Hey friend,
There was once a man who dreamt of learning Kung Fu. But he didn’t want to learn the art from just anywhere… He wanted to learn it from the monks at the Shaolin temple.
After years of debating if he could make the trip, he decided to take the leap. He hiked across China and up the mountain to the monk monastery. At the top, he was greeted by the grand master.
“Will you teach me Kung Fu?” he asked.
The master was pleased and told the young man there was much to learn. Behind the master stood a tall building extending into the clouds — The Shaolin temple.
The master explained that the temple had 36 gates. Each one held its own challenges and secrets about Kung Fu. To become a Kung Fu master, one would have to progress through all 36 gates.
The master led the young man to the first gate. It was on the ground floor at the base of the temple. The gate was sealed by a golden door, laced with carvings of dragons.
The young man opened the door and entered the first gate. There he was given the first assignment… a chore boy. His job was delivering buckets of water around the monastery and cooking meals for the other monks.
After a month of doing these menial tasks, he was fed up. He approached the grandmaster again.
“I want to learn Kung Fu,” he said, “not waste my time with these useless tasks!”
The grandmaster replied, “Where do you think you will learn kung fu?”
The young man had only one thought in his mind. “Gate 36,” he shot back.
The grandmaster gave a soft smile to his young pupil, and said, “Go then. Go to gate 36 and learn real Kung Fu.”
Ecstatic to finally learn, the young man rushed up to the highest point of the temple. Golden dragons lined the 36th gate. The young man's hands trembled as he pulled open the doors.
He expected to see grandmasters sparring and practicing their fighting techniques. Yet, he only saw 8 monks sitting in the room. Cross-legged in a circle, each one in deep meditation.
In confusion, he approached the monks and asked, “I want to learn kung fu, will you teach me?”
The monk closest to him opened his eyes and without a word thrusted his open palms towards the young man. A force greater than anything he had ever felt shoved him backward and he landed flat on his back.
He couldn’t believe what had just happened — the man was able to move him without even touching him.
The young man opened his eyes to see the grand master standing over him with a big smile on his face.
“I want to learn that!” the young man exclaimed.
The grandmaster helped the young man up and they exited the 36th gate. He explained that one does not simply walk into the 36th gate of Shaolin. Each monk had been training for 30 years to earn their spot there.
With a newfound understanding of Kung Fu, the young man returned to the first gate.
In life, we are often like the young man.
We set a goal for ourselves and want quick results. So we jump to the highest level possible.
The problem is we end up getting knocked on our ass.
We end up feeling hopeless, lost, and defeated.
So this is a gentle reminder that there are no shortcuts. Success takes time.
Start at gate #1.
Thanks for reading,
Stay curious, my friends!
-Rocky “Shaolin” Ferony
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