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Shaolin kung fu returns

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Shaolin kung fu takes centre stage this summer with the return of martial art demonstrations in the Shaolin Showcase at Ngong Ping Village on Lantau Island.

Twenty Shaolin masters will perform martial art moves made famous in action films and also conduct workshops where visitors can learn and experience the true spirit of Shaolin kung fu.

The name Shaolin kung fu is used to describe the different Chinese martial arts associated with the Shaolin Monastery. It's a Buddhist temple founded in the fifth century at Song Shan, a sacred mountain in Dengfeng, Henan province.

The shaven-headed kung fu masters at Ngong Ping Village - the terminus of the Ngong Ping 360 cable car from Tung Chung - are all students at a kung fu school in Dongguan, Guangdong. 'We don't just study kung fu at school,' says Li Shengjuan, 21, one of the Shaolin masters. 'We study regular subjects, such as mathematics and Chinese, in addition to kung fu training.

'In Chinese we say, wen wu quan cai ... we must study both martial arts and normal academic subjects at the same time in order to improve.'

The students' academic routine resembles, in part, the demanding, disciplined lifestyle of Shaolin monks. 'We wake up at 5am and work out for two hours,' says Li, who rarely has a day off. 'We then go to school in the morning and go back to our kung fu training in the afternoon and evening.'

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