Nearly 1500 years after the establishment of the Shaolin monastery in Feudal China, the Shaolin monks will showcase for Columbus their mesmerizing movement and mindful meditation. Tonight at 7:30 p.m., the Ohio Theatre, 55 E. State St., will host a truly unique display of harmony between the body, mind and soul.
The Shaolin monks will highlight their meditative discipline by performing amazing feats of body contortion/manipulation, agility, martial arts and high-flying movement. The monk’s once-necessary call to self-defense has yielded a highly refined display of Kung Fu.
The originally violent style of Kung Fu has evolved into a non-violent means of exercising their discipline and spirituality. The Shaolin monks practice their own form of Buddhism, maintaining the peaceful integrity of Buddhism, while preserving the once deadly form of martial arts for a physical and mental workout, not for harm to others. They practice and perform in silence; further contributing to the more recently adopted peaceful purpose and perception of Shaolin Kung Fu.
The Shaolin monks will demonstrate the various weapons they are trained to become highly proficient with and master of one. Even though they train with more than 20 different types of weapons, ranging from the common broadsword to the slightly more unconventional three-section staff, their order calls them to be highly skilled with only 18 weapons.
The monks train for several hours a day, enduring incredible amounts of pain and sustaining startling physical discomforts. Through the use of Ch’an, Chinese for Zen, the monks are able to relax their minds and bodies to a point where their focus is so precise that they are able to reach a point of extreme resistance to weakness, pain and fatigue.
Tickets are $33.50 and $28.50 at CAPA ticket offices, palace theatres or any Ticketmaster outlet. Students reveive a $5 discount with valid student identification, when purchased at the box office.
This performance is sure to be not only impressive but culturally diverse as well. This tour follows their highly successful Fall 2000 tour, assuring skeptics that the evening is sure to not only please but enlighten as well.
