Dengfeng A Rural Chinese Kung Fu TownAfter living in Dengfeng
for 6 weeks, I thought Id do a photo blog to give you an idea what
a rural Chinese kung fu town is like.
Dengfeng is a small town that sits in the Henan Province of
China, with best proximity to the famous Shaolin Temple. Dengfeng
is only accessible by bus or car from Zhengzhou, a large Chinese
rail hub. Dengfeng and the surrounding villages are mainly rural
and sit in somewhat of a basin amongst the Song Mountains, which
can be seen in almost all directions.
Although Dengfeng itself has lots of different shops, the roads
sprouting out from the town are lined with kung fu schools and
shops. There must be close to 100 schools tucked in and around the
area, from the grand theme-park looking ones to the most basic. I
reckon theres probably a 1:1 relation between shops and schools
too. You typically see several shops in a row all selling similar
merchandise clothing, swords, staffs, pads and human looking punch
bags.
You can tell the town isnt used to tourists. There are no
English signs, most people will stare inquisitively at you as you
walk down the road and the odd child might shout hello as they skip
past. It tends to be the younger generation, having learned English
at school, that I can communicate best with. Its only when youre in
a town like this that you realise it has a more balanced
demographic. Im used to the demographic of a City of London
residential neighbourhood therefore skewed towards 20-40s and only
a few babies and elderly. Here, you have more of a balance, with
families being carted around on scooters and makeshift tractors
which move close to jogging pace, in front of a cloud of noise and
smoke.
Buses service the area with master bus drivers. I say masters,
because theyre masters in fuel efficiency and dodging
people/motorbikes. By fuel efficiency, they purposely cut out the
engine when going down hill or coming to a stop. I cant complain
about them though, because you rarely have to wait more than 5 mins
for a bus and will take youfor a bargain price of 1 CNY (about 10p)
per ride. By dodging skills, they share the road with lots of
mopeds (some silent electric ones) and people scooting about their
business.
Road rules are very different to what Im used to. Traffic lights
are highly informative, telling cars how long they will be red or
green. This gives rise to the common sight of either an oldperson
diagonally running across a large junction clutching a small child
in each arm or a Shepard herding animals in the same way.However,
if youre green it seems like you have the ability to cut across
stationary roads any which way you can. Whilst you think you have
to look for cars coming from the middle of the junction a moped
might be cutting right across, going up the road the wrong way in
order to make a turn. It means furiously looking in every direction
and crossing roads like the infamous game Frogger. Its typical to
see cars and mopeds driving up the slip roads in the opposite
direction. Having broken all the directional rules, they more than
behave when it comes to speed and alertness. Cars are used to
pedestrians and mopeds so tend to drive at a pace slow enough to
trip you up rather than kill you and horn lots. When I say lots, I
mean lots and lots. They horn when they about to move, when they
overtake, when they want you to move. Their highway code is
effectively mirror-horn-signal-horn-manoeuvre-horn.
In town, the pavement is used by everyone.Mechanics use it to
sprawl out their work and fruit sellers to display their goods.
Children are left to roam and play on the pavement. I witnessed
a child hitting something plastic with a stick, only to find that
when it exploded, it was a cigarette lighter and he learnt a lesson
in combustion. Luckily, aside from a few surprise-inflicted tears,
the child was fine.The elderly sit, talk, play Chinese chequers and
otherwise relax.
Its taken me a while to realise where the restaurants are here.
Restaurants come in three categories. Theyre either (a) dingy,
largelyempty shops void of picture menus, (b) a hole in the wall or
(c) well presented establishments but completely hidden from the
street view.
Funnily enough, Ive never seen so many road sweepers, who
desperately keep the roadsclear, but neglect the pavements.
Dengfeng is the first place I saw the most practical baby
clothes around. Babies are dressed in pants that have a huge slit
at their base and rear. The idea is to remove the necessity to have
nappies. They do this by excreting at will, in the middle of the
street through the gap. If youre lucky, its by a drain. If youre
unlucky, its into a parents lap or a passer-by. N.b. I could bring
myself to take a picture of it, so the following photo I simply
swiped from the net.
The town seems to be sucked into the furious building phase
encompassing most of China. Rubble tends to be part of the ascetics
here, with most buildings looking part-finished alongside a stack
of bricks, stones, slates or sand dumped right outside. I dont know
if most stacks are there because theyll use them to build more in
the future, or because they cant be bothered to move them after
having used what they needed already.
From what Ive understood, the government are going to swallow up
a large amount of land in the area. They can do this, because land
is owned by the state government, who have the absolute right to
evict you (with some compensation) to find a new home. The
government is looking to take over land in the area to boost
tourism by building modern hotel facilities to cater for tourists.
At the moment, there are little options for tourists. If you knew
that the amount the government would compensate you was based on
the number and size of buildings you had, youd realise that your
best bet to cash in on an opportunity is to construct lots of
buildings on your land, very cheaply as close to the compensation
date as possible. That is happening right now, so you sadly have
some of the better views of the area needlessly being spoilt by
temporary ghost houses.
Its all in the Leading up to last weekend, I began to get a
little frustrated at the kung fu school. It was down to a
combination of two things. Firstly, feeling the lack of material
progress in my kung fu. Secondly, not being taught moves in a new
form (set of kung fu moves) I had started learning.I wasnt throwing
my toys out the pram over a one day thing, but after a week of no
progress, it definitely impacted my confidence and I didnt know
why.
It felt like my time at the school was running out and there was
something I was missing.I was being told yidian (little by little)
and mingtian (tomorrow). I was doing countless laborious movements
100s of times a day, every day and had worked hard on extra
training.
It didnt feel like the reason behind not teaching me anything
new was malicious, but I couldnt understand what why. Even if there
was no time in the lessons to learn, there seemed to be time during
the breaks. These were breaks I was happy to forgo, when the other
students would mess around and choreograph kung fu fight scenes, I
was stretching my hamstrings and repeating the forms I had learned.
I know the students here have a different attitude to training they
have no issues skipping odd training sessions bumps on a life long
kung fu road arent as important for them as they are for me.
As for my progress in the basics in the first month at the
school, I had feltmy hips loosening, my legs worked hard and my
back get stronger. I was pleased with the way I learned the Pan Gen
form. But in the last two weeks, I had none of that, even though I
had kept my head down and concentrated on learning as much as I
could.I wasnt sure if my body was fully reconditioned or if I just
wasnt pushing myself enough. If it was the latter, I didnt know
where. Although I had built up strength, I wasnt able to get myself
into the stances in the way they described but I wasnt able to see
how I could progress into it.
On the Saturday morning, before leaving the school to head into
Dengfeng town, I wrote up a heartfelt letter to the senior student
whos been teaching me at the school. I copied and pasted it into
Google translate on my laptop and hoped for the best (if youre not
familiar with google translate, its pretty sketchy with Chinese
translation). The message was this:
sorry, but my chinese is not good.i dont want to sound like I
complain.youre a good teacher. youre a good friend. i want to be a
good student.but im upset because i cant learn. you only teach me a
little. you say tomorrow, but then no teach.i have little time here
and i want to leave here with good memories.english student
learning in china is very tough. i am isolated.i leave my job to
come here. i leave my family. i leave my life. i can only come here
2 months.other students want to play. i want to train hard. i train
when other students rest. i train with injury.please please please
teach me.i can train any time. day or night.I think he understood
the message and my frustrations. I couldnt fully understand the
reply, but the gist I got was had to head into town to get it his
phone fixed on one of the mornings. I wasnt worried about odd
classes missed for reasons like that or dwelling on the past (if
the past was that he didnt understand my desire to learn), rather
that the final two weeks werent going to be a write-off in my own
learning. I left the school Saturday, hoping that when I returned,
it would be a new start.
Over the weekend, I thought about the other issue I had the
stances I wasnt able to do properly. I knew my body was getting
stronger, but I wasnt able to sink any further (and not enough to
be a credible use in my mind).
Mabo (horse stance) is one most people are familiar with.
The Wugulun version is with feet fully planted just a little
wider than shoulder width apart, both feet perfectly parallel, back
completely vertically straight (no leaning forward, no tail bone
sticking out), hands relaxed on your stomach and lowering your
upper body to sink into the stance as low as you can. Deeper the
stance, the better it is. The one in the picture is about half as
low as this guy can go. Essentially, its the perfect full
squat.
In various schools and teachings Ive had in the past, you could
be forgiven for having a back leaning forward slightly, a wide
stance or feet off parallel (pointing at 45 degrees sometimes).
Here, its not an option.I thought ability to do this was all about
strength and balance.
I made a big boo boo.I missed something so fundamental, that
once I realised, I wasnt sure whether to be excited to have found
out or annoyed that I onlyjust found out.
