This past Thursday, William & Mary hosted a martial arts performance featuring four Chinese monks trained at the famous Shaolin Temple, the birth-place of kung fu. The event was sponsored by the Confucius Institute, and was the first performance of their six-stop tour through American colleges with CI partnerships.
Before the performance, a reception was held in the Dodge Room to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival and to promote Chinese culture more generally. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday that took place earlier this week. The Confucius Institute provided mooncakes, Chinese pastries with flavored fillings from lotus to red bean paste that are traditionally eaten on this holiday. Apart from the mooncakes, the reception showcased Chinese crafts, such as paper-cutting, books on Chinese culture, and music played on a traditional Chinese instrument called the pipa.
Once sated with mooncakes at the reception, attendees were ushered into the PBK theatre for the performance. After a speech from Dr. Yangfang Tang, the director of the Confucius Institute, the four monks, Master Yangguang, Master Yanxu, Master HengHui, and Sun Gao Yang, were introduced. Each of them began training at the Shaolin Temple at the age of six, and practiced kung fu for eight hours a day for ten years! Apart from the four monks, the show also included three guest performers: two local Tai Chi experts and one of our own very talented W&M students, Crystal Yi.
The monks began with eight elementary forms of qi gong to exercise the mind and body. The forms included basic stretches, bouncing on the toes, and my personal favorite, “Clench the Fists and Glare Fiercely.” Next came a demonstration of the “Drunken Boxing” style in which one imitates drunkenness in order to hone the skill of unpredictability, followed by the various animal forms of Leopard, Tiger, and Monkey. One of the most impressive parts of the show was the demonstration of “hard qigong” techniques. The MC of the show, Mr. Sherman Tse, described hard qigong as “train[ing] the body using the mind.” Using this technique, one of the monks was able to break two steel bars against his head. Another placed the point of a wooden spear against his neck and leaned against it until the spear bent, while a second wooden spear was broken against his back. The monks suffered no injuries in the process, but I would strongly advise you not to try this at home! Other amazing feats performed that night included a two-finger handstand and throwing a needle through a pane of glass.
Interspersed between the monks’ performances were demonstrations by the guest performers. Stan Rockwell, a local counseling psychologist, displayed the Tai Chi techniques he uses as part of his mental health practice. Bill Hansen, a Williamsburg Tai Chi teacher, showed off traditional Wudang Tai Chi forms. Crystal Yi, a senior at William & Mary who has studied various martial arts for ten years, gave a fascinating demonstration of a Tai Chi fan form. She first moved through her fan routine in silence, with the graceful and fluid movements looking almost like a dance. Then she walked through the routine again, this time explaining how each move would be attacking or defending against an imaginary attacker. Crystal’s performance was so well-received that the monks invited her to accompany them on their next tour stop to CNU.
Overall, the show was a huge success and a gratifying cultural experience. Keep an eye out for announcements of more Chinese cultural events being put on by the Confucius Institute throughout the semester!