Local Shaolin kungfu martial artist 3; US contender 2 in the five-round Chinese kickboxing match taped July 28 for Human Weapon, a series on the US cable television History Channel.

As cameras rolled at the Shaolin Martial Monks Training Center in Dengfeng, Henan Province, five referees supervised the contest from five directions as some 2,000 martial arts trainees looked on.

US contender Jason Chambers, 27, host of Human Weapon lost in the final round as Yan Delong made full use of Shaolin kungfu leg-kicking skills to win by two points. The 18-year-old trainee from a local farmer's family has been studying Shaolin martial arts for six years.

The Shaolin match was part of Chambers' round-the-world trip with the Human Weapon crew. Chambers matches skills with local practitioners as part of the series' coverage of martial arts worldwide.

Chambers, from Chicago, Illinois, has been studying various martial arts since the age of six. His record as a Mixed Martial Arts fighter is 16 wins and four losses. He holds the rank of Phase 1 Instructor in jeet kune do.

"I have been training in judo, karate, taekwondo and Thai kickboxing. Before the competition my opponent told me his strongest skills, but I still lost. Shaolin kungfu is really a top martial art," Chambers was quoted as saying by the local Dahe Daily.

According to chief coach Shi Yan Lu, "It was hard to arrange a contest where I could guarantee the opponent's safety while showing the full strength of Shaolin martial arts." Before the match, Chambers was concerned that he emerge from the match without injuries since he has to continue the series shooting.

Shaolin martial arts, also known as Shaolin kungfu, originated more than 1,500 years ago. It was developed by the Buddhist monks at Shaolin Temple on Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng.

Before the match, the Human Weapon crew shot the monks' daily life including study and martial arts training.

"The shooting experience in Dengfeng is a pleasant surprise for us and we will take the spirit of Chinese culture back to our audience in the United States," one of the Human Weapon crew members told the newspaper.