It started with me asking one of the senior student why I cant
do a this full squat stance in a combination of Chinese mandarin,
engwish, a mirror and a Glow Draw drawing app on my phone. Heres
what I sketched:
I tried to explain that I can do the squat as long as i lean
forward. After exchanging Chinese words for strength and legs, I
put the point across that my centre of mass was passed my ankles
the lower Iwent. That was causing me to either stay high, or lean
forward to stop toppling backwards. I contested that my legs were
strong enough to hold me, which was annoying, as Id been working on
this a lot.He said the word yidian again (little by little). The
context being, work on it bit by bit.
I sketched out another couple of stick men. one me (Wo), one him
(Ni). This time, whilst sketching it, I realised that in order to
have the weight going straight through (and therefore be balanced),
I needed to draw a more acute angle at the ankle.
Then it clicked. Its the ankle.I asked about flexibility in the
ankle, I got a positive response. He demonstrated a couple of
exercises we had been doing daily. These exercises, I thought, were
just for loosing the hips. Instead, these also worked the ankles.
However, if youre not actively trying to stretch into them (like
the hips), its easy to miss the benefit, and I think this is
something I had been doing.
We compared ankle flexibility in the mirror. Blimey, they were
massively different. This guy was probably twice as flexible (could
get double the angle of deviation) than me. Gees, how did I miss
that when Ive been watching the guy for hours every day? I thought.
Wed been working on this stance every day without fail since I had
been here.
Thinking about what this meant..
mobility in the ankle=ability to maintain your upper body
perfectly over your hips as you lower=ability to balance with
proper grounding=ability to build strength and generate power
I had been working from right to left, when I should have been
working left to right.Damn it.
Theres me thinking Ive got good, strong legs so therefore I can
balance, where in fact, my balance isnt great. Lack of flexibility
in my ankles mean if I deviate my body passed a certain point, then
(compared to them), Im ready to topple like a bowling pin.
Ok, so lesson learned ankle flexibility is the key to my
progress now.
How possible is it though? Is it something you can even work on
or are you just born with it?
I tried to stretch my ankle, unlike hamstrings or other parts of
the body, the feeling seemed different it felt a bit bone on bone
type restriction. Are my ankles genetically different that I cant
stretch them I thought?
I spent Sunday afternoon googling about it.Heres what I
found
How do you do a full squat?I started with something like full
squat. Faint memories of someone commenting that asian people have
genetically better ankle mobility led me to google ankle better
flexibility asian too. Essentially, is it not my fault. This comedy
video was onto something, but didnt actually tell me why my ankles
arent flexible
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gWTmg4dHiKgWhy
arent my ankles flexible?I found that ankle dorsiflex ability
(ability to lift your toes up) can be impeded by two things:
tight calf muscles (most of the time)
scar tissue (rare occasions, due to past injury)
The truth is, Im not actually sure which one is the major cause
for me.
In terms of tight calf muscles I never thought mine where tight.
Reading on, for women they blame tight calves on heels and for both
sexes, lack of walking around in bare feet. [ok, thats
plausible].
You didnt grow up squatting on a regular basis so your calf
muscles shortened. Women who wear high heals every day have an even
worse problem with this as they find they cant wear flat shoes or
go barefoot comfortably. Shortened calf muscles caused from wearing
shoes with heals higher than the ball of the foot (even an inch or
less) is also a main contributing cause to plantar fasciitis.They
recommend walking in bare feet. However, in the last 6 months,
after reading Born To Run, I had already transitioned to barefoot
running and gone through the calf ache that comes with it. Only
that weekend, I had just done 16km in my barefoot running shoes and
didnt feel any calf ache. Not sure if my calf muscles are that
tight, but Ill work on them.
Onto scar tissue they say its common in footballers (link
hereand here) from past ankle injury. Thats likely for me then Ive
clocked up a lot of football minutes in my time.
I rack my brains and think back to childhood for any ankle
injuries?
I can faintly remember times when I sprained them. But youre a
kid you just try and get back to playing footy as quickly as you
can. I recall one specific spraining my ankle in football after
kicking into someone elses foot pretty hard.
What are the implications of lack of ankle flexibility?The
scariest one is Poor Dorsiflexion will usually cause foot
pronation, then knee valgus, which can lead to multiple knee
injuries.
There are several links between ankle mobility with knee pain
-http://www.maximumtrainingsolutions.com/Ankle-Dorsiflexion-Glute-Interaction.htmlBetter
still ankle mobility with glute/shoulder pain
-http://www.maximumtrainingsolutions.com/Shoulder-Injuries.htmlMy
lesson from this?Ankle flexibility is really important in martial
arts and mykey to taking my progress to the next level.I cant be
sure why my ankles arent flexible. Its something I can get checked
out in London on my return. For now thought, I decided I was going
to concentrate on ankle flexibility for the rest of my time
here.
My Realisation About A Dangerous HabitTowards the middle of last
week, I was feeling a bit disappointed with the school and the
teachings. I felt frustrated by repeating the same stuff (even
though I was fully prepared that this is likely to happen and didnt
want to admit it) and I felt time was being wasted in-between the
tougher training sessions. Having a couple of sessions rained off
and others that were shorter than normal didnt help. I thought Id
try to consider why I was frustrated.I sat down and structured all
my thoughts on paper, so I could go to the guys here and speak to
them. By the end of trying to get my head round it, I realised I
was making a far-reaching mistake.
The short version is that, I realised I was making excuses for
my own lack of motivation and blaming others for it. I decided to
arrange a new schedule going forwards.
The detailed version is described below
These were my thoughts, what I found myself blaming it on and
what I concluded the real cause was:
Thought: I find it hard to concentrate on the breathingI blamed
it on: Kids always messing about and the sound of car hornsReal
cause: Im not slowing down my breathing, concentrating on the
moment and Im letting things distract me. I need to learn to cut
them out. The place Im at is the hand Ive been dealt and those
things wont change. Learning to concentrate is the skill in itself
that I need to practice. Sometime in the past, I had read the first
couple of chapters from The Power Of Now. I realised now, that the
nature of controlling your mind as described in the book, has a
massive impact. I had always said that i was never in the right
place to read the book in detail. Now couldnt be a better time and
reason and apply it to the classes here.
Thought:There isnt enough time spent on training and the time I
am spending is still on the basics.I blamed it on: The structure of
classes theyve come up with is too slow and suited to the guys who
are here for years.Real cause: Was I really maximizing all my time
practicing? No. Did I really expect to jump into the more advanced
stuff sooner rather than later? No. Am I as flexible and strong as
the advanced students? No. My mind was playing games, I was
ignoring the fact this has to be learned. I have to put effort and
come up the curve myself. Ill use the time that they dont train to
do my own stuff. My strength and flexibility is down to me. Of
course you would have differentobjectives if theyre here for X
years, Im here for 2 months. They have more time and this is ALL
they are doing. I need to adapt the system, not blame it.Of course
theyll take things easier. This is their choice, theyre not forcing
it on me.
Thought:Im upset that the work i had done on my body (i.e. body
building) more specifically on the upper body was slowly
diminishing and my running fitness not being kept up.I blamed it
on: Restrictions that didnt really exist.Real cause: My own lack of
motivation and a not putting together a schedule that can work with
my kung fu training.I realised last Saturday morning that when we
all went for a run, they were all REALLY poor at it. Only then did
it occur to me that its just not something theyve trained at,
rather than something that theyre actively against doing. I could
take a stab at saying the monks in the mountains just didnt have
the environment to need to run far. I.e. a matter of ignorance,
rather than an active decision against it. As for weights, Im lucky
that there are a set of concrete kettle bells here at the school.
After giving them a try, I was blessed with timing Master Wu
walking past as I was using them and gave me the thumbs up. They
cant be against the principles here if hes giving a thumbs up. In
conclusion,I can work on the upper body without causing too much
tension and go for runs without tiring my legs before a training
session. I can add this to the kung fu schedule and it will be my
schedule.
Thought:Its really difficult learning with the language barrier.
Im missing out.I blamed it on: Not having someone readily available
to translate. Whats the point of learning Mandarin if Im only going
to use it here?Real cause: Im not learning as much Mandarin as I
possibly can and it IS useful. On the weekend, I met a spanish guy
called Raul in the hostel. His story was that he left Spain and
came to Beijing to get work. He was spending his weekend visiting
the Shaolin Temple. He spent loads of his own time learning
Mandarin and by 18 months, he was fluent. Usual story there I know,
but what really struck me was thats not the first time Raul had
just got on a train to somewhere where he didnt speak the language
and just committed himself he speaks 5 languages fluently. The
world was an open place for him because he was willing to work at
any language barrier. I realised, Im in the best possible place to
learn Mandarin, so what ifIm in the deep end of the Mandarin pool?
So I decided, when the kids are learning Maths and English in the
evenings, its the perfect time for me to go through more Michel
Thomas tapes. I have the tapes, so I have no excuse not learning
it.
During this process, I remembered back to something I heard once
that seemed really applicable. A teacher once told me:
Think of something that youve always wanted to do, something you
can do every day and only takes up to 30 mins of your time. If
youve come to the conclusion that its THAT important to you, then
Im almost certain that if you did that thing EVERYday for a year,
it would be the most significant thing you could do to improve your
life.
