When you mention Kung Fu, you will almost always find people who claim to be the biggest fan and that Bruce Lee is the epitome of a Kung Fu master.  But I'm not sure how many of us really know just what it takes to be a Shaolin Kung Fu master.  This is what first-time director Alexander Sebastien Lee shows us on his film Real Shaolin, which premiered today.

Throughout the film, the audience comes to know four aspiring Shaolin masters: a young Chinese boy named Yuan Peng, another Chinese young man named Zhu, an American named Orion (pictured right with director Alex Lee), and a Frechman named Eric.  We see the excrutiating pain they experience in their training; the lack of comfort; being away from home and feeling lonely at times.  For anyone who has grown up watching martial arts and kung fu films especially, this would make a great companion to any collection. 

Orion talked about having to move on from his Shaolin training due to an ankle injury to another type of martial art - Sanda.  He did say that his "experience with Shaolin was everything I was looking for... I have absolutely no regrets."  Eric also leaves his training and so does Zhu.  The only one who continues in his training to become a warrior monk and Shaolin master is Yuan Peng.  A member of the audience asked Lee if he's considered making a follow-up film about Yuan.  He agreed, mentioning that to him "the little boy in the film was the heart of the film for me." 

For those of you curious to learn more about Shaolin or simply want to see what the training really involves besides what you see in the movies, you have two more chances to see this film.  There is a screening on Wed, Sept 9th at 9pm and again on Sat, Sept 13th at 3:15pm.