Shaolin Temple Documentaries

[hanguolaohu]

I’m currently editing a documentary about the Shaolin Temple and have been searching for any good documentaries that has footage of the Shaolin Temple pre-1990's. Most of the docs I've seen were made fairly recently, it seems like the most "old school" doc I've seen is “Shaolin Kung Fu” (Shaolin Zhen Gongfu) with monk Shi De Yang. I'm particularly interested in finding footage during the period before and after the Jet Li Shaolin Temple movie came out.

So far, the documentaries I have watched are:
-Shaolin Kungfu (Shaolin Zhen gongfu)- doc. with Jet Li and Shaolin monks. Memorable scene of Shi Xing Cheng doing iron palm slapping 4 bricks, which only cracks the top one, but actually all 4 are broken down the middle.
-This is Kung Fu- doc. of gongfu throughout China
-Secrets of the Warrior's Power- good general doc about gongfu
-Myths and Logic of Shaolin Kungfu- Recent National Geographic doc.
-The Empty Mind- Good doc. Recently made about training at Shaolin, Wudang & Japan.
-Shaolin Ulysses- Zhang Li Peng's dad’s section has a bit of info.
-Shaolin Wheel of Life- short doc in extras section.
-French doc- “Mysterious powers of the Shaolin monk”, has footage of young Shi De Cheng and Wan Heng europe performance tour.
-Discovery Channel- “Ancient warriors” episode about Shaolin.
-Shaolin Temple w/Jet Li- not a doc but useful nonetheless.
-Dragons of the Orient- no comment
-Real Chinese Kung Fu- 1964 b/w footage of masters in Taiwan.

If you know of any other docs dealing with Shaolin, Especially pre-90’s please let me know.

Thanks,
Alexander

[David Jamieson]

Look for the one on Hai Deng.

I think it is called:

"Hai Deng- Immortal Beacon of compassion" or "Hai Deng- Abbot of Shaolin" (or something like that).

It's a doc on Shaolin that talks about Hai Deng and how he returned to Shaolin to begin reinstilling the martial arts there in the 1960's (Pre CR I believe). the film was compiled in 88 I think, but I could be off on that too seeing as I only saw it once or twice so long ago.

I understand he left after a time due to old age and illness but mostly out of disgust because of the intentions of his political masters.

anyway, What is shown about Hai Deng in the film is quite impressive and even amazing. he was a master of Shaolin Kungfu specializing in one finger zen. His skill in that was, well, stunning. I haven't seen anyone do a sustained one finger hand stand except for this guy, and though he was diagonal against a wall, I still haven't seen anyone do that either. pretty neat stuff if you can find it.

[Pk_StyLeZ]

too bad they didnt show how he got on the wall with one finger...
that i would like to see
instead of from him sitting dwn to camera off to camera on to him on wall using one finger *support*

[GeneChing]

I think I mentioned the Hai Deng one to you via email, didn't I?

Pk_StyLeZ: I think there's a kick up to a two-finger, two-hand stand in our Extreme Kungfu Qigong video - here a link to an e-zine article on it. That article might address some of the qigong questions Alex had for me too - I can't remember if I passed it along yet...

As for the Hai Deng one, the one in the doc, it's at such a weird angle that I'm sure it's faked. Not that he couldn't do it, although maybe not as the age for the documentary...

Did you know that Hai Deng was actually the first Shaolin monk to come to America?

[hanguolaohu]

Thanks, I've ordered the Hai-Teng doc on VHS. I've seen footage of him including the one finger zen pose in "Shaolin Zhen Gongfu". What's funny is my Chinese friend saw that documentary many years ago in China, and she said there was a rumor that the one finger zen was faked, which brings up the question why the film starts with him already in that position as opposed to him lifting himself into it.

I have filmed a few people doing two finger zen (two fingers, one hand). The guy was in his 30's and had very thick fingers and after about 10 seconds in that position he stopped and actually cried. What's interesting about the Hai-Teng footage is his finger is hardly bent from the pressure of the handstand, whereas all the other two finger zens I have filmed of guys in their physical prime, their fingers are bent and you can see the physical exertion of such a difficult feat.