I thought to myself here I am in a place where Im cut off from
the life Ive led so far, somewhere with a loosely defined structure
to the day and Im making excuses for not fulfilling what I want to
do here. Im letting a busy mind control myself. Im going come up
with my own things that I do everyday to make a positive difference
to my time here. I realised the habit of excuses and lack of
motivation is something thats most likely grown over time and has
made an impact in my life, work and my hobbies to date.
These were the things I decided I would do whilst Im here at the
kung fu school: I will spend an hour a day learning Mandarin
I will spend an hour a day internalizing the book The Power Of
Now
I will do a session of Push Up Fu every day. By the time I
leave, I will be able to do the Big 100 (100 press ups)
I will use the weights I have here to train my legs daily and a
different part of my upper body every day. By the time I leave, I
will be able to do a one-legged squat.
I will build up my running distance to half marathon in my
barefoot running shoes.
So heres my new schedule as a screen saver on my phone. Its the
original school schedule with my own one interleaved. (FYI,
Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning are my running days)
Why blog this?Because I know myself well enough that if I tell
people Im going to do something, Ive got a better chance of
actually doing it.
The takeaway is this making excuses for anything is a subtle but
dangerous habit to have. The world is yours to make the most of it.
Write your own script. This is what makes your life unique.
Learning About YourselfWhen I told people that Im going to China
to spend 2 months in a kung fu school, most people would imagine a
purely physical experience. They assume that youll learn to fight,
perhaps learn a few party tricks, overcome pain barriers and
finally come back wanting to wear a kung fu suit every day.
For me, one of the important aspects of my time here, was to
learn more about myself. I wasnt quite sure how that would happen
here, but a leap of faith told me that it would. The gut feeling
was that the most traditional teachings of something extremely deep
was the key.
Now, comingto the end of my time here at the school, I look back
and feel that Ive learned a lot about myself. Its by no means the
answer to everything, but a big step in terms of understanding.The
process feels like noticing, questioning and peeling back layers in
my thought process one by one, exposing important truths
underneath. Its difficult to put a price on it, certainly at this
stage.
In this post, I explain how I think the time here has allowed me
to do this, what Ive learned and why I think its important.
How has the time here allowed me to do this?
Life here is simple and structured around non-mind activities.
Waking early each morning to perform meditative breathing exercises
does well to clear the mind and start from a clean slate. The
philosophy here is one of patience, repetition and everything you
perform is started from a calm mind. Turning up here was something
of a shock to the system for me to begin with the way of life is
very basic. Ive found that by breaking the normal habits of life
the rest can become clear.
The day is structured here, so time is put a side and dedicated
wholeheartedly to specific activities. Kung fu, eating, blogging.
Typical life chores are all done at the weekend, so it feels much
more like Im in control of my time. Taking myself out of the
interruptible and habitual way of life that Im used to back home
trains the mind to be less sporadic and this means its easier to
understand and spot patterns in myself. To a scientist, you can
think of it like an experiment on yourself as the control.
With dedicated down time (lunch and evenings), it means Ive had
time to consider new ideas, reflect on myself and grow to
understand more. Whilst Ive taken time in the past to read and
learn such things,often Ive found it difficult to then dedicate the
time to really understand and reflect. Its like a momentum thing,
with old habits lurking in the background ready for you to fall
back on and changes vanish as quickly as you understood them. Here,
its easier for that not to happen.
Lastly, I have to say that the blogging has most certainly
helped. Im relatively new it, but after my time here, Im a big fan.
By writing a blog post, Im learning how to recognise, reflect and
structure my own thoughts. It allows me to record how Im feeling at
the time, remember how I was feeling looking back and
retrospectively understanding the changes themselves. Hearing
feedback from readers goes a long way too.
What Ive learned?
So, down to the meaty bit what have I learned about myself?
Reading The Power of Now, helped provide some much-needed
rational.Whilst Im not completely sold ononlythinking about the now
as the book suggests, it has helped me pose some interesting
questions to myself.
Comparison with Past or Future
My first realisation I made, is thatI become most emotional and
waste most energy when I have a vision of some future expectation
or past event and I try to relate it to my current situation. I did
this with my expectation of the lifestyle of the kung fu I would
learn, the learning environment of the school and how long was the
right amount of time to spend here. The further my view was from
reality, the more frustrated I became. When reality moved closer to
my view, I would feel happier. I became much more at ease when I
stopped creating a difference in my mind. Its not nice realising
that something else is subtly in control the else being my
mind.
One might say, well why did you have those expectations anyway?.
I think the answer is, I didnt go out of my way to paint a picture,
but most importantly, I didnt go out of my way NOT to. In some
ways, I didnt understand the power of the mind in generating false
realities and how often it can run away with ideas. Whilst Ive
known few special times when my mind has run away with negative
thought loops, I noticed them and assumed those exaggerated events
were few and far between. What Ive learned is that theyre not there
common and practicing the art of clearing the mind has massive
benefits in happiness and focus in life. This is something Id like
to learn to do.
After questioning how past and (desired) future events can shape
you, I spent some time questioning whether past events could affect
me in the actions of today. Without divulging all of them, many
being personal, Ill give one example. When I was younger, I got
lost on a hiking trip. It was certainly something which my mind
framed as dont let this happen again, wrapping up various negatives
emotions with it. When I turned up at the airport in China, I was
picked up from the arrivals and driven 2 hours to the school, which
is in an off road in outside the nearest rural town. In short, I
could have been anywhere. Although I didnt think I would have a
problem with that, the truth is, I did. I think it added to the
culture shock. Until I got wifi, could throw up a GPS map on my
iPhone I wasnt comfortable. Funnily enough though, I didnt know why
I was either at the time. I couldnt really relate the two events.
When I consider how it affects me day-to-day, I believe my desire
toalways know where I am has manifested itself to limit some of the
exploratory decisions I make. Training myself to do otherwise going
forwards, will do me good.
So, to summarise to something meaningful by saying that after
questioning myself honestly and wholeheartedly, I understand how I
react more strongly in current scenarios after related negative
past events.Realising how the negative past does affects me, I need
to learn how to think less about the past. If you want to do this
yourself, Id recommend it. Put aside some time, remove all
distractions, be brutally honest with your fears and deeply
question how they may have affected you now.For anyone who thinks
you are who you are based on your past experiences and you cant
change them, I would disagree. I think you can, its just something
that takes desire, time and practice to do so.
Accept, Change or Remove
I spent some time considering my emotions alongside activities I
do. I now understandwhy I like taking part in the Tough Guy event
and how I can apply the reasoning to other situations in life. We
all know that life is full of situations you are dealt. Some good,
some bad. How you take the bad ones, goes a long way to determining
how at happy or at peace you are. With each situation, you should
have the ability to accept, change or remove yourself from it. If
you dont have the ability to remove yourself from it, changing it
ortruthfully and wholeheartedly accepting for what it is, is key.
How does this relate to Tough Guy? Well, I always thought it was
good to go through the pain of the event, and come out on the other
side. If youre not familiar with it, heres a brief YouTube intro. I
realise that Tough Guy is a great way to conjure up a pretty bad
situation for yourself. Youre cold enough to have hyperthermia,
youve probably been electrocuted, youre caked in mud, probably
looking up at a 20ft cargo net you need to climb and the whole time
your mind is in shock constantly questioning why youre doing this.
You can try to change the situation, by choosing different ways of
doing obstacles or what to wear, but largely speaking, it doesnt do
much. The key to completing it, is to accept it. Accept every
obstacle, accept anything thats currently happening and will happen
to you as you take part and youll be much happier. The more you
think about the cold, the mud, or any pain that youre in, the more
it hurts and affects you.The way contenders help each other
climbing out of ditches, picking up people who have slipped over or
sing always look on the bright side of life, I realise are in full
acceptance of what is the current situation. Doing Tough Guy each
year can be seen as training in the art of acceptance, something
which should be applied to many a (bad) situation in life.
Enjoying the Moment
Considering other activities and the similarities with kung fu,
I made some more realisations skiing/snowboarding and hiking. Both
are some of my favourite past times. The commonality amongst them
and why I like them is more clear now. Both are activities which
youre forced to think about the present moment and youre removed
from many of lifes distractions. With skiing/snowboarding, youre
concentrating on your next turn and with hiking, your next step.
The more you pay attention to the feedback from the terrain,
through to your body, you realise youre concentrating on the very
moment. It then very quickly disappears and is replaced with
something similar without time to be distracted in between. Couple
this with an environment of little or no phone reception and you
have the makings of something very peaceful but physically
rewarding. This, I realised, through the similarities with the kung
fu Ive learned. Its another activity with a very similar
environment and benefits.
