<The following is a translation of the above article>

Heroes out of Shaolin - the fame of 2 warrior monks spread far & wide. These 2 experts are Shi Yanhu & Shi Yanpao, brothers who follow each other like form & shadow, and are as close as hand & foot. Their disciplines has been passed down for more than 1000 years. Shi Yanhu trains in the Golden Bell & Iron Shirt Skills whereas Shi Yanpao trains in the Iron Groin Skill…

In the ancient Temple Grounds of Shaolin in the Henan province dwells 2 highly skilled monks; they are Shi Yanhu & Shi Yanpao.

Shi Yanhu was born in a farm in Henan. As a boy he learned Baguazhang from his Granddad. When he was 10 he ran away alone to Liang Shan to look for a Master to further his skills. His search eventually led him to the Shaolin Temple.

16 years ago he took the tonsil to be ordained as a monk under the tutorship of the 30^th Abbot of the Shaolin Temple, Ven. Shi Yongxin. From then on he practiced Chan Buddhism dilligently, training late into the night daily. Time goes by, & after the spring breeze & the autumn rains comes a body of steel sinews & iron bones.

His 2 legs had became like 2 iron pillars, giving off an almost metallic bang when knocked. His shaven forehead developed a thick layer of calluses. In order to attain this hard body skill he had to bash his own body with an 8 kg iron pole tens of times every night.

Shi Yanhu said that after he mastered the Golden Bell Skill his body became like cotton on the outside & like steel within. On the other hand the Iron Shirt Skill made his body like steel on the outside & like cotton within. Both skills compliment each other, perfectly blending the hard & soft elements into one. Up till today nobody could clearly explain these 2 disciplines - how can the human body consisting mainly of water & protein defy the laws of Physics & Biology to become as strong as steel?

<Author: Simple - Mind over Matter!>

5 years ago in 1996 he & his brother Shi Yanpao accompanied their Master on a trip to Thailand. Down there the Deputy Chief of the Sangha appointed one Muay Thai expert to have a match with him. This expert initated the fight with a strong blow to Shi Yanhu's abdomen. To his surprise his blow met with the powerful recoiling power of the Golden Bell Skill; it is as if he had thrown eggs at a rock. Clutching his hand in pain he had no choice but to admit defeat to Shi Yanhu.

<Author: Sounds fishy at this point. I think a Muay Thai fighter would surely go for his face or give a low kick to his thigh rather than punch his hard body?>

Entering the Shaolin Temple at 15 Shi Yanpao has a groin of iron - Shi Yanpao started learning the Iron Groin Skill from a Master since he was a boy. Joining the Shaolin temple at 15, his skill improved further, & his groin had became as strong as iron.

Iron Groin Skill is one of the most profound disciplines found in Chinese Kungfu. Westerners could never understand how the most vulnerable part of a Man's body could transform into something so solid in an instant?

<Author: I suppose you could train any part of the body to become as strong as steel, but one would still not be able to take heavy blows to the some parts of the head, face & even the joints.>

As we were told there was once the 2 brothers held a demonstration in the US, letting members of the audience strike their bodies at will. There was this Brazilian guy who went straight for Shi Yanpao's groin with a kick. To everyone's surprise Shi Yanpao continued to smile; all that was heard was the clashing sound of 2 hard objects. The next moment this Brazilian guy dropped to the ground, clutching his swollen foot & howling in pain.

Thus the 2 brothers became famed elite members of the Chinese Wushu community. They had in the past few years visited the US, Japan, Korea, Germany, Australia, India, & over 20 other countries.

After they returned to China, they were implored to stay by the Chiefs of the Guangdong Police Dept. Thus they took up the role of special instructors to the Guangdong police officers. Later they also taught members of the Police Elite Forces as well as the China Police Academy.

After leaving the Shaolin Temple, the brothers focused on helping to train different police officers. There was once they accompanied a police team to raid a drug syndicate hiding in a building in Huizhou county of Guangdong. The captain refused to let them out of the car, but gave them a gun instead, asking them to shoot any crook who comes at them. Moments later they saw that those injured that were being carried away were all police officers. Unable to hold on any longer, they grabbed 2 assault rifles & rushed into the fray.

On the roof top they saw through a ceiling window that a few crooks were firing away at the cops outside. Immediately they crashed through the window into the interior, & before the crooks knew what was going on they had all been floored by the iron fists of the 2 brothers.

<Author: It seems to me that these 2 masters are not only experts in Shaolin Kungfu, but they actually make better police officers than the police officers themselves.>

Shi Yanpao's internal force shocks Mafia boss - In 1990 the police in Guangdong arrested a Thai Mafia boss & the Thai police had requested him to be extradited back to Thailand.

This crook happened to be a Muay Thai expert & in order to prevent any unforseen accidents the Guangdong police invited the 2 brothers to help with the escort.

So they joined 2 police officers sent from Thailand to escort this Mafia boss back by plane. Gingerly the 2 Thai officers handcuffed him.

Shi Yanpao laughed & said,"Its alright, we shouldn't let our detainee suffer further," & took one off for the boss.

On the plane the Mafia boss sat between the 2 brothers, joking & chatting with them during the journey. Then Shi Yanpao got up to head for the toilet. At this point the Mafia boss refused to budge, blocking his way with his leg, with the intention of testing how good his 'Chinese Kungfu' really is.

Shi Yanpao simply expanded his Jing & a cracking sound followed. The Mafia boss almost had his leg broken there. Immediately his face turned pale with shock.

<Author: That was pretty dumb of the Muay Thai expert Mafia boss.>

The exploits of the 2 have been made into a TV drama series - Shi Yanpao, whose self-righteous & uncompromising character exudes the aura of a Vigilante moved a Hong Kong TV producer to flim a TV drama series base on the legendary exploits of the 2 brothers. Recently they have started fliming the series in Beijing, titled <Jiao Feng> or 'The Clash'. The 2 brothers will be acting as themselves.

Before this the 2 brothers have also took part in flim productions like <Tie Han Xin Jing> 'Ironman Cops', <Ren Ming Zi Di Bing> 'Citizen Soldier Brothers' & <Xiao Li Fei Dao> 'Flying Knifes of Xiao Li'.

Even though it is only acting, the 2 brothers have always insisted on real footage & real fighting, refusing to use special effects or fancy camerawork, not to mention being hung around on wire. They have said that if as Shaolin warrior monks they still had to rely on all these everyone will surely laugh at them till their teeth dropped. (END)

<Author: Not to take away any credit from these 2 Shaolin masters, but the truth about hard body skills is that they can only work when the practicioner is stationery & his Chi is focused. If any one were to strike them at this point anywhere rather than the face, the harder they hit the worse they will hurt themselves. This is the so called "Recoiling Power"of Chi. However in a fight where they have to move around & throw attacks at opponents rather than just stand there their Chi will surely be dispersed & their hard body skill may not work that well, perhaps not at all. Thus while we should respect these real Shaolin msaters we must take what we read with a pinch of salt, & not blindly worship the mystic powers of Kungfu & Chikung. Training in profound disciplines are a gamble. I believe one should always believe in simple & direct methods rather than profound ones, for it is the former that will lead us to the truth behind Martial Science without fail.>

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