Chinese kung fu fans

Nowadays, many people like kung fu films and undoubtedly kung fu films have achieved great success in China these days. In recent years, kung fu films have come of age, from the slapstick, comic-style Bruce Lee classics of the 1970s to elegant artistic films. Partially due to the promotion of kung fu films and with heroes such as Bruce Lee and Jet Li in films, kung fu is of increasing popularity among people.

Now, kung fu has been made compulsory in secondary schools in central China. In school playgrounds across China, it is common to see students lined up in kung fu poses, going through their choreographed punches and kicks. Chinese parents also like it because it is good exercise, which is good for their health. Chinese people also are attracted by the strong contemplative element of kung fu. Shaolin Kung fu, particularly, is appealing, for it combines martial arts with Zen Buddhism and features long sessions of meditation to purify the mind.

The Shaolin Temple which is widely regarded as the birthplace of Shaolin Kung fu has featured in scores of Hong Kong and mainland martial-arts films. There are more than a million learners of Shaolin kung fu around the world and the Shaolin Temple has established more than 10 centres and branches since it built its first centre of Shaolin culture in Berlin in 2001.

In these days, many children are sent to take kung fu training in order to improve health and ability to endure the hardship. Though they can not compared with the full time monastery students in efforts and intensity, they also follow an astonishing regime, with fitness training, stretching, weapons and wu shu training every day in course time. It is beyond any doubt that this training will leave them a different experience and influence their lives in future.

Some children are handed over to the kung fu schools by their parents and when they finished the three-year course, they can get a job. China has a lot of security guard jobs and there is also the opportunity to join one of the Shaolin troupes touring the country. In some ways they have a better chance of getting a job with good kung fu skills than a university graduate.