run newspaper China Daily.

Legend places the origins of the Shaolin tradition at 495AD, when the emperor Xiaowen is said to have ordered the construction of a temple, deep in a mountain forest, in honour of an Indian monk named Batuo.

Around 30 years later, another Indian ascetic, named Bodhidharma, arrived and spent nine years meditating in a nearby cave before teaching the monks Zen Buddhism and the beginnings of what would become Shaolin kung fu.

Farmer's son and factory worker Shi Yonxin ingrained the brand in the public imagination when he took over as abbot in 1999 and began sending his monks off around the world.

For some, however, the magic of Shaolin is wearing thin.

Traditionalists have complained that the temple's financial adroitness is overshadowing the prowess of the students, who are swapping meditation for lessons in business studies and copyright law.

Huang Hanqiu, the deputy chief of Henan's culture department, said ahead of the monks' west African debut in mid-January that Shaolin's expansion was fulfilling an overseas infatuation with its brand of spirituality.

"The leader of the Shaolin temple is doing all he can to spread the teachings of Buddhism. He's not doing that for commercial reasons," she said.

[GeneChing]

He explained curtly, as usual. It'll be in the next Shaolin Special, coming at you on April Fool's Day. srsly. ;)



Africans get a kick out of Shaolin Kung Fu (http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/goodlife/article11115372.ece)
2014-02-24 10:34:38.0 | AFPRelaxNews
In December apprentices from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda and Nigeria graduated from the first three-month Shaolin Kung Fu African Class of the Ministry of

Ten grey-suited Buddhists crouch like leopards stalking a muntjac before barrelling across the stage in an explosion of gravity-defying pivots, kicks and somersaults that would make an osteopath wince.

These are the warrior monks of China's fabled Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of kung fu which is spreading its gospel to Africa as part of a wood-smashing, sword-dancing, spear-balancing grab at global ubiquity.

"Shaolin kung fu isn't simply a physical exercise," said 26-year-old Shi Yancen as he limbered up at the Chinese-built Grand Theatre in the Senegalese capital Dakar ahead of the monks' first ever show in West Africa.

"Through learning kung fu you can also learn and admire the culture of Buddhism."

Since 2008, monks from the temple have been wooing sell-out crowds in South Africa, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Uganda, Eritrea, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Malawi, eyeing Africa's huge untapped potential.

The attention is paying off, with thousands of youngsters taking up kung fu each year, and 12 nations, including Senegal, participated in the fifth pan-continental kung fu championships in Madagascar in September.

The temple has no schools yet in Africa but its foreign liaison officer, Wang Yumin, told AFP its strategy was to bring pupils to China and get them to spread the message of "love, justice and health" back home.

"The Shaolin Temple has the mission to spread our tradition and Africans have the same demand to share our legendary culture," she said.

Students from six African countries started five years of training at the temple in 2011 and the monks have also begun shorter courses, all funded by China.

In December apprentices from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda and Nigeria graduated from the first three-month Shaolin Kung Fu African Class of the Ministry of Culture.

"We currently operate over 40 companies in cities across the world, such as Berlin and London," the Chinese Global Times quoted the financially-astute Shi, the first Chinese monk to earn a master's degree in business administration, as saying at a Beijing culture forum in 2011.

Whether Shaolin will catch on in Africa as it has elsewhere remains to be seen but the portents looked good on the monks' opening night in Dakar.

"I wasn't expecting much but it was outstanding," said Marika Kotze, a 48-year-old IT consultant who has been living in the city for 15 years.

"Wrestling is the big thing in Senegal but I can see this catching on."

[GeneChing]

Vice Premier Visits African Shaolin Monks at Henan Temple (http://english.cri.cn/6909/2014/04/12/195s821696.htm)
2014-04-12 09:00:35 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Xu Fei

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2014/04/12/435d83515f0f46c2b79050eea4caca5e.jpg
Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong (left) chats with foreign monks from Gabon, Cameroon and other African countries that are learning Shaolin kung fu at the Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan province on Thursday afternoon, April 10, 2014.[Photo: shaolin.org.cn]

A total of 10 foreign monks from Gabon, Cameroon, and other African countries displayed their Shaolin boxing skills recently for the Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong during her recent visit to the Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan province.

The foreign monks told the Chinese vice premier that they will continue to promote Shaolin culture upon their return to their home countries, the monastery's official website reports.

The vice premier commended the contributions by Shaolin martial art in promoting cultural exchanges between China and other countries.

In addition to Shaolin kung fu, these foreign monks also study the Chinese language, traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese Chan Meditation and sutra study.

Chief Monk, Yongxin, explained to the vice-premier the Shaolin temple's efforts facilitating cultural exchanges; for instance, the celebration of "Shaolin Temple Day" in California, U.S.A., which was held in March of this year.

The chief monk also expressed hopes that Shaolin kung fu could be included on the world intangible cultural heritage list to better spread temple culture.
Here's the Songshan-Shaolin-Temple-Day (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53389-Songshan-Shaolin-Temple-Day&p=1262964#post1262964) thread.

[GeneChing]

Lure of Kung Fu (http://english.anhuinews.com/system/2014/08/22/006522931.shtml)
Pub Date: 14-08-22 15:19 Source: China Daily Africa

http://pic.anhuinews.com/0/03/87/33/3873344_556329.jpg
Increasing number of africans learning martial arts in China

In the ancient mountain fastness of Shaolin Temple, behind the closed doors of a Buddhist sanctum, Abbot Shi Yongxin holds court from a lacquered wooden chair carved with dragons.

To his left, a trio of warrior monks stands attentively, 1,500 years worth of secret skills and kung fu technique trained into their loose limbs.

There is something of the snake and tiger in their poise and posture, of the crane and the monkey in the way they move.

Amid the trappings of the past in the ornate receiving room, the abbot and his followers seem like throwbacks to China's age of legend, remnants of a bygone era.

The spell is broken by an electronic jingle.

Shi, the 30th spiritual leader of the ancient order, pulls a smartphone out of his robes. He flips it open briefly to scan the screen, grunts and quickly makes the handset disappear again.

The 21st century has come to the famed temple at the heart of Chinese kung fu, bringing with it a new wave of foreign interest, and a growing debate domestically about what this means for the culturally iconic Chan Buddhist institution.

"We pursue a peaceful and simple life," Shi says. "Our ultimate goal is to achieve the enlightenment of Buddha and to help others achieve enlightenment."