I believe qigong is real, and it'll help to accomplish great things, but there's something about that footage that seems a bit fishy.

Alexander

[David Jamieson]

What makes you guys suppose it s faked?
There are other stills of Hai Deng in this pose and plenty of
people who have seen him do it. Both the 2 and one finger Chan poses.

I guess it could be faked, but why bother? Why not just show it for what it is?
I mean most people are impressed with jumping kicks, why do something as boring as an arhat posture difficult or not?

[hanguolaohu]

Hey Gene!
We posted at almost the same time, but you beat me to it. Well, glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks that the one finger zen looks fake. No disrespect to Hai-Deng, he is an amazing man, but even qigong masters have to obey some of the laws of physics.

Jamieson, I'm curious where have you seen other stills of Hai-Deng doing one finger zen? Also, who are these "other people" who have seen him do it? I would like to get in contact with these people.

Also, anyone can do a jumping kick, but I've only seen Hai-Deng do true 1 finger zen. That's very impressive, especially considering he was in his 80's when that was filmed. Around Shaolin, some young performers do 2 hands 2 fingers. The guy on the Shaolin Wheel of Life tour does two hands one finger. I've only seen one guy at Shaolin to true 2 finger zen (one hand two fingers). I'm sure there are are other, I've only seen 1 finger zen in that doc with Hai-Deng.

Thanks,
Alexander

[GeneChing]

Hai Deng came to the US for a short stint to promote the documentary, even though it wasn't really being shown here anywhere. It was before there was much of a market for such videos. I've talked with a Buddhism professor who was there. Unfortunately, all though he gave me plenty of leads, that professor didn't really want to publish anything - I'm not sure why. I've followed up on a few of those leads, but they've all panned out unfortunately. Anyway, that professor told me in confidence that Hai Deng was none to happy with the way the whole doc went - remember that it was shot in more oppressive times in PRC, especially for Buddhists. He alluded that the finger handstand was faked. I think if you look at it in the doc, it's just too weird. The way his shoulder is bent, it really doesn't look very convincing to me, especially after workin g on handstands in yoga... but who knows? I believe he could do it at one time, maybe even at that time, but I don't think he did it for that doc.

I too would be interested in seeing other photos of the handstand. Can you hook us up here?

You know, I have another doc VCD or DVD (not sure which yet) on Yujian Shaolin, by networld zeenji. I haven't watched it yet - I suppose I should. I also have a VCD of Dejian's doc that was CCTV - That's the one where they are doing these crazy qinna things on the eddge of this big cliff on Songshan. I'm not sure what I did with that. For more on Dejian and Zeenji - check out the Shaolin special 2005.

There's also that Empty mind doc that you mentioned on email, which I really like, except the Shaolin section is...well...questionable...

[Chuckster]

Originally Posted by hanguolaohu

I’m currently editing a documentary about the Shaolin Temple and have been searching for any good documentaries that has footage of the Shaolin Temple pre-1990's. Most of the docs I've seen were made fairly recently, it seems like the most "old school" doc I've seen is “Shaolin Kung Fu” (Shaolin Zhen Gongfu) with monk Shi De Yang. I'm particularly interested in finding footage during the period before and after the Jet Li Shaolin Temple movie came out.

So far, the documentaries I have watched are:
-Shaolin Kungfu (Shaolin Zhen gongfu)- doc. with Jet Li and Shaolin monks. Memorable scene of Shi Xing Cheng doing iron palm slapping 4 bricks, which only cracks the top one, but actually all 4 are broken down the middle.
-This is Kung Fu- doc. of gongfu throughout China
-Secrets of the Warrior's Power- good general doc about gongfu
-Myths and Logic of Shaolin Kungfu- Recent National Geographic doc.
-The Empty Mind- Good doc. Recently made about training at Shaolin, Wudang & Japan.
-Shaolin Ulysses- Zhang Li Peng's dad’s section has a bit of info.
-Shaolin Wheel of Life- short doc in extras section.
-French doc- “Mysterious powers of the Shaolin monk”, has footage of young Shi De Cheng and Wan Heng europe performance tour.
-Discovery Channel- “Ancient warriors” episode about Shaolin.
-Shaolin Temple w/Jet Li- not a doc but useful nonetheless.
-Dragons of the Orient- no comment
-Real Chinese Kung Fu- 1964 b/w footage of masters in Taiwan.

