What are the problems with the industrialization of Chinese martial arts?

Everyone who has been influenced by Chinese martial arts culture may have had the fantasy of practicing martial arts in Shaolin and improving kung fu. "The world's Kung Fu comes from Shaolin", this resounding slogan that has lasted for thousands of years has made Shaolin Temple a "martial arts" holy place that attracts the world's attention. From official histories, unofficial histories, legends, and storybooks in ancient times to today's novels, movies, and TV shows, the powerful figure of Kung Fu seems to cover up the true nature of Zen Buddhism in Songshan Shaolin Temple. Shaolin Kung Fu has become a huge magnet, attracting martial arts enthusiasts from all over the world to make pilgrimages to Shaolin Temple and realize their dreams.

Dengfeng City, Henan Province, where the Shaolin Temple is located, also relies on the advantage of "first come first served", there are many martial arts schools, gathering martial artists from all over the world. Today, there are more than 50,000 students in various martial arts schools in Dengfeng, and it is called "the largest martial arts tribe on earth."

On the eve of the "Beijing 2008 Wushu Competition", "Lookout" News Weekly visited Dengfeng City, Henan Province to explore the development trajectory of this "Kung Fu City" in the process of socialization and industrialization of Chinese Wushu. .

An industry spawned by a martial arts movie

In the eyes of local people, the intangible asset of Shaolin martial arts is Dengfeng’s unparalleled resource advantage. This is also the reason why Dengfeng’s martial arts industry The basis of transformation.

When you walk out of Zhengzhou Railway Station, you don’t need to look for it, and the figure of Kung Fu will come to you. In the square in front of the station, more than a dozen minibuses from various martial arts schools were lined up, with large red characters on the buses - "Shaolin Monks Training Base", "Shaolin Epo Martial Arts Academy", "Shaolin Tower" Gou Martial Arts School" and so on are eye-catching.

Every foreigner can immediately feel the unique martial arts atmosphere of this province as soon as they get off the bus.

"Nowadays, all those who learn martial arts come to Henan. Those minibuses are used to pick up students from various martial arts schools. This is the case all year round. You can learn wherever you go." From the train station to the place of residence. , in just 20 minutes' drive, the taxi driver in Zhengzhou has already given our reporter a martial arts enlightenment class. This middle-aged brother, who is about 40 years old, talks about the various martial arts schools in Dengfeng with great fondness.

This is just a prelude. The real strong voice of martial arts is played in Dengfeng City, more than 80 kilometers away from the provincial capital Zhengzhou.

As soon as the reporter from "Lookout" News Weekly entered the small town of Dengfeng, he felt two hot winds blowing towards him. In addition to the heat in nature, the other kind is the heat of practicing martial arts in the streets and alleys: old people boxing in the park, children practicing kung fu on the streets, and one martial arts school after another on the side of the road.

Back more than 20 years ago, the situation of martial arts in Dengfeng was not like this. Although Shaolin Temple is still famous, the world seems to have gradually forgotten its reputation as a kung fu holy land.

The change came from a movie. In 1982, the movie "Shaolin Temple" was released across the country. The rapid popularity of this new martial arts movie not only made Jet Li an international superstar, but also revived Shaolin martial arts. A flood of martial arts practitioners from home and abroad poured into Dengfeng, and the small county of Dengfeng was followed by a wave of controversy. There was a burst of martial arts.

The heads of government sports departments, martial arts schools, and coaches interviewed by our reporter and all those who experienced those years agree with this statement.

Wang Songwei, deputy director of the Dengfeng Municipal Sports Bureau, said: "Shaolin martial arts is Dengfeng's resource advantage, but it has not been fully utilized. After the movie "Shaolin Temple" was staged, more and more people came to Dengfeng to learn martial arts. That’s when the situation started today. It should be said that it was a turning point. After Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Shaolin Temple last year, Shaolin martial arts ushered in a second opportunity for development. One of the manifestations is that more and more students come from abroad to study Shaolin martial arts. The reporter saw students from many countries and regions in several martial arts schools he visited.

