Shaolin kung fu demonstration in San Po Kong

A Shaolin kung fu exponent strikes a martial pose

A Shaolin kung fu exponent strikes another on the head
to demonstrate the latter's Qigong (power within)

Two Shaolin kung fu exponents spar with each other
to demonstrate their weapons expertise

Pretty much every week since I moved to Hong Kong, my mother will e-mail to ask me what I've got planned for the weekend. Often times, I'll tell her that I'll be going to at least one performing arts show (e.g., a classical music concert, a play, a dance performance) or to check out a movie that's being screened as part of an on-going film fest or retrospective. When the weather is good (i.e., pretty much guaranteed to be dry and not too deathly hot!), I might inform her that I'll be off on a hike with a friend or more. Some other times, I'll tell her that I'm planning to go check out some part of Hong Kong that I've not yet (sufficiently) explored.

For this past weekend, my answer was: a screening at the invaluable Hong Kong Film Archive on Saturday (of Ann Hui's superb latest film, The Way We Are); and a Shaolin kung fu demonstration in San Po Kong this Sunday afternoon -- the third such show that I've had the chance to check out since returning to Asia in July 2003 (even while being only the first thus far in The Big Lychee). Each time around, it's been pretty impressive and enjoyable.

And yes, fellow Hong Kong movie buffs, be assured that quite a few moves, styles and weapons are ones that will seem familiar for those who have checked out their share of kung fu films (including such favorites of mine as Lau Kar Leung's The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and -- I realize it's not a Shaolin kungfu movie per se but it does boast great demonstrations of a plethora of weapons of the Chinese martial arts arsenal -- Heroes of the East). ;b