4 ms·

In contrast, the supply of shaolin monks has always been steady

by abakus 8y ago

malydok 8y ago
One is a religious congregation, one is not.
forkLding 8y ago
Quite impressive, considering that only a few out of many are chosen to become an actual shaolin monk and receive official warrior monkhood (if you were thinking of the kung fu monks), usually only a few out of couple hundred normal monks get chosen. They still have to abide by the rigorous no-meat no-wine, no-sex, no-marriage lifestyle and fight to protect Buddhists.
themodelplumber 8y ago
Interesting that you mention this. I was just reflecting: Years ago I had a shaolin-trained martial arts instructor, and some years after that, several shorin-ryu-trained instructors; shorin and shaolin are related in interesting ways in terms of styles but very closely related in the sense that they are martial arts "disciplines" with similar paths. When I watch e.g. documentaries of the shaolin way, it cracks me up to see the same attitude again and again--here are the serious students, and there are the fat teachers with amused looks on their faces, who just don't seem to care in that way anymore. I wonder if it's made worse by watching all the hardcore newbies line up at the door every year. One guy who impressed me, and everybody else, was an instructor from Japan who lit into the fat American instructors, telling them they couldn't represent his way of doing things and also live as such a poor physical specimen. Still, I felt for them. There's some balance to be found, once the initial excitement and seriousness is over, once it has become one's day to day, and must now accommodate natural turns of flaxen emotionality in addition to the iron discipline. So these instructors talked the iron-discipline talk, but hadn't been trained, apparently, to navigate a long-term, realistic approach to life as an expert martial artist. As a result they looked like these guys I always see in the documentaries: Casting amused glances at the students, pot-bellied, always looking out for a laugh or a chance to lighten up. Something about that state of being contains an important martial arts truth.
- bazinga56 8y ago
  The pot-bellied easy nature is one of those Buddhist ideals, not concerned with vanity, so you are natural and flowing. Sometimes called laughing buddha or budai
  - seanmcdirmid 8y ago
    Budai is the one everyone always mistakes for Buddha, who in contrast was probably quite thin.

In contrast, the supply of shaolin monks has always been steady

by abakus 8y ago

In contrast, the supply of shaolin monks has always been steady

malydok 8y ago

One is a religious congregation, one is not.

forkLding 8y ago

Quite impressive, considering that only a few out of many are chosen to become an actual shaolin monk and receive official warrior monkhood (if you were thinking of the kung fu monks), usually only a few out of couple hundred normal monks get chosen. They still have to abide by the rigorous no-meat no-wine, no-sex, no-marriage lifestyle and fight to protect Buddhists.

themodelplumber 8y ago

Interesting that you mention this. I was just reflecting: Years ago I had a shaolin-trained martial arts instructor, and some years after that, several shorin-ryu-trained instructors; shorin and shaolin are related in interesting ways in terms of styles but very closely related in the sense that they are martial arts "disciplines" with similar paths. When I watch e.g. documentaries of the shaolin way, it cracks me up to see the same attitude again and again--here are the serious students, and there are the fat teachers with amused looks on their faces, who just don't seem to care in that way anymore. I wonder if it's made worse by watching all the hardcore newbies line up at the door every year. One guy who impressed me, and everybody else, was an instructor from Japan who lit into the fat American instructors, telling them they couldn't represent his way of doing things and also live as such a poor physical specimen. Still, I felt for them. There's some balance to be found, once the initial excitement and seriousness is over, once it has become one's day to day, and must now accommodate natural turns of flaxen emotionality in addition to the iron discipline. So these instructors talked the iron-discipline talk, but hadn't been trained, apparently, to navigate a long-term, realistic approach to life as an expert martial artist. As a result they looked like these guys I always see in the documentaries: Casting amused glances at the students, pot-bellied, always looking out for a laugh or a chance to lighten up. Something about that state of being contains an important martial arts truth.

bazinga56 8y ago
The pot-bellied easy nature is one of those Buddhist ideals, not concerned with vanity, so you are natural and flowing. Sometimes called laughing buddha or budai
- seanmcdirmid 8y ago
  Budai is the one everyone always mistakes for Buddha, who in contrast was probably quite thin.