In December apprentices from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda and Nigeria graduated from the first three-month Shaolin Kung Fu African Class of the Ministry of Culture
Ten grey-suited Buddhists crouch like leopards stalking a muntjac before barrelling across the stage in an explosion of gravity-defying pivots, kicks and somersaults that would make an osteopath wince.
These are the warrior monks of China's fabled Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of kung fu which is spreading its gospel to Africa as part of a wood-smashing, sword-dancing, spear-balancing grab at global ubiquity.
"Shaolin kung fu isn't simply a physical exercise," said 26-year-old Shi Yancen as he limbered up at the Chinese-built Grand Theatre in the Senegalese capital Dakar ahead of the monks' first ever show in West Africa.
"Through learning kung fu you can also learn and admire the culture of Buddhism."
Since 2008, monks from the temple have been wooing sell-out crowds in South Africa, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Uganda, Eritrea, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Malawi, eyeing Africa's huge untapped potential.
The attention is paying off, with thousands of youngsters taking up kung fu each year, and 12 nations, including Senegal, participated in the fifth pan-continental kung fu championships in Madagascar in September.
The temple has no schools yet in Africa but its foreign liaison officer, Wang Yumin, told AFP its strategy was to bring pupils to China and get them to spread the message of "love, justice and health" back home.
"The Shaolin Temple has the mission to spread our tradition and Africans have the same demand to share our legendary culture," she said.
Students from six African countries started five years of training at the temple in 2011 and the monks have also begun shorter courses, all funded by China.
In December apprentices from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda and Nigeria graduated from the first three-month Shaolin Kung Fu African Class of the Ministry of Culture.
"We currently operate over 40 companies in cities across the world, such as Berlin and London," the Chinese Global Times quoted the financially-astute Shi, the first Chinese monk to earn a master's degree in business administration, as saying at a Beijing culture forum in 2011.
Whether Shaolin will catch on in Africa as it has elsewhere remains to be seen but the portents looked good on the monks' opening night in Dakar.
"I wasn't expecting much but it was outstanding," said Marika Kotze, a 48-year-old IT consultant who has been living in the city for 15 years.
"Wrestling is the big thing in Senegal but I can see this catching on."
Africans get a kick out of Shaolin Kung Fu
In December apprentices from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda and Nigeria graduated from the first three-month Shaolin Kung Fu African Class of the Ministry of Culture
Ten grey-suited Buddhists crouch like leopards stalking a muntjac before barrelling across the stage in an explosion of gravity-defying pivots, kicks and somersaults that would make an osteopath wince.
These are the warrior monks of China's fabled Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of kung fu which is spreading its gospel to Africa as part of a wood-smashing, sword-dancing, spear-balancing grab at global ubiquity.
"Shaolin kung fu isn't simply a physical exercise," said 26-year-old Shi Yancen as he limbered up at the Chinese-built Grand Theatre in the Senegalese capital Dakar ahead of the monks' first ever show in West Africa.
"Through learning kung fu you can also learn and admire the culture of Buddhism."
Since 2008, monks from the temple have been wooing sell-out crowds in South Africa, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Uganda, Eritrea, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Malawi, eyeing Africa's huge untapped potential.
The attention is paying off, with thousands of youngsters taking up kung fu each year, and 12 nations, including Senegal, participated in the fifth pan-continental kung fu championships in Madagascar in September.
The temple has no schools yet in Africa but its foreign liaison officer, Wang Yumin, told AFP its strategy was to bring pupils to China and get them to spread the message of "love, justice and health" back home.
"The Shaolin Temple has the mission to spread our tradition and Africans have the same demand to share our legendary culture," she said.
Students from six African countries started five years of training at the temple in 2011 and the monks have also begun shorter courses, all funded by China.
In December apprentices from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda and Nigeria graduated from the first three-month Shaolin Kung Fu African Class of the Ministry of Culture.
"We currently operate over 40 companies in cities across the world, such as Berlin and London," the Chinese Global Times quoted the financially-astute Shi, the first Chinese monk to earn a master's degree in business administration, as saying at a Beijing culture forum in 2011.
Whether Shaolin will catch on in Africa as it has elsewhere remains to be seen but the portents looked good on the monks' opening night in Dakar.
"I wasn't expecting much but it was outstanding," said Marika Kotze, a 48-year-old IT consultant who has been living in the city for 15 years.
"Wrestling is the big thing in Senegal but I can see this catching on."
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