Shaolin Warrior Temple in L.A. Storefront

Gendy Alimurung (Candyland, LAWeekly.com, Sept. 29, 2011)

Shaolin Warrior Monk Operates from an L.A. Storefront

Master Shi Yan Fan, Shaolin warrior monk (Simone Paz/Laweekly.com)

The Shaolin temple in China is 1,500 years old and one of the nation's most ancient sacred treasures, the source of all martial arts. The Shaolin temple in Los Angeles is 3 years old and is located in a Sherman Oaks storefront next to a pet store.

It is, however, no less sacred to those who seek refuge here from the modern world. Here, the warrior monk known as master Shi Yan Fan, or "Powerful Sky," teaches Zen Buddhism and Shaolin kung fu. "Shaolin means young forest. Shao for young. Lin for trees. It means you can live forever," he'll say to those who wander in.

(Hellfil2e) The official ordination of the first Western Caucasian disciple to receive JieBa at Shaolin Temple in Henan, China, in centuries

The temple wasn't always there, at least not in the physical sense. When the master first came to Los Angeles from China, he would train students in community centers, gyms, parks, and forests. Eventually, the students got tired of carrying their weapons everywhere. They opened the temple, donating its rent, furnishings and upkeep.

Master Shi Yan Fan wasn't always a kung fu master. Actually, he wasn't always Shi Yan Fan. For all of his youth he was Italian-born Franco Testini. Though he has trained his entire life, only recently did he become an official Shaolin warrior monk, the first to do so in 300 years. He was branded on the head with nine incense sticks for five minutes. The last two minutes, when the incense burns through your skin, he says, "are very painful."

(Hellfil2e) The story of Shi Yan Fan in Italian

The ceremony was performed in 2007 at the Shaolin Temple in China when the Chinese government lifted its centuries-old ban on the practice. There was much fanfare. Preparations lasted a month. There were arduous training sessions and equally arduous lectures. Knees and foreheads became bruised from bowing for five hours a day. Some monks fainted from exhaustion. In the end, 100 monks were scheduled to receive the burn marks, but only 43 went through with it. "They got scared," Testini shrugs.

Testini has given his life to Shaolin. His mission is to share it with as many people as he can, and by share he means teach them compassion (a noble endeavor), to exercise every day (preaching to the choir) and to be happy without material possessions (good luck with that).

Training American disciples in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles

Testini speaks quickly and with a thick Italian accent. His assistant, Cindy, occasionally serves as unofficial interpreter. She also has given her life to Shaolin and, by extension, to her master, or as she calls him in Chinese, shifu. Training in Shaolin, the master taught her, isn't about tournaments and color belt systems and trophies. It's about learning to be Zen. More

SHAOLIN: Zen Kung-Fu Buddhist Monks (video)

(HopscotchFilmsEnt)

China is plunged into strife as feuding warlords try to expand their power by warring over neighboring lands. Fueled by his success on the battlefield, young and arrogant Hao Jie sneers at Shaolin's Zen masters when he beats one of them in a duel.

When his family is wiped out by a rival warlord, Hao is forced to take refuge with the Buddhist monks. As the civil unrest spreads and the people suffer, Hao and the Shaolin masters are forced to take a fiery stand against the evil warlords. They launch a daring plan of rescue and escape.

Not since the legendary kung fu film "Shaolin Temple" stormed the world in the 1970's has a movie been given permission to film in the actual Shaolin Temple of legend. The honor was bestowed on this lavish modern production, starring Andy Lau and Jackie Chan. This movie is one of Asia's most eagerly anticipated film events.

The Real Shaolin

(therealshaolin)

"The Real Shaolin" a moving, poetic, action-packed documentary feature about two Chinese and two Westerners who journey to China's Shaolin Temple inspired by the legends portrayed in kung fu movies with Bruce Lee and Jet Li. In the course of excruciating martial arts training, their fantasies to become kung fu warriors collide with harsh reality. Shaolin Temple is the ultimate test for martial artists from all over the world. Will they achieve their goal of living the Shaolin dream?

I'll kick your @$$... once I finish this video game

V. Tran, Seven Dharmachari, Pat Macpherson (Wisdom Quarterly)

5:30 reveals why* we have difficulty mastering either martial arts or meditation (Tstyle9).

