The Abbot was giving the newly translated edition as gifts at the 1st American Shaolin Temple Cultural Festival. He was gracious enough to autograph a copy for me.

The translation is pretty clean overall. I only noticed a few minor typos and grammatical errors, but given that Kung Fu Tai Chi has it's share of those, I can't fault that . The new edition has some different photos and is clothbound.

It's an interesting read. Honestly, I'm a little too close to the subject to give an unbiased opinion, but every Shaolin aficionado will want to engage this book. It surely has its nationalistic/patriotic propagandist side, and is somewhat defensive in addressing some of the more well-publicized criticisms like the Abbot's role in the forced relocation, Shaolin sausage, and other issues. However, there's a lot of interesting stuff that isn't as well known in the west, like Shaolin's massive charitable efforts and the continuing journey of its restoration. There were plenty of things I didn't know about, and as you know, I've followed the Shaolin saga pretty closely. When all is said and done, the Abbot has the most interesting Shaolin Trip of all.

At this point, the English translation of Shaolin in my Heart is not available for sale outside China. The Abbot is only giving it away as one of his many unique cultural exchange gifts. I am working on changing his mind about that. I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck!