New school to combine soccer, kung fu training
Print Edition
A SOCCER school still being built will be teaching new kinds of kicks to its students — kung fu kicks.
The school, being constructed in Dengfeng City, Henan Province, is only kilometers from Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of kung fu. More than 10,000 students are expected to enroll upon its completion in three years.
Construction of Shaolin Jianye International Football School was launched earlier this year and Shi Yanlu, its founder, said it will integrate the spirit and skills of kung fu into sports.
The school is being funded by the Ruling Circle of Song Shan Temple Monks Training Base Mission Education (Group), a local institution founded in 1997 that focuses on martial arts teaching, and Henan Jianye Football Club, a former Chinese Super League team relegated in 2012.
The two sides will invest 2 billion yuan (US$324 million) in the school, which will include a stadium and two gymnasiums.
“The grasp of attack and defense in Chinese kung fu will benefit soccer players a great deal,” said Shi, a former disciple of Shaolin Temple abbot Shi Yongxin.
Future students will see their time split between soccer training, martial arts practice and general knowledge courses, Shi said.
Five-hundred soccer players have already been chosen out of 15,000 teenagers from the group’s martial arts school, Shi said.
Wang Zhongren, spokesman for Henan Jianye Football Club, said the school will help popularize sports.
Teenage players who perform well and have potential are likely to join the club’s reserve team, Wang added.
A Shaolin monk said the temple was not affiliated with the school.
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