A Monk's Perspective

In this class, I have learned more about the history of martial arts, specifically that it started with Shaolin monks.  Even though these monks are different from me, in terms of some traditions/practices, we are similar in terms of how we live in community, and how we follow our own traditions/practices.   How we live is just as important as what we do with how we live, and martial arts is also an example of this.  

Shinobi: Heart Under Blade

SHINOBI

Real historical characters and events intertwined with anime-like entertainment, martial arts action, drama, and classic Shakespearean romance. 

A true SBP History of Martial Arts Project favorite!!!

Shaolin vs. Wu Tang

Today was a pretty amazing day. We watched the movie Shaolin vs Wu Tang. In the movie, Master Liu and Master Law are rival masters of Shaolin style kung fu and Wu-Tang style sword fighting. They had schools in the same town. Both masters had their top students, Chao Fung-wu and Hung Jun-kit, who were  actually close friends, with Jun-kit's sister, Yan-ling, having a crush on Fung-wu. After observing the two students practice fighting at a brothel, two of the local evil Lord's soldiers report the power of the styles to him. The Lord determines that the two styles are dangerous and that he must learn both.

After poisoning the Wu Tang Master Law and having the sister Yan-ling killed, the evil Lord is able to learn both Wu-Tang Sword style and Shaolin Chin Kang fist from his sister, who is a planted spy disguised as a crazy woman imprisoned with Fung-wu.

Fung-wu and Jun-kit both return to their respective Wu Tang and Shaolin temples for training as a priest and a monk. Jun-kit hopes to revenge the death of his sister, and Fung-wu wants to revenge the death of his master.

The evil Lord has since learned both the styles,but, because he did not learn either from a master, his hold on both styles is imperfect. To overcome this deficiency, he decides to have the Wu-Tang and the Shaolin destroy each other, so he may be the only master of both styles. To do this, he stages a martial arts contest between the two temples, hoping to further the traditional rivalry between the Shaolin and the Wu-Tang. Jun-kit , and Fung-wu , are selected by their respective temples as the representatives. The evil Lord, in his impatience to see both Wu-Tang and Shaolin destroyed admits his true motives and his role in Yan-ling and Master Law's deaths. Tat-chi and Ming-kai then combine Shaolin Chin Kang fist and Wu-Tang Sword style to defeat the evil Lord.

Shaolin Wheel of Life and Sidelicks

Today was a great day! We got to watch two movies, The Shaolin Wheel of Life and the movie Sidekicks. The Shaolin monks movie was really a nice film. Based on the travelling play, the monks performed many different and great techniques, based on their history that happened years ago. The Shaolin monks really did great performances.

Sidekicks was about a weak, daydreaming kid, Barry, who had fantasies of meeting martial arts legend Chuck Norris and going on different adventures with him to many countries. The kids at school picked on Barry and made fun of him since he was a weakling and wasn't doing any activities due to the asthma that he had.

His life would change when his school teacher got her uncle, a martial arts master, to start training him. Barry got to be strong both physically and mentally. He stood up to bullies and actually teamed up with Chuck Norris and won a karate tournament!

Shaolin vs. Wu Tang

 Shaolin vs. Wu Tang

Today we watched a movie that was similar to the one yesterday, but it was more about Shaolin Temple against Wu Tang Temple. The evil Manchu lord wanted to learn the two styles then destroy Shaolin and Wu Tang.


In the beginning, we see a Wu Tang master being invited to the palace by the evil lord and while there he was poisoned and then killed by his own sword. The lord did this so that they could get the Wu Tang sword manual. After killing the master they took his prized student as captive. He was going to be imprisoned until he revealed the WuTang secrets to the Manchu.

Despite the already existing animosity and group rivalry, the WuTang student escapes with the help of his best friend from Shaolin. The evil lord spreads rumors to create even more bitter hatred between the Shaolin and the Wu Tang.

After the evil lord felt that he had learnt all that he wanted, he sought to kill them so he held a fighting contest so that the Shaolin and Wu Tang would ultimately weaken and destroy each other.

However, the Shaolin and Wu Tang combatants came together and defeated the evil Lord´s plan of destroying the two temple styles. The Wu Tang would eventually side with the Manchu in order to gain power and bring down Shaolin in actual history.

Shaolin Prince

Shaolin Prince

There were two infant Ming family princes and when the palace was attacked by Manchu invaders, the young princes were protected by royal guards and would be hidden to save their lives.

They grew up to adulthood without ever seeing each other. One was raised by a loyal Ming family prime minister in a palace and the other was raised by Shaolin monks (who were known as The Holy Fools) that had been isolated for past transgressions.

Twenty years pass and at the ages of 23 and 20, the two princes both have learned kung fu very well. They meet each other by chance and become friends still not knowing they were actual brothers. Together they fought ghosts, Shaolin traitors & spies, as well as Manchu soldiers.

When they finally overcame the evil Manchu 9th Prince and are restored to power, the older brother, who was sheltered and secluded in the monastery for years, allowed his younger brother to rule since he had lived with the prime minister and was better equipped and prepared politically to lead.

Zen in the Martial Arts

Zen in the Martial Arts

In today’s world wasting time is always considered as not doing anything but sit down and let time pass you by. In Zen in the Martial Arts there is a statement that changed my whole mindset on time wasting, now i know it is possible to waste time productively. This means someone would have to go to a silent place and just meditate which will make them  understands themselves more

Even the masters have masters

We all look up to wise people or in a way want to have wisdom and where do we get this wisdom, from human beings just like us. Where did they get it from, they were also taught by some people who were wiser than them, so it's just a circle of the more educated people educating the less educated, that is where the term comes from not even one person is born wise but they get the wisdom from someone and they pass it down and so on so life goes on