Yes BP!!! Luckily, because of one of my three masters' association with the recently deceased Madame Wong Ju Rong, we were able to hear a first hand account of the absolutely deleterious affects of the Cultural Revolution and Mao's attempt to emascalate the true kung fu and Shaolin and hence create "Wushu" which ironically means "the war arts." My Shaolin master, though not Asian, grew up at the Shaolin temple in Hong Kong from age 3-15 when it was still hard Shaolin. On the mainland, the current abbot (about to start a firestorm here) accedes to the wishes of the Communist government to make it a tourist attraction that presents no threat. Remember our Shaolin history......monks defending against the major dynasties of the time including the Manchus. Well...lol.....the current government is trying to accomplish the same thing. That is why, in traditional Shaolin, Traditional kung fu, etc. the current best teachers are probably either in Hong Kong or North America (sidenote BP and colleagues: isn't it interesting that since the 1997 takeover the PLA or other reps of the Chinese government have not attempted to water down the traditional kung fu practiced in Hong Kong....could be part of the hands off agreement that the mainland is actually adhering?!).
As always BP, good comments!!  |