進入英語學習論壇下載音頻

Martial arts have been an interest of Shaquille O'Neal, and he paid an emotional visit yesterday to the Shaolin Temple in Henan province.

"I've been a lot of places but being at the Shaolin Temple has brought a tear to my eye. Buddha blessed," the NBA superstar center wrote on his blog.

The 7-foot-1, 325-pound giant has seen lots of action movies about Chinese martial arts and has been involved in learning the art. But having a face-to-face experience with the warrior monks in the birthplace of Shaolin Kungfu - with a history of more than one and a half thousand years - was a lofty experience.

O'Neal said visiting the temple, birthplace of Zen Buddhism, was not on his China tour schedule, but he could not resist the temptation.

He was able to meet Shi Yongxin, abbot of the temple, and spent time discussing Zen (a school of Mahayana Buddhism, translated from the Chinese word Chan). Zen is believed to be the wisdom behind Shaolin and what makes Shaolin Kungfu unique and powerful.

After that, O'Neal watched kungfu performances by the monk and was impressed with the Snake Style and Drunken Style. O'Neal promised to come back and spend more time to learn Zen and Shaolin Kungfu.

Shi gave O'Neal a statue of Bodhidarma, founder of Shaolin Kungfu, and special sticking plaster, which is believed to help in healing.

A jubilant O'Neal also signed "I love you very much. Peace be with you" in the temple.

In the US, O'Neal, who has joined LeBron James for the Cleveland Cavaliers for the next season, is also catching on to the benefits of learning mixed martial arts. He is spending his off-season training at Jonathan Burke's Gracie Gym in Orlando, Florida.

Going by his old nickname, Diesel, he's been training with Burke at his gym for 10 years, where he does the full gamut of mixed martial arts, boxing, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai and wrestling.

A fan of wrestling, O'Neal has attended many World Wrestling Entertainment events. O'Neal has also been involved in action movies and video games. He appeared in a US Sports Center TV commercial and was a support character in the movie Blue Chips with Nick Nolte

In the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, in which he is seen fighting Godzilla, O'Neal survives a collision with the Batmobile.

In video games, O'Neal starred in Shaq Fu, a fighting game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis.

O'Neal has also appeared in Backyard Basketball 2004, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 as a playable boxer.

Questions:

1. What is believed to make Shaolin Kungfu unique and powerful?

2. Which two styles of kungfu was O’Neal impressed by, after watching some performances?

3. What gifts did the abbot Shi Yongxin give O’Neal?

Answers:

1. Zen.

2. Snake Style and Drunken Style.

3. A statue of Bodhidarma, founder of Shaolin Kungfu, and special sticking plaster (which is believed to help in healing).

（英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Nancy Matos is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Nancy is a graduate of the Broadcast Journalism and Media program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Her journalism career in broadcast and print has taken her around the world from New York to Portugal and now Beijing. Nancy is happy to make the move to China and join the China Daily team.