Shaolin Monks Bring Schools to Bay Area

January 21, 2008

Author: Matthew Artz

Source: The buddhist Channel/Inside Bay Area

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=65,5789,0,0,1,0

All it took was one Jet Li kung fu movie for Shi Yanran to know what he wanted to do, way before he was all grown up.

The 25-year-old Buddhist monk was just 6 years old when he watched "Shaolin Temple" on video.

He was so transfixed by the fighting scenes and the 1,500-year-old Buddhist monastery that gave birth to kung fu that he talked his parents into traveling 400 miles to the monastery and letting him seek admission.

The monks rejected him at first, but when he returned with his parents just two years later, he was accepted and left his family for good.

Now, 17 years later, Yanran has been sent on a new journey.

Since last year, he and 15 other ordained Shaolin monks have been living in a San Jose artist housing complex and teaching their ancient blend of martial arts and Buddhism to students in Fremont, their U.S. headquarters, and two other Bay Area cities.