China’s Shaolin Temple plans to host its first kung fu fighting event
Secret techniques expected to be shown during planned combat 'convention' for seasoned martial artists
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 20 August, 2014, 6:31pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 20 August, 2014, 6:34pm
Laura Zhou
laura.zhou@scmp.com
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Martial arts practitioners train at the Shaolin Temple in Henan province, one of China's most popular tourist attractions. Photo: Imagine China
The fabled Shaolin Temple, said to be the birthplace of kung fu, is planning to hold a competition for martial artists from around the world – what could be the first of its kind, mainland media reported.
”In an appropriate time in the future, we … are going to hold a world martial arts competition in the Shaolin Temple,” Shi Yongxin, abbot of the 1,500-year-old temple in Henan province, proposed during a closing ceremony of a Zen forum on Monday, news portal chinanews.com reported.
If the proposal moves forward, it would be the first time that the Shaolin Temple, the home of legendary warrior monks and thousands of kung fu martial arts enthusiasts from China and around the world, to hold such a martial arts combating convention.
Shi didn’t reveal when and how the convention would be arranged, but said that Shaolin martial arts students from all over the world would be invited to the convention, and some mysterious martial arts performances such as “iron shielding body” would be seen in action, the Henan-based Dahe Daily reported.
Top practitioners with other martial arts skills, such as taekwondo, karate and kick-boxing will be also invited, the report said.
News of martial arts convention soon raised heated discussion on mainland social media, where many people are particularly fascinated by culture, films and stories of Chinese martial arts.
”It’s really like travelling back to the kung fu legends in the book,” one Sina Weibo user wrote.
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Students perform at the Shaolin Temple wushu festival. Since 2012, it has held a cultural festival each year, with the goal of hosting one on five continents. Photo: AFP
But some also lamented that the event would hamper the temple’s role as a place for serenity and contemplation.
”Shouldn’t [the] Shaolin Temple be a place of peace instead of a [spectacle] for the public?” a Weibo user wrote.
The idea of a kung fu convention – often depicted in literary fiction and films – is quite fascinating to many mainlanders and outsiders. In the great masterpieces, Louis Cha Leung-yung describes a kung fu convention as a combat event where leading practitioners show off their skills and compete for the title of “kung fu master”.
Well-known for its ties with Chinese martial arts, or kung fu, the Shaolin Temple is one of the most famous Buddhist monasteries and tourist attractions on the mainland.
In 1982, martial arts champion Jet Li appeared in the film Shaolin Temple, which later made him a kung fu icon and which made Shaolin a household name.
However, the temple – and its head, Shi Yongxin – have been criticised in recent years over what some see as the commercialisation of the sacred temple. With high-priced entry tickets and expanding businesses, many people lament that the Shaolin Temple lacks the purity and serenity of a Buddhist temple.
Shi also became one of the more controversial abbots in China. Dubbed as “CEO monk” by the mainland media, Shi serves as the CEO of Henan Shaolin Temple Industrial Development Company.
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The abbot of Shaolin Temple, Shi Yongxin (dubbed the CEO monk by local media), was the one who proposed the martial arts convention. Photo: AFP
The venture oversees investments for kung fu performance troupes, manages the use of the name “Shaolin” in dramas and films, and administers Shaolin Kung Fu centres in countries around the world.
Shi insists this is part of efforts to spread the values of the Shaolin Temple and Buddhism to the world.
As a part of its cultural promotions, the temple has held the Shaolin Culture Festival in each continent every year since 2012.
This year, the festival will be held in London, where Shaolin students from 25 countries in Europe are taking part in the annual exam for Buddhist Zen, Chinese medicines and martial arts practices, the Dahe Daily said.
The proposed kung fu convention is expected to be held after the festival completes its tour in five continents, according to the newspaper.
