Shaolin strike force
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-05-25 08:49

The day is brilliantly clear as we arrive at the training centre for China's national acrobatics troupe, set on the fringes of a Beijing industrial area interspersed with attractive green parkland.

Young monks from Shaolin Temple of Central China's Henan Province: "Soaring in the sky." [China Daily]

The purpose of the visit is to take in a rehearsal of the Shaolin Warriors, the nation's foremost practitioners of kung fu, who are preparing to showcase their blend of martial arts and Zen Buddhist philosophy on the stage of Beijing's Haidian Theatre from May 27 to 30.

Martial arts tradition

Buddhist monks founded the martial arts tradition 15 centuries ago at the Shaolin Temple, 80 kilometres west of Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan Province.

Many of the monks knew martial arts before joining the temple. They taught each other what they knew and helped each other improve. Gradually, they developed their martial art skills into the unique system of the Shaolin school.

It gained its greatest renown during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) when Shaolin monks saved the life of Li Shimin, founder of the dynasty.

Li rewarded them. The Shaolin Temple was allowed to organize an army to serve as soldiers in times of war and as monks during peace time.

Since then the Shaolin discipline has been polished and sharpened. It has flowered into the country's premier martial arts regime, along the way retaining its Buddhist heritage and values and becoming historically important.

To this temple - superbly illustrated in a two-page spread in the upcoming show's programme - youth is attracted as iron filings to a magnet.

The aspiration to join the Shaolin Warriors is the same as a Brazilian kid wanting to play soccer for the national team or an American longing to pitch for baseball's New York Yankees.

Often, parents resist.

And some people are not happy about the commercialized form. But those at the heart of its culture - including the Shaolin monks in this room - do not view it that way. Nor do its far-flung adherents.

In Henan, where the form originated and evolved, it is perceived as providing a release from a painful, poverty-ridden existence or, more simply, as a means to gainful employment. It is a popular alternative to universities. The Shaolin path also leads to work as bodyguards, policemen, and trainers. If an adept practitioner is really lucky and personable, he might land film and TV roles.

Exciting rehearsal

A mobile phone conversation ascertains the location of the room where the monks are presently meditating to music. The space is typically upmarket gymnasium: clean, carpeted hard floors with a barre lining each wall.

Besides our group, there are 25 monks from Shaolin relaxing in prayer postures. Their ages range from 10 to mid-30s. Half the group is dressed in normal gym gear, the rest in vivid fluorescent orange. The attire is loose with plenty of comfort space, permitting maximum flexibility and movement.

The warm-up: The monks kick quickly at their hands, extended diagonally above their heads in a high salute posture, moving similarly to windmills.

The contact of feet on hands makes loud, sharp slapping sounds. Even at this level, the monks move with cat-like quickness, their musculature starts to become defined, yet there is a sense of relaxation inside the tension. To continue the windmill analogy, the monks spin and whirl, becoming centred.

Next is a series of leaping balletic exercises. A gym shoe goes flying. A monk in the corner of the room props his feet on a ledge 30 centimetres off the ground and carries out a rapid series of press-ups.

"Buddha sleeping," a chant to the accompaniment of percussion on "wooden block" focuses the group. Music issues from speakers as the movements pick up speed. Even at this stage, there is the feeling that if one of the monks were to hit you, your first realization would be when you were coming round again.

The youngest monks, boys of 10 and 12 who have been in training for four years, begin a series of tumbling acrobatics. The sequence is a little disjointed, but their agility is evident. As other monks join in, the exercises start to show greater, more precise, co-ordination. They display a rich variety of movements and postures, dexterous yet seemingly smooth and easy.

The rehearsal is similar to watching the rushes of a film before editing and splicing. The movements are fast and require concentration to follow.

Various weapon routines then ensue. In Shaolin kung fu, 18 different types of weapons are employed, including broadswords, spears, maces and knives. For the purposes of show, the swords are made of heavyweight foil that crackle and snap clearly across the loud music.

Part of the action is so fast that the weapons and limbs gradually turn into whirling blurs. The timing and co-ordination are impeccable, or else some one would be missing an ear. The action is loud, colourful and exciting and it's done at terrific speed.

