Cincinnati Music Hall to Present Shaolin Warriors, 11/1

The acclaimed Shaolin Warriors - the Kung Fu Masters of China - bring their remarkable skill, stunning movement, and spectacular imagery to Cincinnati's Music Hall on Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 7:00 PM for one-night-only. This popular family-friendly event is part of Cincinnati Arts Association's 2009-10 Season of "Classic Nights Out."

Shaolin Warriors will feature Kung-Fu Masters in a choreographed theatrical performance portraying a typical day in their lives, from dawn to dusk. The audience will experience the serenity of morning meditation, chanting, exercises, and amazingly synchronized fighting rituals often employing an array of traditional Shaolin weaponry.

Performed by the Warriors of the Shaolin school - a group known throughout the world for its discipline and deadly martial-arts prowess - these Kung Fu masters have trained from a very young age in mental and physical disciplines, and are "so good at what they do, it almost looks like animation," according to The Orange County Register. "They combine the agility and grace of gymnasts with the showmanship of Cirque du Soleil performers," says The Washington Post.

On a summer day in A.D. 525, a Buddhist monk from India named Bodhi-dharma arrived at the base of Mount Shaoshi in what would later become the Henan province of central China. He took in the scenery, thought or said something to the effect of "This is the place," and promptly founded the Shaolin monastery - the headquarters of a Buddhist sect that became known across Asia for its disciplined spiritualism and deadly martial-arts prowess. One guesses that Bodhi-dharma had no idea that nearly 1,500 years later, the disciples of Shaolin would still be held in great reverence while performing for audiences throughout modern-day China and around the world.

Recognizing the need to protect themselves in a battle-torn feudal China, the early Shaolin monks embarked on a long process to develop a system of defense by meditating on the attack and defense movements of animals that lived near their monastery. The Shaolin monks called their system of fighting wushu, and after a few centuries of practice, their order was famous far and wide for being a brand of Buddhists that one would be unwise to provoke. However, even with all of their remarkable fighting abilities, the Shaolin monks' skills are never put to aggressive use. The only exception being of a group of wayward monks who left the monastery around the year A.D. 1620 to form a secret mercenary organization known as White Lotus that specialized in quiet, sure assassinations.

A Note about the Shaolin disciples and Buddhism: It is a commonly held understanding that Buddhism and certainly Buddhist believers espouse a philosophy of non-violence and non-aggression. This philosophy is certainly in accordance with the modern-day practices of the Shaolin disciples and it would be incorrect to associate demonstrations of Shaolin fighting techniques as acts of aggression. One notices that the Shaolin fight mostly in silence, exhibiting what can be described as "stillness in movement." This "stillness" is a direct result of a serene mind, cultivated through the practice of meditation.

Shaolin Warriors toured North America with great success in 2000, 2002, and 2004. After returning to China for several years to perfect the show, the performers are ready to make a triumphant return to North America.

For more information, visit www.cincinnatiusa.com.

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