But enlightenment isn't always free at Shaolin Temple, not that this matters to a new breed of acolyte prepared to pay for the kung fu wisdom the order offers.

They are foreign executives, businesspeople from a diverse range of sectors, and motivated professionals that are dishing out roughly $800 per month to learn and live at Shaolin.

And a growing number of ordinary Africans, many of whom are coming to study at the temple on scholarships funded by Shaolin or the Chinese government, are now taking away the same skills.

While this phenomenon is part of a business model that is helping secure Shaolin's future, some believe it is also part of a malaise that jeopardizes its ties to the past.

Every day, thousands of tourists throng the temple grounds, once a quiet retreat for 13 famous warrior monks who, legend has it, took down a despotic warlord and his army during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

In their time, much of the mystery surrounding Shaolin pertained to the arcane, the closely guarded mental and physical abilities that approach the mystical in the telling.

These days the temple is still cloaked in secrecy, but that relates largely to a veil of corporate confidentiality maintained by a separate business entity.

CTS Songshan Shaolin Culture Tourism company, which collects an admission fee of 100 yuan ($16) a person to enter the scenic park that people making the temple pilgrimage must pass through, declined to provide China Daily with visitor numbers or annual revenue.

Grizzled masters endure the daily invasion with stoic expressions. Shaven-headed novice monks talk loudly on smartphones, or sell incense and trinkets, or access the Wi-Fi now available in the ancient buildings.

Shaolin-brand medical books are sold on Taobao, China's e-commerce equivalent of Amazon, and Buddhist disciples can now avoid the trek up Songshan mountain by paying to study at Shaolin by correspondence on the Internet. Since 2010, the temple has had an online social media presence on Facebook equivalents such as Sina Weibo, and now boasts more than 150,000 followers.

There is also a gaming app being developed to teach users kung fu on their mobile phones.

Shi, one of the first Chinese monks to gain an MBA, says Shaolin's business interests have been set up to support and preserve its 1,500-year-old culture.

"We have entered a commercialized society, so people tend to evaluate things from the angle of commercialization," Shi says. "But you need to look at what is behind the business practice. Some people do business so they can survive, and some do it seeking fortune. Shaolin Temple just wants to survive, to practice Buddhism."

In March, executives from US tech giants Google and Apple joined the ranks of prominent global businesspeople to have received Shi's wisdom.

Members of the China Entrepreneurs Club, a group that consists of 46 leaders of the country's top private companies, also spoke with the abbot in a closed-door session this year at a conference entitled "self cultivation of entrepreneurs".

These kinds of engagements are part of the reason not everyone is convinced Shaolin's growing commercial interests are entirely altruistic, including outspoken Chinese netizens and some prominent martial arts masters from rival schools.

In a shaded courtyard, kung fu masters flow through fighting forms with a sinuous, otherworldly grace.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

A group of students look on as the shaven-headed monks demonstrate the basic stances of wushu, the backbone of Shaolin's fighting style, made famous worldwide by the moviemakers of Hong Kong and Hollywood.

These eager pupils are African, European and American. And while some made the pilgrimage to Shaolin seeking the fabled martial prowess that will stop an enemy's heart with a single blow, just as many say they came because they are looking for a professional edge.

As recently as a decade ago, foreign students were not common at Shaolin.

But as Valery Mabre knows first hand, things have changed.

The 23-year-old Ivorian, who came to Shaolin two years ago on a scholarship, spars with a group of shavenheaded Chinese monks.

The fluent Mandarin speaker and history graduate has set himself an ambitious goal.

"I want to be a kung fu master," he says. "If possible, I'd like to stay here and become a monk."

His fellow countryman Denis Banhoro, 55, wants something different out of his Shaolin experience.

The 55-year-old accountant, who is studying at the temple for a few months on a scholarship, is also the current national director of the Kung fu Federation of Cote d'Ivoire.

He believes the principles inherent in the kung fu he is learning can be applied to his professional life.

"I love Shaolin Kung fu, that is why I am here," he says. "I think Shaolin kung fu is good for your health, moreover, you need to use your head to think about it. It's not only an expression of the body. "

Demina Masoula, a 43-year-old business and marketing consultant who is part of a group from Greece that has come to study at Shaolin for about two weeks, agrees.

An executive for an insurance company and an engineer for a multinational corporation practice nearby while Masoula takes a breather from the demanding 4.30 am to 9 pm daily training regime.

"In business, you have to be flexible, you have to find new paths and change. You have to see a crisis and avoid it. Kung fu teaches you to be fluid, like water, because everything in kung fu flows and stagnation is bad."

Masoula thinks the temple has successfully struck the right balance commercially and culturally.

"They get people in to make money to maintain the culture and the history here, the martial arts itself."

Wang Yumin, dean of Shaolin's Foreign Affairs Office, says since January last year there have been about 800 foreigners who have come to live and train at the temple for periods ranging from a few days to more than 12 months.

He says the number of African students is on the rise.

"We are starting to see more African people here," Wang says. "We have some at the moment whose costs have been covered by the temple or the Chinese government's Ministry of Culture. A lot of Africans seem to love kung fu, so we are helping them come here. We want our way of life to help people spiritually and physically, and that includes Africans."

In the small city of Dengfeng at the base of Songshan mountain near Shaolin, more than 50,000 people train at 52 different kung fu schools annually.

Wang believes foreign students are specifically and increasingly seeking the "legitimacy" that he says Shaolin Temple offers.

But ideas about what constitutes authenticity in Chinese kung fu are contrary, and often subjective.

In an open-plan space on the fourth floor of a Beijing skyscraper, a mix of foreigners and locals throw kicks and punches at each other with a brutal efficiency that contrasts with the graceful flow of movement at Shaolin.

This is no accident, says Englishman-turned-Beijing-resident and professional martial artist Jai Harman.

The students are practicing ving tsun, a style renowned for its ruthless practicality. Many in the martial arts scene, such as Harman, believe it holds an authenticity Shaolin wushu is losing.

Harman, 30, who has lived in China for a decade, is a senior instructor at the Beijing Scientific Ving Tsun School. Ving tsun is an offshoot of Shaolin wu shu that is now ancient in its own right.

"Wu shu is a demonstrational form of kung fu," Harman says. "It has zero practicality for fighting. It's just good for building up the body. Ving tsun doesn't have any pretty poses; it's all about practicality."

