Bruce Lee Playing Ping Pong.

Shaolin.

The Shaolin Monastery or Shaolin Temple pinyin: Shàolínsì), is a Chan Buddhist temple at Song Shan near Zhengzhou City Henan Province in Dengfeng China. Founded in the 5th century, the monastery is long famous for its association with Chinese martial arts and particularly with Shaolin Kung Fu, and it is the Mahayana Buddhist monastery perhaps best known to the Western world. The Shao in "Shaolin" refers to "Mount Shaoshi", a mountain in the Songshan mountain range. The lin in "Shaolin" means "forest". Literally, the name means "Monastery in the woods of Mount Shaoshi".

Early history.
According to the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks (AD 645) by Dàoxuān, the Shaolin Monastery was built on the north side of Shaoshi, the western peak of Mount Song, one of the Sacred Mountains of China, by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty in AD 477; the first abbot of Shaolin was Batuo, also called Fotuo or Bhadra (the Chinese translation for Buddha), an Indian dhyana master who came to China in AD 464 to spread Buddhist teachings.Yang Xuanzhi, in the Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang (AD 547), and Li Xian, in the Ming Yitongzhi (AD 1461), concur with Daoxuan's location and attribution. The Jiaqing Chongxiu Yitongzhi (AD 1843) specifies that this monastery, located in the province of Henan, was built in the 20th year of the Tàihé era of the Northern Wei Dynasty, that is, the monastery was built in AD 497.

Kangxi, the second Qing emperor, was a supporter of the Shaolin temple in Henan and he wrote the calligraphic inscription that, to this day, hangs over the main temple gate.

Destruction.
The monastery has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. Perhaps the best-known story of the Temple's destruction is that it was destroyed in 1644 by the Qing government for supposed anti-Qing activities;this destruction is also supposed to have helped spread Shaolin martial arts through China by means of the five fugitive monks Ng Mui, Jee Shin Shim Shee, Fung Doe Duk, Miu Hin and Bak Mei. This story commonly appears in martial arts history, fiction, and cinema.

However, accounts of the Qing Dynasty destroying the Shaolin temple may refer to a southern Shaolin temple, which Ju Ke, in the Qing bai lei chao (1917), located in Fujian Province. Additionally, some martial arts historians, such as Tang Hao and Stanley Henning believe that the story is likely fictional, appearing only at the very end of the Qing period in novels and sensational literature.

Recent history.
There is evidence of Shaolin martial arts techniques being exported to Japan in the 18th and 19th centuries. Okinawan Shōrin-ryū karate , for example, has a name meaning "Small [Shao]lin". Other similarities can be seen in centuries-old Chinese and Japanese martial arts manuals.

In 1928, the warlord Shi Yousan set fire to the monastery, burning it for over 40 days, destroying 90% of the buildings including many manuscripts of the temple library. The Cultural Revolution launched in 1966 targeted religious orders including the Monastery. The five monks who were present at the Monastery when the Red Guard attacked were shackled and made to wear placards declaring the crimes charged against them. The monks were jailed after being flogged publicly and parading through the street as people threw rubbish at them. The government purged Buddhist materials from within the Monastery walls, leaving it barren for years.

Martial arts groups from all over the world have made donations for the upkeep of the temple and grounds, and are subsequently honored with carved stones near the entrance of the temple.
In the past, many people have tried to capitalize on the Shaolin Monastery by building their own schools on Mount Song. However, the Chinese government eventually outlawed this, and so the schools all moved to the nearby towns, such as Dengfeng (登封).

A Dharma gathering was held between August 19 and 20, 1999, in the Shaolin Monastery, Songshan, China, for Buddhist Master Shi Yong Xin to take office as abbot. He is the thirteenth successor after Buddhist abbot Xue Ting Fu Yu. In March 2006 Vladimir Putin of Russia became the first foreign leader to visit the monastery.

Two luxury bathrooms were recently added to the temple for use by monks and tourists. The new bathrooms reportedly cost three million yuan.

Patron saint.
In his book The Shaolin Monastery (2008), Tel Aviv University Prof. Meir Shahar notes the Boddhisattva Vajrapani is the patron saint of the Shaolin Monastery. A short story appearing in Zhang Zhuo's (660-741) Tang anthology shows how the deity had been venerated in the Monastery from at least the eighth century. It is an anecdotal story of how the Shaolin monk Sengchou (480-560) gained supernatural strength and fighting ability by praying to Vajrapani and being force-fed raw meat. Shaolin abbot Zuduan (1115-1167) erected a stele in his honor during the Song Dynasty. It reads:

1517 stele dedicated to Narayana's defeat of the Red Turban rebels. Guanyin (his original form) can be seen in the clouds above his head.

Ninjutsu (Ninpo)

Ninjutsu sometimes used interchangeably with the term ninpō , is the martial arts practiced by the shinobi (also commonly known as the ninja).

