I can definitely relate to the protagonist’s situation when he wanted to join the Shaolin temple, and mostly when he was in it as well. Before he joined, it was something he didn’t really know a lot about, but he just knew that he wanted to do it. He imagined it being wonderful, and I’m sure he did anticipate some challenges even though it ended up being very difficult in the beginning. When I was thinking about to going to college, I imagined art school as an amazing, perfect place. I was angry that I had to go to regular college for a year, and I kept thinking that once I got to art school my life would just be all set and I would belong there. Of course I knew it would be difficult, and I wanted to be challenged and give my all. Now that I’ve been here, I know I was wrong. It’s definitely not for me. I’ve learned a lot and I have been challenged in positive ways, but I feel overloaded and unable to create anything. Much like the protagonist of the film, I was unpleasantly surprised by certain parts of the training. Unlike the protagonist, I am miserable enough to give up and run away.
However, Shaolin and art school have some fundamental differences (besides one being for martial arts and one being for visual arts). We live in a society where you don’t have to go to art school to be an “artist.” This is also because our definition of art is so broad. Shaolin kung-fu is a very specific thing, and a thing for which school and training are necessary. The fact that I can still be an artist on my own terms even if I don’t go to art school is one reason I don’t feel compelled to continue it. Another reason is that my goal was never to have “Artist” as my sole career. The film’s protagonist was in a tenuous situation: a corrupt ruler murdered his family and was out to kill him too, and he tried to help a revolutionary cause and failed. Shaolin training was something he needed to get on the way to achieving his larger goal. He knew that he could never beat the armies oppressing his town as a regular guy, so he had to become a Shaolin master. Art school has this function for many people, not just in terms of career goal but in terms of personal philosophy and desire to contribute something to the world. One of the reasons I am choosing to leave is that I want to use a different vehicle to contribute to the world. Art school doesn’t need another first-world white female.
In terms of artists and art students being similar to monks, I think this is often the case. Art school or an art practice is like a personal haven away from problems that come with “regular” jobs and day-to-day life. Artists dedicate lots of time and attention to their work because it is important to them. However, for Shaolin monks it is important for them to focus and stay detached from most worldly things. Artists need to focus on working while also taking in the world around them for inspiration and knowledge. I feel like it would be very difficult to continue making meaningful art if artists were literally monks. Nevertheless, art school can become so rigorous that it is all-consuming, and there is the prevailing stereotype of art students never having free time or never sleeping. It can be argued that this stereotype is for college students in general. I have begun to wonder why we condone this. In this respect, art school and college in general seem to be very different from Shaolin. Martial arts are about pushing your body to be at its most powerful. In college, we stay up late, drink, smoke, and totally neglect our bodies, and it’s normal for a lot of people.
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