"I do not fear the 10,000 kicks you have practiced once; I fear the one kick you have practiced 10,000 times." - Martial arts maxim, one of Dequing's favorites. Prologue, p7.

"As the birthplace of Zen Buddhism and kung fu, Shaolin was, basically, the father and mother of both my obsessions." - Book 1, chapter 1, p16.

"Hearing that the Shaolin Temple actually existed in the present day was like destiny tapping me on the shoulder." Book 1, Chapter 1, p16.

"So the people and the government had come to an implicit social contract: The Government (i.e. the Communist Party) would help the people lift themselves out of poverty, and in return, the people would not protest the repressive political power of the government." Book 1, Chapter 2, p30.

"The isolated monastery had been turned into Kung fu World, a low-rent version of an Epcot Center Pavilion." Book 1, Chapter 4, p45.

"They were the first party...