Monk helps build kung fu school
Nov 21, 02 in Shaolin Temple News

A monk has travelled from China to Wrexham to help open a special temple to teach the ancient discipline of Shaolin.

Shi Xing Du will draft a syllabus for students to learn the Shaolin way, which includes kung fu, Chinese medicine, Buddhism and meditation.

He has been brought over to north Wales by Wrexham-born Pol Wong, who runs a kung fu school in nearby Ruabon.

Master Wong wanted to build a specific Shaolin school which incorporates the culture's philosophy.

The centre of the discipline's teaching is the Shaolin temple in the Henan Province of China, which is a Buddhist temple.

Only a handful of people outside the temple have been allowed to teach the ancient skill.

Shi Xing Du said he knew instinctively that north Wales was the right place to create a temple.

"Wales is beautiful and I think it is the right place to set up a school," he said.

Speaking through his disciple Pol Wong, he said the area surrounding the school in Ruabon was similar to the area around the Shaolin temple on the Song Shan Mountain.

"He compares it all the time to China," said Pol Wong, whose Shaolin name is Shi Yong Jie.

"To learn Shaolin kung fu is very difficult, but especially in our lifestyle and culture.

Master Wong said he was committed to creating an authentic school.

"The main emphasis is on learning the Buddhist mind, it's actually a tool to discover your own mind.

"At the moment in the West and in China a lot of places say they teach Shaolin kung fu but they don't."

"Very, very few people actually know real Shaolin temple kung fu," he added.