The Monk from Brooklyn: An American at the Shaolin Temple [Paperback]

Antonio Graceffo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 30, 2004 | ISBN-10: 1932966102 | ISBN-13: 978-1932966107

The Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Kung Fu and modern Chinese Buddhism, is the oldest and most mysterious Kung Fu school in the world. It is an exotic and mythical destination of daydreams to millions of people. In the history of the temple, very few foreigners have ever had a chance to study there. Foreigners have been allowed to study in many of the Shaolin schools, near the temple, which have taken the Shaolin name as a marketing ploy, but less than fifty foreigners have studied at the original Shaolin Temple. Antonio Graceffo was lucky enough to be one of the few, and this is the chronicle of his experience. Antonio has twenty-five years of experience with martial arts, so it is with a knowing eye that he observed the training at the temple. But it is his background that gives him a very unique perspective. An Italian-American from Brooklyn, New York, and a former investment banker, Antonio was educated in some of the best universities that Europe and Asia had to offer. His articles are informative, humorous, and irreverent. He doesn't pull any punches writing about the filthy conditions and the diminished mental capacities of people who spent a lifetime learning to kick, but never bothered to learn to read and write. The title says it all. Put a Chinese-speaking Italian-American, from Brooklyn in the holiest of Buddhist temples, and watch the racial harmony flow.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Gom Press (July 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932966102
• ISBN-13: 978-1932966107
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,701,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Reads More Like One Long Article Rather Than A Book, December 6, 2006

By 

kenshi (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Monk from Brooklyn: An American at the Shaolin Temple (Paperback)

Its my understanding that this book came to be from a series of articles that the author did and it certainly feels like one long article. In fact if one does a web search, you will find those articles online.

To be fair, this is a very addictive book and I wanted so much to like it. It is an interesting story and the author does come across as being charismatic, worldly and interesting. I did enjoy his insightful comments about Kung Fu. As I also study the martial arts and live in Brooklyn, I thought there was a lot for me to like but in the end I found it to be a very disappointing.

This book is incredibly repetitive. For example you are constantly reminded that the author feels that rural Chinese are filthy, backwards and self-centered people. That Chinese Kung Fu for the most part is so stuck in its past and glory that it cannot feasibly compete against many of the today's mix martial artists. That daily communication with rural Chinese is repetitive and frustrating and is indicative of their mental capabilities. While I have no problem with someone who tells it like it is after several times it starts to sound like constant complaining.

One of the most frustrating issues with this book is that you never really know who the author is nor his background. On my copy there is no brief biography on the author. It is left up to the reader to piece this together which I found frustrating. For example, you start to get hints that he has served in the arm forces and since he likes to talk about his favorite Navy watch cap, one can only assume he was in the Navy. Nope, turns out he was in Army. Part of the problem is that the format of this book is that of journal which explains why it is so repetitive. It's almost as though you found this diary on the street and are left to fill in the blanks on who this person is.

Ultimately I have to say that I found the ending disappointing and sad not because of what ultimately happened to Antonio but rather because the book ended as abruptly as it started. Again this is because you are reading someone's journal. Certainly the message here is that training at the Shaolin Temple should not be idealized because ultimately you are dealing with a system that is so corrupt, unsanitary, backward and so full of conflicts and paradoxes that it will wear down the most well-educated, open minded and well-traveled Westerner. I give kudos to Antonio for taking on this challenge but I can't say that the story telling was all that great for me to recommend it.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Different and accurate perspective is very valuable, August 25, 2005

By 

John Greenhow - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Monk from Brooklyn: An American at the Shaolin Temple (Paperback)

It's been said before. Graceffo tells it like it is. Or perhaps, like it is for him.

I too spent time at Shaolin and was interested to hear of other people's experiences of the tough and austere life there.

Perhaps I didn't have Antonio's expectations or his luck. What I did have was a life changing six-month experience that I'll never forget. Shaolin became a home to me for a short while and for that I'll always feel lucky.

