Shaolin Training in India
Posted at Nov 20, 04 in Shaolin Temple News

India News, New Delhi, Indians will get a chance to learn Shaolin Kung Fu, considered the mother of all martial arts, when the country's first Shaolin Temple opens there this month.

Simultaneous with the Nov 20 groundbreaking ceremony, classes will begin in a temporary shed at the site, said Kanishka Sharma, who claims to be the first Indian to have trained in the fifth century Shaolin Temple in China in May 2002.

"My masters, six of them, are coming from China and we will lay the foundation stone for India's first Shaolin Temple in New Delhi," Sharma, who teaches the art in different schools, told IANS.

The temple will be completed next year and will eventually award certificates of various categories.

Nestled in the beautiful foothills of Song Shan Mountains in China's Henan Province, the Shaolin Temple is regarded not only as the birthplace of martial arts but also Zen Buddhism, introduced by the Indian monk Damo in 517 A.D.

"I will create the same ambience as in the main Shaolin Temple and through this, I will create warriors of light (as Shaolin exponents are known)," said Sharma, who has been associated with TV shows on martial arts.

Among these is a documentary series titled "Seven Deadly Arts" with filmstar Akshay Kumar that aired on the National Geographic Channel. In it, Sharma taught Shaolin Kung Fu and Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) to the film star spread over two episodes.

Sharma himself is trained in five other martial art forms apart from Shaolin Kung Fu, but finds this the toughest.

"I am trained in six different martial arts -- Karate, Jeet Kune Do (a form of Kung Fu created by the legendary Bruce Lee), Kung Fu Toa (an Iranian form of martial arts), Kalaripayattu (the martial art of Kerala) and Muay Thai.

"For me, all these martial arts are like a never-ending process. They are a way of life."Training in Shaolin was the toughest. To train seven hours every day was not an easy job. We had to run up a 1,200-metre mountain and then crawl back on our hands and knees in 20 minutes.

"A normal person will take at least 45 minutes to do this." Sharma said: "We used to stay in the Mabu (horse-riding stance) for an hour every day, hit our heads, shoulders, forearms and fingers against six-feet long stone pillars.

"We also practised Chuans (Kung Fu forms), Sanda (Chinese kickboxing), candle punching and meditation. "Martial arts is a process of attaining enlightenment by coordinating body, mind and spirit," affirmed the expert who left a plum job with the Reliance Group to learn martial arts.

Asked about the role of actors like Bruce Lee, Jet Li and Jackie Chan in popularising martial arts among the masses, Sharma retorted: "Bruce Lee and Jet Li, for me, do not represent Shaolin Kung Fu.

"These are people who have not spread the real beauty of martial arts, which is enlightenment. "A martial art is a personality development programme where you gain enlightenment by coordinating your body, mind and spirit," asserted Sharma.