Kungfu Dream

　　When a gray day dawned upon the sleeping Dengfeng City in Henan Province， a group of people werealready well awake. After a short walk along the stonepath， they gathered at an old temple. They pressed palmstogether and bowed to the master， a Chinese monk ina yellow robe， who returned the courtesy in the same way.A day’s exercise began.

　　In the early morning mists the picturesque scenewas like something out of a Chinese kungfu movie，except for the fact that all of the students are Africans.The 20 students， from Tanzania， Ethiopia， Mauritius，Uganda and Nigeria， came to central China in September2013. In the following three months， they were trained inthe Shaolin Temple， the origin of Shaolin Kungfu.

　　“With all this my life will never remain the same，” OgwangMark， a Ugandan， said about his Shaolin experience.

　　Work hard

　　The program Shaolin Kungfu Training Class for African Discipleswas launched by the Chinese Ministry of Culture aspart of the government’s plan to further promote culturalexchanges between China and Africa. The 20 “disciples”were selected from among the most outstanding martialarts practitioners in African countries， but the life in theShaolin Temple was still an enormous challenge for eachof them.

　　“I cried a lot in the first couple of days，” said PeaceEmezue， a 32-year-old Nigerian woman. In Nigeria， Emezueworks as a fitness coach， and as a karate champion， shewas selected for the program by the Nigerian Governmentin a bid to encourage women in Nigeria to take up martialarts.

　　Emezue was amused by the simple and peaceful lifein the Shaolin Temple， but the tough training and earlymorning exercises were beyond imagining. She had toget up at 5：30 a.m. and kept learning and practicing until9 p.m.； the routine went on six days a week for threemonths.

　　The word “kungfu” literally means “work hard，” andpeople who work hard are described as having a lot of“kungfu.” According to Abbot Shi Yongxin， the training programis short for serious kungfu study， but the first threemonths is a stage full of hardship for any practitioner.

　　And the differences in weather and food posed moredifficulties for African students who came from afar.

　　Wamala Peter from Uganda said that many students camedown with colds when the winter arrived in November.“Even though [we became sick]， our confidence and willswere always strong， because the energetic and responsibleinstructors and masters have been helping us.”

　　The training program also included a Chinese languagecourse to help the Africans better understand the master’steaching. For most of the students， who came to China forthe first time， learning Chinese language was even moredifficult than the kungfu training.

　　“I never thought of an opportunity to learn the Chineselanguage. It’s really hard， but I will continue to learn itthrough the Internet when I’m back home，” said PeterZanang Kazah， a Nigerian karate practitioner.

　　When the program came to an end， most of thestudents were becoming well-adapted to life in Shaolin，which turned out to be quite rewarding. Some of themlost some weight but gained a stronger constitution. Duringthe graduation ceremony on December 18， theAfrican students gave a kungfu performance to showwhat they had learned in the three months at the templethat included classic fist routines and fighting techniqueswith swords and sticks as weapons.

　　Shaolin disciples

　　Dawit Terefe is an Ethiopian kungfu actor who has practicedmartial arts for over two decades. Before coming to Shaolin，Terefe expected the program to focus on higher-level techniqueslike faster moves or more accurate strikes. He wasright， but that’s only half of it. Another important lesson theAfrican students learned at Shaolin was how best to utilizerest.

　　Every Wednesday afternoon， there was a one-hourmeditation class. Students sat in abstraction for 40 minutes，learning how to attain spiritual peace.

　　Meditation is an important element of Chan (Zen) Buddhism.Although the foundation for modern kungfu beganin 527 when Indian monk Ta Mo arrived at the Shaolin Templeand created the 18 Buddhist Fists， the Shaolin Temple isalso the place where the Chan doctrines were first preachedin China in 495.

　　“After coming to Shaolin， I realized that it’s more than justfighting techniques but was a profound religious background，”said Peter Zanang Kazah. “Now I’m ready to learnthe real meaning of the kungfu and its culture.”

　　“Some people asked me how many people are learningShaolin Kungfu around the world，” said Abbot Shi Yongxin. “Iwould say millions， or even more than that.”

　　Since a German became its first foreign disciple in 1989，the Shaolin Temple has been promoting its martial arts andculture abroad by setting up overseas training centers. Butevery year hundreds of people still come from all aroundthe world to the temple in Henan Province， to spend severalmonths for a unique experience， or years to achieve anadvanced level.

　　Here all the students， Chinese and foreigners， are requiredto act like a real Shaolin disciple. They dress in grey robes andhave vegetarian meals complete with rituals before eating.Also， they join the monks’ morning classes every Monday.

　　Abbot Shi Yongxin believes that Shaolin Kungfu not onlystrengthens people’s body， but also spreads a lifestyle thatallows followers to obtain inner peace. He told his Africandisciples to take Shaolin Temple as their “second and spiritualhome.”

　　“Shaolin Temple is a good place where I met people withdifferent religions and cultural backgrounds，” said Emezue.“I’m sure that I will become a new person when I’m backhome. The things I learned in Shaolin are priceless.”