Shaolin: Temple of Zen: Photographs by Justin Guariglia

[GeneChing]

I'm leaving for L.A. this weekend for the Otis event. I hope to see plenty of KFMers there on Monday night. It should be good fun.

[GeneChing]

...but no one from KFM showed.

One of my old classmates showed. So did James Kyson Lee, who plays Ando on Heroes, but that was the opening night and I missed that. Missed Dechao too - he was only in L.A. for a day - but he gifted me an extraordinary bamboo carving. That was very generous.

If you're anywhere near L.A. you must see the installation at the Ben Maltz Gallery. I remember when I first met Justin in 2005. He had found me and wanted to show me what he was working on. It was phenomenal then, even in it's rough form. Now to see it all come together in this gallery - to see Justin's vision actualized - was a genuinely remarkable experience. I also had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Craig Reid face-to-face for the first time. I've worked with Craig for 8 years now, so it was delightful to finally meet him in the flesh, thanks to Justin.

The installation will be up until March 29th - don't miss it!

[GeneChing]

There will be an east coast exhibit too, scheduled for June 11, 2008 - Sept 11, 2008 at The National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C.

Kung fu's spiritual side
Photos give rare glimpse inside China's Shaolin Temple.
By Diane Haithman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

NEVER call the practice of classical Shaolin kung fu a "performance," says American photographer Justin Guariglia, whose new book, "Shaolin: Temple of Zen," takes the reader into the cloistered world of the monks who uphold the tradition in China's 1,500-year-old Shaolin Temple.

The correct term, says Guariglia, is "demonstration."

"The monks are not entertainers," says the 33-year-old photographer, who spent five years building the trust of the monks to gain access to their life inside the monastery.

Photos from the book, published by Aperture in October, are featured in a traveling exhibition, on display at the Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design through March 29.

"When the media shows up, they want to be entertained," Guariglia continued in a recent conversation at Otis College, joined by Shaolin monk Shi De Chao, who had flown in from China to demonstrate -- not perform -- kung fu at the gallery recently. "They are overwhelmed and bombarded. A lot of people want to exploit them."

Most pilgrims to the Shaolin Temple, Guariglia says, come looking for the drama of kung fu as seen in movies starring Jackie Chan or Jet Li, or the flying fight scenes of Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Jet Li's skill, Guariglia explains, is actually the modern competitive martial art wushu, not traditional Shaolin kung fu.

The "warrior monks" don't fight, Guariglia says. "They did 100 years ago, but there's no warlords running China anymore. If you ask a monk why he practices kung fu, he'll say that kung fu is a vehicle for Zen, meaning it's a form of meditation."

Guariglia's exhibition, which includes stills from the book as well as videos, captures the active and the contemplative sides of the monks' existence, mixing serene black-and-white portraits with vibrant color shots of the monks executing kicks, poses, jumps and spins, practiced out of view to visitors.

The photographer also turns his lens on the tourist's effect on the peaceful surroundings, including a gaggle of visitors paying for a look through binoculars at a stone statue of the founder of Zen Buddhism, Bodhidharma. Another shot shows cartons and plastic bottles strewn outside.

Guariglia's wife, visual artist Zoe Chen, 33, contributed to the project by creating assemblages of photographs of the monks in practice. Formerly a fashion designer for Issey Miyake in Tokyo, Chen has created designs that often involve intricate knit patterns that seem reflected in the photo assemblages.

As explained in the book in an essay by scholar Matthew Polly, an Indian Buddhist missionary named Damo -- Bodhidharma in Sanskrit -- brought to the temple the idea that the key to enlightenment was "not merit (i.e., good works) but a dawn-to-dusk practice of sitting meditation."

Problem was, sitting meditation also resulted in some very flabby monks, so Damo introduced a series of calisthenic exercises much like yoga. The practice, Polly writes, "introduced the idea that action could also be spiritual."

To protect the real monks' practice from exploitation, Guariglia says, Shih Yong Xin, abbot of the Shaolin Temple, often calls upon students from the many nearby martial arts schools to provide a show for the tourists. "The kids dress up as monks and give performances; not many people see anything beyond that," he says.

