American Shaolin: Performing Monks

[FrozneDreams]

Dear Mr. Polly, in my English class we had to decide a memoir to read for our English project and out of boredom i chose your book but it was one of the best choices i have ever made. Thank you for spending time writing about your past. By the way what is Deqing doing now?

[MatthewPolly]

@FrozneDreams That's very kind of you say. I'm happy that my book relieved the boredom. I remember what that was like in English classes. Deqing is teaching in Europe. He has something like 2000 students. So he's been very successful.

[sirsprinkles1]

is the little boy little tiger? by the way loved the book one of the best ive ever read.

[MatthewPolly]

@sirsprinkles1 That is little tiger! You've got a good eye. An excellent taste in books :) Very glad you enjoyed my book.

[jucrmahkpa]

i love ths ong what its call?plz

[MatthewPolly]

@jucrmahkpa It is the theme song to the movie "Shaolin Temple" starring a very young Jet Li.

[jucrmahkpa]

@MatthewPolly thnxx i got it...

[DaTruthsHere]

Im in the middle of your book, the chapter is called kickboxing but i never knew kickboxing was a shaolin fighting style, i thought shaolin was kung fu, could you explain to me, by the way, great book

[MatthewPolly]

Hey,

Kickboxing is not a Shaolin style. It was created by the government in the 1950s to add it to the Olympics. It was taught at Shaolin, because it was a government sponsored style of competition. Politics and religion often intersect every where, but in China particularly.

Amituofo,

Matthew

[DaTruthsHere]

@MatthewPolly What do you mean by it was created by the government and also are you talking about Sanshou, thanks, lool

[Bastion83]

@MatthewPolly Hey Matt hope this finds you well, I commented on one of your other videos and wanted to let you know that I'm now a full closed door disciple of my school, who has given up the cane he was using to walk(save for when I have a heavy backpack at college anyway). Thank you again for the inspiring book. I continue to recommend it to my martial brothers and sisters.

[MatthewPolly]

@Bastion83

Thank you again for your kind words. I'm so happy to hear that you found my book inspiring and that your training has allowed you to give up the cane except for certain situations. I wish you all the best in your training. And I do appreciate you recommending the book to your fellow martial arts brothers and sisters. That is the most generous thing you could say.

Amituofo,

Matthew

[Bastion83]

@MatthewPolly I was discussing this with one of my classmates tonight, ever considered making your experiences into a movie? I hate to use this comparison but since I believe you mention this book in your own forgive me. Iron and Silk pulled it off nicely. I think perhaps your story would work even better in some ways. By the way, quick question not covered in your book: Why are so many Chinese insults centered around eggs? Just curious. All the best Matt.

[Bastion83]

@MatthewPolly Ok Matt I now feel like a nimrod since one of the very last pages of your book(that I missed) mentions a movie, still curious about the egg insult bit. How goes life good sir? My Sifu has been abusing(training) my legs in ways that directly confront my mobility issues lately. I'm learning a bit more of our Tiger form but I promise, not becoming a Tiger Man, lol. Have a good one. *bows*

[MatthewPolly]

@Bastion83 I hope your legs survive the "iron" damage. Keep to the tiger and obviously avoid being a "Tiger Man." I have no idea why "egg" is still an insult in China. Culture has its force.

My *bow* to you,

Matthew Polly

[Bastion83]

@MatthewPolly Thankfully its more stretching the screwy muscles and tendons(though I did hyper extend my achilles at the start of the week, better now) and basically forcing my body to learn new muscle memory. Twenty bucks says most Chinese honestly couldnt answer my question now that I think about it, as you said, culture has its force. Thanks for the encouragement Matt.

Amituofo,

Ben

[pmore345]

i am reading your book for my summer reading project and i must say i am amazed with the courage you had to go all the way to china for this. the video's are also quite amazing.

[learnmyname123]

thank you for speedy reply... its not that often you actually get a reply form someone with your status.... thanks

[learnmyname123]

do you have any little tiger videos.... great book it has changed me alot.... can you demonstrate iron forearms?

[MatthewPolly]

this is all the video I have. very happy you enjoyed my book. i haven't practiced iron forearms for a long time.

[MatthewPolly]

no, it's a different kid, but thank you for asking!

[TheCoolSkateboarder]

Mr. Polly, is that little boy Little Tiger?

[AxTraceur]

hust wanted to say how much i loved your book 'american shoalin' i must have read it a dozen times and seeing these clips makes it all the more special :)

[MatthewPolly]

thank you, thank you, thank you, for your very kind words. i am so happy to hear that you enjoyed my book. And the clips.

Amituofo,

mp

[SuperTutorialKing]

Awesome!

[TuffNUffTV]

awesome!

[chailizard]

0:17 that looks cool.

[joshualor101]

matthewpolly, where do u get ur clips ???i want to download some videoes of them performing to my psp so i can show my friends

[MatthewPolly]

I filmed them myself.

[joshualor101]

@MatthewPolly Late response, but i still remember the book you wrote, it was inspiring and awesome. Lol i might go reread it again. Again thanks for sharing such a wondrous adventure with us.

[MatthewPolly]

@joshualor101 Thanks, mate. Those are kind words. I'm very glad you enjoyed it.

Matthew Polly

[mcnuggetter]

It is so cool to see the characters from your book (loved it by the way). I didn't realize how small little tiger was! I just went to china a couple of weeks ago, but i didn't have the chance visit the shaolin temple. I wish i had, especially after seeing your videos

[MatthewPolly]

It's great you had a chance to see China. I want to go back. Thanks for your kind comments about my book.

