The monks of the Shaolin Temple

interesting series of photographs by Thomas Gudzovaty of Shaolin Temple. In the seventies, the martial art of Kung Fu has become a phenomenon in the western pop culture thanks to the cult TV series of the same name. The protagonist of the series, a runaway monk from the Shaolin Temple, is in the western world. Since then, Kung Fu and Shaolin associated with a media icon of the warrior-monk with outstanding sposobnostyami.

But the Buddhist Shaolin Temple is the cradle of one of the most significant forms of religion, called Chan. Chan - a discipline that values spiritual self-improvement through meditation with prayers and rites. Founded in the 5th century AD by the Indian monk Bodhidharma. Based on the principles of meditation and martial arts, is present in the daily life of the monks and is regarded as a means of physical weakness and leni.

Despite the vicissitudes of history, the monastic tradition survived until Mao's Cultural Revolution, when the Shaolin Temple was officially closed. But formal organization remained intact, and in the eighties the temple was reopened as a center of learning and travel dostoprimechatelnost.

Students of karate, judo, boxing and tai often refuse to recognize as the Kung Fu martial art because of its emphasis on theatricality and check their own resistance, not the opponent. In a sense, this is true. Training in Kung Fu, mostly carried out without an opponent, as it should never be killed, and the poetic names of techniques and movements hint that this is more a meditation than srazhenie.

However, the only difference between the destruction of the pitcher and the crushing of a human skull with his bare hands - conscious will. Despite the commercialization, Kung Fu retains a mystical character, and until now it is closer to the monastic discipline than to the plays of modern gladiatorov.