American Shaolin

All you want to know about American Shaolin

For the unrelated 2007 novel American Shaolin, see Matthew Polly

American Shaolin is a 1991 martial arts film, starring (among others) Kim Chan and Daniel Dae Kim. It was directed by Lucas Lowe.

Plot

During a martial arts tournament, the American finalist Drew Carson (Reese Madigan) is humiliated by his opponent, kickboxer Trevor Gottitall (Trent Bushey). To add to the insult, Drew's teacher confesses that he is not - as he had claimed - a Shaolin monk, and therefore he had not passed on the actual knowledge of Shaolin kung fu to Drew. Determined to learn the actual art to prevent another such situation, Drew departs for China and arrives at the Shaolin Temple. At first, the monks do not let him enter, but with the help of a pretty tea shop waitress, Ashena (Alice Zhang Hung), and an old monk (Kim Chan) who gives him a decisive advise, he manages to be admitted. The old monk also turns out to be the abbot of the temple, Master Kwan, and he and his stern taskmaster train Drew and a number of other young apprentices in the ways of the Shaolin.

At first he causes much trouble as his American teenage temperament clashes with the tranquility within the temple and with his fellow student, Gao (Daniel Dae Kim), but under the rigorous physical and mental training he both improves his fighting skills and learns the meaning of discipline, humility, and patience. He makes friends with Gao and also manages to pass the two final tests: the Test of Spirituality, and the Test of the Chamber. Accepted as a full-fledged member of the Shaolin monastery, he accompanies - along with Ashena - a delegation of his fellow students and the abbot to a martial arts tournament in Shanghai.

At the tournament, Drew encounters the American kickboxer Trevor Gottitall once again. Trevor taunts Drew before proceeding with this match against Gao. Gao initially gains the upper hand, but Trevor resorts to his dirty fighting techniques and injures Gao. With Gao pinned against the ropes, Trevor demands a match against the "American Shaolin". Drew rises, but sits down again, refusing to fight Trevor on the principle of non-violence and selflessness. Infuriated, Trevor continues to beat up Gao and hurls him out of the ring. Encouraged by Master Kwan, Drew finally enters the ring to fight Trevor. Trevor immediately used dirty tricks again, but Drew prevails and even offers his hand to the defeated Trevor. The crowd voices their support for Shaolin, and Master Kwan declares that this is "the future of Shaolin".

Trivia

The Test of the Chamber involves walking through a dark labyrinth and fighting off the attacks of spring-activated wooden dummies; at the end of that, the contestant must carry a 300-pound cauldron full of hot coals for some distance. Two seals on the cauldron - a tiger and a dragon - would be burned into his arms whilst he carries the vessel, thus marking him forever as a Shaolin. The cauldron-carrying was left out in the movie, but the rest of the Test otherwise is quite authentic (unlike the tests shown in the Hong Kong movie Shao Lin San Shi Liu Fang ("The 36th Chamber of Shaolin", 1978).

During the only day of filming within the walls of the Forbidden City, the entire film cast and crew were inexplicably ordered to leave by the government, despite having been granted permission to shoot there. The principal photography on American Shaolin took place from May through late August 1991, two years after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, and the filming, particularly within Beijing itself, was under heavy governmental scrutiny.

In the United States, the film was released on video by Academy Entertainment as American Shaolin: King of the Kickboxers 2. Although both this film and The King of the Kickboxers share the same director, they are completely unrelated in terms of plot and characters.