American Shaolin : Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China
by Polly, Matthew
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Good +/Very Good
- ISBN 10
- 1592402623
- ISBN 13
- 9781592402625
- Seller
-
El Cajon, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
Bill Bryson meets Bruce Lee in this raucously funny story of one scrawny Americans quest to become a kung fu master at Chinas legendary Shaolin Temple. Growing up a ninety-pound weakling tormented by bullies in the schoolyards of Kansas, young Matthew Polly dreamed of one day journeying to the Shaolin Temple in China to become the toughest fighter in the world, like Caine in his favorite 1970s TV series, Kung Fu . While in college, Matthew decided the time had come to pursue this quixotic dream before it was too late. Much to the dismay of his parents, he dropped out of Princeton to spend two years training with the legendary sect of monks who invented kung fu and Zen Buddhism. Expecting to find an isolated citadel populated by supernatural ascetics that hed seen in countless badly dubbed chop-socky flicks, Matthew instead discovered a tacky tourist trap run by Communist party hacks. But the dedicated monks still trained in the rigorous age-old fighting formssome even practicing the iron kung fu discipline, in which intensive training can make various body parts virtually indestructible (even the crotch). As Matthew grew in his knowledge of China and kung fu skill, he would come to represent the Temple in challenge matches and international competitions, and ultimately the monks would accept their new American initiate as close to one of their own as any Westerner had ever become. Laced with humor and illuminated by cultural insight, American Shaolin is an unforgettable coming-of-age tale of one young mans journey into the ancient art of kung fuand a funny and poignant portrait of a rapidly changing China.
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Details
- Bookseller
- 50000books.com (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 014895
- Title
- American Shaolin : Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China
- Author
- Polly, Matthew
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Good +
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Edition
- 3rd Printing
- ISBN 10
- 1592402623
- ISBN 13
- 9781592402625
- Publisher
- Gotham Books/Penguin
- Place of Publication
- New York, N. Y.
- Date Published
- 2007
- LCCN
- 2006025384
- Keywords
- MARTIAL ARTS
- Bookseller catalogs
- Biography; Asian Studies; Travel; Self Defense, Martial Arts; Martial Arts, Self Defense;
- Size
- 8vo