Word: monke
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Despite this turmoil?or perhaps because of it?Yan Ming thrived at Shaolin. As one of the few youngsters in residence, he enjoyed the often undivided instruction of the older monks, who schooled him in the improbably paired disciplines of Chan (Zen) Buddhism and kung fu, for which the temple was famous. Daily exercises sharpened both his physical and mental control: 30-minute handstands were followed by meditation; bare-handed wood chopping was a prelude to chanting sutras. "Buddhists believe in reincarnation," Yan Ming says, "and I figure I must have been a martial artist or a monk...
...Initially, Yan Ming seemed Shaolin's perfect poster child. Not only did he look the part, but he was a born ham. When the monks embarked on their first exhibition tour of the U.S. in 1992, his fists were the stars of the show. But the authorities didn't realize he aspired to more than just performing. "The monk's robe I wore on stage wasn't a costume to me," he explains. "I wanted to teach people Shaolin's traditions as they'd been taught to me. I wanted to do something real." Convinced that was no longer possible...
...history. Picturesquely decrepit old-timers man donation boxes at each stop along the way, and then it's off to buy tiny brass Buddhas and plastic prayer beads at stalls crowding the temple's gates. For martial arts displays, a lucky visitor might spot a young boy in a monk's robe willing to perform a trick or two. "Shaolin," as American martial artist Brian Gray wryly puts it, "has become kung fu's answer to Colonial Williamsburg...
...that doesn't mean he's not serious about being a monk. At his U.S.A. Shaolin Temple, housed in a funky third-story loft in lower Manhattan, Yan Ming instructs nearly 500 students in Buddhism and kung fu from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. Eyes blazing, arms akimbo, voice roaring?picture Yul Brenner in The King and I?he exhorts his students to summon "more qi" and "train harder." "Occasionally" he admits, "I still forget that American students are different from Chinese. In China I could tell a kid to stand in the corner for two hours...
...health," says Derrick Waller, a musclebound N.Y.P.D. detective, "and because shifu is mad cool." Rosie Perez and Wesley Snipes take regular lessons. Musicians Bjork and Tricky drop in when they're in town. And the RZA, the mastermind behind rap collective Wu Tang Clan, checks in with the monk daily because, he chuckles, "it keeps my mind out of the gutter...