A new Shaolin Temple USA
http://usashaolintemple.org/index.ph...shop&Itemid=71
Anyone know anything about this?
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A new Shaolin Temple USA
http://usashaolintemple.org/index.ph...shop&Itemid=71
Anyone know anything about this?
No comments? It looks like they are planning a big facility.
...I'm sure richard sloan can speak most intelligently about this.
huh..
Okay Shi Yanming want's to open up a training center, okay.
Shaolin Temple? Um wouldn't there need to be a "Buddhist Abbott" needed for this position.
Hasn't Shi Yanming left the priesthood (married (2) and children (?)). I think that removes him from applying.
I comment in regards to Religous Requirements and nothing to do with his skills/training (he's got better physical skill then I'll ever have).
warrior monks were not the same as religious monks-no matter what David Carradine might say.
It's all about the dollar, anyway. I have seen too many people come to my school from them to learn how to fight. They don't teach real application, and all, if any of their fighting is san-da, not kung-Fu. Too bad, too. I used to believe in the dream too.
personally i like shi yan-ming. i met him a couple times and the times i have met him, and compared to the other monks he is more friendly and humble. even though he is a business man. plus i think he has done a lot more in the usa to promote shaolin early on then any of the other monks in the usa.
i have no comment about his training cause i never took it. i have watched it and it seems to work his students hard.
only two comments
1. how wonderful and great the USA is! In all of China there was only one (ok maybe two) Shaolin Temples.... we've got like 4 of them now :D
2. Whatever it is that Shi Yanming does, it is NOT san da.....
LOL
Ross, you just need more Pak Mei schools to go out there and burn them down....
BTW, they're planning on building one down here too... 500 man training hall, 500 room hotel and a golf course as well.
Well, I've seen Zen themed mini golf before....
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Ommm Ommmm Ommmm....
LOL, Hmmmmm, maybe I should shave my head, wear a robe, and start my own Shaolin Temple Resort....
On a serious note, the shaolin Temple in China and PRC get a major financial kick back from the USA Temples... What a gimmick.... Makes me look down more on Modern Shaolin Wushu, which ny the way is a government version of pre-1900's Shaolin Kungfu....
Anywho, I guess if it works for them, great. Eventually Modern Shaolin Wushu and the USA temples will be known as McDojo's...
CS
The U.S.A. temples aren't officially recognized by the Shaolin Temple proper, so Shaolin does not receive 'kickback'. Each of the U.S. immigrated monks have set up schools. Some have called there schools temples and that's arguable. The last time I was at Yanming's in NY and Deshan's in TX, they both set up temple 'areas' in their studios, but it's little more than a glorified altar and a meditation space. Now, Guolin's is different. He has a completely separate temple room that functions fully as a Buddhist temple. It's overseen by a Buddhist teacher who doesn't do kung fu. Many of the attendees of this temple don't practice kung fu either. The kung fu studio is actually in back and accessed from another entrance (although both spaces are connected). Guolin has the strongest ties to Shaolin Temple and is probably the closest to being 'official'. The others might claim official ties to Shaolin - and may indeed tithe to some connection there - but it's not Shaolin Temple proper. Deshan has strong connections to the Shaolin wushuguan, which is in turn connected to the temple, the sports bureau and the tourist bureau, but is its own entity. Yanming has strong connections to Deyang, who is a senior well-respected monk in Shaolin Temple, who also operates his own private school. I'm sure all of these monks have other connections as well, just as anyone from China has connections. In China, this is guanxi and it's the key to accessing anything and everything in Chinese culture.
well it is pretty simple actually.
Like many monks, he wants to spread his traditions and share with others. Since Yong Xin's ascendency, a lot of monks have felt a little, shall we say, uncomfortable, with being official, lol...being quite unofficial has allowed us to take in people such as Wan Heng, for example...provide support for others, etc.
Since he got here, and from the days when Guolin and Yan Ming were with Yan Chang on Pike st, running a temple there, I think they wanted to set up a full blown monastery/temple/training facility, someplace near or in the Buddhist Alley in the Catskills. But for a couple of different reasons they went their separate ways. I don't think there is much going on between them but I know Yan Chang stays in touch, and there is some communication back and forth occassionally with Guolin.
So slowly but surely, Yan Ming has been working on establishing a temple upstate, in which he wants to duplicate the training through which he came up, the surface of which we are scratching at now. He's come a far way from duct taping flashlights to the walls and wearing five pairs of socks in the winter to stay warm and keep his knuckles from cracking open and I have to admire his tenacity.
We have quite a bit of funding now, with more coming through various initiatives. The last major drive culminated in a party, at which I was proud to offer my services as a Dj, I was psyched because I had just scored a nice set of 7s of some rare reggae, cost me two machettes in trade no less, and it went over real nice trust me when I tell you. Also, he does seminars. Stuff like that.
I think Guolin is about as "official" as it gets, as far as ties to Yong Xin and the Henan Shaolin temple, as he is training the other ambassador, DeMasco. I forget who is who these days. If anyone is sending money back to China on the regular I would guess it would be Guolin, it's gotta be USSD, but that is pure conjecture on my part, and so what I guess? I don't see anything wrong with religious organizations sending money back to the mother temple or church or what have you, that is just S.O.P, like it or not, I would just assume it as a matter of course. USSD is another matter entirely and that I think is B.S. to the tenth power for a lot of reasons. For disciples, they sure do blunder about, they don't even understand their place in the lineage which is embarassing, and they sure can make some mountains out of molehills.
But we are not beholden to anyone but ourselves and our other temples, of which we have 4 now- Vienna, S.Africa, Trinidad, and Mexico, although I am sure Shifu has helped out some of his brothers back in China through some of the tough times when there was the purge and such.
I'm not surprised a lot of students leave to go and learn to "fight" at other schools, because nothing like that really happens until level 2 is reached, and that is mostly a lot of padwork, depending. What you do learn is not readily apparent as far as what most people think of when they think of fighting.
Level one is all basics, all the time.
We have a temple currently in manhattan- by that I mean we have a space which is used to train martial arts and instruct students in Ch'an, and to also conduct various ceremonies, although it is not exclusively one or the other and I don't think any such distinction is really recognized unless it is convenient. Since a big part of Ch'an is dong ch'an, and since that is how Yan Ming teaches it, that's how we worship, if the word fits. If it doesn't, I'll just shrug at you because you can be my guest at whatever you want to think. We have a body of disciples now, all having gone through the Gui Yi Fo, Fa, Sen, and this body of disciples learns Ch'an Buddhism, various sutras and recitation, etc.
As to the married/celibacy thing, I think it is fair to say that the CR upended that tradition, and as far as I am concerned, for the better, although many vehemently disagree with me. But the fact remains several of the senior monks who came back came back with families in tow, including two of the four olds, upon which the transmission basically hung from pre'28 Shi You San attack to now. Yan Ming will catch flak because he is rather open and unapologetic about it. To me, it doesn't effect anything and the kids are a delight. Maybe for many only a guy locked up in some cubicle apart from the world can only be called a "monk" but that is a rather silly belief to hold to me and a little juvenile of a concept.
Ah,the money, well I wish we had it like people think we do, but I can assure you from direct personal experience he is not teaching or doing this for the "money." Lol...perceptions crack me up. I guess the Pope does it for the money, lol....and the Dalai Lama does it for the money, and Mother Theresa did it for the money, and who else.... Since I am not much of a horn tooter I'll just leave it at that. It's the year 2007 and tons of religious groups have had to adapt to using business models- Catholics have TONS, trust me- from the Trappists making Chimay into a brand that has now evolved into not just arguably the world's BEST ales and beers, but to Cheeses etc, and Toner Monks who sell toner cartridges, to other endeavours, all for the money, heh heh heh...That always makes me laugh, for example, when last year we had our heat go off and I couldn't sleep for the chatter of my teeth...or when my fingers were raw from stitching together our disciple books...
That is a total cop out and a commonly used phrase in the contemperary wushu and McDojo world.Quote:
Originally posted by Richard Sloan
I'm not surprised a lot of students leave to go and learn to "fight" at other schools, because nothing like that really happens until level 2 is reached, and that is mostly a lot of padwork, depending. What you do learn is not readily apparent as far as what most people think of when they think of fighting.
In any traditional CMA school, fight training is obviously apparent from day one.
Cheers,
BBK
I don't buy it. Basics are the key to excellence. if he wants to spend extra time on basics, and then get into fighting later, that can only be good.
So long as he's not giving Black sashes to people with 10 forms and no functional fighting skills, i think all is good.
These kinds of threads are always good for a laugh. The way people pick apart what you say. Here's a little more meat for your grinder.
