“Everything is Kung Fu.”
When you first read that, it sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Well, stick with me and it will make sense in just a minute…
This was a quote from an interview with Shaolin Monk Wang Bo. Wang Bo was practically raised at the Shaolin Temple, a legendary site in martial arts history. Established at the end of the fourth century, the Shaolin Temple is widely considered the birthplace of Kung Fu and famous for the Shaolin Warrior Monks.
Wang Bo started living and training at the Shaolin Temple at the age of eight and eventually moved his way up to become a member of the Shaolin Warrior Monks “Wheel of Life” Tour. This tour featured the top monks from the Shaolin Temple performing incredible feats of strength and martial arts skill.
Wang Bo eventually left the Shaolin Temple and relocated here to the United States. We here at Z-Ultimate Self Defense Studios are proud to call Wang Bo a friend and share his martial arts knowledge with all of us. Not only has Wang Bo been a guest instructor with Z-Ultimate, but he has been a featured instructor at seminars and he was instrumental in getting Z-Ultimate invited to the Shaolin, Wudang and Fawang Temples for the 2016 Z-Ultimate China Tour.
Intention is Everything
In an interview conducted with Wang Bo about his life, training at the Shaolin Temple and more, Wang Bo shared a martial arts life lesson. Everything we do – when done with intention – is exactly like practicing the martial arts.
He said, “When you are painting something, your hand and arm move like this (as he made a painting motion with his arm); when you make a block in Kung Fu, your arm moves the same way.
If you do the motion while you are painting and in your mind, you are visualizing doing it as a block – you move with intention – then you are doing Kung Fu, even if you are painting.”
He went on in the interview to talk about many more martial arts principles and how they apply to our lives – if we are aware of them and live with intention. He also talked about how true mastery of the martial arts is taking the principles of the martial arts and applying them to our daily lives.
This is just a tiny piece of what he learned through living and training at the Shaolin Temple.
Imagine What It Would Be Like to Train at the Shaolin Temple
What Wang Bo shared was just one martial arts principle. For thousands of years, the Shaolin Temple has taught Kung Fu and used daily practice of the arts as a way ingrain not only the physical techniques, but the principles behind them as well.
If you found the lesson in Intention powerful, imagine what else you could learn at the Shaolin Temple.
Most martial artists that know of the Shaolin Temple never get the chance to meet and train with a Shaolin Monk, much less travel to China and train at the Temple itself. Can you imagine what that would be like?
Thanks to Wang Bo, you now have this opportunity.
The Shaolin Temple – along with two other temples and other historical sites – are just one part of the 2016 Z-Ultimate China Tour. You can visit some of the oldest and most influential places in martial arts history – plus cities like Beijing and Shanghai – train with monks, get tours of some of the oldest temples in China and much more.
If you would like more information on the tour, please visit the China Tour page.
As Shaolin Monk Wang Bo says, “Everything is Kung Fu”. Look at the things you do daily and see where you can apply the principle of Intention to improve your performance – and hopefully, we will see you on the trip to China.