If you know of any other docs dealing with Shaolin, Especially pre-90’s please let me know.

Thanks,
Alexander
hanguolaohu-shaolin@yahoo.com

Hi, I'm new to the forum.

I have a BBC documentary about Shaolin that was aired several years ago, that I was lucky enough to tape, as it has never been repeated or made commercially available (probably locked away in the BBC archives). The basic idea being to look at how the age-old traditions of Shaolin is facing up to the challenge of modern China... the old Religion vs. Mammon debate etc etc. Running time 50 minutes (no commercial breaks).

Anyway, the documentary focuses on the handsome & charismatic Shaolin senior monk, De Yang.

We see De Yang teaching & demonstrating kung fu with his students (and chastising them gently for getting their moves wrong), doing his routine early morning physical exercises, going about his religious activities, accepting a young novice monk as his formal disciple in an initiation ceremony, visitors bowing to him on their knees in awe (he very humbly tells them to stand up), etc etc.

There is also an interview section with him (English subtitles) - he talks about how quick the pace of modern life is, how he can channel chi energy to makes his arm rock hard (he demonstrates this), how he became a Shaolin monk, how he was taught kungfu by his teacher [Su Xi] - he laughingly recalls how his teacher was very strict with him and would whack him if he wasn't up to scratch.

The documentary finishes with him performing the ?Xiao Hongquan routine among the stupa forest of Shaolin. Totally awesome.

I'll dig it out and try to post some stills of him from it.

[Chuckster]

okay... ScreenPics (45kb)

(l-r from top):
De Yang at religious ceremony
"So people always think the inner force is incredible"
"Then if I couldn't do it my Master got a stick..."
De Yang at prayer
De Yang demonstrating a move
De Yang accepting kowtow from his disciple
De Yang meditating at dawn
De Yang high kicking
De Yang performing a Shaolin kungfu routine (Oh, on seeing it again I think it might actually be DaHong Quan)

[GeneChing]

I caught this program on PBS last night. Here's the program description from the PBS site:

Part 1 of two. Two Americans are accompanied on their first tour of China. Their trek begins in Beijing and ends in Guangzhou. Stops include the Great Wall, the Pearl River Delta, the Forbidden City, the Shaolin Temple and the Yellow River.

Here's a link to the production website with pics.

Catch a train with young American travelers Chris Gould and Nick Russell as they embark on their first trip to China. Follow their journey across the country, starting in the stately northern capital of Beijing and ending over a thousand miles south in cosmopolitan Guangzhou. From the Great Wall to the Pearl River Delta, they ride through the country’s changing landscape on good old Chinese locomotives. Armed with cameras and a sense of curiosity, they stop en route to meet locals in traditional neighborhoods, eager university students, entrepreneurial southern farmers, and hardworking migrant laborers. Touched by their many encounters, these adventurous travelers uncover the changing face of an ancient and emerging nation. They explore the Forbidden City, step-up their kung-fu at the Shaolin Temple, cross the Yellow River, and feast on delicacies at night markets. Will Chris eat fried scorpion-on-a-stick? Will Nick learn how to use chopsticks? Join them as they discover China’s extraordinary landscapes, communities, cuisine, and a little something about themselves along the way.

In part one, the couple goes to Shaolin and there's about a 15 min segment on it. It's from a tourist perspective. The two Americans know nothing of kung fu (and surprisingly little about China) but it shows snippets of a demo in the Songshan Shaolin Wushuguan. What really caught my eye is that there was a one-armed wuseng there. I found that really intriguing and would love to find out more about him. China is hard on anyone with a disability.