Just to satisfy a response and to kill time before I get into my next meeting, I use and have used my training, from day one, in the real world in my capacity of running various venues and nightclubs in Jamaica, so you can sit and spin on your cop out bullsh!t about what is and what is not "traditional" CMA training, what is obvious and what is not when it comes to training traditional CMAs, as if you are the arbiter of what that means. God. People should remember this is an internet forum, which is generally good for conversation, so when I respond to something Ten Tigers says conversationally, that is all it is, a conversational response. It's not a response that is meant to lay out all information ever about the subject. While the influence of PRC wushu is apparent in the Henan Shaolin temple, especially now, I know the lineage of several masters and my own, and it traces directly back, monk to monk, to before the 1928 attack, which suppposedly crushed Shaolin, it dates back to before the turn of the century and obviously ****her. So um...yeah, it's "traditional." But at a certain point most "traditional" arts we have with us today are frozen in time, they always adopted the weapons of the day, but why did they stop? So to me, the sobriquet of what is "traditional" and what is not....it's pretty humorous to watch armchair warriors bandy about this and that and eventually I lose interest and just frankly do not care because it is a waste of time and worse yet time wasted by people who are generally clueless, rather insignificant, and just have their little point of view to express in tiny words with tiny thoughts and they will go to bed at night dreaming their tiny or maybe inflated dreams of what have you and at the end of the day, it has little to no bearing on my day to day, it just wasted my time.
What I was generally speaking to was we have a lot of preperatory work and very often people don't want to put in the time to get the best benefits. Don't even pretend there isn't a lot of that work in CMA to build foundations, speed, strength, and this tied inextricably to flexibility. I mean that's obvious, because the MMA guys all complain to hell and gone about it, lol....That's basically what I was referring to. There is no ****genous TCMA methodology to establish fighting skills anyway. Do an exhaustive survey and this quickly becomes apparent. IF there was one way there would be only one, Highlander, one style, or a few. Who needs TCMA for that anyway? All you need to do for that is learn how to fight, any fool can learn how to do that and the jails are full of these kinds of idiots. And if you want to learn how to fight, you basically have to develop what I call the hit on 16 mentality. People crack me the hell up, I want to fight I want to fight. Lol. No, they want to live out some fantasy where they beat up 5 attackers single handed and save the pretty girl cue guitar music. I love this one, they want to be prepared for the "real" world. But they spend time training twin broadswords. LOL. Good for you you are so traditional, you are sooooooo cool. Well I live half the year where there is still a sword culture, in that people still resolve issues by going to a machette or cutlass so to speak but I don't know what you are doing in manhattan with your twin broadswords.
If you wanted to be prepared for street encounters the last thing in the world you would really want to do is spend years learning a martial art. You would want to be a cop. You have equipment, and numbers on your side. That would be best. I'm joking sort of, but if I can't have fun with you and your post what good is responding to it. Then I would have really wasted my time. I don't know many MA's who train with modern weapons but I have met a few and admire their honesty.
Anyway, enough of the tirade, for all I know, TT is getting students from the other monks and none are coming to him specifically from us. But I don't assume that, because it is just conversation. But I have seen Yan Ming turn people away who came in and right off the bat stated flatly they want to learn how to fight, because those toolboxes are better off someplace else.
The benefits of the training are "obviously apparent" when I can put my foot in your throat before you can blink after a month of training when I couldn't touch my toes before I started, much less kick anything, or control your drunk ass 10 ways come Sunday right out the front gate to roll you around in the jerk chicken bones just from learning a basic stance form.
It's been awhile since I've had to punch someone, but that's probably because it is true what they say, at first it is about fighting, but later it is about something else. Besides, now I have people under me so I can just freshen up my çocktail when a situation comes up and let others deal with it.
Point is, I train with Yan Ming, and use the benefits gained from my training in my day to day. So to hear you comment about traditional this, cop out that, is where I kind of start to shrug.
Maybe Gene will take a pull at the grist mill, as he has what anyone can see is "tradtional" training and has written about his comparisons back and forth with Shaolin.
Over to you Gene....
You know, I once bought Yanming a Chimay ale. ;) I don't know about Yanming, the Pope, the Dalai Lama, but I do it for the money. You have no idea how much it costs to produce and distribute an independant print magazine nowadays. That's my cue to say subscribe now.
But back to the notion of tithing, beleive it or not, religious figures need money. Giving donations to monks is a common practice throughout Asia. Some donate meals. Others donate money. In addition, any disciple will support his master. This is universal, whether you are Shaolin or any other school of CMA. I support my master with a red envelope everytime I see him. I'm sure that Guolin supports his master, Abbot Yongxin. That's tradition. It's amazing to me how many people will say 'traditional' martial arts are dead in China and they don't even know the basic traditions of Chinese culture.
