Meditation, Martial Arts

[halfstepdown88]

Hi,

I am currently interested in learning Mandarin Chinese.

One thing that I have always loved is Buddhism. Although it started in India, it spread all over China if I remember correctly.

I am curious, does anyone know anything about areas of China, or places I could go where I could find places like Shaolin monks and what not?

One thing I love to do is meditate everyday, and I would also LOVE to learn martial arts to a high degree of proficiency.

If I learned mandarin, would I be able to travel to China, and let's say meet monks, meditate up in the mountains, and train and learn authentic martial arts?

[renzhe]

I am curious, does anyone know anything about areas of China, or places I could go where I could find places like Shaolin monks and what not?

Well, the Shaolin Temple, obviously?

Keep in mind that the portrayal of Shaolin monks (and fighting monks in general) in the media is very romanticised. Most Buddhist monks do thinks that Buddhist monks tend to do -- clean the temple, eat, and practice religion. Or sell souvenirs.

Even in Shaolin itself, I don't think that most monks practice martial arts -- there are many martial arts schools in the complex which teach kids martial arts for money.

If I learned mandarin, would I be able to travel to China

yes

and let's say meet monks

yeah, it's easy to meet monks. But they tend to be regular monks living in a monastery and doing uninteresting things, not the monks of the fighting variety

meditate up in the mountains

Sure, you can do this, but most mountains worth meditating in are tourist magnets, and I'm not sure how easy it is to join a temple or a monastery and live in like monks in training tend to do. There was a thread similar to this one, but I'm pretty sure that the original poster was joking around. Still, lots of information.

and train and learn authentic martial arts?

Of course you can.

But not in a Buddhist temple, with a monk.

Like in most places in the world, Chinese people practice martial arts in martial arts schools, or learn from an instructor privately. This is true in Japan and Korea too, both of which have a long history of martial arts. Taijiquan is a bit of an exception, you can practice it anywhere, but it is seen as a health exercise more than a fighting art nowadays.

Just like in the west, you need to beware of frauds, especially if you are an impressionable foreigner with no training experience.

Personally, I'd recommend finding a good Qigong/meditation school, a good martial arts school, and visiting a local Buddhist temple to satisfy spiritual needs. You can do this at home, or in China.