The Shaolin Workout by Shi Yan Ming

[GeneChing]

I just received an uncorrected proof of Yanming's new book, The Shaolin Workout. It's being published by Rodale, a major publisher in the world of health publications. They do the magazines Prevention, Men's Health, Runner's World, Women's Health, Organic Gardening, Backpacker, Best Life, Bicycling and Mountain Bike. Will Yanming be on one of those covers next? Rodale also published several New York Times Bestsellers like Martha Stewart's The Martha Rules, Bill Maher's New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer, as well as The South Beach Diet and The Abs Diet franchises. Most martial arts books are published through small publishers or vanity published. Rodale is a whole new level for a Shaolin book.

The Shaolin Workout is well marketed - just what you might expect from Rodale. It's subtitled "28 Days to Transforming Your Body and Soul the Warrior Way". I haven't had a chance to do more than skim it, but it looks like a general outline of Shaolin basics - mostly stretching and warm ups, basic stances and kicks. The presentation is very clean and professional. It's slated for release on June 2006. It's be hardcover, 7 1/2" x 9 1/8", retailing at $29.95.

[Shaolinlueb]

interesting, ill probably check it out.

[David Jamieson]

I already do a shaolin workout.

that's probably gonna sell well though.

[Shaolindynasty]

You can say what you want about Yan Ming but he is doing allot to not only make kungfu mainstream but also make it cool

[GeneChing]

I've always thought that of all the monks that have immigrated to America, Yanming had the kind of charisma that could lend itself to exactly this kind of project. I spent a week with him back in '99 and his enthusiasm on the training floor is contagious, like Billy Blanks pushing TaeBo, or any workout guru. He inspired you to put out more, not to hold back, which was great for jibengong. The Shaolin jibengong by itself is a great workout. You just need to add music. Wonder if RZA can handle workout music?

[Shaolindynasty]

I remember a demo by Yan Ming for a show on TNT. He used the wutang's shame on a n**** beat. It seemed to get the audience pumped up.

I always thought about using RZA beats especially the ones with the shaw brothers samples when doing demos for non martial artist/non Chinese groups. I don't know what the effect the wong fei hung music would have on people who aren't "in the know".


I wonder if a workout series ala "taebo" would be considered after the book release. I also wonder how it would be recieved by martial artists. I know taebo wasn't particularly well recieved by most. Billy Blanks lost me when during the infomercial the soccer moms said they could "kick butt" and defend themselves because of taebo. Would Yan Ming run into the same critisism?

[GeneChing]

...and extra kudos for plugging our forum sponsor . Shaolin is seriously complicated, the most complicated manifestation of martial arts in the modern era. Frankly, that's why it interests me so. And I'd be the last person to cap on anyone for 'epic' posts. Maybe a troll post is worthy of some capping, but honest opinions fuel the discussion. After all, isn't discussion exact what the forum here is all about?

[richard sloan]

as usual, these kinds of threads contain a lot of verbage that amounts to so much hooey by a lot of faceless characters who wouldn't have a clue if they stumbled over a clue root in a clue forest full of clue trees- and yes I mean you ricky. what did you read a few diss threads in a forum and now you are a chan master, lol.

you remind me of some tool I met out at Apt. Shifu was wearing a nice watch, and he bought a round of drinks- it was someone's birthday. And some tool goes, wow nice watch, no wonder he is buying drinks. An easy conclusion to jump to, but Shifu didn't buy the watch, it was a gift...

on the former video- he doesn't like the way they came out, he didn't like the lack of control he had or the way the project was executed. he felt it was stale and typical. that is what you"heard" but you are misrepresenting it here and expanding it. if he was against video or book learning he wouldn't have done any articles at all- yet there are a few and they are very good ones too. i'm particularly fond of the black belt punching article.

in general, he doesn't approve of people burying themselves in books to learn or videos as single source instruction- especially because many of the authors don't know what they are talking about. one spark for this particular book was the DeMasco stuff that's being pushed out there right now- we just couldn't believe some of the wrong info that made it to press, I mean really silly stuff that anyone calling themselves a "disciple" should know. looking through the website and some of the pages of the book he just shook his head, looked away, and said "we should make a book. give people right information and accept the responsibility to share authentic history."

as to shi yan ming loving money- that really makes me laugh. few people know the internal workings of the usast but that suggestion is ludicrous to me considering I know much of the finances. he is far from rolling in it the way people think. most of the money the temple makes goes back into taking care of the disciples, the ny temple, and the needs of some of the other temples- you know we have 4 now, and have embarked on a capital campaign to raise funds for a full blown facility in NY just like he has always dreamed...which is one reason why we have the book project. We now have over 150,000 raised and are looking to engage an architect and are continually scouting land.

http://usashaolintemple.org/index.ph...shop&Itemid=71

shi yan ming suffers/benefits from a portrayal that is not very accurate- he does not hide the fact that he eats meat, but that does not mean he is at Lugers at his personal table every night and a custom cut of meat. In point of fact he usually eats noodles and vegetables, continuously because he is constantly training. But he is not like a lot of others who do hide the fact they eat meat or dissemble about it. He's also usually slammed for drinking a beer every now and then, which he will consume openly but then again it's not like he is hitting every happy hour on w3rd st. The way some people make it sound we have a keg next to the sink or he has a flask stashed in his sash. I remember eating lunch in DC with him and De Yang and the waiter brought over a couple of Tsing Tao's- De Yang had just seen Bush's motorcade, and he was giddy like a kid, and guess what, when he drank the beer his robes did not burn up, his beads did not all split asunder, the altar at Shaolin did not crack apart to a massive earthquake and when he put his head down at night to sleep on his pillow he was still a shaolin monk, despite havinghad a beer and eating a crab- shell and all.

when it comes to ch'an sym is serious as a heart attack, but he is not representing a prc hegemony or orthodoxy- he didn't need to go to the beijing university, his dharma master was Shi Yong Chen who still lives in the temple, and the senior monks all spoke highly of him and his accomplishments- especially proud of him bringing his disciples home, in particular the recently passed Shi Su Xi who not only defied expectations to come sit with us, but even laboriously spoke for about a half hour before he grew too tired. Still he made sure to spend the better part of our time there with us. So since they still consider him a part of the order, I think it is hilarious when someone like ricky spews.

about the family, I have literally zero problem with that, and there really isn't a lot many other people can say, and not just because celibacy is a lark and against a nature ch'an should embellish. when the 14 returned with their families, and kept them, and were considered monks, the monkeys were let out of that barrel, weren't they, and if your masters sons became monks, and ch'an buddhism didn't turn into a pumpkin or come crashing down, well why shouldn't you raise up some kids and enjoy the sharing of love. That's part of life.

far from expelled, he is well loved by Su Xi's "side" if you will, and even many on Yong Xin's- there's a lot more that could be said about that trust me.

consider this record corrected.

[shaolinboxer]

I'm sure all of his "disciples" will treat this book like the bible.

Well, I'll pick one up just to remember my basic wushu. Too bad I have to pay for it...maybe I'll wait until they start falling into used book stores.

[GeneChing]

You know, personally I've always liked Yanming. He's extremely charismatic, very skilled and a great motivator, which is all you really need from an instructor. And I think his crossover work (for lack of a better term) is extraordinary, which is why I brought up his book here in the first place. But, with all due respect, the family issue is bothersome. Celibacy is not a 'lark' in Chan Buddhism. It's part of the teachings and if you explore those, you can understand the motivations behind them. Surely, there have been those who have broken celibacy vows and there always will be. However, they all fly in the face of doctrine, and that's philosophically very difficult to negotiate. If you discard the doctrines of Chan, you essentially throw the baby out with the bath water, sort of like Victoria's Zen At War. The heart of the celibacy issue, like any issue in Chan, is attachment. You can counter with something like "well, obviously you're attached to the doctrines" but that opens up a whole mess of philosophical baggage.

Anyway, in regards to shaolinboxer's comment, Yanming's new book could never be the Shaolin bible. It's too short. It looks like a fine introduction to Shaolin - very Yanming style with all the "beautiful!" "awesome!" "amitoufo!" and "train harder!" comments that you'd expect from him. I'm curious how that will translate to written word. Knowing Yanming, I can hear him saying that when I read his book, but I'm not sure that others will. We shall see.

[shaolinboxer]

It doesn't matter what the content of his book is. The cult of personality that revolves around him will ensure at least a modest success.

And all of his ex-students will get to roll their eyes every time they visit barnes & noble.