Oct 01 Shaolin Warriors

It is said a Shaolin priest can walk through walls. Looked for, he cannot be seen. Listened for, he cannot be heard. Touched, he cannot be felt….

At three o’clock every Sunday afternoon in the 1970’s we would huddle around the television set to watch David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine right the wrongs in 19^th Century America as a Shaolin Priest wrongly expelled from the Shaolin Temple, dispensing arcane Mahayana Buddhist wisdom along with his Kung Fu skills to the unsuspecting American public.  Periodically the programme would flash back to his time at the Temple as a boy, a teenager and man to bring the relevant teachings and wisdom that were being applied to his present day.

The television series brought the magic and mystery of the Temple to the western public.  The Shao in ‘Shaolin’ refers to Mount Shaoshi, a mountain in the Songshan range,the lin means ‘forest’. Literally, the name means ‘monastery in the woods of Mount Shaoshi’ located at Songshan in Zhengzhou City Henan Province of what is now the People’s Republic of China.

The Emperor Hsiao-Wen built the monastery in AD 477, and the first abbot of Shaolin was Batuo, an Indian dhyana master who came to China in AD 464 to spread Buddhist teachings.

Legend has it that the famous Indian Buddhist priest Bodidharma retreated to a cave nearby the Temple where he ‘faced a wall’ for 9 years not speaking, he left behind the Yi Jin Jing (muscle changing) classic text that became the training source of the Shaolin Monks.

The monastery has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. Perhaps the best-known story of the Temple’s destruction is that it was destroyed in 1644 by the Qing government for supposed anti-Qing activities (giving birth to the famous slogan “Destroy the Qing, restore the Ming!”); this destruction is also supposed to have helped spread Shaolin martial arts through China by means of the five fugitive monks Ng Mui, Jee Shin Shim Shee, Fung Doe Duk, Miu Hin and Bak Mei commonly known as the ‘Five Ancestors’.

Martial arts came to the UK originally through fairground wrestlers and judo, but it’s rapid spread started with the first Japanese karate instructors in the 1960’s coupled with the ‘Bruce Lee’ kung fu boom and the David Carradine ‘Kung Fu’ series with the mystique of the Shaolin Temple in the 1970’s.  This was followed by a proliferation of kung fu movies and many movie theatres would give late night showings of what became known as ‘chop sockey’ movies.  I remember many a late night showing at the ‘Brixton Classic’ movie theatre and everyone leaving playfully demonstrating on each other the kung fu techniques they had just watched.  Every action movie now has to have its quota of martial arts scenes and emanating from the growth of the Martial Arts here in the UK; studies and interest in Buddhism, Zen and Taoism have grown immeasurably. 

Behaviour in all traditional martial arts dojo and kwoon are based on the 8 fold path taught by the Buddha and it is a commonly held understanding that Buddhism contains a philosophy of non-violence and non-aggression. This philosophy is in accordance with the modern-day practices of the Shaolin disciples and it would be incorrect to associate demonstrations of Shaolin fighting techniques as acts of aggression. The Shaolin practitioners fight mostly in silence, exhibiting what can be described as “stillness in movement,” this “stillness” is a direct result of a serene mind, cultivated through the practice of meditation.

As the world increases its interests in China, on the country’s history and culture, CPAA (China Performing Arts Agency) Productions felt obliged to introduce China’s traditional culture to people around the world and thus produced Shaolin Warriors show in the year of 2000. The show was the first theatrical kung fu spectacular in China, even the first of its kind in the world. Fortunately there was a big market for quality kung fu shows overseas and a few months later Shaolin Warriors had arranged to tour North America. The show was welcomed and highly acclaimed wherever it went. Audiences including the staff and students at the West Point Military Academy were amazed by the kung fu masters’ incredible feats, which they thought only possible in movie stunts.

In 2008, Russell Goold a Shikon and MASA karate instructor who has a background in theatre production decided along with the other members of Theatre Productions International Ltd to bring the ‘Shaolin Warriors’ show to the UK and Europe.  I decided to interview him about his involvement.

SR  Hi Russell what’s your theatrical background?

