Shaolin Warriors

[GeneChing]

for Starchaser107

[Starchaser107]

thanx gene.

[norther practitioner]

They were here again this past week but I couldn't make it..

[GeneChing]

After rereading this thread, I realized there is some false implications. Both fully indoctrinated monks (heshang) and warrior monks (wuseng) will use the 'shi' title. In fact, the members of the Shaolin Warriors troupe are wuseng, even though they don't necessarily use the 'shi' title. They are one of three next generation groups of Shaolin Wuseng authorized by Abbot Yongxin. I have a short article on this coming up in our next issue (going to print tomorrow, so it'll be on stands in early December 2003). It's sort of a spillover piece from our present Shaolin Special 2003. Chen Fei (see Kung Lek's post) is now in the Bay Area, and I even trained a little with him. His wuseng name is Yanfei. Also as for Shi Jianjun, you might notice his name isn't a generation name like de, xing, yong, yan, heng, or miao. Some of the monks don't use their generation name. Shi Guolin is such a case - his Shaolin monk name is Yansi, but he goes by another Buddhist name, Guolin.

[Starchaser107]

ok tnx,... another question though,
why was the performance comprised mostly of competition wushu techs? Is it because they feel that the flair of wushu will attract a larger audience and more ppl can appreciate it because of its beauty?
I wasn't bored though , time seemed to pass quickly while the show was going on. The transitions into the various acts and segments was seemless, and there was always movement on stage even while there was stillness.

[David Jamieson]

One more thingy

The ads all over town for teh "Shaolin Warriors" declare them as coming from ....wait for it..... "The Shaolin Temple in Beijing"

what the? I thought. Should i tell them that the Shaolin temple is in Henan? Would it matter? LOL.

Ah who cares, it's a wu shu show and it's better than Celine Dion in vegas or the blah cirque du soliel "hey lets bungee again and again" shows. Man, they are getting as old as river dance!

Frankly, I'd rather go watch a bunch of wushu kids dressed up like buddhist monks doing chang chuan sets all night.

cheers

disclaimer - Shaolin wheel of life show and Shaolin Warriors show are 2 different outfits. I haven't had the opportunity to see wheel of life yet, missed it last time it came through, but I have seen Warriors. It was "ok", it was not "spectacular" But then, I've had teh pleasure of seeing some real good kungfu in my lifetime, so I'm biased lol.

[GeneChing]

Shaolin Warriors was done with Beijing directors. Shaolin Wheel of Life was done by European directors. Personally I find Wheel far superior as entertainment. At Shaolin Temple, they all generally focus on modern wushu for demos because it's more flashy, more appealing than traditional since most people don't really understand traditional. For that matter, traditional isn't really a performance art. They don't really the competition routines - it's really just the flashy stuff, what you would expect for a popular show.

But as for the Shaolin Temple in Beijing, reread my cover story with the Abbot in the Shaolin Special 2003 that I have been plugging so hard recently and you'll find out about the plans to open a new Shaolin Temple in Tianjin, just an hour away from Beijing, scheduled to open in 2008, just in time for the Olympics...

[David Jamieson]

gene-

you don't think bsl is flashy?

as far as trad kungfu goes, i think its one of the flashiest styles going.

soon, shaolin temples will be everywhere i guess lol. they'll run out of monks!

are they all Chan though?

cheers

[GeneChing]

I used to think BSL was flashy, especially with the one-handed handstand into splits. Of course, wushu does aerials into splits. I've seen footage of a wushu-like BSL #5 from a tournament held in PRC. Unfortunately it was jsut one quick segment, with no reference to track down.

Shaolin "temples" are everywhere. As for 'official" shaolin temples, there is only one in Henan. As Abbot Yongxin says in that interview posted above, the three southern temples aren't officially recognized. The new northern one will be, even though it is founded on only one surviving pagoda.

As for Shaolin schools, they'll never run out of disciples. Just do the math - if there's 13,000 students at Taguo and Taguo is one of 80 schools in Dengfeng, that's a lot of Shaolin practitioners.

But are they all Chan? Therein lies a key question. I've often argued that Chan can be transmitted by uncoventional means, including the very forms of Shaolin Kung Fu. I find Chan elements in BSL. The philosophy is implicit. However, just like Chan itself, few reach that level. And I'm not saying I'm one of those few by any means. Are all the Shaolin grads Chan? Definately not. But many are. So it's a real mixed bag.

[Benny D]

Wow, I didn't know they were two seperate troops. I am attedning Wittenberg University right now and the Shaolin Warriors are coming on the 18th of this month (November). I also own the DVD of the Shaolin Wheel of Life and it is absolutely amazing, I hope I am able to witness a similar spectacle.

What is the main difference of the two shows?

[Shaolinlueb]

yeah just what i want to see. shaolin monks doing modern wushu no thanks. i'll just find branches of shaolin in other parts of asia because the temple is becoming to commercial and losing its meaning to me.

[GeneChing]

They are separate but there is overlap. Chen Fei, mentioned above, participated in both shows.

As for the traditional in those shows, well, traditional doesn't really show well. There is a small exibition of xiaohong (a traditional shaolin form) in both shows, but most people completely ignore it. No flips, no aerials, doens't read well from stage. Got to keep the context in mind. It's a show, after all.

[Shaolinlueb]

Originally posted by GeneChing
They are separate but there is overlap. Chen Fei, mentioned above, participated in both shows.

As for the traditional in those shows, well, traditional doesn't really show well. There is a small exibition of xiaohong (a traditional shaolin form) in both shows, but most people completely ignore it. No flips, no aerials, doens't read well from stage. Got to keep the context in mind. It's a show, after all.

yeah thats true gene about the show part. I just read the article in this months magazine where they are coming out with the shaolin wushu compulsirary(sp?) sets. I believe you wrote it. anyway, good job on the article, makes me understand more.

I am just disapointed when i read the article online about the guy going to study there and he passed him the book with the money in it to train.

[GeneChing]

Thanks for reading my work. The compulsories article is in the Shaolin Specia

As for Antonio Graceffo's article, it's sad and it'll get more sad. He's working on a book of his adventures in China. The situation with book in the temple is tough, but that kind of thing happens at any monastery that has such a high tourist appeal. The interesting thing is that after such a negative experience, Antonio still has great love and respect for Shaolin. We'll post part two of his story next week. If you all like his work, let me know, since he has a lot more.

Have you read the latest Shaolin ezine article?. It's by John Greenhow, who is still at Shaolin now. Both Antonio's and John's experiences contrast sharply with each other (and with mine) and we were all there early this year. That's the amazing thing about Shaolin. Everyone sees a different thing. Some might say it's like a mirror, like Chan. But others might take the example of the 6th patriarch, and know that this analogy doesn't hold dust.

[Starchaser107]

Gene , I am aware that certain forms will occur in seperate schools , but they might have differences in them,
I noticed the xiaohong form in the performance but this is the 4th incarnation of it i've seen, including my own and all look different.

If it's a shaolin traditional form, how comes shaolin has so much variations of it?