Training in Shaolin Temple

[Peterminator]

I have this little dream about going to China to stay in Shaolin Monastery to train for years. I've heared about this rule about not teaching non-chinese, but there were few exceptions in history. So let say that i'm going there on my own, with basics of chinese language - now, are there any chances that i can be accepted as a student in Shaolin? I know that there are lots of Shaolin Kung Fu sections but my dream includes all these beautiful places and true oriental which really fascinate me. Maybe some member already tried to be accepted, i'll be happy and grateful to hear about his experiences.

[Mark Blohm]

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS JANUARY 2008 (PART 1)

"But when I am asked respectfully by sincere persons who want to know, I have to courageously tell the truth as a Shaolin disciple, rather than say pleasant things to please the questioners."

Question 1
I don't understand! Is Shaolin Kung Fu not being taught in the Shaolin Temple?
Nicholas, USA

Answer 1
Indeed, many people are confused. As the Shaolin Temple has been restored by the present Chinese government, when we mention "Shaolin Kungfu", it is logical that the general public think it is being taught in the modern Shaolin Temple. But the fact is that it is not! This will become clear as you read the answers to your other questions.


Question 2
And if not, where is it being taught?

Answer 2
To have a good answer, it is necessary to be clear about the question. This may sound odd, but it is where the confusion starts.
The question is "Where is Shaolin Kungfu being taught?" It is very important to be clear about what is meant by "Shaolin Kungfu". Most people, often without their conscious knowing, accept Shaolin Kungfu by its outward forms. So long as the forms they practice are Shaolin kungfu forms, they regard it as Shaolin Kungfu.
We in Shaolin Wahnam do not stop at the forms. We focus on the benefits, the forms being the means to realize the benefits. To us, Shaolin Kungfu brings combat efficiency, good health and spiritual cultivation. If the forms are Shaolin Kungfu forms but the practice does not bring combat efficiency, good health and spiritual cultivation, then it is not Shaolin Kungfu but just Shaolin Kungfu forms.
It is the same with Taijiquan and chi kung. Many people practice the outward forms of Taijiquan and chi kung, but do not get the benefits these arts are purported to give. To us, they only practice outward Taijiquan forms and outward chi kung forms, but not genuine Taijiquan or genuine chi kung.
If you are contented to accept outward forms as "Shaolin Kungfu", then it is taught in many places all over the world, including by modern Shaolin monks inside and outside of China.
But still it is not taught in the modern Shaolin Temple. The modern Shaolin Temple has become a very important tourist attraction. Thousands of people visit it every day, and there is just no space to practice "Shaolin Kungfu". When people said they went to the Shaolin Temple to practice "Shaolin Kungfu", what they did was to practice modern wushu in the numerous wushu schools around the Temple.
As I have said before, wushu is a magnificent art and it demands much devotion to master it, but it is different from traditional Shaolin Kungfu. Wushu practitioners, for example, do not practice combat application. Some wushu practitioners are formidable fighters, but they use Kick-Boxing or other martial techniques but not wushu or kungfu forms for combat.
Many wushu practitioners sustain injuries, especially knee injuries, from their training. We do not regard this as contributing to good health. Wushu training pays no attention to spiritual cultivation. When wushu was invented by the modern Chinese government, it was meant to be a physical sport.
If you conceptualize Shaolin Kungfu not just by its external forms but by its benefits of combat efficiency, good health and spiritual cultivation, then Shaolin Kungfu is very, very rare today. We are proud to say that we in Shaolin Wahnam are one of these rare schools.
Like what you have said, a lot of people, especially those who are practicing only external Shaolin forms, are not happy to hear my answer. But when I am asked respectfully by sincere persons who want to know, I have to courageously tell the truth as a Shaolin disciple, rather than say pleasant things to please the questioners.


Question 3
Why did the Shaolin Temple stop teaching Shaolin Kung Fu and what are they teaching now? .I'm very disappointed to here this and I'm not sure I want to hear the answers to my new questions.

