DeletedUser
You debunk eastern mysticism in your opening statemen that's actually meant to support it. How funny.
You debunk eastern mysticism in your opening statemen that's actually meant to support it. How funny.
DeletedUser13682
I am not trying to support eastern mysticism, I am trying to defend Shaolin munks, who are great fighters. Maybe not the best, who really knows, but they are really good fighters. They may be shroulded in too much myth, but fighting raiders is the only way they were able to survive to this day.
DeletedUser
Johann, which part of, "there are no Shaolin monks" didn't you understand?
Also, I can't fathom just how difficult it must be to break a watermelon. *facetious*
Woods vary in strength, and if you cut wood across the grain, as opposed to parallel to the grain, the wood can be easily broken along the fault of the grain. Martial art showmen use low strength wood that is incorrectly cut.
johann, i don't like to toss out credentials, but I have been a practitioner of martial arts for over 30 years; twice your lifespan and far longer than most doctors who have been practicing medicine. I believe in honesty and was one of the shakers in the 90's when it came to debunking the mystique of the martial arts.
Scamming comes in many forms, and they exist in every type of business. The goal is to make money fast and easy. There are a multitude of laws, in various countries, specifically geared to discourage, and penalize, scam artists, but they exist nonetheless and people will continue to be scammed because there will always be ignorance.
Also, I can't fathom just how difficult it must be to break a watermelon. *facetious*
Woods vary in strength, and if you cut wood across the grain, as opposed to parallel to the grain, the wood can be easily broken along the fault of the grain. Martial art showmen use low strength wood that is incorrectly cut.
johann, i don't like to toss out credentials, but I have been a practitioner of martial arts for over 30 years; twice your lifespan and far longer than most doctors who have been practicing medicine. I believe in honesty and was one of the shakers in the 90's when it came to debunking the mystique of the martial arts.
Scamming comes in many forms, and they exist in every type of business. The goal is to make money fast and easy. There are a multitude of laws, in various countries, specifically geared to discourage, and penalize, scam artists, but they exist nonetheless and people will continue to be scammed because there will always be ignorance.
Last edited by a moderator:
DeletedUser
HALLELUJAH HELLSTROMM has converted to GIzmoism!
Punctuation be darned!
Punctuation be darned!
DeletedUser13682
Where is the proof that there was never a religious place in eastern Asia, where religious figures were never trained in martial arts to defend their holy place? Maybe calling them Shaolin Monks is innacurate, (misspelled monks in earlier posts) but they do exist, if not under that name. And he broke the board with the grain. I don't know what kind of wood it was, so I can't comment on that part. And when have you tried breaking a watermelon without a weapon, without any martial arts training? I am glad that you were one of the debunkers in martial arts myths Hellstormm, and it is very likely that the 'Shaolin Monks' (I'll continue to call them that until I find their real name) exist, and are great martial artists.
DeletedUser
That's not the part we're debating. The part we're debating is that they once had supernatural powers, which they didn't.
I don't have any real martial arts training and I've broken a lot of things while I was drunk, a watermelon being the least impressive of the bunch.
No one is contesting that they were decent at martial arts -- we're just saying that they didn't have supernatural powers. As far as them not existing anymore, well I don't know much about that, but I'm going to have to lean towards Hellstromm here, jo.
DeletedUser
Did you read Hellstromm's posts properly? Of course there were monks of Shaolin once, and they developed a very effective form of kung fu. Hellstromm's point was that the communist regime sacked the Shaolin temple and imprisoned all the monks about 60 years ago, during the cultural revolution.
However, there are monks at Shaolin once again, the laws banning religion in China have been signifcantly relaxed, and a new abbot was ordained at Shaolin in 1999 (most likely the temple is now more of tourism/marketing institution than a religious one however).
DeletedUser13682
Now there are lots of them everywhere, even in America. And I know they have never had supernatural powers. So what is the point that was being argued now that we have all that cleared up?
DeletedUser
You're the only one arguing here, dude.
DeletedUser
I never said Shaolin monastaries did not exist. I said they no longer exist.
Johann, I appreciate your enthusiasm, if not your research. You're taking these wushu practitioners at face value. In truth, they are not Shaolin. And while George indicates the Shaolin temple was reinstated in 1999, what is presently in place is actually a mockery of the past, a tourist trap. The practitioners are wushu students, while the abbot, Shin Yongxin, installed under the trappings of a Dharma meeting by the Government of China's Department of Commerce, is a fraud. He was born in 1965 and claims to have studied at the Shaolin Temple as a boy, yet the Chinese Cultural Revolution put an end to the Shaolin in 1966.
Shin Yongxin is mockingly referred to as the CEO Monk, as he has turned the legend of Shaolin into a collection of kungfu shows, film production and online sales, even going so far as to trademark the name of, "Shaolin." He, alongside China's Department of Commerce, in 1999, began building traditional-looking buildings on the sites previously believed to be where Shaolin temples existed, the original buildings having long since been destroyed. Luxury bathroomsm (with LCD televisions and other 5-star amenities), costing 3 million yuan, were installed at the new temples, for use by tourists, "clients," and the "so-called" monks.
Many martial art practitioners across the world have claimed the title of Shaolin in an effort to sell their product, make them more palatable to the ignorant consumers. They are not, however, Shaolin. The Shaolin, as traditionally understood, are gone and what presently exists is an embarrassment to Buddhism and to the legacy.
http://news.cultural-china.com/20090616111633.html
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/08/content_7940163.htm
http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=398
DeletedUser
addendum: Buddhist monks are just that, monks. They aren't profiteering martial arts instructors, they don't do shows, tours, videos, or seminars. Shaolin monks, as traditionally understood, do not exist. Or, if they do, you have never seen them on Oprah. If they run a temple, it is for Buddhist monks, not Shaolin wannabes. Through all my studies, travels, research, I have never encountered anyone I could confidently refer to as a Shaolin monk, just old (and young) martial artists catering to the ignorant.
DeletedUser13682
@Divest: I figured that out, dude. It's kinda sad to be arguing with yourself 
@Hellstormm: Then it is an unfortunate and sad fate for them. That's why we need to help Taiwan get their country back. Or something like that.
@Hellstormm: Then it is an unfortunate and sad fate for them. That's why we need to help Taiwan get their country back. Or something like that.
DeletedUser
spartans of course
DeletedUser
Thank you army man, for being so attuned to the ongoing discussion. *rolls eyes*