Original subtitles

Shaolin Kung Fu, King of the Fighting Arts.

Deadly and mysterious, its reputation was

forged on the battlefields of ancient China.

But born in the cradle of Zen Buddhism, Shaolin Temple.

To discover the secrets behind this spiritual

art of combat, I'll have to infiltrate its rank.

This is where the term boot camp would really apply.

I'm Jason Scott Lee, Hollywood actor and student of Bruce Lee's martial art,

Jit Kung Do for 20 years.

For two weeks, I'll be eating, sleeping and

breathing Kung Fu under Shaolin's reigning masters.

And I'll be tested to my limits every day.

Fail.

And I'll be thrown out of Kung Fu boot camp.

Succeed and I will earn my place in this elite institution

and learn what it takes to be a Shaolin warrior.

We're on the road, we're driving up to the mythical Shaolin Temple.

Shaolin Temple for martial artists around the world is sort of a mecca.

It's the place where you almost need to make a pilgrimage to because of its

history of 1500 years of these warrior mocks that have protected and defended

peace and China and emperors and they have such a

royal bearing within the martial arts community.

Shaolin Temple for me goes back a long ways and my

father used to take us to all these old Kung Fu movies.

As a child, you're just fascinated by the Kung Fu, the flying

they could do and almost X-Men-like powers that they've had.

And it's always been a fantasy of mine to see what that's all about.

You can say that Shaolin Temple is every Kung Fu student's dream rite of passage.

I hope my 20 years of training in Bruce Lee's ji kundo and my experience as an

instructor in the art have prepared me for acceptance into the temple.

I don't know what to expect to come all this way and possibly be turned away.

I don't know.

I'm a tofu.

I'm a tofu.

I'm looking for a Yang Ching Shifu.

I am Master Yang Chan.

If you want to learn Shaolin Kung Fu, I must bring you to meet the Abbot.

If the Abbot is willing to accept you as its

disciple, I can start to teach you Shaolin Kung Fu.

Come with me.

Wow, I can't believe I'm here.

This face feels amazing.

Shaolin Temple was built in the 5th century amongst the lush forest of Mount Song.

Over the millennia, the World Heritage Site has been attacked by bandits,

sacked by rebel armies, and rebuilt many times.

Its scars are deep, but you can't deny the incredible aura.

It still exudes.

We're heading to the heart of the temple, the main prayer hall.

The hall can fit around 100 monks and is used for a variety of activities,

from daily prayers to big celebrations.

Today it hosts the Abbot, who will judge if I'm worthy to be a student of Shaolin.

Only a gentleman can become a disciple, so you should do it well.

Before I can make you a disciple, I have a few questions to ask you.

Do you have your parents' consent to become a disciple of the Shaolin Temple?

Yes.

Do you have unsettled lawsuits on hand?

No.

Do you have any unpaid debts?

No.

Are you over 18 years old?

45.

Well, I was kind of confused with the questions, you know, how personal some

were, and I wasn't quite sure which way to go, whether my answers were going to be

correct or not, or if they weren't, were going to kick me out, I wasn't sure.

You meet the requirements, you can become a disciple.

Try to stay along the lines of something that I thought would suit my choice for

being there, and I think it all worked out fine.

Congratulations on becoming a disciple.

We're going to shave your head to be like us.

Shaolin monks shave their heads as a show of devotion to Buddha.

It also signifies a cleansing process.

So this is shaving off all my worldly desires to achieve enlightenment,

letting go of material things.

Seems like you really having a finny knee with Buddha.

A shave's head suits you.

With the ceremonies out of the way, it's time to kick off my training.

Janchan Sifu gives me a taste of what Shaolin Kung Fu is all about.

These are the fellow seniors who will be

practicing Shaolin Kung Fu together with you.

Alright everyone, let's begin now.

Jason, this is double whips, double whips emphasizing

on the speed and the strength of the wrist.

The first day I met the monks, they came a very jovial, but when they

were put to the test with their skills, you could

see the fierceness, you see the mental focus.