The McFranchise model just doesn't apply to Shaolin Temple. It reminds me of when I told a good friend that there was a McDonalds by Tiananmen Square. He shouted victoriously "We've won! We've won!" I said, "Yea, one McDonalds in Tiananmen. How many Chinese restaurants are there in America?"
Thanks for the update on Deshan, Pk_StyLeZ. I'm a little out of touch with the Houston scene nowadays (and some of that is intentional).
You know, it's really not going to be about McDonalds and Shaolin. It's going to be about Burger King and Shaolin. This will make a lot more sense next February.
So what kind of Shaolin kung fu does Yan Ming teach?
Thanks,
BBK
BBK- Xin Ching. You're welcome.
Gene- One year I managed to get some Franziskaaner past his lips, and even some Lambic Framboise.
That was a fantastic party, lol...
He is very loyal to Corona, and ironically enough, the disciple who is running things in Mexico is descended from THAT Corona.
Weird, but true.
...I don't care for Corona at all. Any beer you gotta add a lime to, that's just wrong. I only make exceptions for Hefeweitzen and that's lemon. ;)
you guy need to try national bohemian. or natty bo for short ;) ay better and cheap ;)
you gotta see how they drink it in Mx. They add all kinds of stuff waaaaay beyond lime- hot sauce? No problem. Tekillya? Yup.
Saw one guy dump grenadine in his corona which really sent me for a loop. I guess that is kind of like framboise, lol...
I'm basically a rum guy since I also like cigars. But if I drink beer, it's gotta be something akin to chimay. You and leub'd love franziskaner, the dunkel is awesome.
They put worms in tequila bottles. Beat that!
Where do you squat a lot?
China.
You squat in horse. You squat taking a dump. You squat waiting for the bus. It's all about squatting. And you've never dealt with weird crap in your hard liquor until you've been to China. I've seen snakes, lizards, turtles, sea horses - some of their liquors look like biological specimens. Of course, RS and SL know this because they've both been there. China drinking can be pretty intense. But at least they don't add crap to their beer. The local China beers are quite good, mostly descended from brewing they learned from the Germans. Mexican brewing, well, tropical brewing in general isn't that great, too light for my tastes. That makes sense where it's hot, but that's still not to my liking. The exception is the former Brit colonies. At least they all know Guinness.
SL: Natty Bo is good. Not a fav of mine but I'd grab it out of the chest if none of my faves were present. Might grab it just to change it up a bit.
RS: Sounds like we have similar tastes in high end beers. Love that stuff. Can't afford it, but love it.
hmmm, this thread took a funny turn, eh?
lol yes quite a turn, but as they say, how "Ch'an."
You know you can age Chimay?
It's like wine, since it is bottle conditioned, it just keeps getting better the older it gets.
I have a few bottles of Chimay in the wine cabinet. They've been aging for a few years now. :)
PARTY at GENE'S!!!
lol...I hope it's one of the Grand Reserve Magnums...
Shi Yan Ming has been quite successful in setting up his schools, books, etc. Whats wrong with that? Shi Yan Ming has things always in the works it seems. It never ceases to amaze me how many people sit back and criticize. Shi Yan Ming and probably Shi Guolin, IMO, are the two top monks in the USA that have been the most successful in running and expanding their schools. They have solid foundations.
I really can't believe how many people still sit and ponder how real "monks" are these days. After numerous articles and a few conversations with some of the monks would obviously tell you that the "martial" monks are not religious monks. 100% of the "monks" at Shaolin are there to learn gong fu and not to become a religious monk in a religious temple. These guys have spent half of their lives training day in and day out at shaolin and yet some are going to say they cant be associated with shaolin because they eat meat? drink alcohol? decide to marry? Ridiculous. Some of you need to re-read some of the previous shaolin issues (especially the ones with the Li Peng interview).
...Funny that, because one of my old friends who's a cop just made the papers today because he was hit for the third time by a hit-&-run on duty. He's ok, but it just struck me as a funny coincidence.
