Shaolin Soccer for real

[sanjuro_ronin]

Defense should commit seppuku.

[mawali]

Shaolin basketball or Shaolin cricket anyone?

[GeneChing]

As the World Cup is in Brasil this year, I'd expect Capoeira. I did not expect Samurai soccer.

[TaichiMantis]

Cool...but closer to ninja skills

[Jimbo]

As the World Cup is in Brasil this year, I'd expect Capoeira. I did not expect Samurai soccer.

I'm betting the reason for the 'samurai' theme is an acknowledgement of Brazil having the world's largest Japanese population outside of Japan, and having become integrated into the culture(?).

[GeneChing]

[GeneChing]

...vs. ninjas!

[TaichiMantis]

Awesome find!

[GeneChing]

I know, I know, Rugby ain't soccer, but this still seemed like the best place to post this one.

'Kung Fu Rugby’ joins expanded Sevens entertainment package
PUBLISHED : Monday, 09 February, 2015, 9:51pm
UPDATED : Monday, 09 February, 2015, 9:52pm
SCMP Reporter


Traditional Chinese cultural ceremonies will play an integral role in the HKRFU’s entertainment offerings at this year’s Hong Kong Sevens. Photo: HKRFU

In honour of this year’s 40th Hong Kong Sevens, the HKRFU is expanding its entertainment offerings at the tournament.

In addition to the Village People taking centre stage after the much-loved March Past on the Saturday (March 28), there will be a variety of performances designed to encapsulate Hong Kong’s east-west synergy.

The HKRFU is partnering with Ming’s Media Productions to bring fans an expanded opening ceremony, which will immediately follow the women’s Cup final on the Friday evening.

“Moving the opening ceremony later in the day will provide spectators with a better opportunity to enjoy what we believe will be a spectacular performance that pays a fitting tribute to Hong Kong’s cultural heritage and perfectly sets the stage for the weekend’s excitement,” said Robbie McRobbie, general manager of Rugby Operations and Commercial at the HKRFU.

The ceremony will have the traditional Chinese lion eye-dotting ceremony, but will also include both flying and giant dragons and 17 lions.

Sunday will feature what the HKRFU is billing as the “perfect representation of east-west crossover” – a performance of “Kung Fu Rugby” in the style of “players” like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li.

With the help of beer-sponsor Carlsberg, the union has recruited an elite group of martial artists and has them training in a secret camp in China, where they are being instructed by legendary master Yeung Pan-pan with a view to them taking on an all-star side in a special challenge match.

In addition to all this, fans on the concourses will be able to watch a variety of acts as well as some of Hong Kong’s best young musical talent on the mini-stage, which this year is being managed by the community project YRock.

[GeneChing]

Maybe this will deserve its own thread soon.

There's a short vid if you follow the link

Kung Fu Rugby designed to give Hong Kong Sevens fans a kick
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 24 March, 2015, 1:45am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 24 March, 2015, 9:37pm
Kevin Kung kevin.kung@scmp.com


Performers in the Hong Kong Sevens 'Kung Fu Rugby' entertainment show rehearse ahead of Sunday's aerial extravaganza at Hong Kong Stadium. Photo: Nora Tam

The 1974 disco hit Kung Fu Fighting will spring to mind when Hong Kong Sevens fans are treated to a special show on Sunday.

Organisers hope the Kung Fu Rugby show will entertain the crowds as part of celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the annual rugby extravaganza.

The 20-minute show will slot in between the qualifier semi-finals and world series semi-finals on the competition's final day.

At a sneak peek for the media yesterday at Hong Kong Stadium, it was revealed that the show - involving singer Fred Cheng, young stuntmen from Hit Hut Cinematic Action and employees of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union - will be played not only on the ground but also in mid-air.

It will feature performers connected to wires using their kung fu skills to tackle and pass the ball.