[GeneChing]

So I hear that the Today Show will have a short segment on Shaolin Temple some time next week. I'm not sure exactly when. I think towards the end of the week. They have a correspondent in Beijing who is touring around China doing little spots for the show. My guess is that it's in honor of Chinese New Year.

I was interviewed for this as a 'Shaolin authority' a few days ago. The set was really noisy, so we had to do multiple takes of the same answers to try and get clean sound. That was really challenging on my end because I'm not that great of a public speaker, and frankly, it's really weird to get interviewed for national television. You try to answer the question naturally, but you keep thinking inside your head 'did that sound ok?' I'm very eager to see how it will come out. My spot might not even make it past the cutting room floor, but the show producer went to a lot of trouble to film me, so I'm optimistic that it'll make it to broadcast.

[hvillarruel]

Here is a documental i found in this site:

www.shideyang.com

The documental is around 1995 and there is a part where Master Shi De Cheng's SiFu performs a little.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...52114764&hl=en

Enjoy.

[LFJ]

Originally Posted by Chuckster

Hi, I'm new to the forum.

I have a BBC documentary about Shaolin that was aired several years ago, that I was lucky enough to tape, as it has never been repeated or made commercially available (probably locked away in the BBC archives). The basic idea being to look at how the age-old traditions of Shaolin is facing up to the challenge of modern China... the old Religion vs. Mammon debate etc etc. Running time 50 minutes (no commercial breaks).

Anyway, the documentary focuses on the handsome & charismatic Shaolin senior monk, De Yang.

We see De Yang teaching & demonstrating kung fu with his students (and chastising them gently for getting their moves wrong), doing his routine early morning physical exercises, going about his religious activities, accepting a young novice monk as his formal disciple in an initiation ceremony, visitors bowing to him on their knees in awe (he very humbly tells them to stand up), etc etc.

There is also an interview section with him (English subtitles) - he talks about how quick the pace of modern life is, how he can channel chi energy to makes his arm rock hard (he demonstrates this), how he became a Shaolin monk, how he was taught kungfu by his teacher [Su Xi] - he laughingly recalls how his teacher was very strict with him and would whack him if he wasn't up to scratch.

The documentary finishes with him performing the ?Xiao Hongquan routine among the stupa forest of Shaolin. Totally awesome.

I'll dig it out and try to post some stills of him from it.

where is this chuckster guy? he's got to upload this.

[Su Lin]

Extreme Pilgrim.

I watched this in the UK last night and it was good,though don't expect to learn anything new. The English Vicar seems somewhat disillusioned with his faith and seeks to find new meaning and examine other religions than Christianity.
He arrives at Shaolin and stays at one of the big schools outside to train for a couple of weeks. It's the old story of unfit guy going to train, finding it tough and throwing up ,proclaiming how hard it is etc.

After a few days he gets to visit the Temple and is assigned one of the fighting monks. He is hoping to try and see the relationship between Buddhism and kung fu, but finds it really hard to see the connection. After a while he comes to realise that Shaolin is almost a theme park and a huge brand and seems somewhat disillusioned. I must say though, at this point I knew he was trying too hard to see the links, trying to find something that wasn't there almost.

He hears of Di Yang (sp) and heads out to the mountains to see if his training will enable him to gain any enlightenment. It is here he undergoes his most significant realisation and comes to realise that the relationship between Buddhism, meditation and practising physically is relatively simple. After we see Di Yang training on a roof overlooking a huge drop and the Vicar and Di Yang training in a karate kid-esque "wax on wax off" session with a mop, the vicar understands the point and begins to value his time there.

He comes to realise that in the West ,in particular Christians, cling to the notion of God, rather than letting go . There are 2 elderly nuns there (who incidentally are terrifying) and one is asked the question about the notion of love and letting go, about loving family and she explains the Buddhist notion of all the love being joined together for everyone, essentially the idea of loving kindness.

By the end of the programme he honestly seems like a transformed man.After his disillusionment with Christianity, then with Shaolin and the temple,it is in the remote mountains that he learns the idea of friendship, love, trust and,perhaps most fundamentally, the strong link between practising kung fu and the idea of meditation.

I enjoyed it anyway.