THE NEW PRODUCTION
THE HOLY MOUNTAIN
Words from the Producer
Thirteen years after the World Premiere of my show “The Mystical Powers of the Monks of Shaolin Kung Fu“, I am thrilled to present the fifth in the series: “The holy Mountain“.
While the first show told us the tumultuous history of the monastery during its one-and-a-half millennia existence, I told you the story of a boy who devotedly observed the mysterious exercises of the Monks, finds his master and is finally admitted into the monastery in “Shamis’ way to Shaolin“.
In “Lotus and Sword“, I first presented the female Kung Fu masters of the Yongtai Monastery, detailing their fight for equal rights and recognition from the Shaolin monks.
Finally, “The Best of Chinas Monasteries“ assembled not only the leading masters for each exercise, but incorporated audience interaction as our guests joined in with the basic exercises of Qi-training.
The idea for this new show, “The Holy Mountain“, came from my French friend Eli Benali. Eli, for many years my co-promoter of Shaolin in France, convinced me to travel to South India, to the roots of martial arts and Ayurvedic treatment methods. He introduced me to the Kalari fighters from Kerala and I closely experienced their mastery of body control and fighting technique, as well as the beneficial effect of their Ayurvedic treatments.
Once inspired, the story of the mysterious monk Bodhidharma, whom the Chinese called Tamo, fascinated me more and more. I read everything that I could find about the King’s son, who wandered thousands of kilometres from his home country in India to China to search for his enlightenment on the holy mountain of Songshan.
And I assembled, for the first time ever, the martial arts experts of the Kalarippayat alongside those of the Shaolin monks – a thrilling, touching and exciting work, the talents of which you will experience today.
I wish to communicate a little wisdom, the philosophy and the universally valid rules of the natural laws on which Kalarippayat and Shaolin are built.
I hope that the inner power of these masters will encourage you to develop all your skills in an optimal way, because they prove to us that external force comes only from internal peace.
Herbert Fechter
The holy Song Shan Mountain is situated in the heart of China. There are not less than 72 monasteries and temples around Song Shan, a place of mystical power and magic beauty, for centuries a meeting point of philosophers, religious founders and wise men.
At his foot there is also the probably most famous monastery – the Shaolin monastery – the birthplace of Zen Buddhism. Here live and work the mysterious monks of Shaolin Kung-Fu. Due to meditation and incredible physical exercises they are able to overrule physical laws. „Your mind can control your body “ -this is the life’s goal of the holy men who use their martial arts only for defence and never for aggression.
In the new show there are scenes of the holy mountain shot at the original sites, leading over to the live exercises of the monks on stage. Impressive demonstrations from the 7 years old pupil at the monastery up to the Old Master show that the outer power comes from the inner peace and the audience will participate in practical exercises.
A fascinating show of the monks with more than 3 million enthusiastic visitors during the last 10 years on 4 continents!
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER TOGETHER WITH SHAOLIN MONKS
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Kalaripayattu and Shaolin
In the Western world, the pieces of wisdom of Far Eastern treatment methods are known for decades and they are more and more accepted and appreciated in the field of wellness and alternative medicine.
Whether acupuncture, acupressure or Chinese massage on one hand, or Yoga and Ayurveda on the other hand, the roots and the deeper meaning of the frequently used methods are widely unknown.
With the show „The mystical powers of the monks of Shaolin Kung Fu“, show manager Herbert Fechter disclosed one part of the secret and demonstrated how the Chinese use their Qi not only to maintain their health (Tai Ji, Qi-Gong) but also to avoid injuries (Hard-Qi-Gong-exercises).
All those pieces of wisdom trace back to the Buddhist monk Tamo who founded the Shaolin monastery in the heart of China 1500 years ago.
But Tamo was in truth an Indian monk who received an invitation of the Chinese emperor and arrived from the south Indian province of Kerala via the Silk Road to central China. There he founded Zen-Buddhism in the Shaolin monastery, nowadays the most popular form of Buddhism.
Tamo, whose Indian name was Bodhidharma, was a master in Kalaripayattu. Kalaripayattu is an ancient Indian form of physical training joining the respiration technique of meditation and relaxation with physical training. We all know the famous soft form of this training as Yoga, the medical skill of healing of the oil massages as Ayurveda.
Therefore Bodhidharma - whom the Chinese called Tamo - was a master of Yoga and Kalaripayattu who refined his mastership in China and who laid the foundations of the Shaolin martial arts.
Within the framework of his new Shaolin-Show „The holy mountain“, show producer Herbert will present for the first time these links by bringing them on stage. Therefore he engaged five of the best Kalaripayattu - masters in India who will now compete for the very first time with the Shaolin monks.
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