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

Summer Rock 'n Roll in Southern California

L.A. CONCERT GUIDE

Rock 'n Roll

HOLLYWOOD, California - American life, particularly in Los Angeles, is a kaleidoscope of possibilities. Sitting in the heart of the Empire, like ancient Romans wondering what else to dominate, it's our duty to speak out against American abuses all over the world declaring, "Not in our name!"

But never mind. There's rock 'n roll. Los Angeles is awash in concerts this summer. It starts Friday at Against the Stream (Melrose) for mindful music and meditation. Here's an amazing sampling that dredges up the past and dumps it in SoCal this summer:

• Led Zeppelin (Jason Bonham)
  
• The Grateful Dead (Furthur at the Greek)
• Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Yes, Styx, Frampton, Steely Dan, Roxy Music (Bryan Ferry), Iggy and the Stooges, Peter Gabriel...

And there are modern-rock festivals galore:

• L.A. Rising
• Mayhem Festival
• Sublime/311 Unity
• Warped Tour, Hard Summer Festival, Ink-n-Iron, Hootenany, Reggae 'Pon the Mountain, Rock the Bells (hip hop), Sunset Strip Music Fest, Summer Soulstice, Wango Tango, Powerhouse 2011 (Power 106 hip hop festival)...
  

These are not the most interesting shows, just the kick start. Music of all stripes is here as if this were the heart of American music, Nashville (not). There's no telling where it ends. See for yourself with the Los Angeles Weekly 6th Annual Summer Concert Guide 2011.



But Los Angeles isn't all music festivals and meditation sessions:

(UPROXX) A couple of weeks ago a New Orleans bounce artist named Mr. Ghetto took the Internet by storm with an ode to the ample-bottomed sistas of Walmart. This video is like a ridiculously funny white suburban response. It's a Fogs and Smog rap about a trip to Whole Foods in West LA (by David Whitman), which is funnier than the post-Lebron meltdown Hitler video.