RG  Hi Steve, I started out at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre 34 years ago, and have worked on hundreds of productions all over the world, including Over the Rainbow, The Billie Holiday Story, for Theatre Productions, Broadway shows such as Madame Butterfly starring Anthony Hopkins and West End shows such as Oliver!, My Fair Lady, Oklahoma, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Sunset Boulevard, Martin Guerre , Rocky Horror Show, Cats, etc. I then went on to be part of the team that produced Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 50th Birthday Party at the Albert Hall, and am now working as a consultant for Theatre Productions.
 Since working with Theatre Productions, I have worked on ‘The Naked Truth’, Over the Rainbow’, The Billie Holiday Story’, ‘Christmas Crooners’ and ‘A Viennese Strauss Gala’.

SR  What is your background in the Martial Arts

RG  I’ve been training for 36 years.  I’m a 2nd Dan Kickboxing Instructor, 4th Dan Wado Ryu Karate Instructor and was a member of the Police Judo Squad.  I started in 1974 with Wing Chung Kung Fu and then for 4 years in 1978 I started training in Judo and was in the Leicester Police Judo team.  That year I also started in Wado Ryu Karate training under the late Toru Takamizawa.  I started teaching in the mid 80′s and now run a large karate school in Leicester and am Chief Instructor to a small association with 3 clubs.  I have trained with many different sensei and sifu over the years and worked with the Peking Opera.  Being in the theatre meant that I have also done combat for stage and television.

SR  How were you introduced to the Shaolin Warriors?

RG  I have been involved with Theatre Productions Ltd for the past 6 years and we produce various theatre shows and during the last 12 months we’ve produced The Naked Truth, Over the Rainbow, Christmas Crooners and A Viennese Strauss Gala.  We had always discussed doing a Kung Fu show and the Shaolin Warriors seemed the most appropriate.  

SR  Why did you want to bring them over?

RG  With the success of the recent Olympics in Beijing, we had a very successful tour in 2008 which was their first time ever in the UK.  We wanted to introduce their spectacular martial arts skills to a wider audience.  This tour, starting in April, will see us visiting 66 towns in the UK as well as going into Europe in July 

SR  What do they intend to do whilst they are over here other than the shows?

RG  Given their very tight schedule, we will plan ‘Meet and Greets’ with them at various venues on tour and hold specialised ‘Master Classes’ at selected Shi Kon and MASA Dojo’s. The 22 Shaolin Warriors enjoy meeting people and seeing local clubs.

SR  Do you have any thoughts on future activities with them?

RG  This will be the first European tour and we have plans to bring them back in 2013 and tour even further afield.  

SR  Sounds good Russell, Thank you!

I then spoke the Beijing Shaolin Warriors representative Yucheng Czhan:

SR  Hi Yucheng, who are CCPA productions?

YC  CPAA Productions Ltd is our company, a subsidiary of China Performing Arts Agency – China’s biggest performing arts presenter and promoter. CPAA Productions Ltd was established in 1998 and in 2000 it produced its first major success with ‘Shaolin Warriors. It also produced some quality shows including acrobatic spectaculars ‘Chi and Reverie’ as well as a residence multimedia acrobatic extravaganza ‘Era – Intersection of Time, highly acclaimed as the best show in Asia.

SR How was the Shaolin Warriors Troupe formed?

YC In 2000 CPAA Productions Ltd found, after market research, that there was a big market potential overseas for non-language Chinese arts as the whole world was increasing its interest in China’s history and culture, inspired by China’s fast economic growth. We felt a choreographed kung fu show, different from the simple kung fu skill demonstrations, might fill the market need and would be more entertaining and look beautiful.  A successful show will also help people to have a better and deeper understanding of China’s traditional culture .

Then we invited Ms. Li Xining, a talented director in China with very good knowledge of martial arts, acrobatics and dance, to be the director of Shaolin Warriors. Thanks to her creative ideas the show was produced. Being the first stage kung fu production in China and the world, Shaolin Warriors instantly became a blockbuster hit in Beijing and Shanghai and was later invited to tour North America.

SR  Who are the ‘Warriors’?

YC  The kung fu performers in our cast were mostly born in the villages of Northern China where martial arts including the Shaolin style martial arts are very popular. Most of them became interested in martial arts during their childhood and began to learn martial arts from their grand parents, parents or other relatives. Then most of them go to martial arts schools to upgrade their skills whilst taking other curriculums or continuing their training with their parents if they happen to be kung fu masters.  The school teachers come from different provinces and were either were born in families with a martial arts tradition or disciples of grand masters of martial arts.

