Matthew Polly the Kung Fu Kid

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By Pete Mills, on 19-08-2007 21:26

Matthew Polly is not a man who does things by halves. Raised in Kansas but now currently living in New York, he is the author of the witty and in-depth book ‘American Shaolin’ which tells the story of the two years he spent in China in the early nineties studying kungfu at a centre with Shaolin monks. During this time, he pushed himself through a punishing regime of training whilst having to cope with the massive culture shock that came with living in a country on the other side of the world.

In his book we are not spared any details; including the entertaining story about his battle to buy cans of Coke, the stomach churning recount of his visit to the local hospital and the weird and wonderful characters, one of whom regularly practised ‘iron crotch kungfu’. However, throughout these immense challenges, Matthew managed to thrive in this world, whilst also keeping hold of his sense of humour.

Matthew’s interest in the martial arts first emerged when he was twelve years old and he first saw Bruce Lee in ‘Enter the Dragon’. His memory of this is still vivid; “Four of us watched it on a brand new VCR machine in the basement of John Andersen’s house. His mother ordered us Pizza Hut pepperoni pizza.” However, his motivation was also more personal as he describes his youthful self as a, “scrawny, skinny little 98-pound-weakling, who the bullies loved to hate.” As a result, his motivation to learn a martial art was also practical, as Matthew describes, “I wanted to learn how to defend myself. Whenever my interest flagged, I remembered the playgrounds of my youth.”

Introduction to Kung Fu

During his teens, Matthew’s attempts to fulfil his personal goals, registered on the “things that are wrong with Matt” list included, “ignorant,” and “cowardly.” Slightly harsh perhaps, but this lead him onto studying hard and entering the prestigious Princeton university where his martial arts training took a more formal start. Matthew describes first entering the martial arts world: “It wasn’t until college that I realized it was possible to study martial arts. I signed up for a class in Tae Kwon Do. We met in the basement of Princeton’s gymnasium. During those classes I became friends with someone who had studied Chinese kung fu. He taught me what he knew and then introduced me to his master. I fell in love with the style.” This introduction to kungfu shaped Matthew’s deep interest into the art as he took up Chinese philosophy classes at college and took the time to learn Mandarin Chinese so as to understand the philosopher’s work in their original language. Matthew’s fusion of fascination with both kungfu and Chan (Zen in Japanese) Buddhism lead him in his desire to take a break from university and travel to China, thereby enabling him to quench his thirst for his two passions. Matthew describes it thus: “The Shaolin Temple is the birthplace of both Zen Buddhism and kungfu, so it was like the mother and father of my two obsessions in college.” He was further drawn when he, “first heard that the Shaolin Temple might actually still exist as a functioning monastery, I knew I had to go there and see it for myself.”

So, after leaving his mother at Kansas airport bound for Beijing, he found himself in the middle of rural China coping with the shock of a totally foreign country and some of the toughest martial arts training in the world. Matthew describes being plunged into this strange world: “The training was brutal, but the culture shock was worse. I was the only laowai (foreigner) in the region. The feeling of isolation was incredibly intense.” However, although times at the Shaolin centre could be unbearably tough, Matthew forged some strong bonds with the young monks who tutored him; he speaks of them with the greatest respect: “they were not only the greatest martial artists I had ever seen but they were also great people. Whenever I was down, they lifted my spirits.”

The Shaolin Centre

During his time at the Shaolin Centre, Matthew studied a cross-section of the kungfu curriculum. Starting off with forms, he soon realised that being in his early twenties he was a bit too old to become really good at them and therefore switched his training to Chinese kickboxing. Also, when reflecting on the bullying he was subjected to in his childhood; he, “was interested in learning how to defend myself and the kickboxers at Shaolin were the best fighters.” His training was long and hard but successful as he entered an international competition, coming second only to a Chinese national champion. Matthew describes some of the Chinese methods of training as, “very physical, very brutal, and very corporal. Teachers hit students; students hit each other. It’s a country without lawyers. Our concern for safety in the West limits how quickly students can develop.” Thus, Matthew was able to make rapid progress in his kungfu training, being able to train all day, everyday and learning some hard martial lessons on the way.

Matthew also makes some interesting comparisons between martial arts training in the West and in China: “In the Western world kungfu is generally practised as a hobby or as an extracurricular activity. In China, tens of thousands of teenagers train six hours a day, six days a week, for a minimum of four years. That is only possible because China reveres its martial artists. The day Britain’s top kungfu master receives a fraction of the fame, adulation and money of say, David Beckham, then British teenagers will start training like Chinese teenagers.”

After China

After his two years training at Shaolin, Matthew returned home to complete his education at college. Since then, he has developed a career in travelling and writing, tasting what the various countries have to offer in their martial arts. He describes: “Last summer I went to Rio to study and write an article about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The Brazilians have a lot of fun while they train. This winter I went to Bangkok to research an article on Muay Thai. The Thais are the only people who revere their martial artists more than the Chinese. Muay Thai is the national sport. As a consequence, they take their training very seriously. It was more brutal than at Shaolin, and I didn’t think that was possible.” And of course, Matthew has been busy writing his book ‘American Shaolin.’ The project started after his master, Abbot Yongxin, asked him to write something about the lives of the Shaolin monks as he felt, “that China had fallen behind Japan and Korea in promoting its style of martial arts in the West, and he believed too many TV documentaries about the Temple were based on a Western fantasy about these magical monks in this mystical place.” Now this is fulfilled, Matthew is planning on continuing his quest in travelling and writing articles and books about different cultures and martial arts. As well as being a very good book, ‘American Shaolin’ is currently being developed into a feature film, furthering the story of the Shaolin monks to a Western audience.

Matthew speaks of some of the lasting images that he is left of China, “I’ll never forget meditating on the top of Mt. Song and looking down on the Shaolin Temple, the thousands of Chinese boys training, and the little farms spread across the valley. It was a stunning view.” And the other benefits of his challenging journey, “It gave me a great deal more confidence. After surviving Shaolin, other challenges have seemed much less daunting.” He has also managed to keep in touch with several of the monks who taught and trained him, such as Coach Cheng, his kickboxing instructor, Monks Cheng Hao and Deqing during the filming of a documentary and Monk Lipeng, who now also lives in New York. Most of all, Matthew would like to, “see what happened to Shaolin’s iron crotch master. He was by far the wackiest character I met at Shaolin—and that is saying a lot.”

If you would like to read more about Matthew Polly and his Shaolin adventures, visit his website on: www.mattpolly.com or better still read his book, ‘American Shaolin’ due out in the UK in April.

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