Image Courtesy of Sally Cronin

Already I was confused regarding the day. My iPad said Thursday but its calendar highlighted Wednesday. My laptop also showed Wednesday. Sheesh, different time zone. The reason for my disorientation was our itinerary had been flipped and I could not keep the changes straight.

This is where we slept the previous night. Pretty swanky hotel, but we saw no other guests.

© All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of RJ, a member of English 8.

From the hotel, we drove to the Shaolin School of Kung Fu. Our guide, Lisa, told us the attendees were 95% boys with 5% girls. I saw no girls.

Lisa wore the same clothes as the day before: red track pants and a red quilted jacket. Too warm for the humid weather.The forecast for the day: 20 degrees.

© All Rights Reserved by Tess @ How the Cookie Crumbles

We sat inside for a thirty-minute-plus Kung Fu performance. The place was run down inside and out, needed paint and refurbishing. I took a couple of videos but deleted them because they were too blurry.

The little guy in white, the youngest but a rapidly advancing pupil, demonstrated clutching a bowl-shaped object to his midriff by muscle control. To prove authenticity, a pole inserted through a hole in the object (was it a bell?) allowed two young men to lift it shoulder length and carry the boy as he hung firmly attached, belly-up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4-s8TBB6dw (4.49 min) A peak at Kung Fu training.

Quick Facts:

Shaolin Home of Shaolin School of Kung Fu
Established 495 A.D.
10,000 students
Ages 3 to 18 (complete education here, equivalent to finishing high-school)
95% boys / 5% girls
Half-day school / half-day Kung Fu training
This is a private school (parents pay for room, board, and tuition)
One month holiday in February during Chinese New Year
Parents can come to visit on weekends
Costs (10,000 Yuan) under $2,000 U.S. per year
Attending this school is good for finding a job later
Can open own Kung Fu school in other countries instead of finding a job
Famous personalities from this school: Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan

Pagoda Forest / Shaolin Temple

A short distance away we visited the Pagoda Forest. Rain drizzled as we walked around. Young girls giggled and stared, and begged to have their picture taken with the foreigners (‘the big noses’).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagoda_Forest_at_Shaolin_Temple

This is what the tombs look like. The size depended on the monk’s life achievement and the number of financial contributors.

Quick Facts:

Graveyard with 248 tombs for important monks
Depending on life’s accomplishments = size of tomb
Depending on number of supporters (donations) = size of tomb
Tombs built during an eminent monk’s lifetime, not after death, and added to till he died

Some highlights at the Temple

Protectors of the Temple

An Altar

~ *~

Next on April 28: Xian

FYI: This is a re-blog of the best parts of my trip in 2014.

Already I was confused regarding the day. My iPad said Thursday but its calendar highlighted Wednesday. My laptop showed Wednesday, April 2^nd. The reason for my disorientation was our schedule had been changed and I couldn’t follow remember what was next.

This is where we slept last night. Pretty swanky, but we saw no other guests.

From the hotel, we drove to the Shaolin School of Kung Fu. Our guide, Lisa, told us the attendees were 95% boys with 5% girls. We saw no girls. (She wore the same clothes as the day before: red track pants and quilted jacket. The forecast for the day: 20 degrees)

We went inside for a Kung Fu performance, which must have lasted a good half hour or more. I took a couple of videos but deleted them because they were blurry. The little guy in white, the youngest but rapidly advancing pupil, demonstrated clutching a bowl shaped object to his midriff by muscle control. To prove authenticity, a pole was inserted through a hole in the object (was it a bell?) then lifted and carried around as he hung firmly attached, belly-up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4-s8TBB6dw (4.49 min) A peak at Kung Fu training.

Quick Facts:

Home of Shaolin School of Kung Fu
Established 495 A.D.
10,000 students
Ages 3 to 18 (complete education here, equivalent to finishing high-school)
95% boys / 5% girls
Half-day school / half-day Kung Fu training
This is a private school (parents pay for room, board, and tuition)
One month holiday in February during Chinese New Year
Parents can come to visit on weekends
Costs (10,000 Yuan) under $2,000 U.S. per year
Attending this school is good for finding a job later
Can open own Kung Fu school in other countries instead of finding a job
Famous personalities from this school: Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan

Pagoda Forest / Shaolin Temple

A short distance away we visited the Pagoda Forest. Rain drizzled as we walked around. Young girls giggled and stared and begged to have their picture taken with the foreigners.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagoda_Forest_at_Shaolin_Temple

This is what the tombs look like.

Quick Facts:

Graveyard with 248 tombs for important monks
Depending on life’s accomplishments = size of tomb
Depending on number of supporters (donations) = size of tomb
Tombs built during an eminent monk’s lifetime, not after death, and added to till he died

Some highlights at the Temple

Protectors of the Temple

An Altar

Next on September 5, Xian: Day 7, Part 2

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How the Cookie Crumbles

Life and scribbles on the far side of SIXTY-FIVE

Category Archives: Shaolin

Shaolin: Kung Fu Training and Shaolin Temple

Image Courtesy of Sally Cronin

Quick Facts:

Pagoda Forest / Shaolin Temple

Quick Facts:

Some highlights at the Temple

Protectors of the Temple

An Altar

Shaolin: Day 7, Part 1