Shaolin

 

On pondering "The Shaolin" I realised they were introduced to me in the seventies TV series "Kung Fu" where David Carradine played the wandering shaolin monk "Caine". Many years later he played the role of the Samurai trained "Bill" in  Kill Bill. A few years later he died in an accident from auto erotic asphyxiation !

 The Shaolin are reknowned for their the spiritual/ warrior path. As Buddhist Monks,  legend has it they created kung fu to defend their Shaolin temple from the Wu Tang. They  also used Buddhist/Taoist energetic practices to transform sexual energy for the purpose of achieving enlightenment rather than pleasure/procreation.

In 90's Hip Hop acts like "Wu Tang Clan" popularised use of samples from classic kung fu films in hip hop. The group making many reference to legends of  the Shaolin and Wu Tang

Over the pond the British breakbeat  producer JSaulKane/Depth Charge used kung fu samples in a similar way.

In London in the late nineties/early naughties I attended the hip hop clubs "Scratch" , and "Kung Fu"  and the Shaolin film club at 333 where my friend "Shaolin" Alex was the DJ and my Kung Fu teacher  did a demo. All Three club nights worked these themes.