Chinese opera was interesting to see, but I had grown tired of sitting around in teahouses eating sun-flower seeds. In 527, an Indian monk named Boddidharma began devel-oping a set of physical exercises to help the temple's faithful remain limber, thus improving their ability to meditate. Over the centuries, Shaolin's warrior monks partici-pated in several military battles, often on the side of righteousness, thus creating the mythology that many future movies would draw upon. The most important of these was Jet Li's 1982 film, Shaolin Temple. The temple complex had by the eighties fallen into disrepair, essen-tially shut down by Mao Tsetung's Cultural Revolution.
Students come from all over China to learn martial arts here.
Early every morning, in the crisp mountain air, children from age 6 to 18 spend hours practicing kicks, punches and flips here - the sight of dozens of young children flying through the air is impressive to say the least. At noon, they get their lunch break, then hit the books for a few hours to study traditional school subjects. After that, it's more kicking, punching and flipping. Most are lured by dreams of being movie stars, some want to learn skills that will help them get jobs, while a few aspire to become sim-ple monks. Or so I thought.