Shaolin Temple Documentaries

[hanguolaohu]

I’m currently editing a documentary about the Shaolin Temple and have been searching for any good documentaries that has footage of the Shaolin Temple pre-1990's. Most of the docs I've seen were made fairly recently, it seems like the most "old school" doc I've seen is “Shaolin Kung Fu” (Shaolin Zhen Gongfu) with monk Shi De Yang. I'm particularly interested in finding footage during the period before and after the Jet Li Shaolin Temple movie came out.

So far, the documentaries I have watched are:
-Shaolin Kungfu (Shaolin Zhen gongfu)- doc. with Jet Li and Shaolin monks. Memorable scene of Shi Xing Cheng doing iron palm slapping 4 bricks, which only cracks the top one, but actually all 4 are broken down the middle.
-This is Kung Fu- doc. of gongfu throughout China
-Secrets of the Warrior's Power- good general doc about gongfu
-Myths and Logic of Shaolin Kungfu- Recent National Geographic doc.
-The Empty Mind- Good doc. Recently made about training at Shaolin, Wudang & Japan.
-Shaolin Ulysses- Zhang Li Peng's dad’s section has a bit of info.
-Shaolin Wheel of Life- short doc in extras section.
-French doc- “Mysterious powers of the Shaolin monk”, has footage of young Shi De Cheng and Wan Heng europe performance tour.
-Discovery Channel- “Ancient warriors” episode about Shaolin.
-Shaolin Temple w/Jet Li- not a doc but useful nonetheless.
-Dragons of the Orient- no comment
-Real Chinese Kung Fu- 1964 b/w footage of masters in Taiwan.

If you know of any other docs dealing with Shaolin, Especially pre-90’s please let me know.

Thanks,
Alexander
hanguolaohu-shaolin@yahoo.com

[doc]

Considering the fact that few people ventured to China in the 70's and 80's, especially with video cameras (they weren't exactly that portable back then, and Communist China wasn't too please with letting information out), I would suggest that there's little to find.

Would be interesting to uncover though. Let us know.

[hvillarruel]

I have a MPG file with LOTS of monks doing forms. Shi De Cheng looks younger. If Doc gives me and ftp, i can upload the file. And other like a documentary. Both are on chinese.

[LeiYunFat]

I thought the Shaolin w/ Jet Li was "Dragons of the Orient", cause that's what I have.

[hanguolaohu]

Dragons of the Orient

It's interesting about these Chinese documentaries as they consistently reuse footage from different films, and anything with Jet Li in it I guess is considered necessary footage to whatever story they're trying to tell. You're watching a peaceful courtyard in the Shaolin Temple and then all of a sudden cut to "This is Jet Li when he was 9, he traveled to the USA and performed in front of the White House". Talk about total lack of transitional editing skills.

Anyway, Jet Li when he was young appeared in a quite a few documentaries, the most notable ones being "Shaolin Zhen Gongfu", "Dragons of the Orient", and "This is Kung Fu". A lot of the footage is similar. Jet as a 9 year old doing a wushu demo. He travels to USA and Mexico for performances. He wins the Chinese national championship 5 years in a row. He practices forms in a courtyard, including empty hand, kwandao, and 3 section staff. The coolest thing I enjoyed was a setup with plum flower posts that had rubber strings with volleyballs attached. This was multiple attacker training, and he hits those balls really fast.

Hey Doc, do you have a way for hvillarruel to place the mpegs under Shaolin videos section? I would love to see what he has.

Someone else recommended Abbot Hai-Teng which I have ordered on VHS. Any other info most appreciated.

Thanks,
Alexander

[LeiYunFat]

Yeah that multiple attackers thing is pretty sweet.

[master splinter]

i have one of those in my back yard but i use chickens, puppies bunnies, and sometimes live people. or at least i will soon...