As far as I'm concerned, that Antonio and I had vastly different experiences and took away very different impressions of this famous little corner of China doesn't detract a bit from this book.

Firstly, it is entirely accurate. Antonio describes places as I remember them. I have no doubt, either, that he was robbed and saw the hard end of prejudice on a daily basis. These things can happen.

He's also right in his description of the ancient and revered Buddhist temple as the Shaolin Market. Underneath the quiet surrounds and peaceful appearance of the monastic lifestyle runs an incongruous and chaotic river of capitalism and greed. The hardships he describes are the simple facts of life for countless young athletes who have known little else.

Secondly, the book stands as a powerful illustration of the inevitable culture clash that faces Western travellers in China. This alone should see copies of the book rushing off the shelves. It's an insight into something that more and more of us will experience as China continues to open its lands to the world.

Much has been written that enthusiastically paints the deep and meaningful experiences, the valuable lessons and, of course, the amazing kung fu of Shaolin. I stand by all of it.

But in all things there should be balance and Antonio provides this. As I said, this book provides an accurate image of Shaolin. Potential travellers, scholars and the just plain interested should acquaint themselves with this book to help them more fully understand this temple that links ancient and modern worlds and helps to bridge diametrically opposed cultures around the world.

Antonio records the side of Shaolin that so many of us chose to ignore or to forget. Read this book and allow it to temper your more fantastic ideas about Shaolin. Accept it as an experience to learn from. And if you're ever lucky enough to visit Shaolin then your experience will be all the more valuable because you'll be prepared and because you'll see balance.

Ah mi to fu.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Compare with Polley's American Shaolin..., September 8, 2007

By 

Jordean "jordean4" (Indiana, United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Monk from Brooklyn: An American at the Shaolin Temple (Paperback)

Graceffo has his moments, but this book reads like a prolonged griping session. The excerpts I had previously read in martial arts magazines suggested that this would be a wry perspective on the Shaolin experience, but reading the book is tough going. Graceffo finds most of the Chinese people he deals with annoying, and seems to resent their presence. This is somewhat odd since he chose to go there, and it is their country, after all. I would also have expected that his time in Taiwan would have prepared him for some of the attitudes he encountered on the mainland.
He chose to live in the school with the students, but then proceeded to detail the experience as an imposition. Of course two alternatives existed: leave, or at least move to some alternative housing. Traveling there without adequate cash reserves seems to have occasioned most of his misery and insecurity, but it was not as if he didn't have the resources. This failure to plan colors much of his perspective for the rest of the book. Some travel writers do a much better job of adapting to circumstances, so much of this reads like an extended experience of culture shock.
Not to dispute the author's experiences. I am sure they all happened, but I am not sure the students and many of the people he dealt with deserved some of the criticism they came under here.
If you are interested in kungfu, you won't find much here, aside from the author teaching his own brand of Brooklyn 'kungfu'. He was apparently not much impressed with techniques he saw there, and frequently made the observation that the kungfu practiced there wouldn't stand up in a street fight.
Other reviewers have stated that this would have been better suited to appear as a magazine article, and I would agree with that. Even as an article, the gist of this work would probably turn off most readers, except for convicted Sinophobes.
One would do better, I think, to read Matthew Polley's "American Shaolin", which does not gloss over the discomforts of life in China or shaolin training, but shows that Polley genuinely seems to have made an effort to bridge the cultural gap, rather than retreating into a fortress mentality.
I suppose that goes to say that both books are more about culture shock and how one deals with it, as opposed to being about the martial arts.
The other aspect of this book that is somewhat disagreeable is that the author often seems to be touting himself as superior to the Chinese, based upon his income, education, or worldliness. But I often felt as if the author was injecting that persona also to show his readers what a great guy he is. This self-promotion seemed very out-of-place to me, but maybe not to most readers.
Still, parts of this book are very amusing and interesting, so it certainly rates a look.