That contradiction into what you think of Shaolin warrior

monk is was kind of unfolding right before my eyes.

It looks like the most impressive weapon.

You know, the big question that people want to know

is well, and Jason Scott Lee beat a Shaolin monk?

I think about it, and I think why would I want

to pick a fight with a Shaolin monk anyway?

The monks prove my points spectacularly with the display

of their incredible defense against the sharpest weapons.

You try it.

Yes, as it turns out, it's also a rite of passage for the freshmen of the team.

I'm in trouble now.

What?

Lightly, lightly, lightly, lightly, lightly.

In Shaolin, before you can train Chigong or even handle

a weapon, you have to master hand-to-hand combat.

Today, I will be learning Shaolin's famous seven-star

fist, one of its most ancient kung fu forms.

In a few days, I will be tested on the accuracy of my moves, and if I fail,

I will be shown the door.

Before you learn the stance, I'll let Sausang demonstrate it to you.

Sausang demonstrated once.

Legend has it that movements in the seven-star fists

are actually inspired by the big-dipper constellation.

It's designed for close-quarter combat and can be applied by smaller-sized fighters

against larger opponents, making even a tiny

fighter like Sausang, a tricky adversary.

Pretty amazing for a six-year-old good boy.

You gradually will be able to fight as well and as fluidly as us.

As I have mentioned, the motion of the body flows naturally after a thousand punches.

It doesn't look like it's that hard, but it's very hard, and I've been having a

lot of problems wrapping my head around it.

There's so much detail involved.

Almost every move is designed to either strike or deflect or protect.

That'll work.

When you're doing the stance, apply the hand grip.

A hand grip, you understand?

When he applied the pressure on my arm, he locks my hand, it locks my shoulder,

and then with the kick, he just punishes you to the ground.

He can also apply it as a throw, so there's a lot of applications.

You have to be flexible in deciding how to execute a move.

This is how the move is done, but you have to think

about how to improvise and apply to various situations.

Understand?

This is meditation in motion.

There is a relaxed quality to it, but there's also an explosion of chi.

I don't know when those moments are, so I'm going blind trying to learn the moves.

This is a lot to take in just one day, but I

haven't got a lot of time to feel sorry for myself.

I've got to train harder than anyone else if I'm going to make the cut.

Learn kung fu that I never knew existed, and find

a key to unlock the secrets of the seven-star fist.

As part of the Shaolin kung fu team, I have to train three hours in the morning

and two and a half hours in the afternoon over the next two weeks.

My teammates do it year in and year out.

There's a wonderful brotherhood that happens

when you're doing really difficult practices.

There is that trust that you have to have almost like falling backwards and knowing

that someone's going to be there to catch you.

Your next challenge is very important.

If your legs are not flexible, you will face a lot of difficulty in your training.

Let me show you what kung fu style you can learn when you have masters stretching.

When I

watched the Shaolin monk performing the stretching

exercise, it's not what you would think Shaolin kung fu is.

You think Shaolin kung fu, Shaolin boxer, Shaolin

throwing kicks and breaking material things.

But as I watched it, I thought, wow, that's a

facet of Shaolin kung fu that you don't often see.

That would be more akin to yoga or Ayurvedic yogic practice with the

breathing and the contortion and immense amount of flexibility.

From what I observed, he's going through a meditation.

And in this meditation, he gets into different, contorted positions.

Young Chen Shifu says that that's all about meditation.

That's what integral part of Shaolin kung fu, which is completely brand new to me.

Because I had never been introduced to that side.

And I was completely fascinated.

To be there and experience something like

that makes it a very unique experience for me.

Because of coming in with no real expectations, but coming out, seeing an

amazing kaleidoscope, and amazing multifaceted methods

of training that these Shaolin monks go through.

You have to practice hard, understand?

Everyone, off to the next location.

Hurry up!

My lack of flexibility has shot my confidence to pieces.

I need to pull myself together.

A Yen Chen Shifu has the perfect motivator.

The centuries-old hall of a thousand Buddhas,

also known as the kung fu training hall.