The industrialization pattern of martial arts is beginning to emerge

After nearly 30 years of development, Dengfeng has now formed a martial arts training market, a martial arts product market, a martial arts tourism market and a martial arts market with martial arts as the leader. The industrialization pattern composed of four major parts of the cultural and performing arts market.

The martial arts training market is a major lever for the development of Dengfeng’s martial arts industry. Information provided by the Dengfeng Municipal Sports Bureau, which is in charge of the city's martial arts work, shows that there are currently about 50,000 students in Dengfeng's martial arts schools all year round. For example, each student's annual consumption is 6,000 yuan, and the consumption of relatives and friends is calculated as 1,000 yuan. This is the only one. Xiang has invested 350 million yuan in funding for Dengfeng City.

In the martial arts product market, 10 major categories of leading products have been developed, including martial arts equipment, martial arts teaching aids, competition equipment, clothing, and martial arts travel souvenirs. School students alone consume clothing and equipment worth 15 million yuan every year. Yuan.

In terms of martial arts tourism, four routes, including the North and South Shaolin Hotline, have been developed in advance, attracting more than 500,000 martial arts enthusiasts every year.

The potential of the martial arts culture and performing arts market cannot be ignored. The release of the mountain live performance "Zen Shaolin Music Ceremony" has become a highlight of Dengfeng's cultural performing arts market.

Taixian Valley, 7 kilometers away from the Songshan Shaolin Temple, was originally a desolate and steep canyon. After the creativity of Mei Shuaiyuan and others who produced "Impression of Liu Sanjie" in Guilin, Guangxi, it has now become a It creates a "canyon real-life theater" like a traditional landscape painting.

The ancient Shaolin culture inspired the famous musician Tan Dun, who created "organic music" and "green music" here using nature as instruments and flowing water as strings.

“We invested in this project and investigated it for 6 months. We finally decided to invest in Dengfeng because Dengfeng combines many elements such as the tourist resort Shaolin Temple, Shaolin martial arts, Zen culture, etc., which is the only place in the country. An example." said Huo Yanjun, director of the Music Ceremony Office.

The scale of Dengfeng’s martial arts performing arts groups is also growing. In 2007, the number of performers reached 2,800, four times that of 2002. The number of performers in each performing arts group ranged from a dozen to hundreds. At present, there are more than 6,000 martial arts performances in Dengfeng City every year, with an audience of more than 300,000. Each person is charged 30 yuan, and the revenue reaches more than 10 million yuan.

In 2006, the Dengfeng Municipal Government formulated and issued the "Dengfeng Martial Arts Industry Development Plan", proposing to make every effort to build a "Kung Fu City" and promote the industrialization process of Shaolin Martial Arts.

In fact, the understanding of the concept of industrialization by various government parties is also changing from vague to clear, and it is not a one-step process. "We continue to go through the process from practice to understanding, and from practice to understanding again. This is how various undertakings are developed and standardized at the same time." Wang Songwei said, "It should be said that the government is also 'crossing the river by feeling for the stones.'"< /p>

With the development of industrialization, Shaolin martial arts has become a medium for Dengfeng City’s foreign exchanges and expansion of opening up, and a strong glue for attracting foreign investment. According to incomplete statistics, since the 1990s, Dengfeng City has introduced more than 200 projects through martial arts, and the total economic and trade turnover has reached tens of billions of yuan.

The process of martial arts industrialization has also alleviated the employment pressure in Dengfeng City, becoming a regulator and "floodway" for local employment peaks. Data shows that there are currently nearly 8,000 people directly employed by martial arts schools in the city, of which the two larger schools, Tagou Martial Arts School and Epo Martial Arts School, employ nearly 3,000 people, which is equivalent to the number of employees in a local medium-sized enterprise.

Martial arts schools are getting bigger and bigger

The main reason why the martial arts industry in Dengfeng City has formed a climate is that the industry leader of martial arts schools has formed a large scale and has formed a cluster. effect.

In fact, the Dengfeng martial arts training market has also experienced a stage of multi-management and chaotic school running, and finally developed from a family workshop to today's enterprise group.

According to our reporter, in the 1980s, after the release of the movie "Shaolin Temple", martial arts craze swept across Dengfeng in an instant, and various martial arts schools were spread across urban and rural areas, which can be called "five steps and one gym. "Ten steps, one school".