The 7% Rule
If you havent heard of this before, it states that communication
is only 7% verbal and 93% non-verbal (the 93% made up of 55% body
language and 38% vocal tone). I used to think that figure was very
exaggerated and often found myself being the type of person to pay
a lot of attention to the words I used when communicating with
people. Relating that to my experience here, I landed in the school
here and spent a large chunk of time without fellow english
speakers and started from an almost non-existent command of Chinese
Mandarin. Ive realised that by relying almost exclusively on body
language and vocal tone, the 7% rule has proved more true than I
originally thought.
During my time here, Ive used body language to understand whats
going on in social situations (tension between people, when
someones being told off or congratulated and when Im being alerted
to something).Ive learned a lot of Mandarin like a young child
would learn their first language. I began to understand what words
meant through repetition and association with actions, before (a)
being able to say the word myself and then (b) actually looking up
the specific translation. Likewise, Ive found people have been able
to understand me and my emotions too proving to me that it goes
both ways.
The Pressure of Society
Mid-Autumn Festival in China is a night of celebration held on
the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar. This
year, it fell on September 30th, whilst I was at the school. Im so
used to commercial celebrations back home Christmas and New Years
being a classic example. The pressure of buying presents or forking
out for a good night is usually felt.It was lovely to experience
something non-commercial, in Mid-Autumn Festival. The lunch time
meal was served in sharing dishes, but was largely similar food to
what youd expect day-to-day.Instead of buying presents for the
evening, every student spent their free time leading up to the
evening practicing some kind of performance, whether it be a song,
dance, poem or magic trick. The mood was high because the people
made it so, not because of what was spent or received.The school
ran a quiz giving students with winning answers cans of Coke. I
wont forget the happiness on their face of the students when theyd
get and answer correct and get to crack open a can.I couldnt help
but think how kids back home take things for granted, but largely
because of the pressure society makes them feel.Naturally, leading
up the event, I had asked what should I bring to the evening? only
to be told yourself just being there is more than enough.
Until youve lived in an environment similar to what I have these
2 months, you may not have experienced an egoless society. Here at
the school, everyone dresses in the same clothes, lives in the same
building and is given the same opportunities to learn. Unlike the
society Im used to, the only thing money could buy here are the
small luxuries that you would use outside of normal time. i.e. the
influence of money is minimised. Without outside media influence
too, theres little pressure to compare what you have to what
youcouldhave. Happiness with what people have got and not being
bombarded with what you havent is a peaceful way of life. Ive
learned that I can do more to stop being affected by the pressure
of society.
Why its important to learn about yourself
With better clarity of mind, my life certainly feels like it has
a lot more focus. I understand why Im doing certain unnecessary or
unhelpful things and what I can do to benefit me greatly. Knowing
those, I can start tending towards them now.
The second benefit of learning more about yourself is way it
opens the door to understanding more about others. The differences
in how you deal with societies pressures, how you spend your free
time and how you treat people all stem from your underlying belief
system.Because of this, I feel like Ive learned alittle more about
why I do or dont get on with certain people and visa versa.
Lift out of your own subconscious worries, understand more about
others andthese personality conflicts that existed in the past will
be more harmonious. Thats because when you understand more about
others, youre more likely to forgive.
Changes After A Week Of The New ScheduleAfter blogging about my
frustrations and realisations last week, It appears in the week
just gone, much has changed.
So whats changed exactly?
Ive religiously stuck to my own new mind/body/soul workout
schedule The day-to-day training from the school has become more
physically demanding
Ive made some progress in learning to meditate
I can be understood more with my mandarin
My outlook on the art here has widened
It feels like the end of a long week. I start writing this on
Friday evening at about 19:00, but Im shattered enough that Ill
just jot the main thoughts and complete it Saturday.
The New Schedule
During the kung fu training sessions when the students take a
break, Ive been taking the opportunity to work on my flexibility. I
realised that flexibility is a big key to being able to progress to
the next level here. How can you work on the power and stamina
needed in a deep stance if you cant actually get your body in the
correct stances? If you want to kick high, then first you need your
leg to be able to get that high, then you need to work on the
strength to hold it there. Where was flexibility in the primary
school curriculum in London?
Weight training with on my legs whilst the kids are doing their
cleaning chores seems to be working nicely. Its slow, because my
legs are generally tired from the day-to-day kung fu training, but
Im working up the weight stack bit by bit.
Echkart Tolles statements in The Power Of Now are forcing me to
ask myself some tough questions. Its a little early to consider
what it means to me. I can feel a sense of self-denial at the
moment, but theres plenty of time for the content to soak in. In
fact, if you read the book, theres a clear statement that time is
somewhat of an illusion.
My morning Pushup Fu ritual is something Im slowly getting used
to. Right before I strap on the arm band that counts the reps,
theres a sense of feeling sick. But after finishing the reps, I
realise thats mind games, because I feel much better after
completing them. Im most of the way through Stage 5, for those
familiar with the app.
As for the running, after the toughest prolonged period of
training ache in my legs, I managed to pull out a 9km run, which Im
quite proud of. If I assume 2 running sessions per week, having 4
weeks left and needing to get to 21km, Ill increase the distance by
1 or 2km (5-10 mins) each time. I think the stray mountain dogs are
starting to recognise the new scent.
Day-to-day Training
The classes have moved on and become more physically demanding.
Now that we should have mastered the principles of the stances, it
appears its time to sink into, bounce, twist, jump and leap from
stance to stance whilst trying to maintain perfect form (straight
back, head held high). It seems like theres a sweet spot among the
students. At one end, there are the youngand flexible ones who are
happy to attempt anything with ultimate enthusiasm, but little
form. At the other end, there are the older ones who have more
muscular power and mastery of form, but will pull the slyest tricks
to get out of trying to do the exercises.
After a week of doing these exercises daily for hours,my legs
are D.E.S.T.R.O.Y.E.D. They feel more worn than doing the 3 Peaks,
a half marathon and the hilly bit in Tough Guy one after the
other.Early on in the week, I did question if my knees were past
their sale by date and learned the hard way to warm them up
gradually. Hours a day of moving from horse stance to horse stance
as deeply as you can is both a mental as well as physical test.Now
I realise these types of exercises are good for stretching the
muscles and building power.Another factor thats upped the training
here is that Master Wu is dropping into more and more sessions.
When he does, he has very high standards and the tone of the class
becomes much more serious to cope. There always seems to be
improvements to be made to the exercises done by the seniors, which
youd think had mastered them already.
Interleaved with the more physical exercises, Ive been taught a
form known as Pan Gen, which means Twisting Root. Theres a link to
Master Wu demonstrating it here. The form is designed to teach you
to maintain balance whilst moving from stance to stance. Ive been
quite impressed with myself being able to learn the form, but it
only occurred to me at the end of the week why that was so. When
the teacher demonstrates move A to B to C, when youve spent copious
amounts of time perfecting stance A, B and C in isolation, it
becomes more about slotting well-known pieces of a jigsaw puzzle
together. Its a shallower learning curve, because youve put in the
time mastering the all important basics. When you find yourself
introducing the correct breathing too, which acts like your own
pace maker. Being told through various hand waves and broken
Mandarinthat Im learning quickly was like a gust of wind in the
right direction for my kung fu boat.
Mr Miyagi was a wise man, who appears to have somehow rubbed off
onto Master Wu.
Meditation
The task of settling my mind and body down seems to be getting
easier. On Friday, when most of the students were off running some
errands, there was just a few of us training amongst the trees for
a change. Im not sure why, but I had the opportunist urge to walk
to the other side of the area, find myself a rock to sit on and
meditated for a solid hour. It was the first time, I actually felt
like it was something I intrinsically wanted to do. It was pretty
refreshing to be honest.
Mandarin
Some of the students can understand what Im trying to say. So
either my charades skills are improving or my pronunciation of my
Mandarin. The progress is largely one way, but a step in the right
direction. Ive been building up a translation list of useful kung
fu related words. Ill be posting up as a reference for others in
the next couple of days once I fill in the last gaps. Im starting
to recognise some of the instructive words in class, like line up,
move, take a break. The funny thing is, when writing this, I
couldnt tell you what they are but at the time, in context, I
can.
Outlook On The Art
After I finished meditating on Friday and turned around, I saw
the senior instructor showing three of the other students some
simple fighting techniques. Something like if someone were to punch
you like this I would do this type scenarios. Now Ive seen a fair
few techniques like this, having trained in other forms of kung fu
in the past. But I have to say, I was truly impressed with what I
saw. The ease and fluidity this guy dealt with everything that came
towards him and gracefully floored every one of them, taking their
balance like sweets from a baby it was something Id not seen
before. He didnt have to hit any of them, although Im sure the
opportunity presented itself. I take back any thoughts that this
form of kung fu neglected the point of the upper body. From what I
saw, it demonstrated that if you have a strong stance and know your
opponents balance and weak points, you can have their arms trapped
and them falling over with ease.I hope I get a chance to absorb
some of this myself during my time here.
Whats on the cards for next week?Im told there a new kung fu
form to learn. It should be longer and more complicated than the
one this week, so looking forward to that. Were kept in the dark
with the power training. Surely it cant get any tougher?