Harman came to China on a kung fu pilgrimage to Shaolin, but what he found at the temple was not for him.

He sought out world-renowned ving tsun master Wang Zhi Peng, whose lineage boasts ties to marital artist and star of the silver screen Bruce Lee.

"Wang Zhi Peng's master's master was Yip Man, who also taught Bruce Lee," he says.

The Beijing Scientific Ving Tsun School has 400 regular students at several locations around the country, and a few thousand casual learners.

Many of them, like Lebanese business lawyer Rashad Tabet, 31, are for eigners living and working in China.

Harman says preserving, promoting and practicing ving tsun martial arts and culture is still at the heart of what the organization is all about. But he concedes the school is a business.

"We are very open about that," he says. "But making money is a sideline to what we do; it just lets us do what we do."

For all their differences, Harman concedes there is an undeniable common ground between ving tsun and wu shu. The basic skills and disciplines of both have practical applications for professionals.

Tabet the business lawyer agrees.

"You have to defend your centerline in business, just like you do in ving tsun. You don't know where the attacks will come from. You have to be on your guard 24/7 in the business world. Always be ready to defend. This is something I learned how to do from martial arts."

Shaolin Temple and Harman's school are not the only kung fu organizations experiencing a boom in business and popularity.

Sichuan-based Liu Suibin, the head of the Qingcheng faction of Daoism, has more than 468,000 followers on Chinese social media. His instructional tai chi video is available for download in the Apple app store, and is reportedly growing in popularity among office-bound executives and professionals looking for stress release and focus at work.

One of his books has also made China's bestseller list.

Abbot Shi generally shies away from talking about the commercial successes of Shaolin and why he's taken the order down a path that's led to financial sustainability.

But reading between the lines when he opens up about his own journey to enlightenment reveals much about the man and his mission.

Born in Anhui province, the son of a train driver, Shi arrived at Shaolin Temple in 1981 when he was 16-years-old. He found the place in disrepair. The monks, he says, "didn't have enough to eat."

"At that time, Shaolin didn't have so many visitors," Shi says. "The temple buildings were in poor condition, and more than 30 monks lived off 28 mu (less than one square kilometer) of farmland. The conditions were harsh and life was tough."

From 1987, Shi was able to help steer the future course of the order. In 1999, he became the abbot, and his reform agenda picked up pace.

"For 1,500 years, our belief, our way of practicing Buddhism has not changed," he says. "But our daily work has been changed. Historically, monks live off farming. Now they mainly work by serving tourists. We used to deal with farmlands, but now we deal with people, which is not as easy."

Shi Yanbo, 25, is part of the new generation of novice monks at Shaolin. He believes going back to the old ways doesn't make sense.

"Tourists are a test of our xiu xing (journey to enlightenment) because we have to make sure that our heart won't be affected by the noisy environment," he says.

"We have to accept it and remain calm and treat visitors with joyful hearts.

Shaolin belongs to the world now, and develops with the world. We cannot do farming otherwise people would not be able to visit us. All our traditional thoughts and beliefs have been maintained and carried on for generations. Our life maybe different, but what we practice is of the heart, and the heart remains unchanged."

As the sun disappears behind the forest clad Songshan mountain, the tourists empty out of Shaolin Temple. The monks sit quietly and chat beneath swooping squadrons of dragonflies in the gathering twilight, the scene a window into a simpler time before kung fu commercialized.

The Abbot says the temple's growing connectivity with the modern world is about survival, and about spreading the benefits of Shaolin wu shu to those who are seeking it, globally.

He hints that the kung fu wisdom he shares with executives is not just about people wanting to do better in business, but also about people who have done well in business, wanting something better.

"I tell business people how to behave in a good way, how to do things well," Shi says. "They need to be more confident, improve themselves, keep a normal heart toward things and believe that you reap what you sow."

In the ancient mountain fastness of Shaolin Temple, walking in the footsteps of generations of kung fu acolytes, Mabre says he has learned wu shu is about more than physical prowess. It's about mental discipline and the Buddhist drive for constant self-improvement, personal and professional.

"First you learn kung fu for your body," he says. 'Then you learn for the mind and the spirit."

Masoula says she believes the ancient soul of Shaolin hasn't been hijacked and turned into a business with a focus on profit. Maybe, she says, it's a case of kung fu in the 21st century giving business a new focus, and the wisdom to recognize that there is profit, in having a soul. This article feels mostly like web research

[GeneChing]

go figure...:rolleyes:



September 5, 2014, 12:43 PM ET
What Your CEO Is Reading: Kung Fu Pilgrimage; Better Learning Through Flunking
By Tom Loftus News Editor

Every week, CIO Journal offers a glimpse into the mind of the CEO, whose view of technology is shaped by stories in management journals, general interest magazines and, of course, in-flight publications.

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-EK562_0905_c_G_20140905120911.jpg
Maye-E Wong / AP Photo
Monks from the Shaolin Temple in China, rehearse a dance entitled “Sutra” as part of a May 2009 arts festival in Singapore.
...

Executives make pilgrimage to China’s birthplace of Kung Fu. China Daily reports that foreign executives are trekking to “the ancient mountain fastness of Shaolin Temple.” Since January of last year, about 800 foreigners, including executives from Google and Apple, have visited the Buddhist sanctuary (and original stomping grounds of the legendary warrior monks). Some come to hear Abbot Shi Yongxin, the order’s 30th spiritual leader, and participate in talks like the ”self cultivation of entrepreneurs.” Others come to cultivate their fists, as a business and marketing consultant from Greece explains: ”In business, you have to be flexible, you have to find new paths and change. You have to see a crisis and avoid it. Kung fu teaches you to be fluid, like water, because everything in kung fu flows and stagnation is bad.”

[David Jamieson]

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2013/09/27/94f03f47841b44a7b0b71a08c62750d7.jpg

You know, ....Don't lean on the wall!!!

yeah, I heard that a few times, and shouted it at others a few times too. It does look lazy and inattentive. :D

[GeneChing]

Shaolin Temple of China graduates open martial arts center in Lome (http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/894092.shtml)
Source:Xinhua Published: 2014-11-28 11:04:15

A Chinese Martial Arts Center of Togo (CCAMT) has been unveiled on Thursday in Lome for Chinese kick- boxing Sanda, Kung Fu combat techniques chaining, body building, physical and mental health maintenance Taichi and Kung Fu Shaolin teaching.

