Juan Carlos Aguilar: Shaolin gym owner arrested for torture and murder

[GeneChing]

I can't remember my last interaction with him. It must have been at least a decade ago. Since then, I saw a few of the early Budo articles, but Budo isn't distributed in any nearby newsstand anymore (hasn't been for years and we're lucky to find a newsstand that still distributes us nowadays) so I can't really remember when that was. So I lost track of him years ago. I can't remember the last thing I heard about him. With so many people in the Shaolin community, it's hard to keep track of everyone.

Nevertheless, I'm ashamed that I couldn't have foreseen his evil. He has brought more disgrace to contemporary Shaolin than anyone so far.

Shaolin torturer's young victim passes away


Aguilar had been a self-proclaimed Shaolin master since he first went to China 20 years ago and had made numerous TV appearances in which he claimed to be a spiritual guru. Photo: YouTube
Published: 05 Jun 2013 10:25 GMT+02:00 | Print version
Updated: 05 Jun 2013 10:25 GMT+02:00

The woman who was tortured by a self-proclaimed martial arts expert in Bilbao has died.

The 29-year-old Ada Ortuya died at 12.35pm, sources at Bibao's Basurto Hospital said on Wednesday.

Ortuya, of Nigerian origin, had been at the hospital in a coma since being found by unconscious by paramedics on Sunday at a gym owned by martial artist Juan Carlos Aguilar.

Aguilar has already confessed to the murder of another woman whose remains were discovered in his gym.

The head of Basque Country's Public Prosecutor's Office Juan Calparsoro said on Wednesday that Aguilar would "clearly" face at least 30 years in prison, Spain's La Vanguardia newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, Aguilar’s status as a Shaolin master has been called into question by Spain’s Kung Fu federation, who reject the aggressor’s claims that he was a world champion stating that he wasn’t even a registered fighter.

"Technically he was good, but he wasn't a great fighter," read the statement sent out to all the official martial arts federations.

Aguilar had been a self-proclaimed Shaolin master since he first went to China 20 years ago, reported El País on Wednesday.

His willingness to publicize himself as the only real Shaolin expert in Spain with videos and interviews had caused a lot controversy within the martial arts world.

Others have said he was more of an “acrobat” than a “monk”.

Alex Dunham (alex.dunham@thelocal.com)

[bawang]

this is why tradition says choose your students carefully and judge their character. this is what happens when you sell kung fu like fried chicken.

if a kung fu guy has even a hint of strangeness I stay 500 miles away. you can smell the crazy off them.

[GeneChing]

if a kung fu guy has even a hint of strangeness I stay 500 miles away. you can smell the crazy off them.

and what does that say about you, bawang?

[DamoY2K]

Gene as far as I could tell it has been a kind of "crescendo" ... in the late '90s early '00 he was claiming to be the only "western Shaolin monk", then when other more legit westerners started to appear he upped the claims to "disciple of Suxi and/or Deyang", then when real western disciples of those masters appeared he then went to "greatest level ever attained" including claims of illnesses cured, distance killing (!!!), etc.

By that point most of the european Shaolin community stopped having anything to do with him, for example he was not present at any Shaolin festivals or other "officially sanctioned" events of the past 5 - 6 years or more.

People say that at that point he created more and more a kind of personal cult sect around him, kind of isolated with his students. But that I don't know as once the Shaolin community stopped having anything to do with him then I as everyone else lost track of his life / school.

Certainly the very worse Shaolin - related event ever to surface in modern times ..... although it probably should be viewed not in relation to Shaolin: there are accountant or nurses serial killers ..... no one talks about accounting or nursing as the cause.

But of course a "Shaolin monk" potential serial killer makes for great press .....

[pazman]

this is why tradition says choose your students carefully and judge their character. this is what happens when you sell kung fu like fried chicken.

That's an insult to fried chicken. In my hometown, ~95% of the fried chicken is delicious and authentic (KFC ruined it). What is the figure for kung fu schools that are authentic (or delicious?).

[ShaolinDiva]

that's an insult to fried chicken. In my hometown, ~95% of the fried chicken is delicious and authentic (kfc ruined it). What is the figure for kung fu schools that are authentic (or delicious?).

rotfl!!

[wiz cool c]

the reason kung fu is" sold" so openly to foreigners or whoever in china ,is because maybe 1 in 10,000 adult men in china have even the slightest interest in kung fu. if they didn't, the art would die out completely. in fact if not for foreign students around the world it would be lost quickly.

i can tell you with absolute certainly, chinese people could care less about kung fu. i don't care what you see on tv ,thousands of wu shu demonstrators or what. men in china care about work buying their wife a house, raising their kid, and taking care of their parents. teenagers and children care about studies, that is it. if they have any other free time it's spent on computer games. some teenagers may play a little basket ball,once in a while. it is that simple.if you dont like this and want to talk out your ass then go ahead, but that is how it is ,in real life here in china.where i live.

[LFJ]

The same could be said back in the West. The majority of colleagues in your office building aren't going to be martial artists and could care less about it, and you could look at people on the street and assume they aren't martial artists and that not many people are into it. But there is certainly a large martial arts community there if you search it out.

It's the same case in China. You just have to go to the right places at the right time of the day to find them. You can't just look at someone on the street and know who is or isn't a martial artists, unless you go interview them all.

I just need to step outside the front door in the early morning where I live and I can find groups of people training Yang or Chen style Taijiquan, Xinyi Liuhequan, etc. just around the block. Then down the street there's a large center for Shaolin, Wing Chun, Sanda, etc..

And I've yet to see a single martial arts school anywhere else in the world besides China that has 30,000+ students enrolled and training everyday....

It sounds to me like you need to stop being so jaded and get out more.

[wiz cool c]

there are some poor villagers that may make up 95 percent of the people that study kung fu. they live in some school and do it full time and basically have no future cause nobody is interested in kung fu in china. the truth hurts,but that is how it is. it is not even a past time here,except for some old people who do tai chi in the park.

[LFJ]

As I said, you need to get out more. Make some friends. But I think we've been through this with you before. That's just your attitude. You are a bit socially awkward I guess.

[bawang]

and what does that say about you, bawang?

I am the most sane man in the world.

[bawang]

As I said, you need to get out more. Make some friends. But I think we've been through this with you before. That's just your attitude. You are a bit socially awkward I guess.

I find kung fu is more common in the countryside, its too busy in the cities for most people. poor people have no time for kung fu, rich people are too stuck up for kung fu. they like more western things, like cheating on your wife and doing heroin.

a lot of village teachers view the 90s kung fu boom to be a betrayal; most students abandoned them after they paid the money and learned the form. they are now more private. a lot of people also still have habit of being secretive since the cultural revolution.

[wiz cool c]

As I said, you need to get out more. Make some friends. But I think we've been through this with you before. That's just your attitude. You are a bit socially awkward I guess.

yeah i spend all my time with hot chicks,i need to start hanging out with kung fu guys more. but believe what you want

[bawang]

yeah i spend all my time with prostitutes,i need to start hanging out with actual Chinese people more. but believe what you want

ok bro
sdfsdf

[rett]

yeah i spend all my time with hot chicks,

Are you trying to impress people by admitting you have to go to Asia to meet chicks?