First Full Day
Home Destinations Asia Travel China First Full Day
First Full DayI had set my alarm for 05:20 with the idea that I
would beat the bell they have and be ready a little earlier.
However, instead, I woke to the sound of their bell. A very loud
bell. What I realised, is that they have one bell at 05:20 to wake
people up and another at 05:30 to congregate outside. When the
second bell went off, kids started running out their rooms and
making their way downstairs, with an air of panic on their
faces.
As I went outside, I could see they were starting to form lines
in what looked like a height or age order. I randomly chose the
second line and parked myself at the end. A senior student standing
in front, facing the students said new? to me, to which I replied
yes and nodded. He addressed the group. Each student said something
and then they shuffled along to form tight lines. I had no idea
what to say, so I naturally said what most aliens would say
nothing. Then, the first and third lines trotted off and myself in
the remaining second line began doing walking laps of the
forecourt. I wasnt sure if this was the usual drill or if I had
messed something up for the line by not saying something and the
laps were a punishment shared amongst the line. After walking
several laps, we jogged a few more and came to rest.
Whilst we stood in a line, the senior student stood in front of
us and demonstrated breathing exercises. We watched and followed.
The other students had the luxury of watching, listening and
following. In other words, I had to try and work out what was going
on instinctively. What progressed from standing breathing
exercises, evolved into exercises in a stance with the tailbone of
the back tucked under. I had the luxury or experience from my kung
fu teacher in London explaining the concept and read about the
importance of it before I arrived. The idea is to straighten the
spine so that the Qi energy flows from top to bottom better and is
the basis of the strength and power they generate. Cultivating Qi
is the fundamentals for this form of kung fu. As the class is
taken, I watched the other students to know when to stop, continue,
take a break etc.After an hour of training, the class was
dismissed.
I was told yesterday, that after the first hour of training, the
students get 30 mins to wash and change before breakfast. With
around 30 students and 3 bathrooms, its pretty obvious that washing
wasnt going to occur in the morning. At 07:00, the bell was sounded
again and the student lined up for breakfast. As I came outside to
line up, I noticed Master Wu Nanfang sitting with the manager and
Veena. To deviated for a moment, Veena was someone who contacted me
after I initially reached out to the school by email many months
ago. I spent an hour on the phone to hear listening to advice and
information about the school to decide and prepare for the trip.
Although at the time of the call she was based in England, she had
told me she would be in the area while I was there and would drop
by. After a brief greeting, I joined the line of students and went
for breakfast. Breakfast consisted of some vegetables, bread and a
soup. I was told that the soup contains a fruit that promotes Qi.
Again, the food was really tasty and Im being given big
portions.
After breakfast, we were dismissed back to the living quarters,
to await another bell ring to tell us the late morning class was
about to start. I used the time to brush my teeth, but chose not to
shower for fear of getting caught in the middle of a shower with
the bell going. The late morning lesson was taken in the plot of
land behind the living quarters. The land contains tall trees and
some stones scattered in the corner. The trees have been planted
(or grown) with almost perfect spacing between them. Cleverly, this
allows us to train in the shade (the branches almost perfectly meet
at the top) and give some temporary cover from the rain, all
without impeding on usability of the space i.e. dodging a few trees
in known positions is easy. The lesson started with the same
breathing exercises as the morning and evolved to some twisting and
weight shifting routines. The lesson was about 3 hours long, split
with a break period, where the students and I sat on the rocks
(like Westerners would around a camp fire only without the fire).
Theyd entertain themselves for the break with their mobile phones
and lighthearted chat. Whats really nice, is that the senior
student who takes the class relaxes with them, so you can see
theres a real bond with him. But theres a definite respect when he
takes the class.
After the late morning class and lunch we retreated to our rooms
again. I could see a schedule in Mandarin on the wall as you come
through the front door of the living quarters and was able to place
where we were in the schedule. Also, spotting the symbol for the
late morning training, I was able to work out that the afternoon
training was next and started in about an hour. I used the the time
to have my first shower. I was warned that the hose for the
bathroom next to me didnt work (I also found out the hard way that
the toilet flush didnt work either) and that the one across the
hall would take 5 mins to warm up and the one downstairs would take
2 mins. The bathroom upstairs was taken and I opted to go
downstairs one. Not knowing who is living where in the building, I
never know whether Im intruding on peoples space by using various
rooms/bathrooms. Showering was an interesting experience no hooks
for your clothes (or anywhere that looked anywhere clean enough to
place clothes) and a drop toilet right next to you isnt the most
glamorous. My hanging wash kit doubled up as a hanger for my
clothes.. Another result on my packing list. Squatting on the floor
with a hose was so refreshing that the views/smells of the bathroom
were put to one side.
I crossed paths with the manager on the way back to my room and
asked him if I could give him the money for the first month of
stay. He invited me to give this to Master Wu Nanfang and took me
to his room. With some translation about the fact this money was
for one month and I will follow up with the rest in town, Master Wu
Nanfang showed his appreciation. The manager translated by telling
me that Master was very thankful of supporting the school and the
money would be used to build new facilities. I think his
appreciated was very genuine. Until now, they had taken me in, fed
me, trained me and hadnt even asked for any money.
With time to spare, I fell asleep on my bed. I awoke and saw two
people entering the room it was the chap who accompanied the taxi
driver yesterday and another westerner. The westerner turned out to
be Matthew, a former student of the school who had stumbled upon my
blog a couple of weeks before departing London. He had been
incredibly helpful over email from the US, answering my questions
about his past experiences. He had told me he was arriving on the
day after me and it was quite refreshing to have him turn up. When
he entered the room, he was speaking, what sounded like, fluent
Mandarin to the Masters son (I confirmed that was in fact the
Masters son at that point). As he unpacked, he told me a little
about his story. He practiced kung fu to help recovery and maintain
a regular level of health after spinal surgery. The spinal surgery
was performed to fuse two vertebrate in his back after his
vertebrate shifted over one and other when he was younger. He had
visited the school in the past and practiced the breathing
techniques daily ever since. Because his wife being native Chinese,
he had learned Mandarin to communicate with the in-laws and embrace
the Chinese culture. What was apparent after talking to him, was
that even his understanding of Mandarin he struggled to understand
their dialect at times, because the accents were thick and a lot of
the vocabulary new. Good to know that I wasnt being thick
struggling with the language, but bad because it meant I was
probably going to struggle for the remaining 55 days of my stay The
bell was something new to him. When he was last here, he said they
all stayed in the main house where the food is served (we lived in
a separate house), and there was only a few adults so was taught my
Master Wu Nanfang himself. For him, the bell represented something
like a military academy. For me, the bell was actually a great way
to communicate that I have to be somewhere, so I can relax in my
room until then and with everyone meeting outside, I never have to
know where to be (we all march off together). Maybe this represents
my place in the society that represents the school Im ignorant and
need to learn the methods.
That evening, one of the senior students gave a lesson in
Chinese medicine. Unfortunately, with that lesson being given in
fluent Mandarin, I skipped it and relaxed in my room.
The Real World From Another ViewDuring the rest after lunch, I
was lying on my bed and although it felt like I had been here a
while, it was only my second full day. Theres two ways you can look
at it.
1) Im missing my life back at home2) Ive got used to life
here
I think its latter, because I dont have that desire to pack my
bag and do a runner. I think Im way more relaxed and bedded in
now.
Training continued with the internal techniques.
Now, with more time spent understanding it, I can understand how
these techniques are almost meditative. The breathing and fluid
repetitive movements are ideal for this.
Later that evening, I left the school with Matthew to go and
meet Ibo for dinner in Dengfeng. Ibo was a past student here, who
actually made the transition into real life as he called it when
Matthew was previously at the school. Ibo is best described as a
happy guy, with a big heart, wanting to please and answer anything
that you request from him. Im told he lived here for 4 years,
practising ChanWuYi daily. One of his talents was also his English
skills, being the chief translator for the school.
We went to a hot pot restaurant, which was basically your
equivalent of an all you can eat conveyor belt sushi restaurant,
except you were each given a controllable hot plate, bowl of
boiling water and access to a conveyor belt of fresh ingredients to
chuck in. Probably the healthiest meal you can have (if you dont go
for all the spices and sauces available).
Ibo no longer lived at the school. His reasons for leaving were
that he needed to step into the real world and earn an income to
support a family. He hadnt done a full-time profession job before
then.He spoke about how he noticed people slouching at their desks
and working without breaks. He described how when he got stressed,
he would step out for an hour and practise ChanWuYi (although at
first, he found it difficult to do this in the work
environment).
The funny thing about the conversation with him, was that this
was a guy coming from the complete opposite as me. All he had known
was the life I am about to lead during my travels. He said that
often students would ask him what should I do to relieve tension in
X or to deal with Y stress. Funnily enough, he used to answer Im
not sure, because Ive not experienced it, which is funny when you
think about it. Overall, his goal is to lead this professional life
to the full, then find a happy medium.