It's the oldest structure in the Shaolin Temple.

And inside, there are 48 small depressions in the floor.

Legend has it that they are formed by hundreds of years of kung fu training,

as the monks channel their Chi through their

feet, striking the ground with incredible force.

This depression on the ground is the evidence of a kind of spirit that exists here.

This is the Shaolin spirit, which can be expressed

by the saying, Rome is not built in a day.

Gung fu can not simply be acquired overnight.

A pit like this can only be achieved over a certain period of time and sweat.

Nowadays, most monks do not get the chance to practice their martial arts here.

But today, I've especially brought a few monks here to train with you.

You must treasure this opportunity.

Do not disappoint me.

Go.

Yen Chen, go.

Shifu brought me to the kung fu hall to inspire me and get me pumped up so that I

can train really hard to learn the seven star fist.

I think, in a way, I felt very small.

Firstly, who am I?

I mean, and here am I at this amazing place, training in this historical hall.

And I thought, I'm just like one generation.

I'm a little blip in the time frame and the scale of history in hundreds of years

of practitioners cultivating their Chi, really

putting their whole life into their kung fu.

Okay.

Like this.

Good.

In a way, I don't feel up the par, but I'm trying my best to make it work,

remember the moves and perform them well.

Like that.

Feel it?

Stretch your legs.

Lean to the left side.

Okay?

Yen Chen, Sifu said that it takes thousands of hours to remember these things.

And as a beginner, I tend to agree because you really have to get into your body.

It has to become a natural reflex.

And as a beginner, it's not quite the area.

It's more like piecing together a puzzle.

And I'm still that puzzle is just not quite fitting.

And that's the struggle.

When you first start off, a kick is just a kick and a punch is just a punch.

When you start getting into the training, a punch

is no longer a punch and kick is no longer a kick.

Once you've gone through the training, you come out the

other end, a kick is just a kick and a punch is just a punch.

So it's that idea that you go through a mechanical stage.

In a couple of days, I will be tested on my seven-star fist.

Whether I stay or go depends on how well I do.

And am I truly worthy of wielding Shaolin's greatest weapon?

Day four of my Shaolin Kung Fu training, the entire team is

going to be tested on our mastery of the seven-star fist.

Judging us is a senior monk of Shaolin Temple, Yanti Sifu.

Without everyone needs a perform well.

Understand.

There can be no mistakes.

And if I do make one, it's us the Levista baby, no more Kung Fu boot camp.

All I can do is pray and try my very best.

I'm feeling a bit apprehensive, a bit nervous.

I think there's a lot of pressure on me to perform well.

And I am the outsider coming in.

So I really have to buck up and try to lock into

the rhythms and the timing of the other monks.

You go aside.

I can see this is going to be difficult.

And failure will be punishing.

Second group, begin!

As I'm watching the monks before I'm ahead of me, I've seen some monks that are not

doing so well, you know, losing the timing, losing the routine.

I see that those are the ones that are picked

out and put to the side and put in a horse stand.

So I'm pretty nervous at this point, you know, watching how it's all going down.

It wasn't quite right.

I was a little bit slow on the draw.

My timing was a bit off.

I think that's it.

That's the end of the road for me here in Shaolin Temple.

I have to show off two moves that's a part of the seven star fist.

And those two moves will be done when being attacked.

So I thought, okay, here's my chance.

I better try and put this guy down or show some flair when I'm using these techniques.

Senior, what do you think?

Good.

You can continue to learn something new now, but you still need to build a

stronger foundation from seven star boxing.

Go over there.

I'm relieved in the end that it worked out for me.

I felt that I barely got through, and this is just my first test.

I don't have long to get over my shaky start.

It's time to enter the next stage of my training.

He just used his fingers.

Everything they do, they have preparation.

It's like this mental focus.

Jason, today I will teach you the horse stance.

These stilts are made by our own monks in the shape of a plum blossom flower.

What do you work on these stilts?

We work on the flexibility and stability of the body.

This training requires utmost focus.

One careless step will lead to a painful fall.

This is foundational work.

