Ryan ChartrandEat your heart out Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The Shaolin Warriors’ gravity-defying kicks, spins and flips were enough to make your head spin and their mesmerizing and mystical performance was enough to make the audience discover their inner Chi.
The packed room was filled with anticipation and excitement as the curtains opened and the Shaolin Warriors took the stage while sporting their orange robes last Thursday at Cal Poly’s Christopher Cohan Center.
The masters of Kung Fu exhibited the grace of a dancer, the flexibility and acrobatic skills of a gymnast, the passion of an award-winning actor and the vigor of a tiger as they presented masterful, in-your-face martial arts that captured the spirituality and aptitude of Kung Fu and life as a Buddhist monk, hypnotizing the audience and making them gasp with amazement.
The renowned Shaolin Warriors from the Shaolin School in China initially started touring in 2001 and delivered a sold-out performance at Cal Poly three years ago. After going back to China to strengthen their martial arts skills, they are ready again to showcase their talent and are touring the United States and Canada from September to December.
The show started off with some meditation, synchronized Kung Fu and Tai Chi moves and evolved into amazing choreographed hand-to-hand sparring and fighting utilizing traditional weaponry like long swords and bamboo poles. The strategized sparring looked like it was straight out of the blockbuster movies “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and “Hero,” but without the special effects.
And what’s martial arts without breaking blunt objects with their bodies to test their physical, mental and spiritual strength? The warriors gathered their inner Chi and broke flat iron rods over their heads; one broke a wooden pole over another’s head.
One warrior bent three bamboo spears using his neck and another lay on a block of sharp nails as another broke a concrete block with a sledge hammer over his midsection.
The performance also showed some humor, too.
The masters displayed the art and sparring of “drunken fighting” and children from the audience were brought to the stage to receive a crash course in Kung Fu moves. Two men from the audience were brought to the stage and were taught to spar against one another while two other men attempted to remove a metal bowl that was sucked into the midsection of one of the warriors. The attempts failed, of course.
Two cute “Little Dragons” also graced the show. These little boys, who looked no older than 7 years old, held a serious demeanor as they tumbled across the stage and demonstrated the same flexibility, force and capabilities of Kung Fu as the older warriors.
The nearly two hours of watching the incredible Shaolin Warriors was time well spent. Those who are interested in learning about Eastern spirituality, martial arts and those who just want to be entertained will certainly enjoy and be moved by their mind-blowing performance.