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{{Short description|34th generation Shaolin warrior monk}}
{{Infobox religious biography
|name = Shì Yánmíng<br>{{linktext|釋|延|明}}
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}}
'''Shi Yan Ming''' (born '''Duan Gen Shan'''; February 13, 1964) is a 34th<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usashaolintemple.org/|title=Temple Information|publisher=USA Shaolin Temple|accessdate=31 March 2012}}</ref> generation [[Shaolin Monastery|Shaolin]] [[warrior monk]],<ref name=OfficialBio>{{cite web|url=http://www.usashaolintemple.org/shiyanming/ |title= Shi Yan Ming|author=USA Shaolin Temple |accessdate=2 September 2010}}</ref> teacher and actor, best known as the founder of the USA Shaolin Temple.<ref name=TimeMagazine>{{cite news|title=
==Early life==
Shi Yan Ming was born Duan Gen Shan in [[Zhumadian]] in [[Henan Province]], China, on [[Chinese New Year|Chinese New Year's]], February 13, 1964, the [[Dragon (zodiac)|year of the Dragon]], the seventh of nine children. His father grew up in a family so poor that they were essentially homeless, and begged for food door to door. Duan's father, who never went to school, slept under a wood-burning stove, or would dig a hole in a stack of wheat for warmth. Despite these hardships, he taught himself to be a very literate reader, writer and [[calligrapher]]. Duan's mother's family was slightly better off financially. As was typical, she was not educated either, had her feet bound, and was raised solely to be a mother and housewife. Duan's parents eventually acquired jobs for the Chinese government under Mao, and worked underground as [[telex]] operators.<ref name=BackgroundStory>[http://www.usashaolintemple.org/shiyanming-backgroundstory/ "Shi Yan Ming Background Story"] at USA Shaolin Temple, Accessed November 3, 2010</ref>
Prior to his birth, two of Duan's older brothers and one older sister died of starvation in [[Mao Zedong]]'s "[[Great Leap Forward]]" in the late 1950s. Duan himself almost died when he was approximately two or three years old, prompting his parents to spend all their money on numerous doctors, and his father to sell his special calligraphy pen. Doctors eventually gave up on him, and after thinking their seventh child had died, his parents wrapped him in blankets, intending to throw him away, before being stopped by an acupuncturist outside their village who saw them crying, and performed acupuncture on the infant Gen Shan, who promptly recovered. Yan Ming believes the man was a [[
==Martial arts career==
===In China===
[[File:Shaolinsi.JPG|thumb|left|The [[Shaolin Temple]] in [[Henan Province]], China]]
In 1969, the five-year-old Duan's Buddhist parents, still worried about his health, took him to the 1,500-year-old<ref name=TimeMagazine/> [[Shaolin Temple]], the only remains of which after repeated destruction by warring dynasties and the current government were the foundation and some walls. (The temple as it is known today was reconstructed around the turn of the 21st century.) As this was in the middle of the [[Cultural Revolution]], the familiar red and yellow robes and shaved heads were also not present among the monks, and would not be until approximately 1980, after the Cultural Revolution ended. Since there had not been an abbot at the temple in about 300 years, Duan was taken to the head monk, Shi Xing Zheng (who would later be appointed abbot in 1986). Shi Xing Zheng, whom Duan addressed as "Shigong" ("Grandmaster") or "Shifu Shifu" ("master's master"), looked at the young Duan and accepted him into the temple, where his parents were happy to leave him. As soon as he was accepted in the temple, which was populated by about 16 or 17 monks, all of them older than Duan (most of them in their seventies), his name was changed to Shi Yan Ming. The name is derived from "Shi", as in Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, a family name that Buddhist monks of this tradition take in order to denote that they follow Buddha, "Yan", which denotes the "34th generation" at the Shaolin Temple, and "Ming", which means "perpetual", as in the infinite cycle of the [[Dharma wheel]]. Shi says that his "kung fu uncles" at the temple were very loving, and took care of him as his own parents would, though they did not live there all the time, for fear of marauding gangs of [[Mao's Red Guard]], and therefore, Shi saw his parents often.<ref name=TimeMagazine/><ref name=BackgroundStory/><ref name=KungFuMagazine>{{cite news|title= A Shaolin Hero in America|work= Kung Fu Magazine|url= http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=264|accessdate= 2010-02-28|archive-date= 2012-02-20|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120220064645/http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=264|url-status= dead}}</ref>