Answer 3
Let us look at the historical background. The Shaolin Temple was first built in 495 in Henan Province in north China as an imperial temple. Many hundred years later another Shaolin Temple was built in the south in the city of Quanzhou in Fujian Province by a Ming Dynasty emperor.
When the Qing Dynasty overthrew the Ming, this Quanzhou temple was burnt to the ground. Another southern Shaolin Temple was secretly built on Nine-Lotus Mountain also in Fujian. This second southern temple was also burnt to the ground around 1850 by the Qing Army.
The style of kungfu that originated from the northern Shaolin Temple in Henan is referred to as Northern Shaolin, whereas that from the two southern Shaolin Temples in Fujian as Southern Shaolin. When one talks about the burning of the Shaolin Temple by the Qing Army which resulted in the spread of Shaolin Kungfu out of the Temple, many people mistakenly think it was the northern Shaolin Temple. This is incorrect.
It was the southern Shaolin Temple that was burnt, and it was burnt not once but twice as there were two southern Shaolin Temples, an open one in Quanzhou and a secretive one on the Nine-Lotus Mountain. In the first burning, the Qing Army was helped by Lama kungfu experts from Tibet who used the infamous "flying guillotines". The second burning by the Qing Army was led by Pak Mei, who was a Shaolin grandmaster but sided with the Qing.
The northern Shaolin Temple in Henan remained throughout the Qing Dynasty. It was burnt by rival warlords in 1928, 17 years after the Chinese Republic had overthrown the Qing Dynasty in 1911. The burning of the northern Shaolin Temple in 1928 had nothing to do with Shaolin Kungfu.
Even before the burning of the northern Shaolin Temple in Henan in 1928, Shaolin Kungfu was no longer taught there. During the time of the Chinese Republic, 1911 to 1945, the Henan Shaolin Temple, or what remained of it after the 1928 burning, was deserted.
When the present Chinese People's Republic took over in 1945, practicing any traditional arts, like kungfu, chi kung, painting and music, was considered bourgeois, and therefore taboo in a Communist country. The worst period was during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s when practicing any traditional arts was considered counter-revolutionary, the most serious crime in the country at that time.
Happily when the modern Chinese leader Deng Xiao Ping regained power in the 1970s, China began to open its doors to the world, and conditions changed drastically which eventually led China to become a great economic power today. The present Chinese government promotes kungfu, which is called "wushu" in China, not as a martial art but as a sport. It is not practiced in its traditional styles like Praying Mantis, Eagle Claw, Hoong Ka, Choy-Li-Fatt or Wing Choon, but collectively as wushu.
The Shaolin Temple in Henan was rebuilt, after Jet Li's firm, "Shaolin Temple", had made the name "Shaolin" world famous. The Temple soon became a very successful tourist attraction. The Shaolin master, the Venerable Hai Deng, was invited to the Shaolin Temple to teach traditional Shaolin Kungfu, but he soon left, probably due to policy differences.
Meanwhile a lot of wushu schools mushroomed around the Shaolin Temple, teaching wushu as a sport. Some of the wushu instructors were modern Shaolin monks seconded from the Temple, some merely put on monk's robes.
Later "sanda", which means "free sparring" but was actually Kick-Boxing in this modern Chinese context, was introduced. Recently the wushu schools around the Temple were moved to other places. Wushu teams were sent to various countries for demonstration. Some of these wushu exponents, amongst them some modern Shaolin monks, broke away from their teams and remained to teach their art.

[Peterminator]

Thank you for your reply

Stupid wars -.-'
I saw a video from series 'Jack Osbourne; Adrenaline Junkie', where he and his crew join "some" Shaolin Temple for 1 week and they train (running, jumping, kicking, forms) from 5AM to 10PM over the whole Temple area, mountains, woods etc, sleep there and eat. I hoped that it was real So this is modern Shaolin Temple without original true teaching or what? I'm little confused now.. Is anywhere in the world this, what Jack Osbourne experienced possible for me?
If not, basically i can learn Wushu in China or go to China to watch rebuilt Shaolin Temple or join Shaolin Wahnam Institute to gain original teaching. My primary target in this whole Shaolin Temple case was to experience true orient, train in ancient temple with ancient methods etc.

[Mark Blohm]

The Shaolin Wahnam Institute is committed to bringing the ancient Shaolin Arts to the Modern World context. Our instructors in turn are part of the modern world. There was a time when our arts were almost completely guarded in secrecy. Now, I believe, is a different time.

I suppose you could learn from one of our instructors and then go and run around a forested hill in China while maintaining regular practice, but the latter is certainly not necessary.

Anyone can stick on a label that says "Shaolin". But this does not make it Shaolin.

Mark

[Peterminator]

Thank you, Mr. Blohm
It's good to know that ancient knowledge is still present in modern world I hope to get into some section after moving to USA after college, long term plans..