Any foundational work is usually the hardest stuff to do physically.

I'm looking at the buckets of water that they have.

I don't have something to do with my torture here.

Turns out that my first challenge is to hold the buckets

of water in a horse stance for at least three minutes.

And it's easier said than done.

Jason, you compete with Shaoxong now.

Shaoxong will perform the Chaotian dung stance on

one foot while you perform horse stance on both feet.

Whoever loses will do 100 push-ups as punishment.

Again.

Physically, this is where the term bootcamp would really apply.

You have to sustain your muscles over a long period of time.

You have lost 100 push-ups.

Shaoxong, come down.

Shaoxong, you have one.

You will have to do 100 push-ups as well if you had lost.

Understand?

Practice your horse stance well.

You need to train hard.

If you train well, you will be able to hold

the horse stance for 10 or even 13 minutes.

If you do not train hard today, there will be no lunch for you.

Continue your training.

The door!

Shaolin Kung Fu isn't just about hand-to-hand fighting.

Centuries of innovation gave birth to over 100 varieties of Shaolin weapons.

In ancient times, the monks' skill with these deadly devices was so renowned that

China's imperial court often sent their generals to learn from them.

My next challenge is to master one of these famous weapons.

Having come so far, it will be a disaster if I fail and get booted out.

Around every corner, it's been a surprise for me.

And this one's no less exciting and apprehensive as well.

There's also the fact that there are fear.

But I think I've always had the character wanting to confront fear.

Fear is why I'm doing it.

From among all these weapons, choose one that you like.

It would be more interesting if you train with a weapon you like.

And this is the same bet.

Okay.

Maybe I won't hurt myself.

Shaolin's staff.

Pretty good choice.

This is an iconic weapon of the Shaolin Temple.

In ancient times, 13 monks saved imperial air of the Tang dynasty.

These she mean with the Shaolin's staff.

Once you have mastered this weapon, you can use

it to fight any other weapons without any problem.

Shaolin weapons training often involves performing with a partner.

It aids in memorization and also enhances the speed of your moves.

The danger, though, is that one misstep and it's a finger gone or a gash on the head.

I've been paired with an opponent wielding double broadsword.

I will demonstrate it to you once.

Watch carefully.

That's full on, man.

The full speed is going hard.

Did you see that?

You make it look easy.

Now it's my turn.

And I soon find out how complex this can be.

It won't be too slow if you make the step.

You want to come feel my heart beating?

You have to have total focus.

And that total focus you get fatigued.

And what happens when you fatigue is your timing is off.

And then then you start reverting back to survival nature again.

And you're not quite in the moment.

I think one of the toughest challenges is the fear of getting tagged.

If I don't get that staff up, I might have to flinch and get myself out of the way or

get my hand smashed if it's in the wrong position.

You will get slashed easily if you hold it this way.

Hold the staff with your hands wider this way.

Sometimes I can see the disappointment on my opponent's face like you forgot again.

You know, it's like, how many times have you done this?

I'm still struggling with how to hold the staff.

I think there's a certain expectation like, hey, don't waste my time.

And I'm trying not to.

In just a few days, I undergo a test of my Shaolin staff skills.

Failure is not an option.

And I gain a hard-earned insight into the bond between Zen Buddhism and Kung Fu.

Located at the foot of Mount Song in Henan Province, Shaolin Temple is surrounded by

more than 30 peaks, which form their virtually impenetrable barrier in ancient times.

The same peaks were also a magnet for Buddhist and Taoist devotees who held them

as sacred ground, often climbing them as part

of their pilgrimage or for quiet contemplation.

This morning I'm following their lead, climbing Mount Song to pay our respects to

Bodhidharma, the founder of Shaolin Kung Fu, who is believed to

have meditated in a nearby cave for an incredible nine years.

Little did I know that this climb, it's sort of an exercise in itself.

Like everything these Shaolin monks do, it combines exercise and training,

in this case running of nearly vertical stairwells to the top of this mountain.

That legs are burning.

As we're running up the mountain, I feel I'm

gaining insight into what Shaolin Zen is all about.

