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Thread: Shaolin Temple Documentaries

  1. #61
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    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    Suxi is referred to as Yongxin's predecessor as abbot, but we know that wasn't quite the case. There are other odd comments in the narration, like one that implies that wushu weapons are light because the monks abstain from killing.
    i remember hearing some of the chinese tour guides over there telling all the chinese tourists, in chinese, standing in front of ven. suxi's pagoda that he was abbot yongxin's master. didnt get the "de xing yong yan heng" right.

    and as for the weapons, master deyang's staff is the heaviest stick i have ever tried to swing around. about broke my own wrist. thats not to mention his hardcore straightsword and monkspade. they are far from light.

    i'm always down for a good shaolin documentary though. thanks for the heads-up!

  2. #62
    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    It's a gorgeous documentary - spectacular time lapse filming, dramatic slow motion of traditional and modern forms. You'd expect no less from National Geographic. I would love to get access to the cutting room floor footage, because there are a lot of scenes of monks executing traditional forms in the doc, but only short cuts. Surely they filmed the entire form and and then edited it down. Only Shaolin practitioners would want to watch the entire form. For the sake of a popular audience, just the short clip will do. But man, the complete forms filmed so professionally in HD - what a treasure!
    but...no doubt marked....

  3. #63
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    Suxi was acting abbot, but never formally indoctrinated

    Shaolin insiders know of the longstanding feud between the Yongxin and Suxi loyals, so it was really ironic to see Yongxin bow down to Suxi's pagoda. For the Shaolin massive, that alone is worth viewing this doc. It was said that Suxi ruled the south and Yongxin the north, which referred to their political allies and where they resided inside the temple. For the record, it was actually Shi Xingzhen who preceded Yongxin as the official Abbot of Shaolin. We covered that in our Shi Xingzhen - Keeping Shaolin Alive: Shaolin's 29th Abbot in our Shaolin Special 2000.

    The wushu weapon thing was just odd. I think the documentary makers were reaching for something to resolve the old pacifist monks vs. warrior monks issue. There's an almost culturalist problem with that. Almost every religion espouses peace. Almost every religion goes to battle. Why should Buddhism be an exception? It certainly isn't in history, not even in modern events. But many Westerners believe it should be, despite parallels within Western religion. I felt this was fallout from dwelling on the biaoyenseng too much. Plenty of the senior monks work heavy weapons and Shaolin forge produces some rather heavy pieces. It's just the biaoyenseng don't use those.

    One more thing I liked about the SotKFT was it took me someplace I've never been before at Shaolin - the security monitoring room. The entire temple is wired with cameras now. It's a major tourist site, so the security cameras are a wise modern precaution, but a little surreal. There's a scene in the video monitoring room, which I imagine is in the security section - that was all being restructured the last time I was there. I remember sneaking into the temple before it opened once. I guess I can't do that anymore.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  4. #64
    I'd like to see a documentary about the "purge" of traditional Ch'an/gongfu masters, the introduction of Pureland Buddhist monks to cover up the purge, and things like that...

  5. #65
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    tonight

    Secrets of the Kung Fu Temple Premieres Thursday, December 18, 2008, at 10 PM ET/PT
    I highly encourage you all to tune in, not just for the sake of debate here, but mostly to show your support of martial arts programming on NGC, especially on Shaolin. NG has been dabbling with Shaolin as a subject. Justin Guariglia's work is exemplary (he also did the cover shoot for our current Shaolin Special). How often has NG level photographers done covers for martial arts magazines? I can think of only one other time.

    I look forward to tomorrow's discussion here.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  6. #66
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    I enjoyed the documentary. Our school is going there in June so checking out the beautiful scenery just got me even more excited about going. I did find it kind of sad that the majority of the students have nothing more to look forward to except a life as a Kung Fu Teacher or a Bodyguard. Not that that is a bad thing, but there can only be so many kung fu teachers. It just reminds us to be thankful that we live where we do and have the opportunities and choices that we have.

  7. #67
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    Song Shan is one of the two most picturesque mountains I've ever visited.

    The other being Mian Shan in Shanxi.
    Simon McNeil
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    Be on the lookout for the Black Trillium, a post-apocalyptic wuxia novel released by Brain Lag Publishing available in all major online booksellers now.
    Visit me at Simon McNeil - the Blog for thoughts on books and stuff.

  8. #68
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    I caught only the end of a National Geographic special last night on Shaolin Kung FU. Did anyone else catch it? It detailed a little of the past, but mainly the current training and goals of a few of the monks, or monks-to-be, I assume implying that they were indicative examples of the norm now. I hope to catch a replay or on-demand or something to see the rest.

  9. #69
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    Smile

    I watched this show last night and enjoyed it. It showed some places I had never seen pictures of before. The training sequences were interesting and like Gene I would like to see what went onto the cutting room floor. I bet there was interesting stuff besides complete forms, too. The traveling monks/dance show for London was a little weird, but I would like to see the whole thing as it looked like they were putting a lot of work into it. The light weapons brought a chuckle as we all know those are for demo purposes and they really have some heavy weight stuff to train with and use that way. I was glad they picked a couple of students to follow and see their outcomes. The little guy will be great with his attitude. Couldn't remember where the scene with the stamped out floor came from either. Interesting showing the chi demo. If you like martial arts and even have only a casual interest in Shaolin Temple then you would find this interesting.

  10. #70
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    I would like to see that London show too.

    I've seen countless Shaolin shows. I'm always amused to see something new and different.

    Anyone figure out which Jet Li movie clip they showed? It's totally baffling me.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  11. #71
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    jet li clip

    it was "evil cult"
    Hung Sing Martial Arts Association
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  12. #72
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    Thanks Shaolindynasty!

    I had to think about that for a while. I know it as Kung Fu Cult Master.

    Evil Cult. lol. How ironic.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  13. #73
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    Simon McNeil
    ___________________________________________

    Be on the lookout for the Black Trillium, a post-apocalyptic wuxia novel released by Brain Lag Publishing available in all major online booksellers now.
    Visit me at Simon McNeil - the Blog for thoughts on books and stuff.

  14. #74
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    i have just uploaded Extreme Pilgrim

    http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?...84832027966161

  15. #75
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    thanks, chanboxer. i enjoyed watching.

    the monk with cowboy boots and the principal at tagou were some rather funny fellas.

    glad he got to see a bit of what real shaolin is through master dejian.

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