RE: State control of Shaolin in China

[shunyadragon]

In mainland PR China the major if not all Shaolin schools are state controled. This has not been good for the quality of the Arts of the Way in PR China.

How dominant are the branches of the PR China Shaolin schools in the USA and other western countries?

I know many foreign devotees come to these school and pay very high rates to get trained here and get fancy certificates.

Frank in China

[Shaolin Dragon]

Most Martial Arts schools in England are run independently by people who have (or claim to have) been taught by Chinese masters or their students.

[shunyadragon]

Schools may or may not claim to be independent, but they are affiliated with Masters from Shaolin since the State take over and they send their students to Shaolin and other state schools for training and support the system.

I know of Shifu Nagaboshi Tomio (Terance Dukes) who operates a monastery/school north of London. He esentially shuns Shaolin and his philosophy promotes a closer relationship between the Arts of the Way and Buddhism. He wrote a very good book 'The Bohisattva Warriors'.

Frank in China

[shunyadragon]

If you fall down trying, roll and stand up again.

Frank

[Shaolin Dragon]

But many people go to China to train, and come back opening their own schools

[shunyadragon]

Yes this may be the beginning of the franchised Shaolin McDojos.

[Hakko-Ryu]

Originally posted by shunyadragon
In mainland PR China the major if not all Shaolin schools are state controled. This has not been good for the quality of the Arts of the Way in PR China.

How dominant are the branches of the PR China Shaolin schools in the USA and other western countries?

I know many foreign devotees come to these school and pay very high rates to get trained here and get fancy certificates.

Frank in China

they pay high rates because it's a tourist attraction and they make $$$ off of it.

they have no control of Shaolin schools in the USA...the monks here "defected"...they, simply put, wanted a better life in the US.

Shaolin Kung-fu = Shaolin Wushu...the government controls what they want to see out of the temple...which is that the monks attract tourist by use of their flashy shaolin wushu and Chi tricks to awe the crowds...the state of shaolin = Wushu...today.

[David]

There is a London Shaolin Centre (can't remember the name) with a Chinese Shaolin monk (can't remember his name). It is registered as a charity because it is owned by the Shaolin Temple.

Pro: I hear they have classes from 6am every day.
Con: Religions and money-making...

Rgds,
David

[shunyadragon]

Many of the Shaolin Monks who went to Singapore. US, Hong Kong and Taiwan did defect and do today adamently reject the 'Shaolin Government Circus', But there are many schools in the US and other places in the world with either direct ties as OFFICIAL schools or indirectly affiliatiated schools where the instructors trained at Shaolin and the send their students there to train.