Word: yan
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...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...
...When a young state-trained Beijing martial artist named Jet Li arrived at the temple in 1980 to shoot a movie, Yan Ming "barely noticed him." Two years later, none of the monks could afford to be so aloof. Shaolin Temple, the film that made Jet Li, remade Shaolin. Suddenly the temple was swarming with visitors?both tourists and wannabe Jet Lis. The Chinese government, now aware of Shaolin's lucrative allure, resolved to rescue it from its exile in ideological ignominy. Crumbled buildings were resurrected. Secular martial-arts training academies sprang up around the temple's walls to cater...
...That's the Shaolin temple that yan Ming escaped from in 1992: pious about profits but spiritually bankrupt. While Yong Xin is bent on shellacking Shaolin into tidy anachronism, Yan Ming wants to punch up its traditions?and himself?to suit the realities of 21st century New York City. He openly eschews the usual trappings of Buddhist piety: he eats beef (which he has dubbed "American tofu"), drinks beer ("special water"), wine ("French special water") and, whenever possible, champagne ("very special French water"). He lives with his girlfriend and their 19-month-old son. He models. He acts in movies...
...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...
...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...