The main character nin is composed of two lesser characters, the upper meaning “blade”, the lower meaning “heart” or “spirit”. Together they mean “stealth” and “secretness,” as well as endurance” and “perseverance”. Jutsu means “true”, “technique”. Pō meaning “knowledge”, “principle” when found with the prefix “nin” carries the meaning of ninja arts, higher order of ninjutsu. Although the popular view is that ninjutsu is the art of secrecy or stealth, actual practitioners consider it to mean the art of enduring - enduring all of life's hardships.

Ninjutsu was developed by groups of people mainly from the Iga Province and Kōka, Shiga of Japan. Throughout history the shinobi have been seen as assassins for hire, and have been associated in the public imagination with other activities which are considered criminal by modern standards. Although thought to have come from Chinese expatriates ninjutsu is believed by its adherents to be of Japanese origin. It is believed to be strongly influenced by the strategic principles of Sun Tzu. Throughout history many different schools (or ryū) were developed which taught their unique version of ninjutsu. An example of these is the Togakure-ryū. This ryū was developed after a defeated samurai warrior called Daisuke Togakure escaped to the region of Iga. Later he came in contact with the warrior-monk Kain Doshi who taught him a new way of viewing life and the means of survival (ninjutsu).

Dr.Masaaki Hatsumi demonstrating Ninjutsu techniques on BBC:Mind, Body & Kick Ass Moves
Ninjutsu was developed as a collection of fundamental survivalist techniques in the warring state of feudal Japan. The ninja clans used their art to ensure their survival in a time of violent political turmoil. It also included methods of gathering information, non-detection, avoidance, and misdirection techniques. Ninjutsu can also involve training in disguise, escape, concealment, archery, medicine, explosives, and poisons.

Skills relating to espionage and assassination were highly useful to warring factions in feudal Japan. However, because these activities were seen as dishonorable, Japanese warriors hired people who existed below Japan's social classes, literally called "non-humans" (hinin), to perform these tasks. At some point, the skills of espionage became known collectively as ninjutsu, and the people who specialized in these tasks were called shinibi no mono, and later, ninja. Ultimately, the skills of ninjutsu were so essential to conducting warfare that some samurai began to practice their techniques, as well incorporating ninjutsu into their formal schools of martial arts (ryū). To avoid misunderstandings, "ninjutsu" should just refer to a specific branch of Japanese martial arts, unless it is being used in a historical sense.

18 Ninjutsu Skills (Ninja Jūhakkei)
According to Bujinkan members, the eighteen disciplines and they became definitive for all ninjutsu schools, providing a complete training of the warrior in various fighting arts and complementary disciplines.

Ninja jūhakkei was often studied along with Bugei Jūhappan (the "18 samurai fighting art skills"). Though some of them are the same, the techniques of each discipline were used with different approaches by both samurai and ninja

Bruce Lee statue?

A few posts back - we spoke about how cool Bruce Lee was. Well well well... somebody managed to point out he has his own statue. How cool is that?!!! How many martial artists/actors, have there own statue... we're waiting... yeah keep thinking man...

None!!!! - think of that for a second - and tell us he was not the coolest martial artist ever!!!

Coolest up and coming martial arts actor.

Tony Ja.

Panom Yeerum was born on February 5, 1976 in the northeastern province of Surin, Thailand. His parents were elephant herders. Panom watched martial arts films as a young kid and began to emulate some of his idols, from Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan to Jet Li. After seeing the 1986 Thai action film "Born to Fight", Panom met and studied martial arts and stuntwork as a teen under the director of that film, Panna Rittikrai. Panom went to university where he studied a variety of martial arts, from taekwondo to judo. It was not long before Panom would get work, doubling for Robin Shou and James Remar in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997) and when his demo reel was seen by director Prachya Pinkaew, the film Ong-bak was created for Panom, who is now going by the name of "Tony Jaa" in hopes to bring his style of action to international audiences.

Courtesy of: http://www.movieseer.com/ActorProfileBil.asp?aID=6863&Channel=2

Coolest remake of a Bruce Lee movie.

Jet Li's movie - Fist Of Legend is based on the Bruce Lee flick - Fists Of Fury/Chinese Connection.

Li's awesome in this. In fact we rate this as his top movie.
If you're a martial artist and not just a fan - we know you do too. Bruce Lee would be proud.

Jet Li's career as a martial artist is long and his movie career not that bad either. Fearless is a movie that also show's - one of China's all time modern wushu master's at his best. Check that flick out and several other's under his name. This post on Li will grow as we gather more resources on the man.

Coolest martial artist ever.

You would be hardpressed to find a martial artist who embodied the word "cool" like Mr Lee did. This pic we managed to get from another blog - nappydiatribe.blogspot.com (great blog) - show's exactly what we mean.

That blog classifies Lee as being hip-hop. Well what else is cooler than hip-hop? - nada. He kicked ass and was cool. We wonder what he would look like right now if he was still alive?

Speaking of being alive - Mr. Lee lives on in the hearts of all martial arts fans and martial artists - alike. Long live Bruce Lee.

Personal phiosophy and martial art - read the Toa Of Jeet Kune Do.