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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shi_Yan_Ming
In China
Unlike other Buddhist monks, Shaolin can eat meat and drink alcohol, a privilege that originated with a decree from Emperor Li Shi Min during the Tang Dynasty, because the Shaolin had aided him. Before the temple opened up in the early 1980, the monks could eat meat inside, though they ceased this practice after other monks began visiting following its reconstruction
In the United States
Shi Yan Ming in front of the Buddhist shrine at USA Shaolin Temple, housed in a second story Lower Manhattan loft.
After the tour's last show concluded in San Francisco, Shi secretly left his hotel in the middle of the night and escaped in order to defect from China to the United States. Speaking no English, Shi directed a cab driver with hand signals to an unknown destination, but the frustrated driver dropped him off in the middle of nowhere and called the police. Shi showed the police his passport and some newspaper clippings featuring him, so the police requested the driver take him to a Chinese restaurant in order to find someone who could communicate with him. However, since the staff at the restaurant spoke only Cantonese, and not Shi's Mandarin, the monk wrote down his communications, since both dialects employ the same characters. The restaurant staff helped Shi phone a friend in New York City, who had someone pick up Shi, who hid in a basement for a week, eating only bread and cereal, while the news media were reporting his escape. After a week, he traveled to New York.[2]
Shi's defection was motivated in part because he disagreed with the monastery's strictures, saying, "In the temple, monks have 250 rules. Two hundred fifty! Just think of that! You cannot drink. You cannot eat spices. You cannot drink bottled water. You cannot look at a woman. That's just crazy. It's the 21st century, you know?"[1]
Choosing New York to be his new base of operations in order to spread the message of Buddhism and Shaolin kung fu[6][12][13][14] because he saw it as the "capital of the world", Shi opened the first USA Shaolin Temple at 96 Bowery Street in Chinatown in December 1994.[2] Because there was no heat, electricity or hot water,[13] Shi would tape flashlights to the walls for light, teaching up to 18 hours a day in order to attract students. At night he would wear several pairs of socks on his feet to stay warm, and accumulated hundreds of pairs of unwashed socks due to his initial inability to wash clothes without water. He would also perform in Chinese restaurants to raise money for children and the elderly, gave free lessons, and spoke of philosophy in Open Centre on Spring Street.[6] In 1996 he moved the USA Shaolin Temple to a third floor loft at 678 Broadway in the East Village. In late 2006, after its lease expired, the temple was relocated to its current location in a second floor, high-ceilinged loft at 446 Broadway, in Chinatown,[1][3][15] where he teaches authentic Shaolin martial arts and Chan Buddhism in two-hour classes[14] from 5am to 9pm, every day, to nearly 500 students, who have included notables such as Wesley Snipes, Rosie Perez, Bokeem Woodbine, RZA, Jim Jarmusch, Bjork and Tricky.[1][2][3]
Personal life
Shi has two children with his partner, Sophia Chang, a Korean-Canadian music promoter for Ol' Dirty Bastard, and the temple's then-manager, whom he met in 1995. Shi never took the Shaolin celibacy vows, as he entered the Shaolin Temple at the age of five.[22] Explaining his eschewing of celibacy, Shi remarks, "I'm too handsome for that."
