Kung Fu Is Big Business at China's Shaolin Temple

S H A O L I N, China, March 26, 2001 -- The warrior monks of the Shaolin Temple have been perfecting and passing on their martial arts skills for 15 centuries. But not even the wisest of monks could have foreseen how the temple would spawn such a lucrative kung fu training industry.

Shaolin village, which surrounds the temple, has become a veritable kung fu factory. Today it has 50 schools and nearly 50,000 students.

The village grew exponentially after a revival of interest in Shaolin kung fu sparked by the 1970s television series Kung Fu and films like 1982's The Shaolin Temple. The phenomenal success of this year's big Oscar winner, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, will no doubt feed the frenzy.

Students from all over the world travel to Shaolin to uphold the ancient traditions, enduring years of discipline and a lot of pain for their dreams of perfection. Masters of the Shaolin tradition can break iron bars with their heads.

American Ruselis Perry paid several hundred dollars for the privilege of being repeatedly thrown to the ground during a grueling four days of boot camp. "This is our roots: to be able to work with the masters…It's a rare thing," he says.

Tourism and Trinkets

But in today's Shaolin, it's about much more than upholding tradition. As with so many other aspects of modern China, this is about making money.

The revival of interest in Shaolin kung fu over the past 20 years has coincided with the growth of commercialism and profit-making as a new religion in China.

Shaolin, in China's central Henan province, is now one of the richest little villages in the country. It caters to armies of kung fu fanatics and 1 million tourists a year, who spend hard cash on tours of the temple and souvenirs.

Fame and Fortune

Chinese students also flock to Shaolin. Most come from extremely poor families, and success in Shaolin can bring fame and riches. Students dream of opening their own schools, becoming bodyguards for wealthy VIPs, or, if they're really lucky, being in the movies.

Some worry that Shaolin has become too greedy and too showbiz. But 71-year-old Master Liu Baoshan, who runs one of the schools, disagrees. "This is the cultural heritage of China. It needs to be nurtured and promoted, or it will die off," he says.

With the legions of disciples in Shaolin today, there seems little chance of that.