Shaolin Temple Tagou Martial Arts School is one of the earliest martial arts schools established in Dengfeng City. It has now formed an education group consisting of six teaching units including the original martial arts school. But at the beginning, it was also a family workshop model.

Gao Beifang, the office director of Tagou Martial Arts School, recalled: “In 1978, when the school was founded, the students had room and board at the old principal’s house. They ‘worked during the day and practiced martial arts at night.’ If they couldn’t do farm work, they would practice martial arts. . Even the philosophy of running the school is very simple: if people send their children here, we should be worthy of them.”

After more than 20 years of development, Dengfeng Martial Arts School has long since got rid of family workshops under the survival of the fittest. model and gradually developed rich market operation experience.

According to Wang Songwei, unlike Shandong, Fujian and other places, which are mostly government-invested martial arts schools and are basically public, all martial arts schools in Dengfeng City are currently run by social forces. The funding sources of these martial arts schools are either private capital investment or bank loan financing, and have formed a relatively mature operating model.

There is another point that cannot be ignored. Dengfeng Wushu Academy insists on studying both civil and martial arts and paying equal attention to study and training. After graduation, students can not only get a martial arts academic certificate, but also a cultural academic certificate, with a maximum of to a college degree. This move further enhances the appeal of Dengfeng Martial Arts School.

"Lookout" News Weekly visited several martial arts schools and learned that the teaching at Dengfeng Martial Arts School is currently divided into two systems: martial arts teaching and cultural teaching. Martial arts teaching includes routines, Sanda, wrestling, boxing, taekwondo, martial arts performance and other majors. Students can freely choose majors according to their interests and hobbies. And according to the level, enter classes of different levels to study.

In terms of cultural education, courses are offered in accordance with the national nine-year compulsory education and teaching syllabus. Many schools have formed a system from kindergarten, primary school, middle school, to technical secondary school. Some schools also have college and junior college education teaching systems. "We now basically arrange teaching according to a half-day martial arts class and a half-day cultural class." said Shi Yanlu, the chief instructor of the Shaolin Monk Corps and the principal of the Shaolin Monk Corps training base.

Dengfeng Martial Arts School students have multiple channels for further education and employment. In recent years, the employment rate has been above 90%. The high employment rate has also become one of the important reasons for the strong student supply of Dengfeng martial arts schools.

Graduates from Dengfeng Martial Arts School have different options. Wang Songwei said: "Those with relatively high standards are admitted to various colleges and universities, and some students enter the sports team; the second is to join the army; and the biggest one is to become a security guard." Some predictions show that at least 100,000 students in the country will be recruited every year. There are about 6 million security positions, and now there is an endless stream of units recruiting security guards in Dengfeng every year.

“The purpose of education is to cultivate talents, but in view of the uneven quality of students in martial arts schools, our goal may be more realistic. Even if we cannot cultivate talents, we must cultivate them into adults. Let students who join martial arts Through education in a specific environment, students who go out of school can endure hardship, be good at being a good person, and be self-reliant," Wang Songwei said. The invisible hand of the government provides timely support

In regulating and promoting the martial arts training market, the hand of the government has already begun to play a role. Several martial arts school leaders and coaches interviewed all believed that in the process of industrialized development of Dengfeng martial arts, the government's regulatory role is irreplaceable.

In the early 1980s, the emergence of a large number of martial arts schools promoted the development of Dengfeng's martial arts industry. But on the other hand, due to multiple approvals and unsatisfactory systems, the management of martial arts schools was relatively chaotic, resulting in a mixed situation.

“In the first few years of the martial arts craze, industry and commerce, labor, public security, education, townships and even production teams were all running schools because everyone had the power to approve them.” Wang Songwei said, “Many people are now learning For sale now, some people don’t even understand martial arts at all. Under such circumstances, many people were deceived.”

