Photos by Gene Ching and Kevin Ho
Click here for Shaolin Trips: The Abbot’s 2023 Trip to America (Part 1 of this trilogy).
Those that know me, know that I speak of the ‘Shaolin Zone.’ It is another dimension - a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind, a land of both Shaolin and Zen. I might have predicted that I was headed back into the Shaolin Zone had I read the signs last March. However, it’s been a moment since I touched down there, a whole pandemic, so I was slow on the draw.
Back in March, my Shaolin Disciple brother Dieter Wagner came through San Francisco on business. We took our disciple vows under Shi Decheng inside Shaolin Temple back in 1996. I took the name Xinglong and he took the name Xingda, right after me. We’ve been on this Shaolin journey together ever since. He had some time before his flight home, so we reunited for the day.
WE ARE BRUCE LEE at Chinese Historical Society of America
I treated him to the WE ARE BRUCE LEE exhibit at Chinese Historical Society of America, a wonderful Chinatown museum, and I don’t just say that because I’m a Program Committee Member. There we met Jeff Chinn. Much of the exhibit is built on Jeff’s incredible collection of Bruce Lee memorabilia. He gave us one of his private tours, which are always delightful. I’ve been on his tour before, but every time he shares some Bruce fact that I didn’t know. Honestly, if you can get to CHSA and have not seen the WE ARE BRUCE LEE exhibit yet, turn in your martial arts card right now. Your martial arts cred is on hold until you see it.
But back to Dieter, after Chinatown, we wound up at an Irish Pub near to SFO, and who would text me but with Peter ‘Payhuan’ Shiao, Founder, Creator and CEO of Immortal Studios. Payhuan is an active Shaolin promoter. He worked with the Abbot on several projects, and I work for him occasionally, helping to choreograph the Wuxia-based comics of Immortal Studios. After I told him where we were, and he stopped by for a drink too.
The pub was packed. There was a live singer, a Frank Sinatra tribute act, and he was very entertaining. There, reuniting with two dear Shaolin brothers, with melancholy strains of Chairman of the Board just barely resounding over the boisterous drunken crowd, I was back in the Shaolin Zone.
And it felt like family.
2023 Tiger Claw KungFuMagazine.com Championship
I heard the first rumors that the Abbot might visit America again back in May during our own 2023 Tiger Claw KungFuMagazine.com Championship. We staged the First North American Shaolin Duanpin there. These are ranking exams propounding a new standardized curriculum of Kung Fu forms straight from the Shaolin Temple. It’s a global program.
Tiger Claw has been a long-time supporter of Shaolin Temple and was honored to help stage this historic event. Additionally, we produced a very special performance of the Shaolin monks in Legend of Shaolin Warriors. If you’ve been following KungFuMagazine.com, we’ve been reporting on TCEC all along so you know. If not, just follow those links and catch up. Either way stay tuned. We still have more to come.
With Legend of Shaolin Warriors and the First North American Shaolin Duanpin happening well in our turf, it was clear that Shaolin Temple was on the move. The pandemic may have quarantined the world for a while, but Shaolin was coming back swinging.
Immortal Comics and Immortal Shaolin: The Past, Present, and Future of Kung Fu
The next indicator came right out of a comic book – specifically San Diego Comic-con. I was rooming with Payhuan, that same Founder, Creator and CEO of Immortal Studios that I mentioned earlier. Payhuan and I met at the unprecedented 2011 Shaolin Summit, an event that he produced, and the Abbot attended. It was the prototype for what became the Shaolin Cultural Festivals.
First Shaolin Cultural Festival was held in Germany and Austria in 2012, followed by the First North American Shaolin Cultural Festival, held in Los Angeles in 2013, which I attended with Gigi Oh, our Publisher Emeritus. The following year, the Third Shaolin Cultural Festival was held in London, and things were going great. But then disaster struck. The Fourth Shaolin Cultural Festival was scheduled for San Francisco in 2015, again on our home turf, but due to some unfortunate political issues, the event was cancelled at the last moment. After that, the Shaolin Cultural Festivals fizzled.
And then there was the pandemic.
But back to San Diego Comic-con, Payhuan confided in me then that a 2023 visit by the Abbot was in the works and coming very soon. The last time the Abbot made a public appearance in California was ten years ago. I was tasked to announce a teaser at Immortal’s standing-room-only SDCC panel. Payhuan was masterminding Immortal Shaolin: The Past, Present, and Future of Kung Fu to be held on Sunday, November 12th, at the historic Million Dollar Theater in Downtown Los Angeles.
If you’re reading this right as we published it, you’ll realize that’s in the future. That’ll be the third installment of this ‘Shaolin Trips: The Abbot’s 2023 Trip’ trilogy and I don’t want to get ahead of myself.
