Thirty-seven of the world's top martial arts masters gathered at the famous Shaolin Temple in Central China's Henan Province on Friday for nine days of secluded practice in preparation for the final stage of a supreme kungfu contest.

The Chinese Kungfu Star TV Contest, jointly organized by the Shaolin Temple and the Shenzhen Satellite TV Station in South China's Guangdong Province, began in March this year and has drawn countless kungfu fanatics from around the world.

The masters got to the final stage of the contest by taking out the first three places in each of its six international competitions in the United States, Russia, Australia, France, Germany and Italy, and in the five events held in China.

During the seclusion period, the multicultural contestants will have a chance to learn Shaolin culture and the essence of martial arts in the temple, the birthplace of Zen Buddhism.

They will have the temple's 18 arhats, Luohan in Chinese, as their teachers, who will pass on unique kungfu skills and give lectures on Buddhist thought and kungfu history, according to Liu Dihong, one of the contest organizers.

The contestants must follow temple rules by wearing the kasaya, a patchwork outer vestment worn by Buddhist monks, eating vegetarian meals and shaving their heads and facial hair during the seclusion, Liu said.

Liu said it had been no easy task to gather the international "kungfu stars."

Elie Saade, a 22-year-old Lebanese master who won a place in the top three in the Italian contest, lost contact with the organizer after his city was bombarded by Israeli troops last month.

The organizing committee got in touch with Chen Zhaoyang, Saade's coach and a Chinese master teaching at a kungfu centre in Beirut, for help. Chen managed to track down Saade and he arrived at the Shaolin Temple on Friday morning.

After the seclusion period is over the 37 players will take part in a grand ceremony to mark the occasion.

They will give demonstrations and compete with the kungfu monks at the temple before they leave for Guzhang County in Hunan Province and Shenzhen in Guangdong Province to vie for the title of "World No 1 Kungfu Master."

(China Daily September 2, 2006)