As China's tourism industry grows, and more and more visitors flock to Shaolin Temple in central Henan, famous the world over as the birthplace of kung fu, the head abbot there has realized there exists a great deal of confusion.
Kung fu burst into our collective consciousness in the late 1960s when it became the preferred term to designate Chinese martial arts, which were appearing in films and television for the first time. As the popularity of martial arts has grown, now we can all open our phone books and find the numbers of a dozen kung fu, karate, and taekwondo centers close to home.
But according to the head abbot at Shaolin Temple, if your local kung fu academy only teaches Chinese martial arts, then they are not teaching kung fu, because kung fu is more, with only martial art being one of its aspects. A more accurate term for them to use would be wushu, the Chinese translation of "martial art".
The head abbot uses kung fu as an umbrella term covering Shaolin Temple¡®s philosophy in its entirety, which is a blend of martial art, medicine, and Zen Buddhism. And he emphasizes that it is Zen religion and not martial art that forms the essence of kung fu.
All this should be apparent, because, like the name implies, Shaolin Temple is a religious temple ¨C the birthplace of Zen Buddhism, no less. Known as Chan Buddhism in China (Zen is the Japanese translation), Zen Buddhism is a school of Buddhist thought emphasizing enlightenment by direct intuition through meditation. The martial art aspects of kung fu were developed as a kind of discipline to help the monks in their meditation, which is the reason for the large number of Chi techniques, which the monks say build "internal force", helpful in attaining spiritual development.
According to the head abbot, efforts are underway to protect and promote kung fu as a whole, lest the world regard Shaolin Temple as just a famous martial arts school. The temple has its own library and research institute, and every year holds many international seminars to introduce kung fu to the public.
And every year a large number of foreigners come to Shaolin Temple for the experience of studying at the birthplace of kung fu. Since June over 350, mostly Americans and Australians, have arrived. But if these eager students are just looking to learn a few kicks and punches, they should stick with Sensei Bob back home. Come to Shaolin with a curiosity for kung fu.