Chang Fuxiao said: “It is said that there was a martial arts enthusiast who was led to the mountain by his master. I learned the 'Eighteen Palms of Subduing the Dragon' for half a year. This sounds like a joke now, but it was the reality at the time." Facing the chaotic and disorderly development of martial arts schools, the government did not wait for the market. Survival of the fittest, but timely intervention. At that time, the Dengfeng County Government established the Shaolin Martial Arts Work Management Office, which was participated by the Sports Commission, the Education Commission, and the Public Security Bureau. It comprehensively rectified the martial arts schools in the area and banned 49 schools at one time, leaving only 5 schools that met the conditions for running schools.

In 1990, Dengfeng issued another document clarifying that the sports department would uniformly approve and manage martial arts schools, and formulated "six standards" for running schools. The martial arts training market began to gradually become standardized. The number of martial arts schools after the first reorganization has grown from 5 to 58, with the number of students enrolled reaching 12,000, and the pattern has basically been formed.

In the following years, Dengfeng continued to improve its hardware facilities and introduced relevant policies to guide the development of the school. At present, there are 83 martial arts schools in Dengfeng, with about 50,000 students enrolled all year round.

In the construction of martial arts schools, Dengfeng also provided great support from the policy perspective, speeding up the procedures and simplifying the procedures, giving the green light all the way. The treatment is the same as that of public schools. It is stipulated that all martial arts schools enjoy the same treatment as public schools in terms of school project establishment, land acquisition, and daily management, creating a relaxed environment for the construction of each martial arts school.

At the same time, the government implements strict assessments on martial arts schools. At the beginning of each year, the Sports Bureau signs a target management responsibility letter with each martial arts school, incorporating martial arts and cultural teaching, logistics management, martial ethics and martial arts, facility construction, martial arts research, etc. into the management goals, and implements the "Five Best The evaluation system for "Five Best Schools" and "Five-Star Schools" is evaluated once a year, and heavy rewards will be given to the schools rated as "Five Best" or "Five-Star".

In the internal management of martial arts schools, the government also "intervenes" in a timely manner.

The arduous training and strict management of martial arts schools have caused many parents to send their children who "do not study well and are naughty" to martial arts schools, which undoubtedly makes management and teaching more difficult.

One day at the end of July, when our reporter came to the playground of the Shaolin Monk Training Base, the afternoon martial arts training began immediately. A little boy in his teens looked a little lonely. He told reporters: "I've only been here for a week. I was homesick just now, but I'm feeling better now. Why did I come to learn martial arts? Because if I don't study hard, my parents can't control me."

A Shenzhen parents who came to visit their children also told reporters that they sent their children here because they could no longer control them. The only son often ran away with a group of people and would not come home for several days.

Wang Songwei told our reporter that around 1984, the problems caused by some students could be described as "a mess." "Today there is a fire here, and tomorrow there will be a fight, causing the school and the government to 'put out fires' everywhere." He said frankly , "Even now, there is no denying that most martial arts schools in Dengfeng have more or less 'problem students'."

To solve this problem, the prescription prescribed by the government authorities is to strengthen the legal system Education and cultivating an atmosphere of advocating martial arts and advocating virtue. Dengfeng City dispatched personnel from the Public Security Bureau and the Department of Justice to serve concurrently as legal vice principals or legal teachers in various martial arts schools, and compiled the "Legal Practice of Martial Arts" series and the "Martial Arts and Martial Arts Ideological Education Reader" as required subjects for students in each martial arts school. . The Dengfeng Wushu Association has also formulated a new covenant of martial ethics and martial arts to enhance the sense of mission and responsibility of martial arts school students to bring glory to the country and martial arts. So far, no vicious cases have occurred in martial arts schools in the city, and teaching and public security are in good order.

A set of data provided by the Dengfeng Sports Bureau shows the government’s emphasis on martial arts schools: At present, the Dengfeng Sports Bureau has about 70 staff members. In addition to focusing on mass sports, , 80% of the energy is focused on the management of the martial arts school; 3 of the 4 deputy positions are dedicated to the management of the martial arts school, and more than half of the departments serve the martial arts school.

In addition to the martial arts training industry, looking at the industrial development of Dengfeng Shaolin martial arts, we can see the promoting role of the government's "visible hand" everywhere.

