By Gene Ching                

Kinda chic to rock a Buddhist pendant from Shaolin Temple at the USA Shaolin Open in Denver, Colorado. However, it became a bad omen.

I spent the first weekend of October 2026 at the USA Shaolin Open and 15^th Denver National Chinese Martial Arts Championship. It was the first tournament that I attended all year because schedule conflicts arose for everything else. Consequently, I jumped at the opportunity to be amongst the Wulin* again, to see old friends and make new ones, and to touch base with what’s happening in the outside martial world beyond the San Francisco Bay Area. Denver was a lot of fun, and I’ll deliver a full report in the next issue of Kung Fu Tai Chi. However, on the way home, my journey was derailed, starting with that pendant.

I’m burdened with a face like a Kung Fu villain. I own it now. Perhaps I’ve even made a career from it. But it does get me stopped by TSA. I get stopped a lot, so much so that I take extra precautions when going through any sort of security check. On the way from San Jose, I was pulled aside because I forgot to remove that Shaolin Buddhist pendant. It set off the AIT (Advanced Imaging Technology – those detectors that make us put our hands up in the air), which granted me a cordial pat-down. It was a minor inconvenience, but I was rather annoyed with myself that I missed the obvious. I overlooked the Buddha.

So, upon my return flight, I hurriedly removed my pendant as I approached the gates. And in my rush, I broke the chain. It wasn’t an expensive chain, easily replaced, but annoyed me even more and was a precursor to catastrophe.

“For a loser, Vegas is the meanest town on earth.”

I had a short layover in Las Vegas but my flight out of Denver was delayed. By the time I deboarded in Vegas, there was no way I could make that connection. I had to get through one terminal wing, take the shuttle, and get through another wing, an impossible feat to accomplish in under 15 minutes. I didn’t make it.

When I finally got to my gate, it was abandoned. There was a poster with a QR code for ‘assistance.’ That led me to a text correspondence with an unhelpful AI bot that kept sending me in circles like AI does sometimes. I found a human airline representative at another gate who shrugged at my dilemma and directed me to her supervisor at another gate, who also shrugged and sent me out of the terminal back to the ticketing counter. After waiting in a long line, I was told that the flight I missed was the last one of the day. The next one wasn’t until tomorrow at 11:30 AM. The airline offered no reciprocity with any other airlines, nor any lodging. I was stuck in Vegas for the night.

Master John Burns

Master Steve Li

I was spent, burned out from the tournament. Not only was I working all day, shooting photos and networking, the afterparties went late. Instead of booking separate hotel rooms for everyone, promoters John Burns and Steven Li had arranged two shotgun Airbnb houses for VIP and staff lodging. Their intention was to create a space where everyone could hang out, enjoy libations, and chat freely, an informal martial mixer. That worked wonderfully. We stayed up past 3AM every night, talking, gossiping, debating martial arts, sharing stories, laughing, eating and drinking, and enjoying being present among other avid practitioners. Some of the best lessons are transmitted during late night libations. It was a great weekend, but it drained me of my reserves. As much as I enjoy Vegas, I was in no shape to face it.

Staff and VIPs at the airbnb martial mixer

“We can't stop here. This is bat country!”

Thinking I might still be able to escape, I went to some other airline ticket counters, but the best offer I could find was a flight to Phoenix, then a transfer that would get me back to San Jose at 7 the next morning. For a moment, I thought I could just sleep on the plane, but when the ticket rang up at over $350, it just wasn’t worth it.

I started to look for a safe place to crash but Vegas’s Harry Reid Airport is not at all accommodating like that. I only had carry-on luggage, a small backpack suitcase and a personal item which was a bag of gifts given to me at the event. Steven Li kindly made sure I received a tournament shirt and jacket, but with KFTC’s official camera gear, my luggage was too stuffed to squeeze in any more. Those gifted treasures had to be awkwardly hand carried. I’ve slept in airports before, in foreign countries even, in the daze of my youth. But post-tournament exhaustion made me feeling too vulnerable to attempt it, especially in Sin City.

In retrospect, I wasn’t thinking too clearly. The whole experience had me discombobulated. I started searching for hotels on my phone.