SR Is there or has there been any relationship between the Warriors and the Shaolin Temple?

YC The kung fu performers in our cast may major in Shaolin style martial arts but have no relationship with the Shaolin Temple. Shaolin style martial arts are one major genre of Chinese martial arts is very popular throughout China especially in Northern China. Everyone will be able to learn Shaolin style martial arts from their parents or coaches of different martial arts schools, not necessarily from the Temple. Take Jet Lee, the kung fu master and movie star, he received his training in Beijing Physical Culture School.

SR  How are the ‘Warriors’ selected?

YC For selection of the kung fu performers, we normally have several important factors to consider: first they should be highly skilled in terms of kung fu achievements, secondly they should be well behaved. We also take into consideration the age of the candidate, hopefully they should be under 35 as our fast moving show requires a lot of energy. Of course it would be perfect if they know some acting.

SR  How has the cast changed 

YC  As the years have passed, the cast of ‘Shaolin Warriors’ has naturally changed. But one thing has remained unchanged — the high standard of kung fu skills required by the show. Most of the performers of the current cast are in their twenties, however, they have already made astonishing achievements in martial arts. With almost no exception, they began their hard martial training at the age of 3 or 4 years old.

SR  What is their training like?

YC  Even when very young, they needed to get up early in the morning, usually at 5, for 2 hours training. Then after breakfast and a short break, they start meditation and training again for another 2 hours by noon, and another 2 hours in the afternoon. Being little children, late afternoon after the hard training is always the happy hours for them—they have time to relax and play games. The routine training is normal except on tour. While on tour they normally do meditation, physical training, checking the stage size and their weapons, and finally warm-ups in order to get ready for the show.

SR  What are the individuals like?

YC  For example, Chen Pengfei is 23 years old this year and one of the leading performers in the show,  he grew up in Shandong in a family of martial arts tradition. After 15 years of hard training he won the Provincial Championship of Martial Arts at age 18. After he graduated from a martial arts school, he declined big-money offers by some millionaires to serve as their bodyguard, but  rather became a coach for different martial arts schools. He also played some supporting roles in a few TV films. As a migrant in metropolis Beijing, life was not easy for him even though he is a kung fu master. But for him the past years of martial arts training brought forth a strong body as well as a strong mentality, which, he believes, will certainly help him to meet the challenges of life.

Dramatic changes in China have made an impact on his mind too. He wants to see and know more of the outside world. Shaolin Warriors provided the perfect opportunity for him. During the show’s tours to North America and Australia, he noticed the difference in culture and traditions while in the meantime noticed the common points of human nature. He was surprised and happy to find so many kung fu fans throughout the tours. But he also sadly found that Chinese martial arts, though it has a much longer history, was not as popular overseas as Japanese Karate and Korean Taekwondo. Now he has a dream that someday he would be able to open a Chinese martial arts school somewhere overseas to promote Kung fu and its inner culture.

It would be wrong to think that martial arts training and performances occupy the warriors’ whole world. They have different personal hobbies, but most of them love to surf on the internet, either at home or at internet bars. They love to chat with their friends and exchange ideas on life.

The two children, Wang Yongzhi, turning 11 this year, and Jinpeng Zhu, aged 11, have a lot of fun after school on their scooters, and watching Micky’s Clubhouse series. Both of them are students of a martial arts school in Hebei Province, pretty close to Beijing. They joined Shaolin Warriors’ North America tour in the year of 2007 and had a lot of fun in acting their parts. They were among the most passionate performers in the show and naturally drew a lot of the limelight. During the tour they also very much enjoyed being stars in the master classes organized by primary schools. The unforgettable overseas tour experience also brought fame to their families. It was natural for their parents to be proud of them, considering the fact that in their small town not many adults have the chance to visit the United States and Canada, let alone children. 

SR  Thank you for those insights Yuchan, we look forward to seeing the Shaolin Warriors around the UK this year.

YC  We look forward to performing in the UK and Europe and to meet all the different martial artists.

Steve Rowe

Steve Rowe is a highly successful Martial Arts instructor - an International Neigong, Qigong and Tai Chi Teacher and an 8th Dan Karate with many other senior dan grades in other martial disciplines.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me: