Thursday 13 June 2013

Wars no make one great.


Luke was looking for a great warrior who could teach him the way of the Force, but Yoda told him that war does not make one great. In the same way at the Shaolin temple around 30,000 people, including teachers and students, train without looking for a war (or at least at the moment, but this is a matter for another post).



Since China has discovered that the world is interested in the Chinese martial arts, the schools have flourished and some, like mine, also welcome foreigners. In this way, the Chinese people also try to take back part of their culture, which had been banned during the Cultural Revolution.

When the masters were forced to train in secret. In the Shaolin Temple still exists the room where these masters were trained and with their kicks have broken the floor



The rest of the temple is almost entirely new. Obviously rebuilt after the destruction of the revolution. Even the Shaolin monks are gone, but these seem to have disappeared in more recent times. A decade ago there were still some there. Today it seems that you simply choose between being a Buddhist monk or being a teacher dedicated to kung fu. So around the temple you see Buddhist monks with their typical clothes or, on the one hand, swarms of young people training.






I think it is a bit 'a shame. The union of physical and spiritual training made of the Shaolin monk a very interesting figure. But I think that's a minor issue in this strange land of China.








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