Watch: Kung Fu Rugby extravaganza to give Hong Kong Sevens fans a kick

The mastermind behind the concept is Sharon Yeung Pan-pan, who is a Hong Kong kung fu movie star and founder of Hit Hut. Yeung selected and trained her stunt apprentices for the "special game". Besides starring in kung fu movies, Yeung is also a stuntwoman who performed numerous daring feats for television shows in the 1980s and 1990s.

This time, however, she is directing the action.

"We were invited by the Rugby Football Union and have been discussing and planning this for over a year," said Yeung.

"In the show [rehearsals], we took up the whole field to stage action scenes that you would normally see in movies. The huge area gave us many challenges in creating our show.

"This is something that I had been hoping to achieve for more than a decade."

Stuntmen will be joined by members from the local rugby community. One of them is mini rugby coach Michael Wan Chun-ting, whose job is very simple - kick the ball twice down the field.

"I am not good enough to play at the Sevens, so I am really excited to do this in front of the huge crowd," said Wan. "I think it [kung fu] reflects our culture."

The backing track is anyone's guess - but maybe "everyone will be kung fu fighting" by the end.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Kung Fu Rugby extravaganza to give fans a kick

[GeneChing]

[GeneChing]

Shaolin Soccer School to bring Kung Fu to soccer training
English.news.cn 2015-11-10 15:01:22

ZHENGZHOU, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- A soccer training base for teenagers has been set up in Central China's Henan Province with the purpose of helping Chinese soccer development with the famous martial art, or Kung Fu.

The soccer training base was built jointly by local government and Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School which is located only kilometers away from the Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng City of Henan Province, the birthplace of Shaolin Kung Fu.

"To set up this soccer training base is a bold try to bring Shaolin Kung Fu into soccer to deepen soccer reform and to create a new brand of 'Shaolin soccer', because Henan is the birthplace of Shaolin Kung Fu and we have made much research for that", said Zhang Wenshen, director of the Sports Bureau of Henan province.

Two classes with 100 teenagers has been set up, 50 boys and 50 girls, and government sent three experienced coaches to the base. Football training, martial arts practice and general knowledge courses will occupy these teenagers' time.

"It's just the beginning, more children will start to play football and I believe it will foster some soccer talents", said Liu Haike, vice-president of Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School which has 35,000 students from all over the world.

Actually, anytime anyone delivers a big kick in the sport of soccer, it gets credited as 'shaolin soccer' or 'kung fu kick'. I thought about dedicating a thread to it because they get some massive kicks in, but never bothered.

[GeneChing]

There are about half a dozen other similar articles on the newsfeed today in the wake of yesterday's article.

The real Shaolin soccer: Football training base set up in China's largest kung fu school
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 11 November, 2015, 2:40pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 11 November, 2015, 6:47pm
Kwong Man-ki in Beijing phoenix.kwong@scmp.com


Girls training at the school in Henan. Photo: Chinanews.com

A coaching base for young footballers has been set up near the Shaolin Temple in northern China with pupils who have learned kung fu taking up soccer training, according to a news website report.

The soccer base is at the Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School in Dengfeng in Henan province, the China News Service reported.

“This is a bold attempt by the province to bring Shaolin kung fu into soccer to deepen football reform and promote the Chinese martial art,” Zhang Wenshen, the director of the government sports bureau in Henan was quoted as saying. Monks at the Shaolin Tempe are world famous for their martial arts skills.

Three experienced football coaches had been sent to the training base by the bureau since last week, the report said.

The school has set up two classes of 50 pupils for boys and girls aged 10 to 12.

The children were chosen from pupils attending the kung fu school.

The article did not say how knowledge of martial arts might be applied to football.

The government set out plans earlier this year to set up a national system of training bases to try to raise the standards of the game in China.

The national team has only reached the finals of the World Cup once and they failed to win a match.

The Tagou Martial Arts School was built in 1978 in response to the revival of kung fu in China due to the popular Jet Li film Shaolin Temple.

The original Shaolin Monastery, on land above the school, was built by a Buddhist abbot who came to China from India in 464AD to spread Buddhist teachings and has been destroyed and rebuilt many times throughout history.

