Shi De Yang

At the age of 32, Shi De Yang is an accomplished gong fu master, and, a bit more typical of the monk stereotype that we foreigners kind of expect from Shaolin Temple monks. Very quiet, reserved, and low key, Shi De Yang not only teaches gong fu to a select few, he also writes it. For it is he who is responsible for the maintenance of the Shaolin Temple ancient books. Hidden somewhere in the Temple, away from prying foreign eyes such as mine, Shi De Yang continues the tradition of amending and adding to the ancient Shaolin texts which describe all facets of Shaolin gong fu. He, along with Shi De Qian, have actually brought some of these texts to the modern world, publishing a huge four volume set of books which describe all of the known Shaolin gong fu forms. Unfortunately, it is entirely in Chinese. Also, (fortunately), it contains none of the "secrets" of the gong fu, which I assume are the applications, as this material is only available to Shaolin monks. Quite surprisingly, I was informed that not all of the monks in the Temple have access to these ancient texts. The gong fu that they learn is passed down from master to disciple, as it historically has always been.

Shi De Yang has traveled mainly in Europe, and is extremely well known there. His daily activities, other than his assigned Temple maintenance chores and "guard duty" (as I call it), consist of a daily two hour work out, alone, up in the mountains, and some gong fu teaching.

Edit 2007: Shi De Yang's history turned tumultuous in the early years of 2000, after the ascension of Shi Yong Xin. More information can be found in the Forum / Library. 

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