WHAT’S Shaolin kung fu all about? David Carradine, who starred as Grasshopper in the 1970s TV show “Kung Fu,” schools us:
History: The Shaolin Monastery is where kung fu began. There was a wandering monk named Bodhidharma who actually studied with Buddha. He came to China and heard about these wise monks who were Taoists. He went and taught them Buddhism and an art called Chinese temple boxing, which then evolved into kung fu.
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Popularity: When I made “Kung Fu” in the ’70s, the Shaolin Monastery in China was pretty much inaccessible. You had to climb over mountains to get there. Now they’ve built a tunnel and a wide road leading there and the abbot has a flat-screen TV.
Fighting: Eventually, all kung fu people realize that the ultimate thing is not to hurt but to heal, and that it is very hard to heal while making a fist. Even in karate, one of the highest degree black belts is actually a medical degree.
Philosophy: Most people want to learn kung fu to get some secret technique that will give them power over everyone else. But if they stick with it, a certain kind of philosophy slips in, and they evolve into peaceful, thoughtful people. The truth is that if everyone embraced Shaolin philosophy, we would have something like world peace.