The Shaolin Days
I am having a great time digging up some old pictures from yesteryear. Just the other day I found a few pictures of my experience at the original Shaolin Temple in Mount Song, Zheng Zhou, China…
I had a blast spending over a month there doing some intensive martial arts training with my homie Andy On, who later took over the role of The Black Mask from Jet Li in the sequel. Here we are with our Wu Shu coach, Kali…
We were both blown away with how many young children were attending the various Wu Shu academies in Shaolin. From the crack of dawn until sunset, the children would be disciplined in the pugilistic art of traditional martial arts…
For many of them, this would be their only “option” in life since their family was so poor that they could not afford to take care of them anymore. All these children could hope for one day would be to aspire to be the next Jet Li with their comprehesively-honed skills in mortal combat…
I really felt for them and the difficult life that they were presented before them. To this day, I still reminisce to that amazing experience and how happy and cheerful each of the young students were despite how challenging and demanding their lives may have been.
Memories like these really put our own lives back in perspective.
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Reader Comments
you find comfort in that?
Allan, we live in South Africa – and the poverty here is a big factor (as well as a fatherless society) – children are roaming the streets – joining gangs, getting into trouble and becoming hopeless towards the future.
Basic discipline is good for any child – and having the benefit of physical and mental exercise eg. wushu gives – can only be beneficial.
We as a family recently attended the Taiwanese Consul’s event showing the success the Amitofo care centres are having in Malawi – and saw some beautiful kids (orphans) who had just been trained in wushu for a year. They were disciplined, confident – well spoken and shaped mentally and physically to face adult life later on…..
I think it’s better than to just let kids be. It might sound hard and harsh…..but it does help to have tough love…..