Items related to American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and...
American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: an Odyssey in the New China
Bill Bryson meets Bruce Lee in this raucously funny story of one scrawny American's quest to become a kung fu master at China's legendary Shaolin Temple.
Growing up a ninety-pound weakling tormented by bullies in the schoolyards of Kansas, young Matthew Polly dreamed of one day journeying to the Shaolin Temple in China to become the toughest fighter in the world, like Caine in his favorite 1970s TV series, Kung Fu. While in college, Matthew decided the time had come to pursue this quixotic dream before it was too late. Much to the dismay of his parents, he dropped out of Princeton to spend two years training with the legendary sect of monks who invented kung fu and Zen Buddhism.
Expecting to find an isolated citadel populated by supernatural ascetics that he'd seen in countless badly dubbed chop-socky flicks, Matthew instead discovered a tacky tourist trap run by Communist party hacks. But the dedicated monks still trained in the rigorous age-old fighting forms—some even practicing the “iron kung fu” discipline, in which intensive training can make various body parts virtually indestructible (even the crotch). As Matthew grew in his knowledge of China and kung fu skill, he would come to represent the Temple in challenge matches and international competitions, and ultimately the monks would accept their new American initiate as close to one of their own as any Westerner had ever become.
Laced with humor and illuminated by cultural insight, American Shaolin is an unforgettable coming-of-age tale of one young man's journey into the ancient art of kung fu—and a funny and poignant portrait of a rapidly changing China.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
Matthew Polly is an award-winning travel writer for Slate. A Princeton University graduate and Rhodes Scholar, his work has also appeared in Esquire, Playboy, and The Nation.
Review:
A funny, offbeat tale of a man and a nation coming of age. -- J. Maarten Troost, bestselling author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals
A lot of people talk about becoming a real live ninja and don't do a thing. That's bullcrap. But this guy actually did it! In conclusion, Matthew Polly is the complete opposite of a wimpy baby. -- Robert Hamburger, author of REAL Ultimate Power: The Official Ninja Book
A nicely developed narrative. -- Kirkus
A sensibility more alien to my own than Matthew Polly's is hard to imagine. I consider foreign cultures to be really...foreign. I don't spiritually quest; I go to church. As for the martial arts, I own a gun. But I loved American Shaolin. Reading it was like being abducted by an alien-a brilliant, funny, and hospitable alien who took me to another universe of sensibility. There I enjoyed myself immensely. -- P.J. O'Rourke
Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li and David Carradine all played Shaolin Monks, but Matthew Polly actually lived it. In American Shaolin, he enters China's most famous temple, the birthplace of zen and martial arts, and uncovers unique insights on religion, sex, politics, and kicking butt-a revealing confession of monastic life in modern China. -- Gene Ching, Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine
I picked up American Shaolin and read it straight through. It is first rate. Polly's book tells more about what's going on in China and has more insights into the real China than anything in recent years. It is a wonderful true-life story with profound, behind-the-headlines observations about Chinese life. A tip of the Stetson to Matthew Polly. -- Dan Rather
Re-enter the dragon-Matthew Polly's gerbil style will totally defeat your dragon style! Just call him a hard-boiled egg: white on the outside, yellow on the inside. The most Asian of Kansans will Wu-Tang you into the apocalypse. -- Mark Oppenheimer, author of Thirteen and a Day
A lot of people talk about becoming a real live ninja and don't do a thing. That's bullcrap. But this guy actually did it! In conclusion, Matthew Polly is the complete opposite of a wimpy baby. -- Robert Hamburger, author of REAL Ultimate Power: The Official Ninja Book
A nicely developed narrative. -- Kirkus
A sensibility more alien to my own than Matthew Polly's is hard to imagine. I consider foreign cultures to be really...foreign. I don't spiritually quest; I go to church. As for the martial arts, I own a gun. But I loved American Shaolin. Reading it was like being abducted by an alien-a brilliant, funny, and hospitable alien who took me to another universe of sensibility. There I enjoyed myself immensely. -- P.J. O'Rourke
Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li and David Carradine all played Shaolin Monks, but Matthew Polly actually lived it. In American Shaolin, he enters China's most famous temple, the birthplace of zen and martial arts, and uncovers unique insights on religion, sex, politics, and kicking butt-a revealing confession of monastic life in modern China. -- Gene Ching, Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine
I picked up American Shaolin and read it straight through. It is first rate. Polly's book tells more about what's going on in China and has more insights into the real China than anything in recent years. It is a wonderful true-life story with profound, behind-the-headlines observations about Chinese life. A tip of the Stetson to Matthew Polly. -- Dan Rather
Re-enter the dragon-Matthew Polly's gerbil style will totally defeat your dragon style! Just call him a hard-boiled egg: white on the outside, yellow on the inside. The most Asian of Kansans will Wu-Tang you into the apocalypse. -- Mark Oppenheimer, author of Thirteen and a Day
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherPaw Prints
- Publication date2008
- ISBN 10 1439560005
- ISBN 13 9781439560006
- BindingLibrary Binding
- Number of pages366
- Rating
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