Triumph of the Will
November 18, 2015 10:01 AM Subscribe
From National Geographic YouTube channel: The Shaolin (Wushu) Temple Kung Fu Academy is the largest school of its kind in China. Footage was adapted from filmmaker Inigo Westmeier's 2012 documentary 'Dragon Girls' with music from Gener8tio featuring M.I.A. The Academy has a website.
at t 30seconds, why do the windows have cages over them ? (a'la Foxconn's anti-suicide measure - just keep 'em from jumping rather than address problem.. )
posted by k5.user at 10:29 AM on November 18, 2015
posted by k5.user at 10:29 AM on November 18, 2015
The scene after the credits is the best one. THAT's the moment that makes it all human.
posted by Quasirandom at 10:31 AM on November 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Quasirandom at 10:31 AM on November 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
k5.user, I know that I've seen that at schools and things around here in Canada to stop people throwing things at them and breaking them. Plus, the screens are on the first and second floors, it looks like, and peter out as you go up.
posted by sagc at 10:35 AM on November 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by sagc at 10:35 AM on November 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
My first thought was "I bet going from kung-fu school to making it in the film industry is a pretty steep pyramid."
I mean, I know that this is a health and lifestyle thing for many, but once you take any activity like this far enough, it becomes about next steps. I bet, just like the minor hockey thing in Canada, there is a clear, though steep, path to the bigs. (Whatever the bigs are for them.)
Well, just like minor hockey in Canada if millions actually did minor hockey and the rest of us gave a shit.
posted by clvrmnky at 12:32 PM on November 18, 2015
I mean, I know that this is a health and lifestyle thing for many, but once you take any activity like this far enough, it becomes about next steps. I bet, just like the minor hockey thing in Canada, there is a clear, though steep, path to the bigs. (Whatever the bigs are for them.)
Well, just like minor hockey in Canada if millions actually did minor hockey and the rest of us gave a shit.
posted by clvrmnky at 12:32 PM on November 18, 2015
at t 30seconds, why do the windows have cages over them ?(a'la Foxconn's anti-suicide measure - just keep 'em from jumping rather than address problem.. )
I lived in China from 2007-2010 and saw those sorts of window bars all over the country. Always seemed to be for security purposes, similar to the way windows are barred in big cities all over the world. Immediately before the scene in the video, there's a view of an interior courtyard with balconies overlooking, and those are mostly unbarred. And, the bars at 30s exist on the lowest windows, as well, which would suggest they aren't to prevent jumping.
I've never seen the Foxconn anti-suicide measures in person, but the photos I've seen always show nets to catch people rather than bars to prevent jumping.
posted by msbrauer at 12:43 PM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
I lived in China from 2007-2010 and saw those sorts of window bars all over the country. Always seemed to be for security purposes, similar to the way windows are barred in big cities all over the world. Immediately before the scene in the video, there's a view of an interior courtyard with balconies overlooking, and those are mostly unbarred. And, the bars at 30s exist on the lowest windows, as well, which would suggest they aren't to prevent jumping.
I've never seen the Foxconn anti-suicide measures in person, but the photos I've seen always show nets to catch people rather than bars to prevent jumping.
posted by msbrauer at 12:43 PM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh, to be an ant in a state-sponsored anthill.
Maybe they're in training for the next cultural revolution.
posted by Twang at 4:57 PM on November 18, 2015
Maybe they're in training for the next cultural revolution.
posted by Twang at 4:57 PM on November 18, 2015
Note that the school is not the same entity as the temple though the head master is a 34th generation monk and though the temple may on occasion invite/accept a few of the kids into the monastery.
Most of the kids sent to this and other huge schools in Deng Feng, the city next to Shaolin Temple, are sent there from poor families who have no resources to offer them much of a future. Being accepted into these schools (last I was in Deng Feng there were maybe 80-100,000 kids in these schools) means free food and shelter as well as potential career opportunities in the future as many of these kids will be recruited into military or law enforcement.
This particular school is the only school allowed to remain in the valley where Shaolin Temple is located. The valley used to be crammed with schools but the government eventually realized how valuable the temple is in terms of tourism and kicked everybody out and restored the valley with lots of trees etc. This is school is the only one to remain because of its closer ties with the actual temple.
Being in Deng Feng is a weird experience, or at least it was when I was there last, almost 10 years ago. Most of these kids are dirt poor and can barely afford a new pair of even the dirt cheap Fei Yue training shoes when they've worn out the last one. The translator provided to us by the temple warned us to stray too far off the city's main street because the city is literally crawling with poor, desperate kids thoroughly trained in martial arts. He wasn't kidding. One evening I was looking out of my hotel room's window and got to watch a man being beaten to death down in the alley in front of what was probably his father begging for his life by a small group of other men. I couldn't do anything about it. Nobody at the hotel spoke English back then at least and the translator had taken off for the night. Plus he told me later the police was corrupt and so nobody would've done anything anyways.
The mix of the grim reality of life in Deng Feng, the heavily militarized vibe of all these absolutely massive schools filled with thousands of kids training in lockstep and the serenity of the temple, the mountains and training with the monks made for a completely surreal experience.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 6:11 PM on November 18, 2015 [8 favorites]
Most of the kids sent to this and other huge schools in Deng Feng, the city next to Shaolin Temple, are sent there from poor families who have no resources to offer them much of a future. Being accepted into these schools (last I was in Deng Feng there were maybe 80-100,000 kids in these schools) means free food and shelter as well as potential career opportunities in the future as many of these kids will be recruited into military or law enforcement.
This particular school is the only school allowed to remain in the valley where Shaolin Temple is located. The valley used to be crammed with schools but the government eventually realized how valuable the temple is in terms of tourism and kicked everybody out and restored the valley with lots of trees etc. This is school is the only one to remain because of its closer ties with the actual temple.
Being in Deng Feng is a weird experience, or at least it was when I was there last, almost 10 years ago. Most of these kids are dirt poor and can barely afford a new pair of even the dirt cheap Fei Yue training shoes when they've worn out the last one. The translator provided to us by the temple warned us to stray too far off the city's main street because the city is literally crawling with poor, desperate kids thoroughly trained in martial arts. He wasn't kidding. One evening I was looking out of my hotel room's window and got to watch a man being beaten to death down in the alley in front of what was probably his father begging for his life by a small group of other men. I couldn't do anything about it. Nobody at the hotel spoke English back then at least and the translator had taken off for the night. Plus he told me later the police was corrupt and so nobody would've done anything anyways.
The mix of the grim reality of life in Deng Feng, the heavily militarized vibe of all these absolutely massive schools filled with thousands of kids training in lockstep and the serenity of the temple, the mountains and training with the monks made for a completely surreal experience.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 6:11 PM on November 18, 2015 [8 favorites]
you gave this post a real weird title there, pal.
posted by shmegegge at 6:34 PM on November 18, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by shmegegge at 6:34 PM on November 18, 2015 [5 favorites]
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posted by growabrain at 10:05 AM on November 18, 2015