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American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China
by Matthew Polly

American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China Cover

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Powells.com Staff Pick

In his adventurous and highly comical journey to martial arts' ancient home, China's Shaolin Temple, Matthew Polly tests his fortitude and manhood, picking up a great deal about Chinese culture along the way. Filled with peculiar characters, crazy moves, ancient Chinese secrets, and plenty of ass-kicking, Polly's indelible memoir is entertainment as good as it gets.
Recommended by Michal, Powells.com

Review-a-Day   (What is Review-a-Day?)

"[A]s much as American Shaolin is about the author's quest, he also graciously shines his writer's spotlight on his Shaolin teammates and the Chinese people, giving voice to those whose existence is shrouded in legend and hearsay. In this respect, American Shaolin does an admirable job of separating myth from reality." Gerry Donaghy, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Bill Bryson meets Bruce Lee in this raucously funny story of one scrawny American's quest to become a kung fu master at China's legendary Shaolin Temple.

Growing up a ninety-pound weakling tormented by bullies in the schoolyards of Kansas, young Matthew Polly dreamed of one day journeying to the Shaolin Temple in China to become the toughest fighter in the world, like Caine in his favorite 1970s TV series, Kung Fu, While in college, Matthew decided the time had come to pursue this quixotic dream before it was too late. Much to the dismay of his parents, he dropped out of Princeton to spend two years training with the legendary sect of monks who invented kung fu and Zen Buddhism.

Expecting to find an isolated citadel populated by supernatural ascetics that he'd seen in countless badly dubbed chop-socky flicks, Matthew instead discovered a tacky tourist trap run by Communist party hacks. But the dedicated monks still trained in the rigorous age-old fighting forms — some even practicing the 'iron kung fu' discipline, in which intensive training can make various body parts virtually indestructible (even the crotch). As Matthew grew in his knowledge of China and kung fu skill, he would come to represent the Temple in challenge matches and international competitions, and ultimately the monks would accept their new American initiate as close to one of their own as any Westerner had ever become.

Laced with humor and illuminated by cultural insight, American Shaolin is an unforgettable coming-of-age tale of one young man's journey into the ancient art of kung fu — and a funny and poignant portrait of a rapidly changing China.

Review:

"In this smoothly written memoir, 98-pound weakling Polly makes the age-old decision to turn his nerdy self into a fighting machine. Polly's quest for manhood leads this guy from Topeka, Kans., to the Shaolin Temple, ancient home of the fighting monks and setting for 10,000 chop-socky movies. As much a student of Chinese culture as he is a martial artist, Polly derives a great deal of humor from the misunderstandings that follow a six-foot-three laowai (white foreigner) in a China taking its first awkward steps into capitalism after Tiananmen Square. Polly has a good eye for characters and introduces the reader to a Finnish messiah, a practitioner of 'iron crotch' kung fu, and his nagging girlfriend. We get the inside dope on Chinese dating, Chinese drinking games and a medical system apparently modeled on the Spanish Inquisition. The last hundred pages of the book lose focus, and Polly doesn't convincingly demonstrate how he transforms himself from a stumbling geek to a kickboxing stud who can stand toe-to-toe with the highest-ranked fighter in the world. Although Polly may fall short in sharing Shaolin's secrets, as a chronicler of human absurdity he makes all the right moves." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest mofo in the world. If I moved to a martial arts monastery in China and studied real hard for ten years. If I just dropped out and devoted my life to being bad." Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash

Review:

"A nicely developed narrative." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"Matthew Polly traded his ivy-covered walls of academia to study kung fu in China. American Shaolin takes readers along his often hilarious journey to discover his own strength." Penthouse

Review:

"In his action-packed quest to immerse himself in Shaolin's insular culture as thoroughly as any Coke-drinking guy from Kansas can, Polly transforms himself from a gangly wannabe into a formidable kickboxer. Since he never loses his sense of humor...Polly is an easy amateur to root for." Entertainment Weekly

Review:

"A delightfully wry book....Polly writes with admirable verve and humor that comes at his own expense. His affection for the Chinese is infectious." National Geographic Adventure

Review:

"I picked up American Shaolin and read it straight through. It is first rate. Polly's book tells more about what's going on in China and has more insights into the real China than anything in recent years. It is a wonderful true-life story with profound, behind-the-headlines observations about Chinese life. A tip of the Stetson to Matthew Polly." Dan Rather, former anchor of the CBS Evening News

Review:

"A sensibility more alien to my own than Matthew Polly's is hard to imagine. I consider foreign cultures to be really...foreign. I don't spiritually quest; I go to church. As for the martial arts, I own a gun. But I loved American Shaolin. Reading it was like being abducted by an alien — a brilliant, funny, and hospitable alien who took me to another universe of sensibility. There I enjoyed myself immensely." P.J. O'Rourke, bestselling author of Parliament of Whores

Review:

"A funny, offbeat tale of a man and a nation coming of age." J. Maarten Troost, bestselling author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals

Review:

"A lot of people talk about becoming a real live ninja and don't do a thing. That's bullcrap. But this guy actually did it! In conclusion, Matthew Polly is the complete opposite of a wimpy baby." Robert Hamburger, author of REAL Ultimate Power: The Official Ninja Book

Synopsis:

Laced with humor and illuminated by cultural insight, this coming-of-age tale explores one young American's quest to become a kung fu master at China's legendary Shaolin Temple. 8-page photo insert.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
lketchersid, January 21, 2008 (view all comments by lketchersid)
Almost every martial artist has some wayward fantasy or frequent daydream about dropping out of life and dropping into the Shaolin Temple, to emerge some undetermined time later as a well-tuned, philosophy spouting fighting machine. Matthew Polly did just that, leaving his junior year from college and heading to China in 1992.

My expectation of this book was that this would be a martial arts, culture clash and personal transformation story. And it was certainly all three and more. In addition, drinking games, language, sex (or at least attempts), “the sixth race”, the Chinese Triads and other topics are intertwined with this very enjoyable story.
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iheartrunning, March 4, 2007 (view all comments by iheartrunning)
This book is amazing, and the man who wrote it is even more fasinating.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781592402625
Subtitle:
Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China
Author:
Polly, Matthew
Publisher:
Gotham Books
Subject:
General
Subject:
Martial Arts & Self-Defense
Subject:
Personal Memoirs
Subject:
Martial arts
Subject:
China
Copyright:
2007
Publication Date:
February 2007
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
366
Dimensions:
9.28x6.50x1.23 in. 1.31 lbs.
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