It's acceptance of obstacles, acceptance of pain.

And I think that was a brilliant insight as I was panting and crawling up the mountain.

Hurry and catch up!

Huh?

Everyone relax for a bit.

Jason, this is the cave of the Bodhidharma and enshrined within is a statue of him.

Bodhidharma sailed across the ocean from

India to China to impart Zen in his teachings.

The foreign language wasn't an issue as he adapted

various methods to teach Zen to different people.

During the time where he'd meditated while fixing the wall, he developed the now

famous manuals called the Muscle and Tending

Changing Classic in the eight-section brocade.

There's five peaks on this area of this mountain.

This cave is situated in the middle peak, so it's got

to be a fairly auspicious place and has good funksway.

There's something pretty mystical about this area as the winds are blowing,

the mist, the mountain face, the cicadas are chirping.

I couldn't imagine what it was like back then.

Hurry up, catch up!

Be careful when descending the mountain.

Quick, quick, quick!

So once again on our descent, it's another training session, it's another exercise.

Everything we do is part of this effort to

better ourselves towards shawling kung poo.

We are training for strength and body agility today.

Understand, understood.

Let's practice crawling down the steps.

Go!

I'm really getting worried.

It looks really difficult.

It looks really steep.

It looks like I could miss a step with my hand, fatigue.

My muscles give out and I start planting my forehead into the concrete stairs.

As I started doing it, I thought, not bad.

I'm listening.

I'm thinking I'm doing okay because I'm keeping up with the monks.

They're not too far ahead of me.

Another challenge occurs.

I have to catch up to South Song and actually

I'm thinking to myself, I want to beat this kid.

It's like beating me and all these challenges back.

Hurry up!

Hurry up!

Keep your body steady!

Jasen, over to take Shaw Song!

Hey, that's cheating!

They're real sneaky, these monks.

It's been a tough morning and it's about to get tougher.

In the past few days, I've been training hard to master the legendary Shaolin staff.

Wielded properly, it's a phenomenal weapon that can deliver long-range strikes from

multiple directions, used poorly, and it's a dangerous handicap.

This afternoon, I joined the rest of my team to undergo

a test to show if we've perfected our weapons of choice.

Only a convincing performance will ensure I move into the final stage of my training.

Judging us is a 20-year Kung Fu veteran of Shaolin Temple, Master Yang Chong.

Wow, Master Chao, he has this early disposition.

He doesn't show much emotions.

Master, how is his performance?

I'm standing there waiting for my turn to perform and I'm watching the other monks.

I'm just blown away.

These guys are almost perfection.

You know, they're getting the confirmation from Master Chao.

I'm still like kind of holding my bottom going, okay.

I'm feeling a little more confident.

I know my moves, but there's still that piece of the puzzle that's still not there.

Yes, that's right, Jason.

Hopefully there's no serious reprimanding.

If I lose, I might get tossed out of the temple.

Anything can happen.

Good.

Continue to practice hard from now on.

Go over there now.

Yes!

That was pretty close.

I just made it by the skin of my teeth.

I'm pretty relieved.

I had a good partner.

He had good timing.

I had pretty good timing.

Master Chao is very gracious with me.

I know there are some things that are probably not perfect, probably not exact,

but I think the more I work on it, the better

I can get and the more precise I can be.

Hard work and a little luck gave me a passport into my next challenge,

but I've got a feeling I'll need a lot more just to survive.

Just 300 meters west of Shaolin temple is a

thousand-year-old cemetery known as the pagoda forest.

The 200 stunning stone structures house the remains of Shaolin's deceased abbots,

sacred reminders of their contribution to Zen Buddhism and the temple.

The oldest and most impressive pagoda was built as far back as the Tang dynasty

around 700 AD.

For the monks, the pagoda forest isn't just

a place of prayer and quiet contemplation.

It's also a training ground.

My next challenge at Shaolin temple is to learn what is possibly the toughest skill

of all, hard-style qigong, a type of breathing exercise that focuses the mind

and is meant to give you power over your chi or life energy.