This short documentary explores the myth and reality of the "One Inch Punch," featuring interviews with Eastern master Dr. Ze Lo (instructor Jeet Kune Do) and Western Wing Chun master Will Y.

It highlights the acting of Buddhist actress Uma Thurman (pictured left), daughter of former Tibetan Buddhist monk Prof. Robert Thurman), in "Kill Bill." It deals with what Bruce Lee demonstrated years ago as filmed and edited by Victor Tran.

The core message is simple: It is not the physical aspects of the exercise but the mental (concentration, absorption, jhana, or zen) and "spiritual" (breath, chi, qi, prana, spiritus) aspects that actually matter.

Chi is what gives the punch its power. Internal chi is far more important than external fighting because, as karma teaches, misdirected chi always turns against the practitioner. Chi can be used in meditation to great benefit. Its use in jhana leads to a meditative counterpart sign (nimitta). This establishes one and makes fruitful mindfulness/insight (vipassana) practice possible.

Who is Robert A. F. Thurman? He is referred to by the New York Times magazine as "The Dalai Lama's man in America." Scholar, author, former Tibetan Buddhist monk, co-founder with Richard Gere of Tibet House in New York City, a close personal friend of the 14th Dalai Lama, and father of five children including the actress, Uma Thurman, he is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University. TIME magazine named him one of the "25 Most Influential Americans." He has lectured all over the world as his charisma and enthusiasm draw packed audiences.

Quentin Tarantino exploits Uma, Asian culture, martial arts, Lucy Liu, and even the original Mr. Kung Fu (Kwai Chang Caine) actor David Carradine all in one gory action thriller.

*Video Games are Ruining Us

WARNING: This funny "Mad TV" clip alludes to a cruel prank on boys and girls.

Myths and Logic of Shaolin Monks (video)

(National Geographic/1309mw)

(Part 2) The origins of tong chi-gong based on yoga


(Part 3)


(Part 4) The importance of chi (energy)


(Part 5) Visitors train like Shaolin monks

Shaolin Temple Secret: Dragon Herbs

Ron Teaguarden (DragonHerbs.com), Wisdom Quarterly edit


American herbalist Ron Teaguarden and Buddhist monks strolling at the Shaolin Temple.

Inside the Shaolin Temple’s Herbal Tradition

Last summer (2010) master herbalist Ron Teaguarden spent some quality time in China. He took this trip to identify, qualify, and purchase herbs in person for our "Dragon Herbs" products. We meet up with growers, collectors, processors, scientists, teachers, masters, and experts that make tonic herbalism so remarkably great.

He also got to meet up with the great China crew. These are things done every year. But this trip had a wonderful, special bonus. I took a truly exotic excursion to the mystical Song Shan Mountains, Henan Provence, China’s heartland, and visited the world famous, 1,500-year-old Shaolin Temple.

Monk Wang Hui and Ron at the Reishi mural in the Shaolin Temple inner sanctum

Many people know that the Shaolin Temple is the iconic birthplace and incubator of kung fu. Shaolin kung fu is extreme, extraordinary, and steeped in spiritual practices.

Indeed, kung fu is a fundamental part of the Buddhist monks’ daily routine. It is a path to enlightenment. As a result, the Shaolin monks who practice kung fu are known as “warrior monks.”

There are also monks at the Shaolin Temple who do not practice kung fu. They focus on Buddhist meditation or the healing arts.

They are therefore known as “meditating monks” and “healing monks.” As awesome and popular as this kung fu legacy is, the Shaolin Temple has an even greater historic legacy: It is the temple where Zen Buddhism was first conceived and where it developed into one of the most famous and important spiritual practices in the world.

These days, in the west in particular, people think of Zen as a Japanese path. But the Japanese were not the originators of Zen. For centuries before Zen was adapted into Japanese Zen Buddhism, it was practiced and developed in China.

In China, the practice is “Chan” (禪). Zen is simply the Japanese pronunciation of the foreign Chinese word Chan. [The original Indian-Buddhist word is jhana, from the ancient Sanskrit word dhyana.] Actually, Chan Buddhism spread first from China to Vietnam (Thien), then to Korea (Seon), and then on to Japan (Zen). From Japan, it has spread throughout the world. More