[TJhandford524]

nice hahaha! i wonder if he's perfected the "F you, MF" 12 years later!

[TJhandford524]

was that Little Tiger at 0:22?

[MatthewPolly]

yes

[SpeedPastYou]

lipeng and deqing must have verticle leaps in the low triple digit inches.

[seamussmurf]

Is the music Japanese?

[MatthewPolly]

Chinese. It's the theme song from "The Shaolin Temple" movie starring Jet Li. Worth watching.

[spongebl]

is that little tiger i see!!!

[MatthewPolly]

yep that's him. good eye.

[spongebl]

really!!!

i was actually just guessing since he was kinda small

[musikifanatik]

is n't this the same technique that Jackie Chan specializes in?

[MatthewPolly]

the Shaolin monks do drunken style like Jackie Chan.

[skypilot28]

Hi Mr. Polly, your book is amazing. I've been studying traditional shaolin, modern wushu & sparring for 5 years and after reading your book was inspired to learn chinese in college to hopefully go to china to do kung fu some day. I have one question: I've started practicing ditangquan a lot and am worried about possible damage to my head; there are a lot of techniques like headflips and stands, and you said all the iron head monks spoke with stutters. Do you think I have anything to worry about?

[MatthewPolly]

Hi, sorry, I thought I had responded to this comment. I studied ditangquan as well. Great style. As long as you do it on a padded mat or carpet you should be fine. Just don't study iron head kungfu or anything involving breaking hard objects over your head. That's what I think causes the stutter.

[091101]

O, and my shifu said the little kid is Shi Xiao Long, the movie star monk. Shi Xiao Long came to train at the temple and then left to make movies. My shifu came after he left....

[091101]

best mantis form i hav ever seen!!!!

[MatthewPolly]

yeah, he's awesome.

[captmoroni]

Hey Matt, I'm about 2/3 through your book. It is such an amazing read! Thanks for writing about your experiences.

Now in this video, is the little one Little Tiger? And is Deqing performing too?

[MatthewPolly]

Hey, thanks. I'm glad you are enjoying it. No the little monk is not Little Tiger. It was another young boy who was at the Temple for a short period of time, so I've forgotten his name. Also, that's not Deqing in the video. I made a separate video exclusively for him. If you search, I'm sure you'll find it. There are about 8 different Shaolin videos that I put up.

[egdqv13234]

Great Shaolin Power! ;) wooaah!

[AZNROCKER]

Your book is certainly most amazing. After the first few pages I couldn't stop reading it. You have my utmost respect for eating bitter and having the guts to fight with that master wu guy. Thank you for sharing your experience with the book you wrote.

[MatthewPolly]

Thank you, bro. I appreciate that. I'm very happy to hear that you enjoyed my book. Feel free to spread the word.

Best,

Matthew

[bornin86]

just finished his book, great story

[MatthewPolly]

Amituofo

[imbrd]

omg polly- i just like went to borders, started readin ur book & now im hooked! Your stories & portrayals of a white foreigner in china is very vivid, humorous, & touching. i would lov to chat more with u some time

[MatthewPolly]

it's great you enjoyed my book. thank you.

[imbrd]

did u ever take up any other forms/style other than sanda & 小红拳? nd like watd u do durin the winter break between training sessions?

[MatthewPolly]

Nice job with the Chinese phrase for Small Red Boxing. Very impressive. While I was there I studied a number of different weapons and forms, including the "mat form" that you can see Monk Lipeng performing in another video. He's awesome; I was pretty weak. I'm currently studying Muay Thai and BJJ.

[imbrd]

yeah thnx for the compliment- im actually chin-american or mor like taiwanese-american but havnt really studied chinese till around college. ive also done martial arts for many years but now after discoverin wonders of internal arts, decided to pursue taiji nd mayb som bagua or aikido in future

[sevencats]

What song did you use? I like it.

[MatthewPolly]

It's the theme song from the movie "The Shaolin Temple." It was Jet Li's first movie. It was released in the early 1980s.

[sevencats]

I can't find this song here on Youtube :( Would you mind sending it to me? Please, I'd be so grateful.

[2wheeledsamurai]

Great video. I've been studying Uechi Ryu, and Shaolin Kempo for about 25 yrs. And I'll tell you it can be very difficult to blend those two systems of Martial Arts. Monks seem to combine Chigong and Animal techniques effortlessly... Amazing...

[sevencats]

Their training and fight look so beautiful. But I guess you have to start learning as a child to become a master.

[MatthewPolly]

it certainly helps.

[theshadowboy607]

nice flips

[catherineroxs]

thats really kool i wanna learn to do that sometime .... it looks like fun

[dalesalsa]

Oh now I'm going to have this song stuck in my head for the whole day! and I have no idea what the lirics are. duh! ;-0

[dalesalsa]

Oh so you are Matthew Polly?! The American form Kansas that went to the Shaolin Temple right? Those monks are in excellent physical and mental shape.

I want to learn qi gong so bad more than anything else. I want to break wood on my arms and back just like that too.

Did you learn qigong over there or just kung fu? Do they teach qi gong to foreigners?

Thank you

[MatthewPolly]

Dale,

Yes they teach chigong and iron kung fu skills if you want to learn them. They take a great deal of time to perfect. Best of luck with your training.

[unknownXAsian]

these monks...are crazy

[MatthewPolly]

i'm glad you enjoyed it.

[zenyogi333]

Did, you tape this durring your stay at the temple?

[MatthewPolly]

I did. This was all personally taped by myself while I was there.