Once mastered, you can literally transform into a human shield.

This is what I'm expected to perform for my final test.

As my teammates lay on knives and nails, I lie on top supporting a 33-pound

concrete block on my chest before a sledgehammer smashes it to pieces.

They didn't make me do that.

That's crazy.

Whoa, that's gnarly, man.

What the hell?

So I'm standing there and I'm watching this demonstration.

And I'm thinking these people have trained hard.

They've made commitments to this effort.

They understand the metaphysical side of this practice, how to apply it.

This is scientific.

They've done it to a point where they can do it without injury.

It's achievable, probably within time.

But as of right now, I'm not that confident.

Up to this point, I've never felt that there was anything

I couldn't achieve with hard work and a little luck.

But there's a real danger here that I just can't shake off.

Can I really learn to transfer my chi at will in a single day?

And can I survive a direct hit?

In hell, focus on your lower abdomen.

Concentrate and keep your heart away from distraction.

Come.

Let's do a half squat position.

Relax your elbows and focus on the lower abdomen.

Concentrate and keep away from any distraction.

Jason, can you feel the channeling of chi?

Good.

In hell.

Now channel your chi.

I will use two poles to hit you.

Let's see if you are able to channel your chi to resist these strikes.

You have applied what I taught you.

Do you feel the pain?

Not bad, not bad.

You have done well.

Looks like you have put your heart into training during this period.

That's intense.

That's intense.

There's some pain involved that I felt, but not enough to like injured.

I feel weirdly centered.

I got a little bruise.

It's a raised bit.

It looks like a pretty reflected and bounced off my wrist.

So that's a really clear indication where your chi was focused because I don't have

any pain or anything of where the stick actually broke.

So it makes me a believer.

My first steps into hard style qigong is an adrenaline shot of confidence.

But is that enough to guarantee success in my final test?

It's my last day at Shaolin Temple, and I'm

facing my ultimate challenge in hard style qigong.

The dangerous move known simply as the mountain of knives and bed of nails.

Judging my performance again is Master Yenschong.

This test involves a sledgehammer.

It involves a slate concrete on my body that it's going to be smashed a bit.

With two other monks under me, one of them

on knives and one of them on a bed of nails.

This is the higher level of the qigong practice.

And I'm scared as to what if something goes wrong.

If somebody's timing's off, or if it doesn't go well, let's take so high and

I'm hoping not to bust any ribs or get into my my larynx crust or anything.

One!

Two!

Three!

One!

Two!

BAM!

So right after the contact, I'm thinking, am I okay?

I move a little bit, no pain, and that's the biggest relief.

How did Yenschong, Yenschong perform today?

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

Jason, you've done well.

Master Yenschong has praised you.

From now on, make good use of your chi and always learn earnestly.

Ha!

Oh, that was amazing.

What a rush.

I'm stoked.

With my final test complete, my journey at Shaolin has come to an end.

It's hard to believe that I've got to now say goodbye.

I would cherish this experience for the rest of my life.

Abbott's handwritten calligraphy.

Originally, I came here with the idea of fulfilling a childhood dream, of being a

Shaolin warrior among, but after my experience here and getting to know the

lifestyle, and getting to know the people, getting the better understanding of what

Shaolin Kung actually is, in my mind, it's not what I was actually projecting.

I'm walking away with something greater, something I was completely unexpected.

One of those things is friends.

One of those things is Chikong for my health, and knowing that there's real

people there and that they work hard, they sacrifice a lot.

Those are all things I didn't foresee going into the picture.

I'm walking out of it, somewhat enlightened about the dream itself.

If I really think about it, and I go deep into myself, and I wonder if Shaolin

Temple will survive into the future, into the 21st century.

I think it will have strength.

It will have the power to sustain itself.

I like the diversity that Shaolin Temple brings.

I like the inner strength that has nothing to do with technology.

They all start from being at peace with yourself,

and that is the only way you have peace in the world.

It's a very strong message that Shaolin Temple

brings, and you don't find it in many places.