This center, intended to promote Chinese culture in West Africa, is held by four graduates from Shaolin Temple of China and will provide, in addition, Chinese language teaching for individual monthly contribution of 15,000 CFA Francs, about 30 US dollars.

The Togolese Minister of Sport and Leisure Angele Amouzou-Djake and the deputy head of mission to the Chinese Embassy in Togo, Huo Yuntian, attended the inauguration ceremony.

The center will strengthen the Sino-Togolese cooperation through Chinese culture promotion, the minister said, before appealing to Togolese people to enroll in large number to learn Chinese culture.

Huo Yuntian wished that the center serves as cultural gateway for people of China and Togo. I wonder if they'll be leaning on the wall in Togo... ;)

[GeneChing]

More on laba's intangible cultural heritage bid here (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48602-Shaolin-Temple-amp-Buddhism&p=1280242#post1280242).


African disciple of Shaolin Temple helps distribute Laba porriage (http://www.ecns.cn/visual/hd/2015/01-28/57869.shtml)(1/3)
2015-01-28 09:57Ecns.cn Web Editor:Yao Lan

http://www.ecns.cn/hd/2015/01/28/7270a1f4aadb4f229e519c50873c5adc.jpg
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http://www.ecns.cn/hd/2015/01/28/6524d181489e4416bc0a868a4e1766f0.jpg
A disciple of Shaolin Temple distributes free Laba congee in Zhengzhou, Central China’s Henan province, Jan 27, 2015. The monk, with his Buddhism name Yan Di, is from Ivory Coast. Laba, a traditional Chinese festival celebrated on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, fell on Jan 27 this year. It is a tradition to eat Laba congee to mark the festival, and it is also a tradition of some temples and non-profit organizations to distribute the congee for free on this day. [Photo/CFP]

[GeneChing]

Shaolin has been in the news despite the latest Abbot Scandal (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?42909-Abbot-scandals). No pix.


Feature: Chinese Shaolin monks electrifies audience at Kungfu show in Kenya (http://www.globalpost.com/article/6632785/2015/08/18/feature-chinese-shaolin-monks-electrifies-audience-kungfu-show-kenya)

NAIROBI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Dressed in their trademark regalia, Chinese Shaolin Monks electrified the mood on Monday night when they staged a thrilling performance in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Revelers defied the August chill to watch eleven young Shaolin monks swing into action during the opening ceremony of the Zhengzhou Week at a luxury hotel on the outskirts of Nairobi.

Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Liu Xianfa and senior officials from the East African nation graced the colorful Kungfu show which elevated cultural interaction between the two nations to new levels.

In his opening remarks, the Chinese envoy said bilateral cooperation with Kenya in many spheres has remained solid.

"Ever since the establishment of our diplomatic ties in 1963, China-Kenya relationship has been developing in leaps and bounds," Liu told the audience at Kungfu show.

The Zhengzhou municipal government of Henan province and China Radio International Africa Headquarters organized the captivating Kungfu performance by Shaolin Monks.

A six-year-old monk won the hearts of the audience as he showcased outstanding skills in martial arts.

Dignitaries agreed the staging of Kungfu show in Kenya was timely as cultural interaction with the Asian giant gain foothold.

"Culture is the bridge for enhancing mutual understanding and trust between nations. China and Kenya share similar cultures that emphasize the importance of peace, harmony and friendliness," said the Chinese ambassador.

He added the Zhengzhou Week will help showcase China's rich culture and economic miracle to Kenyans.

The staging of a Kungfu show in Kenya was not only historical but was also a confirmation of blossoming ties with China.

Kenyan officials hailed the martial arts' prowess of Shaolin Monks and underscored the role of the ancient practice to promote cultural diplomacy.

"The Zhengzhou Week in Nairobi will showcase cultural treasures from China. Kenyans have gradually appreciated Chinese culture as our cooperation with the country deepens," said the Chairman, Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Foreign Affairs, Ndung'u Gethenji.

Both Kenyan and Chinese revelers graced the electrifying Kungfu show by Shaolin monks.

The monks' agility on stage was impressive while their endurance in the face of back breaking gymnastics shocked the audience.

Kenyan revelers were captivated by Shaolin monks' spectacular performance that illuminated the best aspects of martial arts.

Like their counterparts in other Sub-Saharan Africa, Kenyans have learnt about Kungfu through movies and print media. Kungfu legends including Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan are well known in Kenya.

Likewise, a segment of Kenyan population that is educated and widely traveled has good knowledge of Shaolin monks who embodies the richness and authenticity of Chinese culture.

The CEO of Kenya ICT Authority Victor Kyalo noted that martial arts have gained traction globally owing to their therapeutic benefits.

"The young generation of Kenyans is accustomed to Kungfu and has appreciated its physical and spiritual benefits. We are privileged to host Shaolin Monks who are the custodians of a rich and rewarding oriental practice," Kyalo told Xinhua.

[GeneChing]

Shaolin Temple welcomes Kung Fu students from Africa (http://english.cri.cn/12394/2016/07/07/3561s933384.htm)
2016-07-07 17:12:21 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Min Rui

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2016/07/07/73a606a3b8504860a31b6455c3839009.jpg
Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan province has launched Kung Fu courses for 20 students from the Republics of the Congo, Mauritius, Madagascar, as well as other African countries. The Abbot of the Shaolin Temple Shi Yongxin welcomes the new pupils at a launching ceremony on July 6, 2016. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

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A British Kung Fu student at the Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan province welcomes new pupils and shows off his Kung Fu skills on July 6, 2016.[Photo: Chinanews.com]

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Russian Kung Fu pupils at the Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan province on July 6, 2016 welcome new colleagues with a demonstration of their Kung Fu skills. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

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Abbot of the Shaolin Temple Shi Yongxin welcomes new pupils and addresses them at a launching ceremony at Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan province on July 6, 2016. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2016/07/07/dfad9941243d44ddb873d44f39417641.jpg
Foreign Kung Fu students pose for a photo at the Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan province on July 6th, 2016. [Photo: Chinanews.com]



Abbot on the mike. :)

[GeneChing]

20 African apprentices graduate from C China's Shaolin Temple (http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1008066.shtml)
Source:Xinhua Published: 2016/9/24 16:39:51

http://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0//attachment/2016/2016-09-24/4259abbb-dd72-40b2-bc88-671b1680eb05.jpeg

