Students practice Shaolin Kung Fu at the Shaolin Temple of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on May 10, 2025. Shaolin Kung Fu is one of China's most treasured cultural heritage items, and has been practiced by Shaolin disciples as well as Kung Fu lovers around the world. (Photo by Phearum/Xinhua)
PHNOM PENH, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Yue Hanjun practices Chinese Shaolin Kung Fu martial arts here at the Cambodia Shaolin Temple Cultural Center four days a week, believing that the age-old martial arts will improve his physical fitness, mental discipline, and self-confidence. The 15-year-old high school student spends two hours in each evening session to practice the martial arts with Chinese Shaolin Kung Fu monks at the temple located in the capital's Sen Sok district. "I have come to practice Shaolin Kung Fu here for two months," he told Xinhua. "I think Kung Fu is good for my body because I practice every day, and I have a strong body." Yue said his Shaolin Kung Fu masters are very competent and studying with them, he can experience the original styles of the martial arts. He said the whole-body martial arts have helped build strength, energy, and mobility while supporting self-defense and spiritual practice. He said Shaolin Kung Fu classes in Cambodia have played a crucial role in helping promote cultural relations and people-to-people exchanges between Cambodia and China. With a history of more than 1,500 years, Shaolin Kung Fu is one of China's most treasured cultural heritage items, and has been practiced by Shaolin disciples as well as Kung Fu lovers around the world. It offers practitioners a wide array of activities, ranging from hand-to-hand combat to weapons practice. Abhyuday, a 10-year-old primary school student in Phnom Penh, said he has practiced Shaolin Kung Fu at the temple for a few months. He added that the martial arts have built his strength, flexibility, agility, mental discipline, and self-control, as well as provided valuable self-defense techniques. "Well, when I first started, it was actually my parents who gave me the idea, and I was a bit scared of Shaolin Kung Fu at first, but then, I started to like it more. I want to go and I want to become stronger," he told Xinhua. "That's why I enjoy this." "I feel a bit faster, flexible, and strong," he said. Abhyuday said he would use it to defend himself, to improve his physical fitness, or to show to his friends. He said martial arts would surely help promote cultural ties and bonds of friendship between Cambodia and China. "If more people came here, they would understand how helpful Kung Fu is for the human body," he said. Shi Yanshu, a Shaolin Kung Fu monk at the Cambodia Shaolin Temple Cultural Center, hoped that Shaolin Kung Fu classes would contribute further to deepening cultural relations and people-to-people contact between China and Cambodia. He said Shaolin Temple wants to make a contribution to cultural exchanges and sharing, so it came to Cambodia to set up the Shaolin Temple Cultural Center. "I hope that more people in the capital Phnom Penh can understand Shaolin culture, traditional Chinese culture, and Shaolin Kung Fu," he told Xinhua. Thong Mengdavid, a lecturer at the Institute for International Studies and Public Policy of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, said the Shaolin Temple of Cambodia represented a powerful symbol of cultural collaboration and mutual respect between Cambodia and China. "By offering Shaolin Kung Fu training to people in Cambodia, the temple not only promotes physical fitness and discipline, but also fosters spiritual growth and cultural awareness rooted in centuries of tradition," he told Xinhua on Sunday.
Practicers of Chinese Shaolin Kung Fu in Cambodia believe that the whole-body martial arts have helped build strength, energy, and mobility while supporting self-defense and spiritual practice.
In 2014, a scholarship finally took the Beninese martial arts enthusiast to the Shaolin Temple in Henan province, the ultimate institution he had dreamed about for mastering the art. Over three months of training, he immersed himself in a rigorous daily regimen far more taxing than anything he had experienced in Benin. "At Shaolin Temple, training was fast-paced and relentless," said Degbo. "Back home, we trained three to four times a week. But at Shaolin, it was a way of life."
Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs' 7-foot-4 rookie phenomenon, has begun a cultural journey at China's Shaolin Temple in Henan province, with videos released on Sina Weibo. In the video, the French basketball star was seen in a monastic robe with his head shaved, sharing vegetarian meals with resident monks and embarking on a 10-day retreat at the temple. Local media of Henan confirmed with the Shaolin Temple that Wembanyama was truly there, without revealing more details. His unexpected detour to the temple, following visits to Beijing's Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall, became a trending topic on Chinese social media. Regarding online speculation about ordination, temple sources clarified that foreigners cannot formally be ordained at the temple due to strict religious procedures. Wembanyama's experience is understood to be a cultural immersion program approved by the temple authorities.
A girl learns Shaolin kung fu during Shaolin Culture Week in Vienna, Austria, June 2, 2025. (Xinhua/He Canling)
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