What he was describing was the real world from another view.
Having missed the dinner at school, I came back bearing a gift
of a clean sponge and washing up liquid for the school sink.
Hidden Skills Of A Kung Fu Master
Home Destinations Asia Travel China Hidden Skills Of A Kung Fu
Master
Hidden Skills Of A Kung Fu MasterThis morning after lining up
outside, we were told that Saturday is a half day. Training for an
hour in the morning, then cleaning duties and free time. It was a
joy to see all the kids grabbing mops, brooms and sponges and
cleaning the school up. They were wearing their regular clothes and
the mood was much more light-hearted.They would dash past with some
sort of cleaning apparatus and say Ni Hao (hello). I think its a
combination of the mood that theyre not training and theyre
probably less weary of my presence.
After breakfast, I watched to see how many of the students would
take my gift of sponges and washing up liquid. Fail. They all
continued to wash their bowls and chop sticks with their hands. Its
either a combination of not wanting to use something they think is
mine, or theyre just so used to washing up with just cold water.
Well find out with time.
As a returning student, Matthew asked Master Wu for a special
favour of writing some calligraphy on two scrolls he carefully
brought with him from home. Master Wu, as it was becoming evident,
is not just a master of kung fu, but calligraphy too. After doing a
practice run, he gracefully painted up the scrolls for Matthew as
the students watched and stamped on the Wugulun academy seal.
Without the late morning training session, I took the
opportunity to go for a run. The school is half way up the 10km
road from Dengfeng to the Shaolin temple. I thought it would be
useful to know how to get to Dengfeng on my own, so the best way is
to cover the distance on foot with a straight road, so you cant go
wrong. I took position on the edge of the main road and started
jogging. I got some pretty funny looks while I ran. A combination
of being a westerner in a small rural town and something like a why
is this guy running (because even the poorest people here have at
least push bikes). As I ran the route, I memorised landmarks as a
way, so that I could run through them in reverse on the way back to
recognise the turn off. Yellow sign, big rocks, umbrella, hill.
Other than hitting a tree branch with (thankfully) yellow pollen on
my yellow t-shirt, it a success.
The road that I run down has so many kung fu schools. All of
these schools are the traditional wushu schools. These schools
practice the external art of kung fu, with the emphasis on using
force, jumping and more theatre type movements by 100s of perfectly
synchronised shouting kids in bright red outfits. It makes me glad
I stumbled upon the school Im at, because my understanding of the
Wugulun practice appears to be something special.As I turned the
corner returning back to the kung fu school, I bumped into the
students walking to lunch. I appeared to get some respect from the
senior students seeing me jogging and doing more training, which
was nice.
With the other students left to their own devices, Matthew and I
took the bus (for 1 RMB) into Dengfeng. With two missions. Firstly,
to go to the clothes shop to get some presents, and secondly, to
find the Shaolin Traveller Hostel that I had been recommended by
both Veena and the Lonely Planet. I ended up buying four suits to
be sent home. Whilst the shop couldhave sent them home on my
behalf, they explained that the cost of sending them would be more
than the suits themselves. You could see the horror on their face
that I was even considering it. I dont blame them. To me it
demonstrates the imbalance that exists in the world. They suggested
that it would be cheaper and easier to send them from Hong Kong,
than from a small rural village. With Hong Kong on my plans after
China I decided to take them as they were. I gave myself a
hypothetical pat on the back for not over packing and leaving room
to temporarily carry gifts (well see how good a plan this is when I
try actually try to send them in Hong Kong).
After struggling to find the hostel (even armed with an iPhone
and a pre-printed map) we jumped in a cab and got dropped off at
the hostel. The hostel had a great feel to it. Well kept rooms,
comfy chairs, free wifi and washing machine facilities. I can see
why many of the foreign students come here at the weekends to relax
and have a good wash. Comi, the guy at the hostel, even offered to
take me to the local mobile phone shop to help me get a Chinese sim
card. What a legend. I booked myself a room for the next weekend
and headed out to grab dinner.
To celebrate the success of the mission to Dengfeng, we
naturally stumbled upon another hot pot place and did our best to
eat 6 plates of vegetables and noodles.
Climbing Mount Song
Home Destinations Asia Travel China Climbing Mount Song
Climbing Mount SongSunday is a rest day at the school, so after
heading into town in the morning and picking up a Chinese sim card,
the rest of the day was free.[many thanks to Comi at the Shaolin
Traveller Hostel for ushering me to the shop and being a mobile
phone tariff translator].
Matthew suggested checking out Song Shan. Little did I know,
that Song Shan actually meant Mount Song, which was one of the
places I wanted to visit here.Its one of the beautiful mountain
ranges that you see from the Wugulun school. More importantly
though, its the home of ChanWuYi, where Master De Jian (the
ultimate master of the art and devout monk) lives. De Jian sought
the home from two nuns and started building a temple there in the
heights of the mountain. Its in the middle of construction, but
even what is there now was breathtaking. Even though I didnt get a
chance to see De Jian, the opportunity to stand up there and soak
in the view meant a lot.
In terms of the actual climb, from the route we took, it was
steep, but technically easy one about 30-45 mins up with stairs.
For those (like me) who have a fear of heights and dont like
exposed edges, there are rails to protect your humility. I
understand theres another route up which includes more cliff
exposure and bridges.
To build the temple, workers would carry cement mix from the
base of the climb to the top whilst others chipped into the
mountain face to make room for the building and use the stone as
material. These guys took almost the same amount of time as us to
get up the mountain (given, we were taking pictures) and probably
carry several bags up each day.
Rather than describe any more, Ill let the pictures speak for
themselves.
A Bit About Wugulun School and My Progress
Home Destinations Asia Travel China A Bit About Wugulun School
and My Progress
A Bit About Wugulun School and My ProgressI thought Id write a
bit about the Wugulun school, the training and the progress I think
Ive made after a week.
Where is the school?The school is about 5km outside the town of
Dengfeng, half way between Dengfeng and the Shaolin Temple. Its
part of a rural/farming area with a million dollar view (above) of
the mountains in the area. Dengfeng is the nearest town to the
Shaolin Temple littered with countless martial arts schools.
Whats a typical day at the school?At 05:30 we have an hour of
early morning training. We do it as the sun comes up. It starts by
warming up doing laps of the grounds outside the school building
followed by breathing exercises. The breathing exercises make up
the majority of the time and are the fundamentals of every training
session during the day. If you concentrate enough, theyre highly
meditative because you end up slowing your breathing right down and
noticing every minor detail with the physical moves.
At 07:00 theres breakfast. With all the meals at the school,
theyre vegetarian and consist of some soup and some vegetables. To
be honest, every meal is similar, so to me, breakfast tastes like
lunch and dinner. Whilst the strictest traditional Shaolin diet
contains no dairy, with pressure from the kids parents, they
sometimes have egg. Other than that, its rice, noodles, vegetables,
bread, dumplings or lentils. The food is surprisingly tasty
although Im only a week in (Im guessing some of the other students
have seen the same meal twice now).
At 08:00 its the late morning training, which is done in the
land behind the school amongst the trees. This is a 2-3 hour
session broken up by a 15 min break in the middle. There are three
separate classes going on, so each class is specialising on some
topic. Breathing exercises, stepping exercises, forms, weapons etc.
The break consists of squatting on the stones that surround the
land.
At 11:50 its lunch followed by relax time. By relax, they
actually sleep here. Its similar to the european siesta where they
take rest during the hottest part of the day after a hearty
meal.
At 15:00 its the afternoon training session. Like the late
morning, its a 2-3 hour session. Again, what is covered depends on
the group youre in, but its largely building on what was taught in
the late morning session.
At 18:30 theres dinner followed by lessons (maths, english,
medicine for the kids) or for us, another relax time.
At 21:30 the bell rights one final time for the lights out.
Saturdays have some limited training in the morning and Sunday
too (although Ive only experienced one weekend to date).
Where is the training performed?Below are some photos of the
front courtyard of the building were sleeping in and the land
beside it with the trees. We train in both. If its raining,
however, theres some limited room inside the building.
So what have I been taught so far?Meditative breathing, postural
exercises (to tuck in the base of the spine and straighten the
neck), stepping/balancing exercises (the fundamental building
blocks of everything else youll learn) and rotational exercises
(moves are generated using rotational power all the way from the
hips up to the shoulders).
What changes have I noticed?More flexible by the end of todays
session, I noticed a big improvement in my hamstrings, hip joints
and all the small muscles inside the groin.
Better balance Im able to very easily balance on one leg for
extended periods of time. Further still, Im able to jump from one
balancing leg in one spot to another leg in another position. I
wouldnt put it passed the new appreciation for squatting toilets
and interesting wash rooms lending a hand here too.
