Shaolin Spirit: The Way to Self-Mastery

Shi, an actor and founder of the Shaolin Temple Europe, debuts with a methodical introduction to Shaolin, a combination of meditation and martial arts that aims to unite body and mind. Drawing from more than three decades of training, Shi toggles between historical context—detailing the practice’s Buddhist roots and evolution—and instruction on how meditation and breathing exercises can help to boost awareness, emotional regulation, and moral clarity. The book shines in linking abstract concepts to embodied routines, connecting Buddhist teachings such as the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path to martial discipline. Yi also carefully draws out how key Shaolin values like loyalty, restraint, perseverance, and mental clarity apply to everyday situations, noting, for example, that greater mental awareness can help readers circumvent automatic emotional reactions and respond more productively to tricky situations at work or home. Written in plain prose and buttressed by lucid and in-depth explanations of the practice, this eschews quick fixes for important insights into cultivating peace and awareness for long-term personal growth. It’s a grounded, disciplined guide to finding steadiness in an increasingly stressful world. (Mar.)