Though a few schools are run by monks, most are led by folk masters. And, Guariglia adds, "most of the kids have no Zen training at all; they are not trained in Buddhism. At the temple, you have monks that only pray and monks who do kung fu, and some do both -- but all are trained in Buddhism."

It is perhaps telling that, at his gallery demonstration, De Chao spent more time on the meditative than the martial aspects of his practice.

De Chao briefly exhibited his skill at wielding the "monk's spade" or "Bodhidharma spade" -- a pole with two curved blades of hardened steel flashing wickedly on each end. "You might want to stand back," suggested Guariglia with a grin.

But then the massive monk took an unexpectedly passive stance: In the next portion of the presentation, the martial arts master allowed inexperienced visitors to hit him, inviting 18 randomly selected onlookers to make three selfless wishes, then slap the back of his hand as hard as they liked.

As with most actions of a Shaolin monk, there was a spiritual purpose: To channel the qi, or energy, of those who would strike him into a work of calligraphy, another aspect of De Chao's practice.

The blows included the hesitant tap of a preschool child and ringing slaps from strong adults. Through it all, De Chao stood like a stone. Then, still smiling, he crouched and slammed the back of his thick-wristed hand against the gallery's polished concrete floor, a harder strike than any that had been wielded against him by the others. De Chao says that, by hitting the floor, he "is gathering energy from everyone on Earth, and all of their wishes are being transmitted through the brush . . . to be preserved in the calligraphic painting forever."

With the collective qi gained from both, De Chao was ready to set to work on two 4-by-6-foot sheets of white paper, weighted to the floor with smooth river rocks. With large brushes dipped in pots of black ink, he fills one white sheet with the Chinese character "Fo," for Buddha, and the other with "wu," for martial arts.

To the question of how he chooses the characters, De Chao responds through translation from Mandarin by Guariglia: "It comes from my heart."

De Chao and Guariglia both laugh as they note that the three days Guariglia spent as De Chao's kung fu disciple were a dismal failure, but De Chao says -- this time with Chen as the interpreter -- that he believes fate led Guariglia to the Shaolin Temple.

"Everyone has their own kung fu, and his is photography," De Chao says, the heavy prayer beads around his wrist clacking softly as he fingers them. "The photographs show his spiritual side."

diane.haithman@latimes.com

'Shaolin: Temple of Zen'
Where: Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, 9045 Lincoln Blvd., Los Angeles

When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursdays

Ends: March 29

Price: Free

Contact: (310) 655-6905

[shadowlin]

...but no one from KFM showed.

One of my old classmates showed. So did James Kyson Lee, who plays Ando on Heroes, but that was the opening night and I missed that. Missed Dechao too - he was only in L.A. for a day - but he gifted me an extraordinary bamboo carving. That was very generous.

If you're anywhere near L.A. you must see the installation at the Ben Maltz Gallery. I remember when I first met Justin in 2005. He had found me and wanted to show me what he was working on. It was phenomenal then, even in it's rough form. Now to see it all come together in this gallery - to see Justin's vision actualized - was a genuinely remarkable experience. I also had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Craig Reid face-to-face for the first time. I've worked with Craig for 8 years now, so it was delightful to finally meet him in the flesh, thanks to Justin.

The installation will be up until March 29th - don't miss it!

what kind of work do you do for Dr. Craig?

[MasterKiller]

what kind of work do you do for Dr. Craig?

LOL! Classic.

[shadowlin]

I am not on here all the time so I am not up to speed. I know where Gene works, but I don't know what he does for Dr. Craig. Just curious is all. Happy to amuse you with my ignorance. Maybe instead of thinking it's so amusing, you wouldn't mind saying why it's so amusing? Maybe you could just answer the question since it's so obvious.