African apprentices attend the graduation ceremony at the Shaolin Temple on the Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, Sept. 23, 2016. A total of twenty apprentices from Africa graduated here on Friday after three-month training programs on Kungfu and Shaolin culture. (Xinhua/Feng Dapeng)

http://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0//attachment/2016/2016-09-24/c3df9fac-f973-41d5-8f64-b359358dcd09.jpeg

African apprentices pose for a group photo during the graduation ceremony at the Shaolin Temple on the Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, Sept. 23, 2016. A total of twenty apprentices from Africa graduated here on Friday after three-month training programs on Kungfu and Shaolin culture. (Xinhua/Feng Dapeng)

http://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0//attachment/2016/2016-09-24/0aaf49f0-1e5a-437e-8826-4c0bf3101e5d.jpeg

African apprentices pose for a group photo during the graduation ceremony at the Shaolin Temple on the Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, Sept. 23, 2016. A total of twenty apprentices from Africa graduated here on Friday after three-month training programs on Kungfu and Shaolin culture. (Xinhua/Feng Dapeng)

http://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0//attachment/2016/2016-09-24/04056945-d998-4d73-af79-3dbe33f5dc35.jpeg

African apprentices celebrate for graduation at the Shaolin Temple on the Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, Sept. 23, 2016. A total of twenty apprentices from Africa graduated here on Friday after three-month training programs on Kungfu and Shaolin culture. (Xinhua/Feng Dapeng)

Posted in: Life

Graduating from Shaolin. Interesting concept.

[GeneChing]

You'd think this article would name it's subject...:rolleyes:



The 4-year-old Mozambican boy who went to live in the Shaolin Temple – And stayed there for 20 years (http://clubofmozambique.com/news/4-year-old-mozambican-boy-went-live-shaolin-temple-stayed-20-years/)
9:17 CAT | 02 Nov 2016

http://clubofmozambique.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/shaolin-825x510.jpg
http://jornalnoticias.co.mz/images/A-Cronistas/MOTHO.jpg

He is 99 percent authentic Chinese, lacking only those typical eyes to make 100 percent.

Although born in Xai-Xai, he has virtually nothing of the Mozambican about him. At the age of four he went to live in the Chinese province of Henan and enrolled in the coveted and selective Shaolin Temple, the oldest martial arts school specializing in Kung Fu. And he lived there for 20 years, almost a lifetime!

There, he learned from the great masters the art and secrets of Kung Fu, spread worldwide by the Bruce Lee movies in the 80s. It is safe to say that at this point he is the only Kung-Fu master in Mozambique. Not Judo, Karate or Tang So; Kung Fu is regarded as “another level” in the martial arts. Kung Fu applies deadly blows. Widely used by ninjas in the movies, Kung-Fu is the highest form of martial arts in the Eastern world.

To get an idea of ​​the impact of Kung Fu, it suffices to say that if you, dear reader, were to take, for example, a slap in the face from a Kung Ku master, it would be enough to leave you at rest in a tomb in Lhanguene or in the new cemetery of Michafutene! That is why Kung Fu is not for everyone. It requires a lot of discipline and responsibility.

As for the Shaolin Temple, it is seen as the martial art most elite and prestigious place. For centuries and to this day, it continues to be seen as the only place in the world where the Kung Fu “teachers of teachers” go. There, only the “very good” are allowed in! Only the elect. That is why it is not easy to become a “resident” in this temple. Many Chinese, Korean and Japanese with the label of “excellent” are rejected and can not get in, and nepotism, corruption and bribery do not work there. In other words, it is a rarity to see an African in that temple. But a Mozambican, our countryman from Xai-Xai, Gaza province, lived in the Shaolin Temple for 20 years, cheek by jowl with the greatest fighters, with the “best of the best.” What a great accomplishment! A round of applause for our Mozambican, the man who put “Moz” on the Chinese map.

In the East, this “Mozachinese” lived in Shanghai, Shangdon, Beijing, Tienjin, Taipei and Hong Kong. Then he studied management in Canada and in the end returned to China. He went through the teachings and temples of great masters such as Wong Yeng, one of the oldest masters of Kung Fu, and responsible for the training of famous actors such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

He saw Jet Li himself visit the temple, casting for stuntmen to participate in his films.

His food habits align with Eastern habits and customs. How could they not? A typical Chinese eats dog, cat, snake, frog and other animals. It could not be otherwise, since he was living there from the age of four and ate whatever they gave him. (Chinese saying: “We eat anything with four legs as long as it’s not a table, and everything that flies, provided it’s not a plane.”) And in that temple, there was “xima,” mboa,” “matapa “,” xiguinha” [Mozambican traditional dishes] etc.

In Mozambique, he goes unnoticed. Simple and respectful, known to few, he is the epitome of anonymous. He does not care to “appear” (lessons learned in the temple). It is said that one day he came home and crossed paths with robbers who demanded his wallet and cell phone. He declined, asking the thieves to let him go. They laughed in his face: “Futseka! Suka! Wabiwa? “(Are you crazy?) And threatened to torture him for daring to refuse to hand over his belongings. Always the humble victim, he begged them almost on his knees to let him go, because he was a man of peace and never got into trouble. They told him “to go have a smoke”. As they finally approached, he warned them that he did not want to see the blood of his brothers and have to chase ambulances to transport them to hospital. This statement so angered the gang that they advanced to attack, and in the blink of an eye, the assailed man soared to an incredible height (just like in the movies) and landed with a spiral movement, felling the group with a single ” fan” kick. Everyone on the floor! Only a blow in self-defense. Without any intention to hurt.

They got up and off they rushed, shouting “Futseka! We also have Jackie Chan DVD. Let’s learn karate to you give you a really great beating!” From a safe distance, one of them improvised a karate gesture. He saw it, smiled, and sent a “Tchau”!

This story could be confused with a movie about Alex Raúl Sitoe, known in the East as New Chung Hage, but to me as the “Bruce Lee of Mozambique”.

