Lure of Kung Fu(2)

In a shaded courtyard, kung fu masters flow through fighting forms with a sinuous, otherworldly grace.

A group of students look on as the shaven-headed monks demonstrate the basic stances of wushu, the backbone of Shaolin's fighting style, made famous worldwide by the moviemakers of Hong Kong and Hollywood.

These eager pupils are African, European and American. And while some made the pilgrimage to Shaolin seeking the fabled martial prowess that will stop an enemy's heart with a single blow, just as many say they came because they are looking for a professional edge.

As recently as a decade ago, foreign students were not common at Shaolin.

But as Valery Mabre knows first hand, things have changed.

The 23-year-old Ivorian, who came to Shaolin two years ago on a scholarship, spars with a group of shavenheaded Chinese monks.

The fluent Mandarin speaker and history graduate has set himself an ambitious goal.

"I want to be a kung fu master," he says. "If possible, I'd like to stay here and become a monk."

His fellow countryman Denis Banhoro, 55, wants something different out of his Shaolin experience.

The 55-year-old accountant, who is studying at the temple for a few months on a scholarship, is also the current national director of the Kung fu Federation of Cote d'Ivoire.

He believes the principles inherent in the kung fu he is learning can be applied to his professional life.

"I love Shaolin Kung fu, that is why I am here," he says. "I think Shaolin kung fu is good for your health, moreover, you need to use your head to think about it. It's not only an expression of the body. "

Demina Masoula, a 43-year-old business and marketing consultant who is part of a group from Greece that has come to study at Shaolin for about two weeks, agrees.

An executive for an insurance company and an engineer for a multinational corporation practice nearby while Masoula takes a breather from the demanding 4.30 am to 9 pm daily training regime.

"In business, you have to be flexible, you have to find new paths and change. You have to see a crisis and avoid it. Kung fu teaches you to be fluid, like water, because everything in kung fu flows and stagnation is bad."

Masoula thinks the temple has successfully struck the right balance commercially and culturally.

"They get people in to make money to maintain the culture and the history here, the martial arts itself."

Wang Yumin, dean of Shaolin's Foreign Affairs Office, says since January last year there have been about 800 foreigners who have come to live and train at the temple for periods ranging from a few days to more than 12 months.

He says the number of African students is on the rise.

"We are starting to see more African people here," Wang says. "We have some at the moment whose costs have been covered by the temple or the Chinese government's Ministry of Culture. A lot of Africans seem to love kung fu, so we are helping them come here. We want our way of life to help people spiritually and physically, and that includes Africans."

In the small city of Dengfeng at the base of Songshan mountain near Shaolin, more than 50,000 people train at 52 different kung fu schools annually.

Wang believes foreign students are specifically and increasingly seeking the "legitimacy" that he says Shaolin Temple offers.

But ideas about what constitutes authenticity in Chinese kung fu are contrary, and often subjective.

In an open-plan space on the fourth floor of a Beijing skyscraper, a mix of foreigners and locals throw kicks and punches at each other with a brutal efficiency that contrasts with the graceful flow of movement at Shaolin.

This is no accident, says Englishman-turned-Beijing-resident and professional martial artist Jai Harman.

The students are practicing ving tsun, a style renowned for its ruthless practicality. Many in the martial arts scene, such as Harman, believe it holds an authenticity Shaolin wushu is losing.

Harman, 30, who has lived in China for a decade, is a senior instructor at the Beijing Scientific Ving Tsun School. Ving tsun is an offshoot of Shaolin wu shu that is now ancient in its own right.

"Wu shu is a demonstrational form of kung fu," Harman says. "It has zero practicality for fighting. It's just good for building up the body. Ving tsun doesn't have any pretty poses; it's all about practicality."