Soul music - Shaolin style
Posted at Apr 15, 04 in Shaolin Temple News

After a whirlwind tour of the United States, the Shaolin monks will present their exciting dance numbers, Buddhist music, true-to-life sets and dazzling lighting in a show called "Soul of Shaolin" at the Beijing Exhibition Hall Theater April 23-24.

The monks used both traditional and modernized Chinese Buddhist music to accompany Shaolin kungfu, a unique form of martial arts practised at the Shaolin Temple, in Central China's Henan Province.

The Shaolin Temple, located at the foot of Mount Songshan, has been famous for its profound version of Zen Buddhism and its legendary Shaolin kungfu for more than 1,500 years. And it still appeals to today's urban dwellers, firing their imaginations Now, there is an opportunity for people to get close to the masters and watch their performances without having to go to the temple.

The breath-taking performances of the 40 monks in the "Soul of Shaolin" at the Beijing Exhibition Hall Theater are based on the monks' daily lives and training regimen.

China has an old saying that goes: "All kungfu comes from Shaolin." It underlines the important role Shaolin kungfu plays in Chinese martial arts heritage.

Shaolin kungfu is not simply a genre of martial arts, but a comprehensive Buddhist system composed of Zen and its unique form of kongfu. Shaolin kungfu offers people a chance to see great health and fitness and superb fighting skills that some say is as exciting to watch as the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Compactness is a feature of the Shaolin kungfu. The moves and ricks are short, simple and succinct as well as rich and varied. While fighting, Shaolin monks advance and retreat in short, straight movements. They need only a small space to execute their style of fighting. Attack and defence are blended together seamlessly.

Shaolin kungfu is powerful and quick with rhythmic rising and falling body movements.

It stresses hardness in its actions, but it also balances this hardness with a corresponding softness. When jabbing or palming, the arm must be neither too bent nor too straight, a blend of external and internal forces.

Shaolin kungfu takes its name from the Shaolin Temple which was built during the Northern Wei Dynasty (368-534) and is one of China's most famous ancient temples.