[MasterKiller]

I am not on here all the time so I am not up to speed. I know where Gene works, but I don't know what he does for Dr. Craig. Just curious is all. Happy to amuse you with my ignorance. Maybe instead of thinking it's so amusing, you wouldn't mind saying why it's so amusing? Maybe you could just answer the question since it's so obvious.

He writes a monthly article for the magazine that sponsors this board.

[shadowlin]

Thanks for your answer and thanks to Gene.

[GeneChing]

You can find Craig Reid's movie reviews here, exclusive to our e-zine and completely free.

Check this out - it's Shi Dechao at the Ben Maltz Gallery opening for Justin's exhibit. I'm sorry I missed this. I love the way he warms up for calligraphy.

spade

brush

[GeneChing]

And they've made these cool youtube vids of the Gallery opening. They really capture it well.

"Shaolin: Temple of Zen" Opening Night at Otis College

Justin Guariglia: Shaolin: Temple of Zen (Otis College)

[LFJ]

that was pretty awesome but this guy really needs some education!

bodhidharma was not the founder of the shaolin temple (that was batuo), and didnt create gongfu- he taught some qigong sets.

counting back thirty-some generations does not end at bodhidharma, it comes to fuyu in only the song dynasty- the current lineage founder.

yin-yang is a daoist concept. buddhism is rather non-duality. but thats a whole other discussion.

[GeneChing]

After I heard his talk at the opening, I corrected him on Bodhidharma and the generation names. As for the yin yang duality, despite Buddhism's view on non-duality, I have heard many monks speak of Shaolin kung fu in yin yang terms. Yin yang theory is quite pervasive in Chinese martial arts and that bleeds over into Shaolin kung fu. Plus there's the whole precedence of Taoism to Buddhism in China, so there's overlapping terms in many sects. I didn't see that as that much of a gaff.

[LFJ]

thats why i said thats a whole other discussion. i think yin and yang are not as clear cut in buddhist thinking. it all depends and if anything they cancel each other out which brings you back to the original state of non-duality. sometimes you have to use such concepts to communicate out of convention. but its important to recognize them as mere concepts. imagine if buddhists were not allowed to use the words "i", "me", or "mine".

but basically, i find it somehow disappointing when someone is doing a lot of work to make shaolin known but then, doesnt even know who the founder of the temple was. his work is fascinating and much appreciated though! and i know history may not be his major, but.

[GeneChing]

I've edited the redundancies out the the quoted text below:

Washington, D.C.
Shaolin: Temple of Zen
Photographs by Justin Guariglia

Opening:
Thursday, June 12, 2008
6-7:25 p.m.
Exhibition on view:
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 — Sunday, September 07, 2008
National Geographic Society Museum
1145 17th Street NW
Washington, D.C.
(202) 857-7588

Over the past eight years, photographer Justin Guariglia won the trust of the legendary warrior monks of the Shaolin Temple, a Chinese Buddhist sect dedicated to preserving a form of kung fu referred to as the "vehicle of Zen." With the blessing of the main abbot, Shi Yong Xin, Guariglia has earned the full collaboration of the monks to create an astonishing, empathic record of the Shaolin art forms and the individuals who consider themselves the keepers of these traditions.

Washington, D.C.

Shaolin: Temple of Zen, Justin Guariglia
Artist’s Talk, Book Signing and Kung Fu Demonstration
Thursday, June 12, 2008
7:30 p.m.

Fee: Members, $15; Non members, $18
Grosvenor Auditorium
National Geographic Society
1600 M Street, NW
Washington, D.C.
(202) 857-7700

Over the past eight years, photographer Justin Guariglia won the trust of the legendary warrior monks of the Shaolin Temple, a Chinese Buddhist sect dedicated to preserving a form of kung fu referred to as the "vehicle of Zen." With the blessing of the main abbot, Shi Yong Xin, Guariglia has earned the full collaboration of the monks to create an astonishing, empathic record of the Shaolin art forms and the individuals who consider themselves the keepers of these traditions.