By: Albino Moisés

Source: Noticias

[GeneChing]

Africa is changing China as much as China is changing Africa (https://qz.com/1168130/africa-is-changing-china-as-much-as-china-is-changing-africa/)
** ADVANCE FOR MONDAY, SEPT. 3 **

https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/ap070103042423-e1477593836393.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=1600
A Chinese foreman looks on as laborers work on the construction of military officers housing, donated by China, in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, Jan. 3, 2007. Market stalls are just one of the most visible signs of China's massive penetration into African economies. The Asian giant _ a ready buyer of oil and other raw materials for more than a decade _ is also a major bidder on construction projects, a multi-million-dollar lender and a growing player in Africa's telecommunications and textile industries. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
New partners. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

WRITTEN BY Lily Kuo
OBSESSION China in Africa
January 08, 2018 Quartz Africa

Eight years ago I watched the movie “2012,” named after the year the Mayan calendar supposedly ends. In the film an American geologist learns that a solar flare is heating the core of the earth and causing its tectonic plates to shift drastically. Before long, mass earthquakes and tsunamis are annihilating mankind. Los Angeles slips into the Pacific Ocean. The White House gets wiped out by a giant wave, with the president still inside. Soon, most of the earth is submerged in water.

The only people who do survive do so with the help of the Chinese. The People’s Liberation Army has managed to build a set of massive arks at breakneck speed, because it’s China after all. After 27 days at sea, the Chinese-made arks set sail for the only place in the world that has stayed above water—the Africa continent—specifically the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa where the Drakensberg mountain range is now, according to the movie, the highest in the world.

Over the past two years that Quartz has been writing about China’s growing presence in Africa, I keep coming back to this heavily CGI-ed image of China saving the world and along the way putting Africa on top. I wonder, was that 2009 John Cusack movie some kind of prophecy or just accidental propaganda for China?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=ce0N3TEcFw0

It is no longer news that Chinese companies, entrepreneurs, and central and local government are investing heavily in African countries. In Kenya, the Chinese have funded and built the country’s largest infrastructure project in more than 50 years, a standard gauge railway from Nairobi to the port city of Mombasa. At the grocery chain, Nakumatt, before it went under, an aisle was reserved for Chinese food supplies to serve the Chinese community in Nairobi.

Across the continent, Chinese electronics, clothes, and other products have flooded local markets. Chinese-made Dutch Wax Prints now sell better than the originals, decimating local industries in places like Lubumbashi, Congo. Increasingly you are finding Chinese-run factories in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Nigeria, and supposedly soon in Central Africa where the region’s first auto factory will be in Cameroon.

https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/everytime-sanitary-napkins-in-production-in-kigali-rwanda.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=640
Sanitary napkins made by a Chinese company in the Kigali Special Economic Zone. (Quartz/Lily Kuo)

It’s not just business. Thousands of African students get Chinese government scholarships every year to study in China. Thousands of African officials and politicians are also being hosted in China by the Communist Party and other government ministries. The Chinese government has invested in more than 40 language schools, or Confucius Institutes, across the continent to teach Mandarin and Chinese culture. Chinese diplomats are also getting involved in regional conflicts from South Sudan’s civil war to a border dispute between Eritrea and Djibouti, where China’s first overseas military base is now.


The China-Africa story provides us familiar tropes: Chinese invaders, meek African victims. The counter narrative is also misleading.

Yet, the more stories we do about China in Africa, the more questions I have not just about the topic but how we approach it. For instance, why is it that the international media is so interested in the China-Africa story when Chinese investment is also big in South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and basically any region of the world?

I used to think it was the novelty of seeing Chinese people next to black Africans—two parts of the world that have traditionally not mixed, that couldn’t look more different and that in some ways couldn’t be more different. I met a researcher studying local markets in Tanzania where Chinese and Tanzanian traders run their businesses alongside each other. The biggest point of friction wasn’t the competition between them, but the fact that the Chinese traders didn’t properly greet their Tanzanian neighbors. Instead of saying hello and asking after their families and businesses, they’d just go straight to their stalls and start their day. The Tanzanians found it off-putting.

What I think might be happening is that the China-Africa story provides us familiar tropes—the Chinese invaders, the meek, innocent African victims. The counter narrative, usually pushed by government voices both Chinese and African, is just as misleading. China is a fellow developing country, a partner that doesn’t judge the way the West does, and just wants the best for its African brothers and sisters. Again, it’s not news that the Chinese are a major presence here in Africa, but we need to go beyond the novelty of it and investigate those power dynamics.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/focac-photo.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=640
Xi Jinping (second from left) at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Johannesburg. (DIRCO ZA)

The China-Africa story isn’t just about saviors or oppressors, and framing it that way is a disservice to all the interesting and enterprising people that form these links. I’ve learned that the topic of China in Africa is fraught with questions of representation. These stories can easily reek of exoticism, essentialism, and at times, racism. Africa isn’t one thing. Neither is China.

To me, the most interesting part about these connections is that they form a new kind of globalization, one that a lot of the world isn’t paying attention to, what one researcher described as a form of “globalization from below.” In Guangzhou, in southern China, you find entrepreneurs from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Somalia running factories, logistic services, and other companies that are truly globally connected businesses.


Africa has become a platform for analyzing China’s influence in the developing world. But what about how Africa is influencing China?

In African countries, increasingly you find Chinese people who never meant to stay as long as they have. But now, they say they can’t go home, because being in Africa has changed them. And that leads me to another point. Africa has become a platform that a lot of people, people like me, use to analyze and understand China’s expanding influence in the developing world. But what about how Africa is influencing China, or the rest of the world?

Some of China’s biggest companies have cut their teeth in Africa, their first overseas ventures, and learned lessons that still shape how they operate elsewhere in the world. Others have major African shareholders. Naspers, a South African company, owns 33% of one China’s largest internet companies, Tencent.

The number of African students and entrepreneurs studying or doing business in Chinese cities has forced China, long a migrant-sending country, to recognize that it’s a destination as well. These communities demand respect. Last year a museum exhibition featuring offensive photos comparing Africans to animals was taken down after protest from the African diaspora in China.

https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/aff69707-f4ae-44d2-9ee6-7e7d3a09d89f-1587-0000025cad9edd04_tmp.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=640
Portraits of Africans alongside animals at an exhibit in the Hubei Provincial Museum titled, “This is Africa.”

https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/d7232b6a-91d8-4d33-8fd4-749e87a87c65-1587-0000025cd086f037_tmp.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=640
Students and other members of the African diaspora complained about an exhibit comparing Africans to animals at an exhibit in the Hubei Provincial Museum titled, “This is Africa.”