Improved strength my legs are far far stronger. Its not
surprising because all the time is spent on here. Im almost able to
do a full one legged balancing squat and after going for a short
run, I could noticeably feel the improved strength throughout my
legs (and positive posture). Core strength is improved too. I can
tell by the rotational smoothness in my waist and ability to hold
my legs higher for longer. Thats all without any sit up or stomach
focused exercise. Basically, the lower back and obliques have been
worked loads throughout.
Upper body nothing in the arms or chest. Only general ache in
the upper back from all the stretching.
Weight I cant weigh myself, so I have no idea what the
difference is now if any. Im by no means hungry here, theres three
big meals a day and theyre carb heavy. However, I dont know if Im
getting enough protein because (a) they tend to have less because
they think it makes you feel sluggish and (b) I have no idea how
much protein is in the rice, vegetables and soya they have.
On Saturday after some morning training, the students are free
to explore nearby Dengfeng (or for the youngest ones, be picked up
by their parents) for the weekend. For me, it meant a chance to
stay at the Shaolin Traveller Hostel and indulge in some luxury. Im
told that foreigners from all the martial arts schools in the area
use the hostel in the same way. Chance to relax, meet and train
with other foreigners.
When I say indulge in someluxury, I mean a mattress to sleep on,
private bathroom, western toilet, a washing machine, slouchable
seats, wifi in your room and no early morning bell. As for the room
itself, it opens into the top floor of the building, which has a
mirrored room with lots of space.
A Brief Summary of My Understanding of Wugulun Kung FuSo after a
couple of weeks, I thought Id blog a bit about the Wugulun Kung Fu
Ive learned and my thoughts on it. Firstly, though a mandatory
disclaimer
What I write about here represents me communicating my view and
understanding as it currently stands from books, videos and the
limited tuition at the school. It is not intended to replace
teaching and instructions from the people who have practiced and
perfected the art.Firstly, a bit of background of the art and how
it originated
This documentary videofromPankaja, contains an interview with
Master Wu Nanfang. Summarising:
Shaolin kung fu originated in the Shaolin temple which is a Chan
Buddhist temple. . The Shaolin monks had to meditate deeply but
sitting in Zen, sometimes they became sleepy, so they tried to find
ways to stay physically and mentally alert and also be more
healthy. Kung fu was already practised in many parts of China, and
as more people came to the Shaolin temple the kung fu, the wushu
culture became integrated with the Zen culture and formed the
unique Shaolin Kung Fu. When learning Shaolin Kung Fu a person
should have great depths of mercy. If he shows any rage or hatred
while practising, he will not master kung fu. If you want to show
or teach people fighting, first you have to have a compassionate
heart. You have to practice kung fu with this attitude. You have to
be calm and peaceful to grasp this method of fighting. Training in
kung fu in this quiet and calm way and combining it with the
training in Zen meditation means a person gains an understanding of
the relationship between his internal organs and meridians, and
enables him to integrate heart, body and qi together. Through
repeated daily training over years combining all these elements a
unique fighting skill is formed. This special form of Shaolin Kung
Fu became renowned in China and later the world. So this kung fu is
practised firstly to achieve a strong and healthy body and secondly
for self defence and fighting. When you use this kung fu to fight
with other people, you dont fight to kill, but you use your skill
to dissolve or diffuse the other persons aggression. And you can
control it in a perfect way and not hurt them. With this method the
aggressor becomes humble and respectful. It is a way of teaching
him to live in a better way..The real Shaolin Kung Fu is a proper
combination of body, mind and qi. This kung fu is different. But
the performing, athletic Shaolin wushu functions only from the
outside. It is just coordinated movements for performing and
competitions.
So what does this mean for the type of training Ive done so
far?When you ask someone to stand up straight, youll often see an
arch in the base of the back where the tail bone exists. Why do we
tend to arch our back? Well, if youve ever tucked your tail bone in
and very slightly compensated (to balance) by sinking into your
feet, youll noticed its a position that requires muscle tension to
maintain. In other words, it takes energy and effort to stand like
that. By arching your back and sticking your tailbone out, you take
the pressure off your waist/hips/legs at the expense of grounding.
By grounding, I mean connectedness of your body with the ground.
Whilst for usual day-to-day activities its ok not to be grounded,
for someone about to perform something very physical like kung fu,
you need to be well grounded to balance, twist and move with
speed.
In addition to tucking the tailbone under, straightening the
neck is also important. This is for lengthening the spine. With
both lengthening the spine and tucking your tailbone in, you
perfectly straighten your body from the waist up. The result of
this is to allow the Qi energy to flow as efficiently as possible
from head to toe. What is Qi? Well, thats a deep topic, which I
wont go into too much detail on, but simply to say its the energy
that flows through your body. They say it takes 3 years of daily
practice to perfect this and cause it to be more of
anaturalstance.
For any person, beginner or master, they will practice the
standing breathing exercises daily tocultivateQi and perfect their
posture. So, the first thing weve being doing every morning is
exactly that. Starting in the dark and finishing the hour session
at dawn. The exercises regulate your breathing (which over night
has probably become more random), expels bad toxins from being
indoors and stretches the body to awaken it. Theyre supposed to be
done in an extremely relaxed state and its pretty meditative
performing them. Concentrating firstly on your breath then moving
your body in time to it helps you concentrate on thenow. After each
repetition, you gain more and more feeling in each and every joint,
muscle and nerve as you attempt to perfect the motion each time by
synchronizing each component perfectly whilst completely relaxing
others.Being a newbie to the motions, keeping my eyes open means
its harder to concentrate on the now and really get into it, but
the times Ive performed it with Master Wu in a quiet place, its a
little addictive. Perfecting it that little bit more each time.For
us beginners, we actually do these exercises at the start of every
session, regardless.
Wheres all the hard work then?Well, thats where the legs come
in. The principle is that after working on the posture to perfect
the energy flows throughout the body, you want to carry this
posture with the best possible base and use it to generate power.
The base being your legs.
The legs are worked far before anything on the upper body, so
most of the exercises Ive been doing as a beginner have been
strengthening the legs. The exercises are the stepping variety,
changing position from left to right to front to back keeping the
tailbone tucked in and rotation at the hips up to the neck. Done
extremely slowly, it promotes flexibility (ive discovered muscles
in my hips I never knew I had in all my sporting and martial arts
past practice) and builds power by perfecting the synchronisation
of the movements with the muscles.
Theres more in the documentary that discusses the energy flows
and why you train from the ground up:
Qi Gong is training the qi from the dan tian (stomach). Dan tian
is the source of qi. So if the dan tian has enough qi it is
reflected in your meridians and the health of your internal organs.
As a real, traditional Shaolin student training in Zen is very
important. The process of training in Zen, regulating the diet,
becoming aware of the problems in the heart and mind and thus
causing them to disappear will create a harmony in your body and
soul. In your daily life walk, sit, lie down with awareness.
Constantly try to know yourself and understand yourself. In this
state you enter into Zen meditation. You can also say it is a
process of Zen training. Shaolin is famous for Zen, not for kung
fu.It is not only about one part of your body it is about all of
them together. When you turn, use the qi to turn the body. First
the hips, the legs and arms follow. When the hip starts to turn the
body rotates. All the parts follow. In this state, you can get the
right feeling of kung fu. It is not only striking with the hands.
In the traditional kung fu you first protect and then attack.To
defend, you can gather all the energy from every part of your body
especially your legs to give yourself total power. This kind of
form stresses consistency, which will turn your whole body into a
fist.The rotations should not be done with the arms alone, but with
the entire body. As you are turning there can be many ways of
rotating, so that the two hands are two doors of your body. In
particular the footwork should be coordinated. If your footwork is
coordinated you can use every part of your body to attack. It
doesnt matter if you ware walking, sitting, lying down Zen should
be everywhere. Everything is Zen. Zen is kung fu. Zen is wisdom. So
this kind of kung fu is the inside and outside working together.
Every day, Ive been doing exercises that involve moving from one
stance to stance, slowly and methodically, rotating and recoiling
with the legs, waist and shoulders. Whilst doing it slowly, you
take great care in noticing the change in your centre of gravity
from leg to leg.Holding these postures for long periods of time
creates great stamina. Its the kind ofburnyou get when youve gone
up and down a mountain, rather than sprinted for a bus.The inside
of my hips feel well used from all the twisting. Similar to that
feeling you get after the first day of skiing, just the inside of
the hips instead of the outside. Its definitely building my
flexibility and strength. Shifting weight exercises keep the body
nimble so when you evolve to fighting techniques, you adapt on the
fly depending on your own balance and your opponents.
A lot of the exercises involve changing from upright to
crouching like a spring. These exercises are trying to building the
speed and power in your legs to regularly change your height (but
maintaining stability), so that your head becomes a moving target
both horizontally and vertically, i.e. multiple planes of
motion.There are some that are done fast and with power.
Here is a demonstration video of the standing exercises done by
Master Wu -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYsAFw4zlXw
How hard are these power leg exercises?Well, put it this way can
you throw yourself up from a one legged squat position (heel on
ground) and twist 180 degrees and land perfectly? These are some of
the tougher ones. I personally cant do it from one leg yet, but Im
working on it I need to improve a combination of flexibility and
power. Being top-heavy does you no favours(yes, compared to the
guys here, im a beefcake).