Currently, within Shaolin Temple, the monks are split between wuseng and wenseng. There are about 200 monks there now, split 50/50 between scholar (religious) and warrior monks - and this data is very fresh because I just got an update. See, we didn't do a Shaolin Special for 2006. But we're already working on our 2007 issues and so I got to make up for lost time. People have been pestering me about it. I just tell them it's coming, so subscribe now. But between all of us here on the Shaolin forum - our next Shaolin Special is coming very, very soon. ;)
well the confusing thing is that some cross boundaries. some come to buddhism later, some sooner, some never, all to different degrees and even different schools of Buddhism. You can see a heavy Pureland influence these days. you may find some martial monks, as they are called, who know more about Ch'an than some of the monks who are supposed to be buddhisty. There is no real set criteria and if there was I would find that odd. I always say it's our problem, not theirs, because if we were not looking at Shaolin or getting involved in it, and by that I mean outsiders, there would be no need for them to deal with these definitions. They would just be what they always were and are.
http://www.usashaolintemple.org/news...ber-9-11-2009/
seems interesting. what do you guys think?
...but I did travel with Shi Yanming and his students. Check out Wu-Tang Enters Wudang.
Congrats to Shi Yanming!
Quote:
Musician and Filmmaker The RZA Brings Blessings and Beats to New USA Shaolin Temple Opening Ceremony
By ByHandMedia | Posted 22 hours ago | Fleischmanns, New York
CNN PRODUCER NOTE ByHandMedia says the Shaolin Temple Opening Ceremony in New York was a joyous occasion with a familial atmosphere. 'There was a sense of pride in everyone's accomplishments, yet there was also excitement for what is to come,' he says. He says the New U.S. Shaolin Temple mirrors the famous Shaolin Monastery that has long been associated with Chinese martial arts. During his coverage of the opening ceremony, ByHandMedia says artist and musician The RZA, member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, performed for audiences by improvising beats. 'It had the feeling of what we used to call "park jams,"' he says. He also adds that The RZA was a student and is a close friend of Shi Yan Ming's, the head of the U.S. Shaolin Temple.
- Jareen, CNN iReport producer
Yesterday, I had the honor of attending the opening ceremony for Shifu Shi Yan-Ming's brand new USA Shaolin Temple location in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
The five year journey that brought students, instructors and their families & friends to this event, actually began in 1992, when Shifu - founder and Chief Abbot of the Temple - defected while on the first-ever Shaolin Temple Monks tour of the United States. A unique and sometimes dangerous journey from San Francisco to a basement in New York City, somehow helped to forged a desire to share the ways of Shaolin with anyone who wanted to learn. Over the years, that list of eager disciples has grown to include a number of notable celebrities, such as Rosie Perez, Bokeem Woodbine, John Leguizamo and countless others. Also on that list is Wu-Tang Clan co-founder The RZA, who was able to attend yesterday's celebration, bringing with him positive words, and even an impromptu jam session.
Other than the fact that this was "The RZA" walking around the grounds of the 88 acre campus, what intrigued me most was that, this was not the RZA from Ghostdog - cool, camouflage-wearing urban samurai. Nor was this the musician who has scored more than 35 movies and produced hundreds of records. Nor was it the director who just wrapped a major Hollywood martial arts film, where he shares the screen with Russell Crowe, Lucy Lui and Pam Grier. The person I shook hands with - who gave my friend Alvin a pound after graciously posing for a shot - was Robert Diggs, a student who came to show his support for an instructor he obviously respects tremendously.
It's clear that what's stressed at USA Shaolin Temple, along with many other martial arts schools I've visited for this ongoing project, is that what's taught is much more than the physical aspects of fighting. In fact, one student from Brooklyn mentioned to me that the most difficult aspect of his training is the "inner" rather than the "outer." I also sensed after seeing the near-pristine condition of the 7 buildings that make up the newly-opened Temple, that discipline is key to successful training at USA Shaolin Temple. Much of the work on the previously dilapidated structures was completed by volunteer students and "Shihans," who made the 2 hour journey on weekends, where they cleaned, cleared, built and painted.
The cultural practices of Chan Buddhist philosophy has successfully adapted itself to Western traditions and ways of life, through the school's cultural diversity and Shifu's approachable persona. Through all of the lion dancing, gymnastic flips and kung fu, it seems that Shi Yan-Ming is creating a new type of American dream, but one based on thousands of years of tradition.
Future plans for the location include a summer camp for kids as well as an extended stay training program.
Amituofo!
Quote:
New Shaolin temple in Fleischmanns opens its doors this Saturday
By J.N. Urbanski
5/4/12 - 4:31 pm
Above: A recent photo from the ongoing construction of the new USA Shaolin Temple, on Breezy Hill Road in Fleischmanns. Photo from USA Shaolin Temple's Facebook page.