China’s image in Africa matters to Beijing. China recently implemented a complete ban on the sale of ivory, a measure conservationists in Africa have been advocating to help the continent’s decimated elephant populations. In South Sudan, state-owned Chinese companies are encouraged to do more community work to combat the idea that China is only in the country for its oil resources.

Last summer, when a Ghanaian artist published cartoons depicting China’s president Xi Jinping serving polluted water to Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo, the Chinese embassy was reportedly infuriated and issued a formal complaint. The embassy later backed off and China’s ambassador to Ghana even attended an exhibit featuring the cartoons.

https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/we-dey-beg-e1511557152199.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=640
A cartoon by Bright Tetteh Ackwerh. (Facebook/Bright Tetteh Ackwerh)

These examples matter because in a way, they are empowering, and that is critical. Late last year, we published a piece on a study that found that communities near Chinese mines enjoyed better infrastructure. The late Kenyan scholar of technology and development, Calestous Juma messaged soon after, questioning the piece and asking that we think more about Africa’s ability to shape trends, not just China’s.

He especially cautioned against the creation of the narrative that China is in Africa to answer all the continent’s problems. Juma said, “This needs to be countered because otherwise it feeds complacence. There are no Chinese messiahs.”

This is also connected to Wolf Warrior 2 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70311-Wolf-Warrior-2)

[GeneChing]

Festival has new name, broader mission (http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20180201/festival-has-new-name-broader-mission)

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/storyimage/DA/20180201/NEWS/180209902/EP/1/1/EP-180209902.jpg?Q=75&maxW=960&maxH=960|http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/storyimage/DA/20180201/NEWS/180209902/EP/1/1/EP-180209902.jpg?Q=75&maxW=1920&maxH=1920
Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival’s main feature will be the movie “The African Who Wanted to Fly,” about Luc Bendza, who as a boy in Central Africa saw his first kung-fu movie and came to believe Chinese people could fly. [Courtesy photo]

By Mark Hughes Cobb / Tusk Editor
Posted Feb 1, 2018 at 11:00 AM
Updated Feb 1, 2018 at 11:13 PM

For its sixth year, Saturday’s slate of movies has been re-named the Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival — formerly African Film Festival — to reflect its inclusion of works from the African diaspora, in addition to those works created on the continent.

For 2018, it comes at the culmination of the Tuscaloosa Heritage Festival, a weekend of cultural activities hosted by the West Alabama Multicultural Alliance.

Here’s some of the weekend’s rundown:

• Thursday at 7 p.m., filmmaker Tyrik Washington will lead a workshop titled “Arts in Activism,” Room 159 in Russell Hall on the University of Alabama campus. The Emmy-award-winner will discuss film’s role in social change, and present the film “Under the Heavens,” which he wrote, directed, composed the score for, and co-starred in.

• At 7 p.m. Friday, “A Showcase of Film, Dance & Music” will be held at the Tuscaloosa Career and Technology Academy, 2800 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. There’ll be performances by Stillman College and University of Alabama choirs and dancers, Thomas Davis Jr., Blessed By Four, Dancers 4 Life and Dancing Stars Dance Studio, with a Step-Tease by local students. Admission is $5.

• For more on today’s and Friday’s events, see www.westalabamamulticult.com.

• Saturday’s Sixth Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival will be held at the Bama Theatre, with children’s dance and movie activities beginning at 3 p.m. The film is “Liyana,” part documentary, part animated quest tale, from 2016, directed by Amanda and Aaron Kopp, with animation by Sofela Coker. It’s set in Swaziland, stemming from the imaginations of five orphaned children: A girl takes on the dangerous task of rescuing her younger twin brothers.

• Evening films include short films and one feature, beginning at 6:30 p.m. and running until 10:30.

• Among the shorts will be Tuscaloosan Santo Moss’s “Moving Forward,” and “90 Days,” billed as a story of “love, integrity and compassion,” as a couple examines a life-altering decision made after 90 days dating. It’s written by Nathan Hale Williams, and directed by Williams and Jennia Fredrique Aponte. Stars include Teyonah Parris and Nic Few. The opening short will be the winner of the Tuscaloosa Career and Technology Academy’s film competition, to be announced.

• The evening’s feature film will be 2016′s “The African Who Wanted to Fly,” about Luc Bendza, who as a 9-year-old boy in Gabon, Central Africa, saw his first kung-fu movie, and came to believe Chinese people could fly. Bendz became obsessed with joining them, and learning their secrets. He became the first African to enter the Shaolin Monastery, at age 14, and has lived and studied there for more than 30 years, mastering wushu and acting in martial arts movies.

• The film, part documentary and part biography, was directed and written by Samantha Biffot, who though born in Paris, grew up in Asia and Africa, and after studying cinema in Paris, retured to Gabon in 2010 to develop TV series, documentaries and other movies.

• The Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival is being presented by the Edward A. Ulzen Memorial Foundation and Afram South Inc., nonprofit organizations supporting education and public health initiatives in Ghana, West Africa and West Alabama respectively. Co-sponsors include the College of Community Health Sciences at UA and Tuscaloosa Sister Cities International. Tuscaloosa has a sister-cities relationship with the adjacent pairing of Sunyani and Techiman in Ghana.

• Tickets for the Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival are $15 general, $10 for seniors, and $8 for students. They’re available at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3223711, or at the Bama box office on Saturday only.

• For more, email eaumfoundation@gmail.com, or call Bill Foster at 334-322-0824, or Thad Ulzen at 205-552-6078.


Luc Bendza (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70684-Luc-Bendza) needs his own thread now, independent of Shaolin's African Disciples (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?66870-Shaolin-s-African-Disciples)

[GeneChing]

I copied the two posts above from the Beginnings of Shaolin Boxing - history thread (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?20750-Beginnings-of-Shaolin-Boxing-history&p=1309893#post1309893) to this Shaolin Temple World Martial Arts Assembly (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67972-Shaolin-Temple-World-Martial-Arts-Assembly) because it sits more appropriately here. Also copying this to our Shaolin's African Disciples (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?66870-Shaolin-s-African-Disciples) because I love those cross-links. I suspect the flag raising ceremony (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70795-Buddhism-amp-Communism&p=1309892#post1309892) might have been connected to this Assembly too, but I'm not going to add that because it might have just been about National Day.


