Squatting monk
October 8 2001

Don't EAT the mouse Lenny, Just pet the mouse!
Actually, I've seen this movie before. One minute the drunken monk is eating pebbles off the floor and the next he is kicking your ass Kung Fu style because you killed his master and stole the holy nunchakus of Liaoping Wu!!
Wasn't that the plot of a Jackie Chan film?

Forest of dagobas
October 8 2001

Built in the memory of the great Buddhist monks of Shaolin Monastery, these pagodas are found a short distance up the hill from the Shaolin temple and monastery

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Tools of the trade
October 8 2001

Headstands
October 8 2001

These young grasshoppers were not only improving the flow of blood to their brains, but learning languages at the same time. The teacher was making them count the time they were inverted in English.

Elephant detail
October 8 2001

Found on a gigantic incense burner before one of the temples

Nosferatu Kung Fu
October 9 2001

On our second day at the monastery, after spending the night in the hotel on the grounds and watching the practice sessions, we went to see one of the scripted shows put on for paying tourists. Heavy on the stunts and light on the religion, the show offered definitive, if fuzzy, proof that Nosferatu is alive and well and practicing his Kung Fu.

Feats of strength
October 9 2001

These two young men had been meditating quite seriously, quite peacefully when fellow students entered the stage and began to beat them in imaginative ways. The audience seemed to enjoy these feats of strength and concentration the most.

And flexibility
October 9 2001

This half pint Monk didn't take part in any of the fight scenarios but took his meditation so seriously I thought a fight would break out if a snicker at his size was heard.

And plain stupidity
October 9 2001

The show culminated with this fellow focusing long enough to be able to snap an iron bar on his frontal lobe without any visible damage. How this developed from Buddhist spirituality and deep meaningless meditation is probably too deep for me to grasp - It was another real crowd pleaser though. I do know that if you smashed an iron bar on my head, I'd get a cross-eyed look of intense concentration too.

B-Ball Monks
October 9 2001

Is there a better way to unwind after being beaten in the head and torso with staffs, sledgehammers and iron bars than a friendly game of 5 on 6? After the show all the actors went back to being boys and whooped it up with a game of hoops.

Temple eaves
October 8 2001

Can you blame me?
October 8 2001

Ok Ok, no more butt shots, I promise!