Shi immediately started learning kung fu, Chan Buddhism and acupuncture from his masters, Liu Xin Yi and Shen Ping An, who were Shaolin disciples living outside the temple, rather than monks. Because of the open nature of the temple, where people could come and go easily, he says he learned to read people. Despite his training, Shi also amused himself by playing pranks on his masters, who would punish him either with beatings, or by making him do the [[horse stance]] until his legs were numb and swollen, or making do headstands until the blood draining into his head caused pain. Shi's daily routine consisted of awakening at 4:30 am to practice for two hours, followed by a breakfast of steamed tofu and vegetables, prayer, meditation or relaxation for an hour, and then another three and a half hours of practice. This would be followed by more prayer, Buddhism studies, and cleaning or other Temple work. Although Shaolin monks do not necessarily follow the practice of other monks who do not eat past noon, those at the temple would eat a lunch of noodles, rice or mantou at 11:30 am, out of respect to monks visiting from other temples. After an hour of relaxation, Shi would practice and pray again from 1:00 pm to 5:30 pm, followed by dinner, more relaxation, and more practice until 10:00 pm. From then until 4:00 am the monks would work in shifts to check the temple's incense. The monks slept on a piece of wood with a blanket on it, sometimes using their clothes for pillows, which Shi says is good for the back, compared to American beds, which he says are too comfortable. Although Shi met his Buddhism Shifu, Shi Yong Qian, almost immediately after entering the temple, he did not begin seriously studying with him until he was about 14 or 15. Because the temple did not have running water, the monks had to transport it from mountain rivers just outside the temple, draw it from a well, and collect rainwater. When the temple acquired running water in 1986, the monks were dissatisfied, because under the system of [[feng shui]], digging up the ground and laying in pipes was, as Shi puts it, akin to "cutting your veins out". During the cold winter months, bathing was restricted to washing selected body parts, rather than immersion in or under water. Even today the temple only has cold water.<ref name=BackgroundStory/><ref name=MartialEdge>{{cite news|author=Heng Yi|title=Shifu Shi Yan Ming|work=Martial Edge|url=http://www.martialedge.net/articles/interviews-question-and-answers/shifu-shi-yan-ming/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121024627/http://www.martialedge.net/articles/interviews-question-and-answers/shifu-shi-yan-ming/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-11-21|accessdate=2010-02-28}}</ref>
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==Abilities==
[[File:11.4.10ShiYanMingByLuigiNovi17.jpg|upright|thumb|right|Shi's punches can exert up to {{convert|772|lbf|abbr=on}} of force.]]
According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', as a young monk, Shi Yan Ming learned to break rocks with his skull, deflect blades with his skin, and sleep while hanging upside down from a tree branch.<ref name=NewYorkTimes/> By the age of 17, according to ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine and ''[[The New Yorker]]'', he could deflect the tip of a spear with his neck, sleep standing on one leg, and dangle a 50-pound (23 kg) weight from his scrotum, a practice that helped train him to withstand a full-force blow to the groin.<ref name=TimeMagazine/><ref name=NewYorker/> According to accounts in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' and ''[[The New Yorker]]'', Shi
Shi's punching strength has been measured at {{convert|772|lbf|abbr=on}} of force.<ref name=StanLee/> Among his martial arts specialties are [[Luohan (martial arts)|Luohan Quan]], Magic Staff and other Shaolin weapons, and [[Qigong|hard qi gong]].<ref name=KungFuMagazine/>
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[[Category:People from Zhumadian]]
[[Category:Educators from New York City]]
[[Category:Shaolin
[[Category:Chinese martial artists]]
[[Category:Buddhism in New York (state)]]
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