It's been 20 minutes and the brain feels as if it's running a marathon. Time for a break.

At this point our escort, a representative of the China Performing Arts Agency, says the agency became involved in the show because of Western interest in martial arts and particularly the combination of physical and spiritual aspects.

The agency association formally debuted at the 2000 Meet in Beijing arts festival and since then there have been tours to Australia and the United States.

Even during the break, the monks continue exercising.

A gong sounds. The music starts and the monks begin imitating the movements of animals, adapting them to the techniques of martial arts.

The boys dance on staves as naughty monkeys, and both boys and staves are in the air for what seems an impossible length of time.

The sneaky snakes are more fluid. Clumsy ducks display considerable agility.

Dogs and frogs contrast while more traditional concepts of fighting animals, the tiger and the eagle, are also aired. Singly, in duos and trios. That is as far as the practice goes.

In the stage show, these scenes are put in the context of the cycle of seasons. Summer takes the spectator through a panorama of the monks' lives in their temple showing aspects of Buddhism, the meditations and their practices and the three other seasons present aspects of the martial arts form.

The monks hope to inculcate an understanding of their philosophies as well as to entertain - to give an impression of the profundity of Buddha, and particularly the inextricable doctrines of Zen and martial arts as they have developed in Shaolin kung fu.

Life in the temple

Talking to five of the monks afterwards, we are told that special qualities are not required to join the Shaolin Warriors. But if the applicants are not physically strong, they are encouraged to build themselves up through practice. They are trained in different areas, according to their own interests, and presented with a variety of paths that are tailored according to their different needs. Education in concomitant.

Trainees are given new names by the temple and spend years in training.

One of the monks in the middle range - about 19, and talkative - says he was impressed by movies and TV programmes about the Shaolin Warriors in his youth. He knew his parents were not willing to let him go, but he insisted to the point of threatening to go on a hunger strike.

He won the argument.

The senior members of the team, the coaches, say the temple conducts regular training in Buddhism combined with physical work.

Their schedule is extremely busy. Thousands of people visit their temple every day and recently there has been the taking of the form to the outside world.

There are injuries in the course of training, but they are rarely serious because of the poise induced by the meditation and relaxation techniques.

The monks try to operate as a family and espouse equality in father-and-son type relationships. They are all the best of friends.

Philosophy, meditation behind the poise

Shaolin monks train in martial arts for several hours every day, perfecting the art of hand-to-hand and weapons combat.

Each monk is required to achieve an extraordinarily high level of proficiency in each of the temple's 18 traditional weapons and become a master of one. However, it is the daily practice of seated meditation, which enables each monk to sustain a demanding physical regimen.

Through a practice known as Chan (Chinese for Zen), the monks calm the body and focus the mind to a single collected point in order to attain a mental state known as Samadhi, or complete mental absorption.

It is in this quiet yet highly focused state of mind that the monks are able to sustain extreme physical discomfort and pain which enables them to undergo the intense daily training required to achieve and maintain the level of adeptness for which they are so highly praised.

There are more than 20 weapons used by the Shaolin monks today, including the common axe, cudgel, spear, halberd, sword and broadsword, 3-section staff, dart, dagger, black tiger hammer, plumblossom broadsword, Bodhidharma staff and tiger hooks.

These weapons are equally divided between short and long. The cudgel, spear, sword and broadsword, are known as the four major weapons of Shaolin.

Traditionally, Shaolin monks were not just armed with the major four. They had many short weapons hidden on the body such as the dart, iron fan and flute. The Bhodhidharma staff and many others are unique to Shaolin practices. The use of these hidden weapons gave the Shaolin monks additional power over their enemies.

In addition to the use of these weapons virtually any common, everyday object can be used by a Shaolin monk.

A note about the Shaolin Monks and Buddhism:

It is a commonly held understanding that Buddhism and certainly Buddhist monks espouse a philosophy of non-violence and non-aggression.

This philosophy is certainly in accordance with the modern-day practices of the Shaolin monks and it would be incorrect to associate demonstrations of Shaolin fighting techniques with acts of aggression.

Shaolins fight mostly in silence, exhibiting what can be described as "stillness in movement." This "stillness" is a direct result of a serene mind, cultivated through the practice of meditation.

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