I met Shifu Yan Lei a 34th generation Shaolin disciple on Pearl Street, Boulder, Colorado in the Summer of 2010; we had lunch at the Moongate Asian Bistro with Brian ‘Seraiah’ Wood MMA Champion Colorado, USA. During our meal ~ I set to conversing with Yan Lei as to the history of Chinese Boxing, he confirmed some very interesting points: 1) the Shaolin Temples had enjoyed a long history (the longest) of creation, cultivation and destruction; 2) there were two Southern Shaolin Temples: Hunan & Fujian; the former renown for its’ kicking and the latter its’ boxing; 3) it was from the Fujian Temple that Wing Chun arose. The deadly science of Chinese close-range Boxing.
Following some excellent Whiskey Beef, we sunk into street-side talk ~ I asked of such high level concepts as the Governor & Conception vessels in Shaolin Kung Fu, Yan Lei was quite insistent on the origin of this language of Chi being one of Shaolin descent. I have to be honest here, I never expected to meet a ‘Shaolin Monk’. I’ve always held ultimate respect for this tradition and have incorporated many of their practices within my development – particularly their practical honesty. However, I could not help but lapse into the deeper realms of Wing Chun.
The discussion then centered on such powerful concepts as: the true tan tien, lat sau jik chung, tam ging… the division in language – Sifu to Shifu, became rapidly apparent and so we took off to the Shambala Center. I had decided it imperative to show Yan Lei the meditation room, and to crown the affair ~ on the staircase up, we came across the framed message:
“all dharma, should be considered as dreams!”
and for some : “a picture, tells a thousand words!”