The Catskill Mountains are famously a magnet for people who want to create their own reality. But of all the quixotic dreams that have taken root in our craggy slopes and stony soil, none may be as ambitious as the plans of the USA Shaolin Temple, an international group of kung-fu-fighting Buddhists under the tutelage of the charismatic Shi Yan Ming. (The Shifu, or "master," is known for shouting cheery affirmations like "Merry Christmas! More Chi!" while delivering a punch that could crumple the hood of a Volkswagen.)
In September of 2010, the USA Shaolin Temple closed on a property in Fleischmanns, a moldering, 80-acre former summer camp. Since then, they've been busily renovating the property, restoring old buildings and dotting the landscape with gorgeous Chinese pagoda roofs that are beginning to make the view from Highmount look like a scroll from the Tang Dynasty.
The Shaolin warriors are still a long way from their ultimate goal: A temple with 72 chambers, reflecting the levels of Shaolin training, where students of the ancient martial art from all over the world can come to train "whether it is for a day, weekend, month, or years." But on Saturday, May 5, the world at large will get its first look at the new temple, in an opening ceremony that the community is invited to attend.
Recently, the Watershed Post's J.N. Urbanski spoke with USA Shaolin Temple trustee Shi Heng Zhi -- né Peter Traub -- about the origins of the fighting Shaolin, the group's grand plans for the temple, and how a bunch of kung fu Buddhists ended up in teeny-tiny Fleischmanns. --Lissa Harris
Watershed Post: Tell us about the history of Chan Buddhism and when it was founded.
Shi Heng Zhi: Bodhidharma was an Indian monk who left India in 524 AD to go to China to teach "Chan Buddhism", which is the precursor to Zen Buddhism. Bodhidharma, or "Damo" as he was called in Chinese is considered the father of Chan Buddhism. "Zen Buddhism" was started when a Japanese Monk went to China to study Chan Buddhism at the Shaolin Temple during the first millennium. When he returned to Japan, he introduced "Chan Buddhism" to his people. "Chan" translates to "Zen" from Chinese to Japanese.
WP: What is Buddhism?
SHZ: It's more philosophy than religion. Buddha means "awareness." Chan means everything and nothing. Buddhism doesn't contradict any other religious core principles, and you can belong to another religion and Buddhism simultaneously. Buddhism is an awareness and an understanding of oneself. It's also respecting others, but you cannot understand or respect others without first doing so with yourself.
WP: Tell us the story of your Shifu, or Master.
SHZ: Our Shifu, Shi Yan Ming, is a 34th-generation Shaolin monk, the last monk truly trained and raised at the Shaolin Temple in China. He is the last of a dying breed, who possesses all the knowledge and training the Shaolin Temple had to offer. Now that temple has ceased to function because of its conversion to a tourist destination. Shifu Shi Yan Ming defected to the USA in 1992 in order to re-start the Shaolin Temple and its traditions here in the USA.
The Shaolin Temple lasted for 1,500 years before being slowly converted to a tourist destination in August 2010, when it officially became a World Heritage site.
WP: What made you choose Fleischmanns?
SHZ: Well, we looked as far afield as Pennsylvania, but this property came up and we liked it. But it was unaffordable, so we waited and the price came down. It's 80.88 acres on Breezy Hill Road.
WP: What are your plans for the Temple?
SHZ: The temple will teach Chan Philosophy through the core Shaolin disciplines of martial arts or action meditation: Gongfu (Kung Fu), Taiji Quan (Tai Chi), and Qigong (Chi Kung). Members of the whole community, regardless of religion, are welcome. It's possible to be Buddhist and still belong to another religion. You can be Jewish and Buddhist, for example. We are also looking forward to hosting summer camps and day camps in the future when the site is completely finished. We have monks coming to teach from China who are just getting their visas approved.
USA Shaolin Temple, 383 Breezy Hill Road, Fleischmanns, NY. Opening ceremony: 3pm, Saturday, May 5.
Is it an official Shaolin Temple sanctioned by the Abbot?
No he isn't and Guolin is more so..... He does not use any of the "Shaolin Temple" copyrighted logos and he has his own "wheel of life" logo that he uses. He and others pretty much run themselves separately without the support of the Abbot. Like a franchise vs non franchise business..... He is probably the most successful of them all.
But nonetheless, he is still spreading the Shaolin kung fu name... he has a temple and still continues to spread Chán Buddhism . He seems like a nice guy so more power to him. I am not sure if he donates any money back to help rebuild Shaolin and I think he should since his roots are there... It would be like an alumni donating back to the University he graduated from....