"I suppose that it all began when I witnessed a mugging in Kowloon."

Tao Ling paused as he considered his next words. In many respects, he looked like a typical warrior monk. His hair was shaven practically to the scalp, leaving only a slight darkening which looked more grey than black. It was difficult to place his age, without his hair; he looked to be anywhere between thirty and fifty, although the laugher lines surrounding his eyes and mouth suggested he was at the older end of that particular scale. The muscles on his arms and chest looked to have a wiry kind of strength to them, however, whatever his age was. He sat cross-legged at the top of a set of stone steps, their cracked grey surface covered in lines of green moss. The buildings surrounding him were made of the same stone, all part of a compound surrounded by brown trees and green grass.

Unlike most monks, however, he did not wear the traditional orange robes of his order. He was not, in fact, wearing anything.

He held his hands over his crotch, palm on palm, though he did not seem concerned about his state of undress. The two people standing before him looked considerably less comfortable. Sarah - an English woman in her early thirties with curly brown hair - sat on the step beneath him, dirtying the dark grey skirt-suit that she wore. She held a microphone out towards Tao Ling, recording his words. An English man - Greg - stood nearby, in khakis, a polo shirt and cap, and recorded the interview with an enormous camcorder.

"I was there for a tournament," Tao Ling continued "Representing the Hijuishi Dojo as their resident black belt. While out for a walk I witnessed a man - a drunken man - stagger out of a bar and lean against a wall. To me it seemed clear that he was not in control of himself. This was also clear to a group of hoodlums standing nearby, and seeing an easy target they surrounded the man and demanded he hand over his money."

"Did you help?" Sarah asked.

"I intended to, but before I could act the drunken man lurched into action and knocked two of them unconscious within a heartbeat. The others had only a second to realise their error before they, too, were struck down. It was a remarkable sight. I later learned that the man responsible was Shan Di, a master of Drunken style Kung Fu."

"It sounds like they didn't stand a chance."

Tao Ling shook his head. "They did. It is not like in the movies, where a man who knows martial arts can defeat an unlimited number of assailants. It is no more possible than, say, the world's greatest soccer player defeating a team of eleven amateurs on his own. No, if those thugs had been cautious, if they had been prepared, they could have overpowered Shan. It was this, however, which gave me the seed of a thought. I began to imagine how a false image of weakness could be used to gain an advantage over an opponent. How could I lure them into underestimating me so that I could defeat them?"

"So you started fighting naked?"

Tao Ling laughed. "It was not that easy, nor that quick. No, I tried many different methods to accomplish this - fighting with only one hand, for example, or wearing a semi-transparent blindfold so that it appeared I could not see. But yes, ultimately I began to sneak away from the dojo during the night and trained in the nude. It was... unique. Before, when I fought, my thoughts were only on my opponent; their body, their movements, their weaknesses. My own self-awareness was only to monitor any injuries I was having, and trying to reduce their vulnerability. When I trained in the nude, however, I became aware of all my body, every exposed inch. It heightened my awareness. I also... I was embarrassed, the first few times, and so I would try to escape my worries and fears, my embarrassment, and instead escape into my training. I felt a greater focus than I'd ever felt before. I knew that I had to start fighting like this. In essence, I had created my own philosophy; Naked Kung Fu."

"How did the Dojo feel about this?"

"When they found out? When I explained my thinking and proposed I fight like this, they expelled me. Called my philosophy perverted, told me that I was bringing dishonour upon my school. Ultimately I signed up for a local martial arts tournament - in Xinjiang, I believe it was - as a solo participant. The representative for the Hijuishi Dojo received a buy to the later rounds of the tournament, but I had to start from the very bottom. Ultimately I won, and used the prize money to buy this."

Tao Ling looked around at the age-worn buildings and the surrounding forest. "It was an abandoned temple, before I took over. It was cheap, and in a poor state of repair. Now, however, it thrives. To a degree."

"Oh?" Sarah asked.

"As I won tournaments, the reputation of Naked Kung Fu grew. I soon found students willing to follow my path. We have grown."

"You have both male and female students, I understand?" Sarah asked. "How do you... do they have... are there any restrictions on sex?"

Tao Ling laughed. "We accept nobody under the age of eighteen to our school. They are all adults, and may do as they please."

"But what about rape?"

Tao Ling's smile disappeared. His eyes hardened. "Students who come here have, at the very least, rudimentary training in some form of martial arts. There is no student here who cannot defend themselves. If, however, a group decides to use superior numbers... let us say that I would make them regret this path."

Sarah nodded. "Your students are amongst the best in the country, aren't they?"

"A difficult question to answer. This school wins nearly every tournament it enters, yet we find that we can only enter regional competitions. The organisers of the national ones were, at first, outright opposed to our participating in their tournaments. They said the same as Hijuishi; fighting naked is perverse, that it's dishonourable. After so many victories, however, they threaten to devalue their own competitions by excluding us. Instead they have set us an entry fee; ten times higher than any other dojo, and something that we cannot afford. The prize money we bring in is used for maintaining the facilities and feeding our pupils; there is no excess that we can spare. Which is why, my friends, that I so readily agreed to your offer of featuring us in a documentary. The money your company gives us will enable us to step up to the next level."

"Alright Greg," Sarah said, "We'll cut there for now."

The cameraman nodded, and lowered his heavy equipment to the ground with a grunt. Tao Ling climbed to his feet and, unconcerned about how much he was showing to the visitors, dusted off the back of his legs.

"I do not quite understand why you asked me to cover myself." he said was he was done. "If you are filming the progress of my students then you will see much nudity, I feel."

Sarah, keeping her eyes about three feet to the side of Tao Ling, replied "This is just for the introduction to the documentary. If we'd shown you uncovered then it would have detracted from your words; we wanted our viewers to understand the philosophy and reasons behind Naked Kung Fu. This isn't just for titillation, after all."

Tao nodded. "Very well then. Did you review the list of students my second in command gave you?"

"We did, yes."

"Well then..."