Kung Fu swings into town

The names of the acts are lyrical in their own way:

“Belly on steel forks.

“Four spears stabbing the body.

“Head butting steel plate.

Even more intriguing is the following description of one particular highlight from tonight’s Shaolin Kung Fu Spectacular at The Met:

“One young, 13-year-old boy will use the chi and channel all of the energy inside the body into his abdomen area and use that to suck a bowl onto his abdomen,” said Nannette Tran of the Portland Art and Cultural Center, which is promoting the show.

“Then people from the audience come up and pick up the bowl and him, at the same time, into the air.”

Let’s put it this way: What happens in this kung fu show can’t be adequately described in words. You’ll just have to go see it.

Thousands of people have been doing just that, all over the country. The 26 monks and student-monks of central China’s Shaolin Temple have been touring all over the U.S. – Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York – and are now making a swing through the Northwest.

Their show demonstrates a wide variety of kung fu styles, developed over hundreds of years at this famous and venerable Buddhist temple.

According to legend, a monk from India arrived at the Shaolin Temple in 527 A.D. and was horrified to find the monks so weak. He taught them exercises which became the basis for Shaolin kung fu.

Today, most of the monks begin practicing kung fu at a very early age and continue it all of their lives. It is part of the daily routine at the Shaolin Monastery

The Shaolin Temple troupe, aged 13 to 78, performs a two-hour show demonstrating the grace, beauty and power of these ancient arts.

According to a fact sheet, the Shaolin style builds moral character, promotes excellent circulation, strengthens the body, increases coordination and enhances the agility of both mind and body.

Not all of these arts are martial. The show will feature demonstrations of chi kung, which Tran described as the ancient Chinese art of harnessing all of the energy inside the body and focusing it on one particular task.