Zooming with the Abbot
In August, Payhuan invited me to join a Zoom call with some of the organizing monks and masters, and the Abbot of Shaolin Temple, Venerable Shi Yongxin. That was just too Shaolin Zone to pass up. Zooming with the Abbot? I’ve had the privilege of having many private audiences and interviews with the Abbot over the years. But I never zoomed him.
As I suspected, the Zoom call was completely in Mandarin. I don’t speak Mandarin. I’m ‘tingbudong (听不懂)‘ as they say, ‘Listens, but doesn’t understand.’ I saw some friends and acquaintances there, and a few I didn’t know, plus Payhuan and the Abbot. I struggled to follow the conversations, but what little Mandarin I understood was very rusty. Back when I had an office at Tiger Claw, the company was a third Mandarin speakers, so I kept in practice, although truth be told, even then my Mandarin was weak. I saw Master Yu Zhenlong give me a knowing glance as I discreetly excused myself from the Zoom meeting.
But what I did get out of that meeting was that the Abbot’s upcoming visit was to be the first North American Shaolin Kung Fu Games. I talked about that in Part 1 of this trilogy. Soon after that, the circle widened.
Gigi and her son, Tiger Claw President Jonny Oh, came in support. Having run our own special Songshan Shaolin division at TCEC since 2011, we understand the tournament infrastructure and tournament rule temperature here on the West Coast. The Shaolin Games are adopting a modified version of what we produced for TCEC.
In mid-August, the Abbot made an exploratory visit to the United States. In Los Angeles, he presided over a meeting of the newly established Shaolin North American Association and visited Shi Yanxu at his Shaolin Temple Cultural Center U.S.A. Gigi attended the Shaolin North American Association and managed to score the seat right next to the Abbot for the group photo. After that, the Abbot was on his way to Chicago for the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions – A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom & Human Rights but there wasn’t much coverage on that.
In late October, the Abbot visited Argentina and Bolivia for a Shaolin Temple cultural exchange series. The first Latin American Shaolin Kung Fu Duanpin and Latin American Shaolin Kung Fu Games were held under his auspices in Argentina. He also visited Club Atlético Boca Juniors, a world-renowned football team, or as we say here in the USA, soccer. That’s right - Shaolin soccer for real. From Latin America, the Abbot came directly to California.
Meta – Zen Buddhism Encounters AI
On Thursday November 2nd, I met up with the Abbot and his entourage at the Meta Headquarters in the Silicon Valley. It was great to see him again, along with a few of the monks that came to Tiger Claw KungFuMagazine.com Championship, and some new ones. We ate together at Meta’s Epic restaurant (Meta employees and guest have access to free food and there are so many good eating places there, it’s amazing that every Meta employee isn’t obese). Then the Abbot went on a private tour to see the AR/VR displays for Quest 3 and Meta Smart Glass and meet with Meta VP Amir Frenkel. Meanwhile, the rest of us just hung out.
Our Meta escorts took us to the videogame arcade which the monks enjoyed to everyone’s delight (if you’ve read Shaolin research, like my book Shaolin Trips, I’ve mentioned that there were videogame parlors all over Shaolin village back in the day because so many kids live and train there). After a few short games, we ventured over to the Meta gift shop where one monk bought a few souvenirs, likely gifts for friends when he returned home, and then some of the monks found a ping pong table where they played vigorously for fun. Then some of them got some ice cream.
We regrouped with the Abbot at the Meta ‘Move Fast Be Open’ meeting room, where the monks put on a dazzling Kung Fu performance to room of more than 150 Meta employees. It was standing room only, and the crowd was totally enraptured. The monks are leaning more towards traditional forms in demonstration now. There are still some high-flying acrobatic forms, the spectacular stuff that reads better from stage, but before the Abbot took office, Shaolin performances consisted of far more modern Wushu. I was delighted to see a rendition of Tongbiquan, which is in my weekly regimen. However, my mediocre practice hardly compares with the Shaolin monks.
This was followed by a Meta talk by the Abbot. Zen Buddhism Encounters AI was presented in both Mandarin and English. The talk was engaging and even had the audience laughing when the Abbot mentioned his facebook page. The Abbot can often be stoic in public and it was good to see his humor peeking out.
After the talk, the monastics returned to their hotel to rest. I stopped by Tiger Claw in Fremont to join Gigi and Jonny and then head to the Welcoming Banquet.
The Welcoming Banquet and 16th Anniversary of the Shaolin Temple USA
The Welcoming Banquet also celebrated the founding of Shaolin Temple USA under Shi Yanran. We covered the opening of that historic facility, also in Fremont not far from Tiger Claw HQ. I wrote that article with Joan and Chi Chien – “The Temple and the Auto Shop” (May+June 2012 Shaolin Special.