African Nations Pull Up in Force to Shaolin Kung Fu General Assembly (https://radiichina.com/africa-pulls-up-in-force-to-shaolin-kung-fu-general-assembly/)
by Adan Kohnhorst | Aug 30, 2018

https://i0.wp.com/radiichina.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/AfricaShaolin2.jpg?resize=1280%2C640&ssl=1

The Shaolin Temple just closed out its 2018 Shaolin Martial Arts General Assembly, and well ****, African nations came through.

Twenty-two trainees from seven African countries — Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Burundi, Mali, Djibouti, and the Central African Republic — spent three months at the temple as participants in the Ministry of Culture’s sixth African student exchange program. The class studied empty-handed Shaolin kung fu, plus sword and staff techniques. At the end of the training period students performed what they’d learned for the temple’s abbot, and received certificates of completion.

https://i0.wp.com/radiichina.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/AfricaShaolin1.jpg?resize=1080%2C720&ssl=1

Full disclosure, this writer happened to be at the temple while the African exchange unit was there training, and can confirm, they were doing some serious stuff. Tourists from across China watched with confusion and pleasant surprise .

“We came empty-handed but finished full of enthusiasm,” one participant said. “We’re really excited to be ambassadors of Chinese culture, and to share what we learned at the temple with people back home.”

The abbot Shi Yongxin, international media’s notorious “CEO monk”, had a more put-together statement to make:


The Shaolin Temple is committed to supporting China-Africa ties, cultivating the friendship between Chinese and African people, and pushing forward on cultural exchange and cooperation between China and Africa.

Outside of the African class, other foreigners and kung fu fans made the trip out for the occasion. People’s Daily was quick to seize a photo op on Twitter:


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dlmunm2XcAE_Jlf.jpghttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/DlmunnNXoAA7UmW.jpghttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/DlmunnCX4AEX-dv.jpghttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dlmuoe4W4AA1lpO.jpg
View image on Twitter
(https://twitter.com/PDChina/status/1034049667565268992/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwte rm%5E1034049667565268992&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fradiichina.com%2Fafrica-pulls-up-in-force-to-shaolin-kung-fu-general-assembly%2F)
People's Daily,China
✔
@PDChina
Yoga lovers practice yoga and Shaolin students perform martial arts along a cliff walkway on Songshan Mountain during the 2018 Shaolin Martial Arts General Assembly in Dengfeng city, Central China's #Henan province, on August 25

5:07 AM - Aug 27, 2018
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As time marches on, and the world around us changes, we can all take comfort knowing that foreigners will continue to flock to the Shaolin Temple with shocking consistency.

[GeneChing]

Feature: When a street kid from Yaounde discovers Kungfu (http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-01/05/c_138679762.htm)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-05 17:48:56|Editor: zh
By Qiao Benxiao

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THREADS
Shaolin Journeys (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49520-Shaolin-Journeys)
Confucius Institutes (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70862-Confucius-Institutes)
Shaolin's African Disciples (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?66870-Shaolin-s-African-Disciples)

[GeneChing]

Shaolin Temple in Zambia hosts first-ever African Kung Fu games (http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2023-06/27/content_89632960.htm)
Xinhua, June 27, 2023

http://images.china.cn/site1007/2023-06/27/89632960_f4c2dd8e-3182-46cc-8781-7673a49d13bb.jpg
A participant demonstrates Kung Fu during the 2023 African Shaolin Kungfu Games held at the Shaolin Cultural center in Lusaka, Zambia, June 25, 2023. The Shaolin Temple in Zambia has organized the first-ever African Shaolin Kung Fu Games and other activities aimed at promoting the sport on the African continent and promoting cultural exchanges. The six-day event, which started on June 21 and ends on June 26 at the Shaolin Cultural Center in Zambia, has attracted over 150 contestants from 23 African countries and regions. (Xinhua/Yang Zhen)

The Shaolin Temple in Zambia has organized the first-ever African Shaolin Kung Fu Games and other activities aimed at promoting the sport on the African continent and promoting cultural exchanges.

The six-day event, which started on June 21 and ends on June 26 at the Shaolin Cultural Center in Zambia, has attracted over 150 contestants from 23 African countries and regions, while Abbot of the Shaolin Temple in China, Grand Monk Shi Yongxin, has come with a monk group to carry out cultural exchange activities.

The activities began with the first-ever Shaolin Kung Fu ranking system and test training class and was followed by lectures on the Shaolin phenomenon, as well as a grading awarding ceremony.

This was followed by Shaolin Kung Fu competition in which competitors from African countries showcased their skills.

Konate Yaya, a 30-year-old from Cote d'Ivoire, commended the organizers, saying the event will go a long way in promoting Kung Fu in Africa.

"This tournament is very good because it is the first one and also the temple is the first one in Africa. We are honored that there is a country in Africa with a temple," said Yaya, who started Kung Fu training seven years ago.

Yaya, who started Kung Fu in order to keep fit, added that he has learned that Kung Fu is not just about fighting, but also getting lessons on life, family, how to treat other people and how to be self-disciplined.

Stanley Banda, a 20-year-old from Zambia, said he was inspired to start Kung Fu after watching Chinese movies, and said participating in the games will build his confidence and help the sport gain popularity in other parts of Africa.

He further said the sport has helped him in building his mental capacity, fitness and self-confidence.

Gahungu Serges from Burundi said he was happy to have been given an opportunity to participate in the games, saying he learned a lot from senior competitors.

The 31-year-old, who got the inspiration to learn Kung Fu from a young age after watching Chinese movies, expressed happiness that his dream of stepping into a Shaolin Temple has become a reality.

Lacmagou Fregis Arnaud from Cameroon encouraged people from different parts of Africa to start learning Kung Fu, and commended the organizers of the event, as it allowed people to see at close range the Kung Fu skills they previously just watched on television.

http://images.china.cn/site1007/2023-06/27/89632960_e0800445-037f-4009-ab8d-2c89676c08d9.jpg
A participant demonstrates Kung Fu during the 2023 African Shaolin Kungfu Games held at the Shaolin Cultural center in Lusaka, Zambia, June 25, 2023. The Shaolin Temple in Zambia has organized the first-ever African Shaolin Kung Fu Games and other activities aimed at promoting the sport on the African continent and promoting cultural exchanges. The six-day event, which started on June 21 and ends on June 26 at the Shaolin Cultural Center in Zambia, has attracted over 150 contestants from 23 African countries and regions. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun) Not to let the cat out of the bag, but there's some talk of staging a USA Shaolin Games. I was in a zoom meeting yesterday about this.