Thirty-seven of the world's top martial arts masters gathered at
the famous Shaolin Temple in central China's
Henan Province on Friday for nine days of secluded practice in
preparation for the final stage of a supreme kungfu contest.
A young martial artist
participating in the Chinese Kungfu Star TV Contest demonstrates
his kungfu skills at the Shaolin Temple in Songshan, Central
China's Henan Province, on Friday.
The Chinese Kungfu Star TV Contest, jointly organized by the
Shaolin Temple and the Shenzhen Satellite TV Station in south
China's
Guangdong Province, began in March this year and has drawn
countless kungfu fanatics from around the world.
The masters got to the final stage of the contest by taking out
the first three places in each of its six international
competitions in the United States, Russia, Australia, France,
Germany and Italy, and in the five events held in China.
During the seclusion period, the multicultural contestants will
have a chance to learn Shaolin culture and the essence of martial
arts in the temple, the birthplace of Zen Buddhism.
They will have the temple's 18 arhats, Luohan in Chinese, as
their teachers, who will pass on unique kungfu skills and give
lectures on Buddhist thought and kungfu history, according to Liu
Dihong, one of the contest organizers.
The contestants must follow temple rules by wearing the kasaya,
a patchwork outer vestment worn by Buddhist monks, eating
vegetarian meals and shaving their heads and facial hair during the
seclusion, Liu said.
Liu said it had been no easy task to gather the international
"kungfu stars."
Elie Saade, a 22-year-old Lebanese master who won a place in the
top three in the Italian contest, lost contact with the organizer
after his city was bombarded by Israeli troops last month.
The organizing committee got in touch with Chen Zhaoyang,
Saade's coach and a Chinese master teaching at a kungfu centre in
Beirut, for help. Chen managed to track down Saade and he arrived
at the Shaolin Temple on Friday morning.
After the seclusion period is over the 37 players will take part
in a grand ceremony to mark the occasion.
They will give demonstrations and compete with the kungfu monks
at the temple before they leave for Guzhang County in Hunan
Province and Shenzhen in Guangdong Province to vie for the title of
"World No 1 Kungfu Master."
(China Daily September 2, 2006)