Shi Yanran staged an incredible gathering at the new banquet hall in Milpitas – HL Peninsula Restaurant. This place was massive – a hundred 10-seat tables. It was also opulent with dropdown screens on every wall that converted the entire building into a spectacular video hall. A sumptuous vegetarian banquet was served. I’m pescatarian (meaning I eat vegetarian plus seafood) and I’ve been to more than my share of martial arts banquets. It was such a delight to be able to sample every dish. Every notable local Asian politician was present with certificates and decrees for the Abbot. I can’t even imagine how many of these the Abbot has received by now.
Tiger Claw and KungFuMagazine.com were supporters of the event. We bought the first two tables in front of stage and donated two swords for auction. Beyond Gigi, Jonny and me, plus KungFuMagazine.com graphic artist Kevin Ho, our guests were our biggest supporters for on TCEC including Emilio Alpanseque, Kin Chan, Lavinia Chan, Bryant Fong, Anny Hu, Johnny Jiang, Chuan-Chen Lee, Emily Lee, Mary Lew, Yan Li, Jeff Lin, Arturo Ocampo, Mason Tong, Wilson Tse, Andrew Wong, and James Yu. It was so delightful to see everyone again and wonderful to be able to repay them for their services at TCEC (TCEC 2024 is coming too – stay tuned).
On top of that, the local Kung Fu schools were representing in force, especially the Shaolin affiliated ones. And everyone demonstrated their skills – the Shaolin Monks and all the schools. The stage was tight, and right in front of it, there was a row of gorgeous floral arrangements that offered congratulatory messages to the Abbot and Shaolin Temple USA. The floral stands stood like a wall of stakes for anyone who might misstep and fall off the stage. And a few performers did. Even a Shaolin Monk fell while demonstrating three-section staff, but he recovered so smoothly that it almost felt like part of his performance. A dagger slipped and flew towards Jonny but fell short. I must get my money back from that kid since he missed. Just kidding. The obstacles were very martial in that old school way. True warriors understand. We reveled in it. It was so good to be back amongst the Wulin.
Beyond the sword auction, there were two gorgeous calligraphy paintings offered. And there was a raffle for cash prizes, first place was $1188, second was $888, third was a gift card worth $500 at the restaurant, plus five more $100 prizes. No, I didn’t win, nor did anyone at our tables, but Gigi did have the honor of drawing one of the winning tickets and handing over the prize to the winner.
After it was all over, I ended up with Sifu Bryant, his disciple Mason, and our star writer Emilio, in the parking lot discussing dantian theory and other martial topics. It was a great night.
The New Facility Buddhist Blessing of the Shaolin Temple USA San Francisco Culture Center
The following day, the Abbot and his monastics visited Shi Yanran’s new Shaolin Temple USA San Francisco Culture Center. He relocated the space he had established 15 years ago, just down the street from 5509 Geary to 5211 Geary. This event was far more intimate.
The Abbot and his senior dharma monks performed a special Buddhist blessing that included chanting, bowing, offering incense, and sprinkling holy water. For Shaolin enthusiasts, this was a special treat because so many martial artists never see the Buddhist ritual side of Shaolin. There were a few San Francisco dignitaries in attendance (and the Abbot got a few more certificates and decrees – he must have thousands of these by now) but mostly it was just the students from the school bearing witness. We were treated to another Shaolin Kung Fu demonstration, a Lion dance, and of course, explosives. A barrage of firecrackers was lit, overpowering the sweet incense with that distinctive sharp smell of gunpowder. But it was all good. A representative from the SF Sheriff was among the VIPs, so those explosives had the blessing of the law.
There was another banquet that evening, and the Abbot went to Shi Yanran’s Fremont school for another blessing and book signing, as well as to Master Yu Zhenlong’s Kung Fu Dragon USA in Pleasanton (although Gigi went). But I had to leave the Shaolin Zone. As much as I would’ve liked to stay in the Abbot’s company, I had work obligations that needed attention.
Epilogue
The following day, I went to train at Academy of Martial and Internal Arts full of Shaolin spirit. While I didn’t take any formal lessons, just being around the Shaolin monks was an education. I’m always enthralled by watching how they move. Their bodies become like liquid bronze, marble in motion, so powerful yet graceful, and blindingly fast. And they were doing some forms in my weekly regimen. With Shaolin in my heart, I dedicated that work out exclusively to my remaining Songshan Shaolin Temple forms.
And I pulled my left hamstring. Dammit. It was in Tongbiquan. I wasn’t even doing anything extreme like a flying kick or a low sweep. I was just trying to move like a monk. This growing old sucks.
I hope I’ll be able to heal this one quickly because I reenter the Shaolin zone next Friday when the Abbot returns to California. Stay tuned for Shaolin Trips: The Abbot’s 2023 Trip to the City of Angels, where Gigi, Jonny and I journey to Los Angeles. I’ll reunite with my Shaolin disciple brother Dieter, and maybe even MC a show…
Amitoufo
