Tweet
I have always been amazed by the "Shaolin Monks", especially when they break wood or even iron bars on their body. I was told this ability is all about Chi-power. I found out that it is all Bullshite. Notice when they break a wood stick: it is always the center of the stick that hits the body, in that way most of the power of the blow is transferred to the edge of the stick and the receiver gets half or less of the hit power. Sure, it hurts. But not that much, and with conditioning and repeated exercises the trick is done. I was told that the most difficult task is up to the hitter, not to the receiver.
I was working in a theatre in Italy as a part-time job. Nothing special, just building stages for singers/bands/musicals and helping the roadies with the stuff. One day the "Shaolin Monks" came to perform(The Wheel of Life tour) and we had to carry all their things on the stage. I saw that the weapons they used were pretty light, but then I saw these flat pieces of iron, about 30 cm long and 1-2 cm thick. And they weighted enough to really hurt you, and a "monk" smashed and broke it in two on his forehead. After I saw that, I was truly amazed: conditioning can help you sustaining hard blows, but an iron bar smashed on your head??mmmmh.....maybe these "monks" really have Chi power after all. Well, after the show we had to clean the stage and load the trucks. Pieces of wood all around the stage, and hey! There was the broken iron bar! Wait, I will take it as a souvenir! I saw that it was really thick inside, but guess what, around its center the bar was empty! Yes, nothing but air inside! Another trick indeed!
I can understand the blow must have been hard, but not SO hard as it seems. Again, exercise and conditioning do the work, not Chi.
They were great athletes, their techniques were really fast and acurate, and they could use the weapons-especially poles- really, really fast.
In the afternoon we saw how they rehearsed, and if something wasn't done well a master would come and show the proper execution. The master was not a monk and didn't even look like one: no shaved hair, no monk clothes. Just a gym suit.
Later I saw the DVD of the show and the athletes had been chosen between hundreds, if not thousands, of Gong Fu practicioners. But no monks around. Some came from schools around the temple, but not from the temple. If what I read is true, there aren't fighting monks in there since a long time, and the temple is now controlled by the chinese governement, and they don't like fighting and non-fighting monks there. I read some had to run away to HK or Taiwan. Since the worldwide success of the movie "The Shaolin Temple", it has become a tourist attraction, and schools have been built around it.
Leung Ting wrote two books-"Skills of the vagabond"1 and 2-about all these tricks and fake Chi demonstations. He said he wrote them to show the truth and to give credit to the true Chi-Kung masters. I haven't read them but I think they are interesting.
I was working in a theatre in Italy as a part-time job. Nothing special, just building stages for singers/bands/musicals and helping the roadies with the stuff. One day the "Shaolin Monks" came to perform(The Wheel of Life tour) and we had to carry all their things on the stage. I saw that the weapons they used were pretty light, but then I saw these flat pieces of iron, about 30 cm long and 1-2 cm thick. And they weighted enough to really hurt you, and a "monk" smashed and broke it in two on his forehead. After I saw that, I was truly amazed: conditioning can help you sustaining hard blows, but an iron bar smashed on your head??mmmmh.....maybe these "monks" really have Chi power after all. Well, after the show we had to clean the stage and load the trucks. Pieces of wood all around the stage, and hey! There was the broken iron bar! Wait, I will take it as a souvenir! I saw that it was really thick inside, but guess what, around its center the bar was empty! Yes, nothing but air inside! Another trick indeed!
I can understand the blow must have been hard, but not SO hard as it seems. Again, exercise and conditioning do the work, not Chi.
They were great athletes, their techniques were really fast and acurate, and they could use the weapons-especially poles- really, really fast.
In the afternoon we saw how they rehearsed, and if something wasn't done well a master would come and show the proper execution. The master was not a monk and didn't even look like one: no shaved hair, no monk clothes. Just a gym suit.
Later I saw the DVD of the show and the athletes had been chosen between hundreds, if not thousands, of Gong Fu practicioners. But no monks around. Some came from schools around the temple, but not from the temple. If what I read is true, there aren't fighting monks in there since a long time, and the temple is now controlled by the chinese governement, and they don't like fighting and non-fighting monks there. I read some had to run away to HK or Taiwan. Since the worldwide success of the movie "The Shaolin Temple", it has become a tourist attraction, and schools have been built around it.
Leung Ting wrote two books-"Skills of the vagabond"1 and 2-about all these tricks and fake Chi demonstations. He said he wrote them to show the truth and to give credit to the true Chi-Kung masters. I haven't read them but I think they are interesting.
Comment