Another one you can try to test your balance can you slowly
squat down to the floor with one leg with your heel on the ground
whilst keeping back completely vertical?
With the heel up, its easy, but youll notice youll lose
allgroundingso if you try to stand back up, your powers all
gone.
What about all the kung fu fighting?None yet, Im expecting that
in weeks 7 and 8 (or so Im told).
Is there any fun in the training?A funny moment was when Master
Wu was trying to get his point across to the group about needing to
be springy. He pulled over one kid, put his hand on his head and
sprung him up and down like you would bounce a ball. I didnt
understand a word, but I got the point. If he did that with me, Id
probably have no cartilage left though.
The Pressure Of AppearanceIt only struck me yesterday, when I
went to shave my beard, that the only place theres a mirror around
here is by the dinner hand out window. In London, Ive been used to
one in my bedroom, one in the bathroom, one in the lift and handful
in and around the workplace. I realised that its nice to be in a
place where appearance isnt an everyday pressure or a signal of
social status. So I questioned why do we care about appearance and
why doesnt it matter here?
Firstly, lets define appearance. Im not talking about
genetically good looks, rather Im talking about well-groomed you
are, because thats how people tend to look at it in western
culture. Off-the-bat, a good appearance usually signals that you
have money (because youre spending it on yourself), pay attention
to fashion trends (because youre wearing it) and youre popular
(because we associate super groomed celebrities with popularity).
So we like to look good as much as possible.
Why doesnt it matter here?Well, the reasons for having a good
appearance here arent applicable. It doesnt signal money, because
no one here has much its a much flatter monetary hierarchy. Fashion
trends arent applicable to a small rural town because even if
youknewwhat the latest thing was, you couldnt get hold of it.
Thirdly, without newspapers and limited TV, theres little
indulgence with celebrities and their lifestyles.
So what does matter instead then?If appearance doesnt, youre
basically looking for a replacement for an attribute that
demonstrates social status. These are the ones Ive picked up
on:
Ability to be late, but not get reprimanded for it When the bell
goes off, you have about a minute to get from your room to a line
up outside. Its obvious to me that any time a younger kid is late,
they get some penalty exercises to do. Theres a handful of older,
continuouslylate arrivals, who manage to slip through.
Ability to jump the food queue Dinner should be handed out
largely speaking in age/height order. So the younger kids go first
all the way up to the oldest. If you manage to jump the queue,
whether by cleverly tapping someone on the shoulder at the right
time or bullying your way through, it puts you in good stead.
Which area of the building you live Quicker hot water on the
ground floor, fewer people per room, working toilets and distance
from the school room means all round better quality of life on the
ground floor. Top floor corner is a little more like a ghetto.
Which room you eat your meals This is somewhat related to the
food queue. By jumping the food queue, you can get a seat at the
table with chairs. Recently, some of the older kids have been
sneaking in sauces to have with the food. Seat at the table means a
tasty meal, otherwise youre left squatting on a mini stall.
How much you get b*llcked by Master Wu This one cracks me up.
Every so often, Master Wu will drop in a class and strategically
takes apart the senior instructor whos teaching us. Its good,
because it show just how much more can be done to work on and
improve your technique. But it leaves me thinking something like if
HE [the instructor] is so far from the perfect form, what must
Master Wu think about me?. What it means is that the more feedback
you get, the more experience you must have.
Moving from a Small Town to the Big City of Beijing
Home Destinations Asia Travel China Moving from a Small Town to
the Big City of Beijing
Moving from a Small Town to the Big City of BeijingBy Monday
night, my time at the Wugulun Kung Fu school had come to an end.
Two months there had flown by. I cant emphasise enough how much of
a good experience it was. What I learned about myself,
understanding the benefits of the repetitive traditional kung fu
training, discovering the fundamentals of mastering any martial art
and meeting such an open and loving bunch of guys. Before I left, I
bought some gifts to give out to the students sweets for everyone
and for the students in my group a badminton set for the young ones
and some bracelets for the senior ones. When it was announced at
the dinner line-up that Id be leaving the following morning, 30
sad-looking faces turned to face me followed by questions like
tomorrow? and you come back?. It didnt last too long (realising
there were sweets up for grabs) and I had a precession follow me
back to my room after to find the sweets. The most senior student
had them all line up outside and each one stepped forward to take
the sweets, thank me with a hug and fall back into line.
It was a far cry from the initial culture shock I felt when I
landed at the school. Its amazing how things change. How much will
I miss it? Im not sure but time will tell.
After a two hour cab ride to Zhengzhou airport, I caught my
flight to Beijing. Even at airport, I began to feel the changes
moving from a small town like Dengfeng to a big city.
A small meal at the airport cost 8 TIMES as much as the local
place I religiously got my egg & tomato noodles from in
Dengfeng. Its not that I couldnt afford it, but I couldnt help but
think of the two families who slaved all day every day to earn an
eighth of that and vehemently refuse any tip. I could feel the
attitude of the people in the airport you could sense the
abruptness in their body language. Suddenly, social hierarchy was
back in the picture economy/business/first class tickets and
pushing for queue positions (its not a problem when youre anonymous
and will never see the people youre pushing in front of ever
again). In the school, most people hadnt even seen an iPhone
before. Sitting at the departure gate I noticed that almost
everyone SPECIFICALLYhad iPhones AND laptops. An iMac shot by me on
the conveyor belt at the baggage collection just enough time to get
a blurred shot.I didnt think the difference between a small town
and a big city would be that obvious, but it was.
Getting from Beijing Airport to the 365 Inn Hostel was very
simple. Although their very helpful instructions did help, and the
fact that purposely missed the Beijing rush hour on the subway, the
big difference I noticed was EVERYONE I interacted with spoke
Mandarin with an accent I could understand and they all knew enough
English when I didnt. As I walked down the street from Tiananmen
Square to the hostel, I noticed for the first time in two months,
people didnt stare at me. Seeing a Westerner wasnt a big deal to
them like it was to everyone in Dengfeng.
Although there was little difference in sharing personal space
(I got lucky landing a dorm room with no one else in it), the
luxuries of the room were immediately obvious. I was the happy
owner of a mattress (instead of a light blanket on top of wooden
slats), anen-suite shower room (instead of sharing two with thirty
others) with a western toilet (instead of a drop toilet) complete
with loo roll holder (instead of needing to perfect the art of
balancing it in one hand) and working electricity. Sadly in the
last couple of weeks leading up to leaving the kung fu school, the
regular strong winds kept causing the numerous badly taped fixes to
the electric wire that ran across the trees in the fields to break.
Whilst losing electricity isnt a big deal in itself, the school
relied on it to get access to water through a pump. So no
electricity, no water (hot or cold), no shower, no toilet (pits
outside the school were even a push on the ones I experienced at
Glastonbury Festival). A side from the shelter, it felt a little
like camping. Packing my bag on the last night in the dark was a
challenge. I was in a hostel dorm room, but it felt like a Hilton
Hotel presidential suite.
I spent that evening, exploring some of Beijing. I had St
Josephs Church earmarked for an evening visit. The church on their
main shopping street was being used by numerous couples for
pre/post wedding pictures.
As the sun set, the church was beautifully illuminated and the
wedding photography session continued.
To get to the church, I meandered through numerous Hutongs
(Beijings traditional alleyways) and stumbled upon a very busy food
market where you could just about anything that grew on a tree or
moved in its past life fried in oil and presented on a stick.
Starfish and snakes were the most surprising.
The following day, still used to my early morning kung fu wake
up schedule, I got up and out of the hostel at 6am to see the
raising of the flag in Tiananmen Square. I heard the square was
big, but gees I hadnt estimated a 10 minute jog across it to make
it in time, a security bag scanning station on entry ora couple of
thousand people would be up at the same time to see it all Chinese
tourists from what I saw, complete with their tour guide
colour-coded hats to keep them herded together.
I got as close to the front of the crowd as I could just before
it started, underneath one of the badly disguised security stations
that played tweeting bird music as you waited.
As the music played I focused on the set of soldiers that I
heard would march to the flag. Only when the flag had fully raised
and the crowd started dispersing, did I realise I had been watching
the wrong guards and not the ones I had expected to see march
perfectly in time as everyone was there to see. Damn it.
Wrong guards
Right guards (on the right)
Now I had a two hour wait until the Forbidden Palace opened.
Sunrise kite watching, a loaf of Strawberry flavoured bread and
watching all the guards march into their resting place in the
Palace kept me occupied.
Like Tiananmen Square,The Forbidden Palace is MASSIVE. This is a
view from above from the park opposite.
Theres numerous temples, each ranked using the number of dragons
in the corners of the roof. This one being the highest ranking
building.
The sight has been burned and plundered plenty of times in the
past. These gold-plated vats in the grounds even had their layer
scraped off.