I knew a few people in Vegas that might put me up. Still in the ‘Shaolin zone,’ my thoughts went to Wulin friends. The first person that came to mind was Philip Sahagun. We have a long history together. We were both involved in the introduction of martial arts talent into Cirque du Soleil. I was involved in the audition process for their martial-themed show KA. Philp performed on Zumanity for years and afterwards took on the position as a Cirque Du Soleil Artist Coach (read Philip Sahagun on CIRQUE DU SOLEIL). The last time I saw him in person was two years ago at Shaolin Temple. He was in the room for our final interview with the former abbot (read Shaolin Trips: Interview with Abbot Shi Yongxin at the World Shaolin Kung Fu Games). Less than a half year ago, I interviewed Philip for an article spotlighting his groundbreaking work with stunt camps (read Philip Sahagun on Training with the Jackie Chan Stunt Team and the Japan Action Guild), so we’ve kept in touch. It was almost 10 PM when I messaged him.

At the same time, Steven Li and I had been texting. He wanted to make sure I got home safely. When I told him my situation, he immediately offered to help me get a hotel. As I was scrambling for some sort of Plan B, he texted me he could send one of his wushu athletes. Paul Sahertian was the Modern Wushu Grand Champion at the 2024 USA Shaolin Open and the lead wushu coach at the Denver Shaolin Kung Fu Tai Chi Institute, where John Burns is head instructor. Paul had been living in Vegas all summer as a performer of Awakening, a spectacular show at the Wynn Las Vegas. Coincidentally, it was Philip that recommended him to audition for that.

Both Philip and Paul responded in minutes without hesitation. On such short notice, late on a Sunday night, they were ready to come to my rescue and put me up for the night. That’s the Wulin for you – ready to help a brother in need on the road. I was truly touched.

It would’ve been fun to reconnect with Philip, but he’s a family man and I didn’t want to impose too much. Paul had a bachelor pad. He had just got off work and didn’t have to go in again until the next afternoon, so even though I didn’t know him nearly as well as I know Philip, it seemed more convenient. I hate being a burden.

Champion Paul Sahertian

I was starving when Paul picked me up, so he took me to Shinjuku Ramen. Having just been to Shinjuku in Japan, it was perfect kindling for conversation and a delicious hydrating meal (air travel and Denver were so dehydrating). Paul’s car was covered with anime decals, so the two of us bonded over that fandom too, on top of our mutual love of Chinese martial arts. Paul is also a pre-med student, and I’ve served as a medic at concerts and festivals for 39 years, so there was even more common ground. He regaled me with tales of Awakening, which was just about to conclude its four-year run the following weekend. I’m so thrilled that martial artists are finding work in cutting edge live theatrical shows like Awakening and Cirque du Soleil.

We had an animated conversation that could’ve gone late into the night too, but I was spent. When we got back to his place, Paul had already set up an air mattress for me. I slept well, the first time in days, and Paul kindly dropped me off back at the airport first thing the next morning.

Protected by Gengar (IYKYK)

“Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run, but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant.”

Harry Reid Airport is aggressively harsh, especially on a Monday after morning. Beyond the hordes of grumpy hungover tourists, most of whom surely lost money, there’s those glaring batteries of slot machines at every turn, making the terminals even more obnoxious. My wife had asked me to play a dollar in the slots, so I found one of those garish machines with an ‘oriental’ motif, adorned with dragons and gold taels, designed to appeal to Asian gamblers.

And I won!

I won!

Well, I won 85 cents on a dollar bet, so I really lost 15 cents. What should’ve been a four-and-a-half hour flight became 18 hours in transit. That was the real loss. My wife was quick to note that I could’ve flown back to Japan in that time. I had to take a sick day from my day job on Monday.

As chagrining as the kerfuffle was, my loyalty to the Wulin was reaffirmed. That was the real win. There are so many reasons to practice martial arts: self-defense, self-cultivation, spirituality, health and wellness, and so much more. One aspect that is overlooked is family. We have a saying, ‘Wulin yijia (武林一家).’ It means that the martial arts world is one family. It may be a dysfunctional family at times, but those bonds are forged in passion and blood. Once you’re in, you are in. While I lost thirteen and a half hours (and 15 cents), I gained a newfound respect for the Wulin, as well as inspiration for this article.

I thank Buddha for that, broken chain at all.

The USA Shaolin Open squad & friends

*Wulin (武林) literally means 'martial forest' and it refers to the society of practitioners of the Chinese martial arts.

Author:

Gene Ching is the Publisher of KungFuMagazine.com and the author of Shaolin Trips. Quotes from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson.

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