Coinciding with the opening of the exhibition at the National Geographic Museum, Justin Guariglia will share the spirit of his work and Shaolin monk and Zen Master Shi de Chao, who is flying to D.C. from the Shaolin Temple for this special occasion and presenting a rare kung fu demonstration. They will both available to sign copies of the book.

Washington, D.C.
Shaolin: Temple of Zen, Justin Guariglia
Film Screening: t Fleet: The Epic Voyage of Zheng He
Kung Fu Demonstration by Shaolin Monk Shi De Shao
Friday, June 13, 2008
12:00 p.m.

Free
Grosvenor Auditorium
National Geographic Society
1600 M Street, NW
Washington, D.C.
(202) 857-7700

Over the past eight years, photographer Justin Guariglia won the trust of the legendary warrior monks of the Shaolin Temple, a Chinese Buddhist sect dedicated to preserving a form of kung fu referred to as the "vehicle of Zen." With the blessing of the main abbot, Shi Yong Xin, Guariglia has earned the full collaboration of the monks to create an astonishing, empathic record of the Shaolin art forms and the individuals who consider themselves the keepers of these traditions.

Coinciding with the exhibition at the National Geographic Museum and celebrating Shaolin Monk Shi de Chao’s rare appearance in the U.S., a kung fu demonstration will follow the screening, about the great Chinese explorer, Zhen He, Ghost Fleet: The Epic Voyage of Zheng He.

Washington, D.C.
Shaolin: Temple of Zen, Justin Guariglia
Reception, Artist’s Talk, and Kung Fu Demonstration
Saturday, June 14, 2008
5:00 p.m.

Fee: $25; RSVP by mail to Donald J. Gerson, 3148 Castleleigh Rd., Silver Spring, MD 20904-1713 before June 10; for information call (240) 293-6570
DACOR Bacon House
1801 F Street, NW
Washington, D.C.

Over the past eight years, photographer Justin Guariglia won the trust of the legendary warrior monks of the Shaolin Temple, a Chinese Buddhist sect dedicated to preserving a form of kung fu referred to as the "vehicle of Zen." With the blessing of the main abbot, Shi Yong Xin, Guariglia has earned the full collaboration of the monks to create an astonishing, empathic record of the Shaolin art forms and the individuals who consider themselves the keepers of these traditions.

Coinciding with the exhibition at the National Geographic Museum and celebrating the exceptional presence of Shaolin Monk Shi de Chao, The Explorers Club is organizing a special reception where Justin Guariglia will share the spirit of his work and Shi de Chao will present a kung fu demonstration.

Washington, D.C.
Shaolin: Temple of Zen, Justin Guariglia
Film Program: “Kung Fu Cinema: Master of Shaolin”
with Dr. Craig D. Reid, martial arts historian
Saturday, June 14, 2008
1:00 p.m.

Fee: $6 per film; all-day pass $12
Grosvenor Auditorium
National Geographic Society
1600 M Street, NW
Washington, D.C.
(202) 857-7700

Over the past eight years, photographer Justin Guariglia won the trust of the legendary warrior monks of the Shaolin Temple, a Chinese Buddhist sect dedicated to preserving a form of kung fu referred to as the "vehicle of Zen." With the blessing of the main abbot, Shi Yong Xin, Guariglia has earned the full collaboration of the monks to create an astonishing, empathic record of the Shaolin art forms and the individuals who consider themselves the keepers of these traditions.

Coinciding with the exhibition at the National Geographic Museum, martial arts historian Dr. Craig D. Reid is organizing a screening of three cult classic movies on the Shaolin Temple, including in order of appearance: Shaolin Temple by Chang Cheh (1976), Executioners from Shaolin by Liu Chia Liang (1977), and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin by Lau Kar-Leung (1978).

[Tai-Lik]

Anyone coming down to the Washington/Baltimore area for the Kuoshu tournament or the Wong People Tournament, here's alittle something you can add to your sightseeing list if interested:

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MUSEUM:

Shaolin: Temple of Zen - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mu...s/shaolin.html

There are other interesting exhibits such as "China's Forgotten Fleet
Voyages of Zheng He"