By Tomasz Gudzowaty & Robert Bogusławski
Published by Tomasz Gudzowaty Photography Ltd., 2003 – Gift from a private donor –
Location: Studio Sakse – Chiang Mai, Thailand
Shaolin temple is a strange place where still living history meets and mixes with present times. One and a half thousand-year-old tradition marks its existence with a stamp. Here the most precious knowledge was written in the stone, which is being protected against the running time. Since the stone boards have been protected with glass, the ones looking at it can see not only historical wisdom of the ancestor. When visitors thoughtfully stand still in front of a relict of the past majesty, the very disturbing meeting of eras happens, followed by metaphysical thrill.
Monks of the Shaolin temple now teach their particular form of Kung Fu (‘wushu’, or war art) in schools, and a large martial arts academy has opened beside their temple in response to growing public interest in the tradition. Since 1990 wushu has been an official medal event in the Asian Games, and there is a bid for it to be included in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Two other martial arts, taekwondo and judo, already feature in the Olympics.
