American Shaolin by Matt Polly

[David Jamieson]

gene is schooling us in how to search the archives to find the relevant topic in which to post.

2 years back Gene?

kudos to you man. lol

[GeneChing]

Here's the listing for the Late Late Show. You'll see Matt there now, but it'll probably change next week...

[Shaolinlueb]

what time is the late late show on 1am? ugh.

[MatthewPolly]

Sorry this a bit late for this thread, but I wanted to thank my friend and Shaolin brother, Gene Ching, for moderating this discussion and publicizing "The Late, Late Show" interview. It's always nice to get a chance to help spread the reputation and fame of Shaolin, even for a humble disciple like me, who needs to work a bit on shortening his anecdotes for TV.

To answer a couple of questions that came up: I did post on Shaolin.nl several years ago. Mark Salzman wrote "Iron and Silk." My first book will be "American Shaolin," which hopefully will be out in a year or so. The Chinese characters on the leather jacket I wore on the show were "zai fang shi." They don't mean anything. The best bet is that they are someone's name. Who? No one knows.

Ferguson did cut me off at points, but that was the plan: I was supposed to tell the anecdotes, and he'd control the length of each. As to how the interview went, the producers were happy enough to invite me back. But I think the person who posted, "good, but not great" was right on the money. I was trying to simply not choke. Hopefully, my timing will get better with practice.

I appreciate all of you taking the time to watch and comment.

Best,
Matthew Polly

PS Keep listening to Gene: he's a wise soul and has done a wonderful job promoting the true spirit of Shaolin over the last decade.

[norther practitioner]

Welcome to the forum Matt...

that was me who said that, but I did put in under the circumstances....

Hell, I would have prob. choked. Congrats on getting invited back. Keep us updated on your book.

[GeneChing]

Keep listening to Gene: he's a wise soul

Wow, have you been drinking again?
Thanks for the props, bro, and welcome to our forums.

[MatthewPolly]

First, I want to thank my Shaolin brother, Gene Ching, for keeping this thread alive. It is been my great honor to know him since he first visited the Shaolin Temple.

Many moons ago, the abbot of the Shaolin Temple asked me to write something to help promote Shaolin culture in the West. I am happy and relieved to say that last week it finally happened with the official launch of American Shaolin. I couldn't have done it without Gene's steadfast help. He read the manuscript three times, helping me to avoid numerous errors.

I will be travelling around the country on a book tour in March. It'd be great to see some of you. Gene and I will be meeting in San Francisco, and there will be a live performance by a Shaolin monk. If you are interested you can find details here.

I will also be checking this forum frequently. So if you have any questions about the book, I'd be happy to answer them.

Amituofo,
Matthew Polly

[lunghushan]

Still trying to figure out how you could have been 6'3" and 98 lbs... were you an anorexic male model or something? LOL

[MonkeyKingUSA]

I found the book at my local Border's and started reading it today. It is very interesting.

[PangQuan]

Was at the best bookstore in the world this weekend looking for a new book. (Powell's Books)

well as usual i found myself drawn back to the martial arts section to see if anything was there i hadnt seen the last 500 time i checked.

well there was.

i almost didnt buy it, now im kind of glad i did. its a good read for hearing the mans experience at the very least.

American Shaolin.

Im only on page 83 but so far a pretty good read, entertaining for sure.

so you dont have to search for what its about.

Matthew Polly wrote about his experience of becoming the first American to be accepted as a disciple of Shaolin temple.

if you like stuff like this, the guy does a great job of spinning his tale.

[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]

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.

[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!