The physical training of monks at the Shaolin monastery during the 5th or 6th century by a Buddhist monk named Bodhidharma is said to have been the origins of Shaolin Kung Fu, or Wushu, and is among the oldest institutionalised styles of Chinese martial arts.

Shaolin Kung Fu has evolved into many different styles, but its core content usually consists of the basic skills of stamina, flexibility and balance, qigong meditation and combat skills.

Shaolin Soccer is the title of a 2001 Hong Kong martial arts comedy film written and directed by Stephen Chow, in which a former Shaolin monk reunites his brothers after their master's death and applies their exceptional skills to play soccer and bring Shaolin Kung Fu and practices to modern society.

[GeneChing]

This one is a little more complete. Good ol' Daily Mail.

Is this China's answer to winning the World Cup? Chinese city establishes a 'Shaolin Soccer' academy that incorporates kung fu into its football regime

35,000 students currently train at the Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School
100 male and female students chosen from those are in the new academy
The camp is based in Dengfeng, China, and will mix kung fu and football

By Chloe Lyme For Mailonline
Published: 13:29 EST, 12 November 2015 | Updated: 13:40 EST, 12 November 2015

One hundred young footballers have taken training to new extremes at the historic Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School in east China's Dengfeng city, Henan Province.

The coaching base opened a new football academy on November 10, which will combine Shaolin kung fu with football, reports The People's Daily Online.


Thousands of young Shaolin students training in unison combining football and martial arts in east China


Extreme: A female footballer heads the ball at the Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School in east China's Dengfeng

The are two classes, split into male and female, with 50 pupils in each. All of the students are aged 10 to 12.

Children who attend the football training have been specifically chosen from the martial arts school, so they are already young kung fu masters in the making.

They know every aspect of the art, which consists of stamina, flexibility, balance, meditation and combat skills.

Zhang Wenshen, the director of the government sports bureau in Henan, told South China Morning Post: 'This is a bold attempt by the province to bring Shaolin kung fu into soccer to deepen football reform and promote the Chinese martial art.'


Combining the two! Shaolin monks among young footballers as they train in the most extreme way in China


Punching for glory! A new football training scheme in China combines the sport with Shaolin martial arts

The academy is equipped with three senior football coaches responsible for training the young athletes and junior coaches.

Training is motivated by the 'great three-five-eight battle plan.'

They expect to see massive improvements in three years, success in five, and to be an established brand in eight years.

Mixing football and kung fu together is a bid to strengthen the standards of the game in China. It is well-known across the globe that Chinese President Xi Jinping is a massive football fan.

Unfortunately the Chinese national team has only made an appearance in the FIFA World Cup once in 2002, but failed to score a goal.

This is not the first time the country has mixed kung fu with football.

In 2001 the film 'Shaolin Soccer' was released in China, starring Hong Kong actor Stephen Chow.

The film was about a former Shaolin monk reuniting with his brothers after their master's death, they applied their outstanding kung fu skills to playing football.

[GeneChing]

Kung fu football: New Chinese academy plans world domination (VIDEO)
Published time: 28 Nov, 2015 19:41
Edited time: 28 Nov, 2015 21:31

A Chinese martial arts school has introduced a new twist to a classic sport, opening a football academy which will combine Shoalin kung fu with football in a bid to produce more skilled footballers in China.
Tens of thousands of young Shaolin students train at the historic Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School in Dengfeng, China, every year. This year the training takes on a different nature as the school puts 100 of its best students into a government-backed academy that will combine Shaolin kung fu training with football coaching.

The goal is to develop better footballers on a national level by training students who are already physically and mentally adept through the school's kung fu training.

Zhang Wenshen, the director of the government sports bureau in Henan, said, "this is a bold attempt by the province to bring Shaolin kung fu into soccer to deepen football reform and promote the Chinese martial art."

The new academy has three senior football coaches responsible for training the young athletes as well as other coaches.