Since 1991, with the joint efforts of people from all walks of life, the Zhengzhou International Shaolin Martial Arts Festival has been successfully held for 6 consecutive years. Shaolin Wushu has been promoted to a high-level and high-standard development space, and the goal of promoting Shaolin Wushu to national sports competitions has been formulated. After hard work, the National Wushu Shaolin Boxing Competition was successfully held. Many interviewees believe that these measures have provided sufficient raw materials for making the “big cake” of Shaolin martial arts bigger.

Why Dengfeng

There are Cangzhou, Hebei Province in the north and Putian, Fujian Province, in the south, including Emei, Wudang, etc., all of which have intangible assets of martial arts. Why is Dengfeng, Henan Province able to industrialize martial arts? To be the best among them?

Many experts interviewed by "Lookout" News Weekly pointed out that the long historical origin of Shaolin martial arts, the wide influence of Shaolin Temple at home and abroad, the high attention and normative guidance of local governments, and the appropriate industry Planning, as well as people in the industry sparing no effort to popularize and promote Shaolin martial arts, are all conditions for achieving Dengfeng.

“This is like a seed. It must have suitable soil, temperature, humidity and other conditions before it can germinate and gradually grow into a towering tree.” Gao, Director of the Office of Shaolin Temple Tagou Martial Arts School North said.

The widespread influence of Shaolin Temple and Shaolin martial arts at home and abroad is a prerequisite for the development of Dengfeng’s martial arts industry.

Chang Fuxiao, executive vice president of Shaolin Epo Martial Arts Academy, said: "To put it bluntly, we all know that no matter which martial arts school it is, it is actually the 'Shaolin School'. They are all intangible assets left by our ancestors."

Mei Mosheng, vice president of the Beijing Wu Style Tai Chi Research Association and consultant of the Wudang Mountain Wudang Boxing Research Association, analyzed that Songshan Shaolin Temple is a famous mountain famous all over the world. Ancient Temple; Shaolin Kung Fu is one of the famous martial arts schools in my country. It has a long history and profound influence. It is an important part of traditional Chinese martial arts. Since entering modern times, the mass media has widely publicized the Shaolin Temple and Shaolin martial arts, which has made the popularity of Shaolin martial arts continue to rise, which has made Dengfeng a source of inspiration for the martial arts industry.

Abbot Shi Yongxin of Shaolin Temple agreed with the statement that "the industrialization development of Dengfeng martial arts has benefited from Shaolin Temple." “On the one hand, a large number of film, television and literary works about the Shaolin Temple continue to appear. On the other hand, the Shaolin Temple monks tour around the world. These have spread and expanded the popularity and influence of Shaolin Wushu, and invisibly cultivated many Shaolin Wushu. Enthusiasts.”

Many interviewees agreed with this view. Wang Nan from the Department of Physical Education of Zhengzhou University believes that the reason why the industrialization of Dengfeng martial arts has become popular and large-scale is that it has the right time, location, and people. Among them, Dengfeng is the location of the Shaolin Temple and the birthplace of Shaolin martial arts. Through the dissemination of film, television, literature and other forms, Shaolin martial arts has a profound influence. When people hear martial arts, they think of Shaolin Temple and Dengfeng.

Wang Nan further analyzed that the so-called geographical advantage is that Dengfeng is a small town in a mountainous area. It has a quiet environment, not much interference, and a strong martial arts atmosphere, which is very suitable for practicing martial arts. People and people, Dengfeng has a group of capable and capable people. Reputable old martial artists and boxers are popularizing Shaolin martial arts.

Mei Mosheng said frankly that looking at Southern Shaolin, so far, there have been three Shaolin temples in Fujian that claim to be "Southern Shaolin Sites", leaving many people at home and abroad who are concerned about Southern Shaolin research at a loss. The dispute has not yet been resolved, and its influence is naturally difficult to compare with that of Dengfeng Shaolin.

The guidance and support of the local government cannot be ignored. Mei Mosheng said that from the Dengfeng Municipal Government to the Henan Provincial Government, they attach great importance to the development of the martial arts industry and regard the martial arts industry as a "sunrise industry" to vigorously support it. This is also one of the success factors.