American Shaolin by Matt Polly

[PangQuan]

kinda shocking to see Monk Deqing in quotes regarding a challeng match saying;

"I will fight him," "I will beat him to death"

And then Coach Yan saying "fcuk his mother," "He came into our house and challened us. Tai bu gei women mianzi! This fight has no rules, I want you to beat him to the ground. You hear me? To the ground"

its a fun book so far

[PangQuan]

page 235 and i dont think my fingers can turn the pages fast enough!

such a great read.

for anyone interested in chinese culture, martial arts, and shaolin, this is a must read title.


Very inspirational Mr. Polly.

Thanks

[MatthewPolly]

hey, look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXaKYxQWN4A

who's that tall guy back there by the picture?

I believe that would be me.

[MatthewPolly]

page 235 and i dont think my fingers can turn the pages fast enough!

such a great read.

for anyone interested in chinese culture, martial arts, and shaolin, this is a must read title.


Very inspirational Mr. Polly.

Thanks

Thank you for reading it and for your kind words. It means a great deal to me. I'm very happy you enjoyed it.

[MatthewPolly]

kinda shocking to see Monk Deqing in quotes regarding a challeng match saying;

"I will fight him," "I will beat him to death"

And then Coach Yan saying "fcuk his mother," "He came into our house and challened us. Tai bu gei women mianzi! This fight has no rules, I want you to beat him to the ground. You hear me? To the ground"

its a fun book so far

A number of people have asked me about the courseness of the monks' language. I never thought much of it, because my mouth is a bit trashy itself. The Chinese call it tu hua ("earthy language"), and it was expected that rural Chinese spoke in such a rough manner. Since most of the Shaolin monks came from peasant families, they naturally spoke this way.

Also, they were quite angry to have someone come into Shaolin and offer an open challenge. It was like someone spitting in your face. But at first, it does seem rather shocking. The Shaolin monks were young and did have a bit of a temper.

[MatthewPolly]

Any in Chicago?

I'll be speaking at an event in Chicago later in the summer. The dates are not confirmed yet, but I hope to also do a reading at one of the bookstores. I'll let you know the details when I have them.

[GeneChing]

Enter now for a chance to win an autographed copy of Matthew Polly's American Shaolin. See KungFuMagazine.com/ for details. Contest ends on June 4th, 2007, so enter now. Good luck everyone!

[MatthewPolly]

Gene,
This contest and the ad look awesome. Thank you.

Matthew

[MasterKiller]

I only want to win if he signs it "Gene's Shaolin Brother Matt Polly."

[GeneChing]

...IF you win...

[RisingCrane]

Matt,
I live in Bedford, England and I found a copy of your book in our local newsagents (WHsmiths)!
I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the book, it was very entertaining!
The same time you were in Shaolin, I was in Canton studying kung fu and you really captured the atmosphere of China at that time. I think we were lucky to go when we did because China has changed so much and the whole experience is very different now.
Thanks for bringing back some good memories and sharing some great experiences!
David.

[Team503]

Matt,

I hope that you see this post - I read your book after receiving it for a birthday present from a friend. I had been talking about going to China and training at Shaolin for years, but have never actually done it. To read your account was inspirational, and my Study In China fund has suddenly started growing.

You wrote a story that a lot of us, I think, identify with. Thank you incredibly much for sharing your experiences and your thoughts with the rest of the world. Rest assured that I will buy many more copies of your book to give to my martial arts brothers and sisters, as well as my friends and family.

Thanks again!

Alex, in Austin, Texas.

[charp choi]

Interesting thread. will have to order the book from amazon.
There seem to be a few doing the rounds at the mo. I remember reading Antonio Graceffos articles on here a while back.
I hope this doesn't start a flood of books by westerners going to shaolin cos the place will be inundated with second rate crap and the best one's will be harder to find.

What will be next?

Tale's of abuse from the shaolin temple? :

"A Monk Called It"

"Shaolin Shagger"

"A Man Named Baldy"

"Monk(ey) Business" sorry run out of puns!

[GeneChing]

Check out Matt's most recent article for Slate: Bangkok Vice: Buddhas, Boxers, and Bar Girls.

And for those of you who still haven't picked up a copy of Matt's book AMERICAN SHAOLIN, our autographed copy sweepstakes is still going. Click back to our home page to enter. It's less than a month until the drawing!

[charp choi]

Just finished the book. very interesting and insightful.
Thanks you Matt for your time and effort.
I enjoyed reading it immensely.