Shaolin Children are Nucking Futs

11-18-2008

Being employed at a radio station certainly does have its perks. The best one being free tickets to concerts, shows, movies, whatever. Tonight I was given comp tickets to see Shaolin: Wheel of Life.

It was a unique show. It kind of told the story of the Shaolin monks, a peaceful order of monks who lived in seclusion in China. However, when enemies started invading China, they saw the need to learn combat and defend their country. They imitated their fight styles off of animals: snake, tiger, eagle, and rat.

The cast was made up of boys aged 6-18 and a few older guys to play the part of emperors. The tiny boys were the most impressive. I’m not kidding, literally 6 yeas old and these kids were doing flips of each other, performing intricate fighting sequences, and even doing flips where they used the top of their heads to propel themselves into the next flip.

It was like watching a kung-fu stunt show with a storyline thrown into it. Then once the storyline was complete, there was another 20 minutes of even more crazy stunts: walking on axe blades, breaking bricks with their heads, laying ones body on six sharp spears, you know the usual.

Once the self-mutilation was complete and we began filing out of the theatre, Kallie and I agreed that it was cool to see, but we are both pleased we didn’t have to pay for it.