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The Shaolin Grandmasters' Text: History, Philosophy, and Gung Fu of Shaolin Ch'an
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price:
$29.95
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Manufacturer: Tuttle Publishing
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN: 9780975500927
ISBN: 0975500929
Label: Tuttle Publishing
Manufacturer: Tuttle Publishing
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: 2008-02-15
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Studio: Tuttle Publishing
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Editorial Reviews:
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The Shaolin Grandmasters' Text is a one-of-a-kind volume discussing the history, philosophy and Gung Fu of shaolin Ch'an, one of the most misunderstood schools of Ch an Buddhism.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Interesting And Insightful, But Very Little Academic Merit
Comment: I have this book and it's definitely a very interesting read especially for those unaware of the significant link between the practice of Shaolin martial arts and the practice of Chan Buddhism.
But like many books on Shaolin (and martial arts in general) it is largely based on hear-say: stories and legends told to them by their instructors or stories that were picked up in other "English" martial arts books. And they are very common Shoalin "legends" found in many texts and heard in many schools, here at home and abroad in Asia. And when compared to actual historical facts, those stories just don't hold up. Which was the same problem with another interesting but weak Shaolin title "Shaolin-Do: Secrets from the Temple".
The greatest deficiency of this book is it lack of an academic level of historical research in Chinese. How you can write a book about Shaolin and not have even one reference to Kang Ge Wu's work, as he is THE most prolific martial arts historian in Asia. His seminal work, "Complete Authentic Chinese Wushu" http://plumpub.com/sales/chinese/chinbks_trad8.htm is a phenomenal resource on the origins of nearly every martial art style of China. And then there is his English book "The Spring and Autumn of Chinese Martial Arts - 5000 years" which documents very clearly the historically significant points of martial arts for the past 5000 years. And most disturbing is the absence of Shi De Qian's life's work "The Shoalin Encyclopedia". How could these significant resources be missing from their reference list? Was anybody doing any research outside of their comfort zone?
There are many other historians they should have researched before this was published such as Ma Ming Da, Xu Zhen and Tang Hao to name a few. And that's my biggest complaint: the lack of an Academic level of research. Martial arts writings have come a long way and have become a significant topic of research and become more historically accurate. So I'd recommend Meir Shahar's book " The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts" as that has a significant level of solid research.
I don't want to dismiss this book entirely though. It is an entertaining read with a lot of good insight on the significance of Buddhism in the practice of Shaolin martial arts. Which, among English titles, is rare to find and refreshing to see. But it has some glaring faults that really pull it down from its potential height of success.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Shaolin....from Oregon????
Comment: I think this book makes an interesting read, but I seriously question the authors. As stated in a different review, the Order writes a lot of grandiose things about itself and its origin in China, but the organisation operates out of OREGON??? And I also wonder why all the pictures in the book are of the same white guys? No asians whatsoever.
Before it can be proved that this is the real deal, I can't really recommend this book...
Customer Rating:
Summary: Shao-Lin; GrandMaster's Text
Comment: Waaah', Just another book loosely, historically correct about the Shao-Lin Tse'. Written by some 'white-guys',...lol, NOT Sanctioned, OR Licensed by or from Shao-Lin Tse' in China! Jie-ge' si bu hao! "Mei Xiong - Bu Yong!" Buyers would be better off by purchasing; The History of Shao-Lin Temple! A MUCH better, Authentic book! xie-xie Ni, Si-Fu Li Ma-Keh
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Shaolin Grandmasters' Text: History, Philosophy, and Gung Fu of Shaolin Ch'an
Comment: Great book!! Good introduction to Shaolin, answers many questions. Besides a basic history & philosophy of Shaolin it talks about BASIC martial arts stances, techniques, styles, etc. "hows & whys", I wish I had run across this book 20 years ago!
Customer Rating:
Summary: The True Story of Shaolin
Comment: I find this book to be very interesting. Most of the information we've had on Shaolin has come to us filterd through the Chinese government's censorship.The rebuilt temple is little more than a tourist attraction and combat kung fu is still forbidden.This book written by the Order of Shaolin Ch'an is based on the last true abbot of Shaolin, the 2nd highyest ranking monk, and the abbot of Fukien temple's teachings. The three grandmasters escaped to the U.S. with lower ranking monks to practice the traditional teachings and kung fu of Shaolin.In this book those who practiced under them now share the true history, philosophy and fighting styles of pre-communist Shaolin, and dispel many of the misconceptions that grew out of films and Chinese government censorship.
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