End of Kung Fu Training

I have only a few more days left, then I am off to Zhengzhou for the weekend and then to Shanghai on September 1st for University. Though a lot was same this year around, there's still a lot to say.


Arrival:
This time around was much easier. The flights were no problem and the connections were great because I already knew where the departures were located. I also had noone beside me on any of my three flights... I was able to sleep, sprawled out along all the seats throughout each of the flights. It was great :).

Arriving in the Beijing airport was great. Being barraged by countless people asking if I want to go to Shaolin Temple, Great Wall, etc, along with just the plain old atmosphere of entering China was interesting. Chinese people always assuming they know what you want and trying to throw it in your face... yep, I was back. Here's a small side story to go along with that:

I had just finished our long run up the mountain* and reached the meeting spot. I'm drenched in sweat, it's boiling out, and I'm so thirsty. I start looking around for a drink stand so I can get a bottle of water. I find one and I go up to it and open the fridge. Of course the woman at the store knows what I want; she's a mind reader for foreigners. She immediately points and grabs at the beer. Bingo! Yea, I'm completely dehydrated, why don't I go a have a beer. That would be great! It's crazy....

Within moments of being in the airport, I was already spotting misspellings/grammar errors, and loads of kooky Chinese mannerisms. After spending a few hours in the Beijing airport (between going to a tea cafe, eating, and walking) I went and boarded my land plane to Zhengzhou. Upon my arrival at the airport, I was immediately able to spot out my Shifu in the crowd of people waiting near the entrance. It was great to see him again. I got my bags, met up with him, exchanged a whole load of "hellos" and "what has been happenings", and then got into the van and left on the way to the new school. The driver this time around was the same as the last, though I can say now I think I have become desensitized to their driving habits. An hour and a half later I arrived at the new school to be greeted by my old roommate last year who had been staying up late to wait for my arrival. Within a day I was settled in and started my training. It was good to be back.



Training:
The training has changed slightly since last year. We no longer do the "power stretching" as the Shifus have finally concluded that it is not good for you, haha. As well, morning training has moved 20 minutes earlier (to 5:40am) along with every other scheduled time. Once a week we do Sanda, Tai Chi, and Yi Jin Jing. Other than that, it is conditioning and stretching during first morning training, basics second morning, forms second class of second morning, and then a mixture of acrobatics, forms, and conditioning in the afternoon. Twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays we have free training at night from 20:00 - ~21:30.


Saturdays have been changed too. It is now more of a fun half day, train half day: first morning is conditioning, second morning is basketball first lesson, then Buddha class second lesson. Afternoon training then resumes to be the same. *We still have the long run on Thursday mornings, which have become much better given our new location. The new running path is up a mountain and then back down, one of two different ways. You can either go back down using the stairs path or down a road that winds down the mountain. Either way is fun, jumping down the steps or running down the hill. The runs usually last around an hour now, as well.



The training facilities are a ton better than last year. We have a workout gym that is very good (though through constant use by the Chinese students, the machines are all slowly getting destroyed through improper use). As well, we now have our own training hall that we always train in unless our Shifus decide to train us on the ground outside to toughen us up a bit.

Training has been great. I have already gone through 2 new forms in the time I've been here. My kicks have gotten somewhat better and I have also finally gotten a few new acrobatics that I was unable to do before. When I arrived, my flexibility was at a level that I was finally satisfied with... but now after being here again, I see that I need more, haha. My ankles have survived with little problem and I'm pretty much close to being back to normal (I still have a cautious mentality that holds me back sometimes, unfortunately). I have to be careful with my acrobatic landings on flips and such so I don't re injure it, but there is no longer any pain.

New School:
Hygiene is no longer an issue. There are no flies, no mosquitoes, AND I DON'T NEED A BUG NET WHEN I SLEEP!!! THANK YOU! The rooms are cleaner and we have western toilets and internet access (you have to pay for it, though). However, there is no hot water and the cold water that we do get gets shut off by the school most hours of the day. The Chinese kids are still a mess. They even have cleaning women in our building for the kids, and they still seem to make the place dirty most of the time. Still, the hygiene is a ton better.


(haha, please don't mind the mess!)

The food is much much better at the canteen. It is more than just edible; it is actually good. The old school's food made me (and almost everyone else) sick daily, forcing me to eat at the attached restaurant for every meal. I no longer have to do that. Though I still make my own breakfast every morning, I eat my lunch and dinner in the canteen. There is a restaurant right beside the new school, though, but it is much more expensive and not as good (but still better than the canteen food).
There are a total of around 5000 Chinese students now (it's a big school) and around 30-40 foreigners from a mixture of countries. We apparently have the most foreign students in the entire city at our school. As well, there is one new Shifu who has become the full time Tai Chi instructor, moving the old one back to Kung Fu full-time.

Mandarin Class:
The Mandarin class has become somewhat of a joke now. On top of the fact that she could legally be considered an idiot, the new (initial) teacher at this school can barely speak English. After complaining to the school, they switched her out and gave us a new one who is much much better. They seem to no longer teach us characters and writing; only pinyin and speaking. So pretty much you go and study those things yourself or you don't learn them.

Trips:
There were two trips that I went on with the school while I have been here. One was to Shaolin Temple to meet the Abbot and eat with him, and the other one was to watch a man (who was an alumni to the school) break a record for the walking down the most steps in a handstand position on his fists. The trip to the Temple was a mixture of annoyance and interest. Most of the time was spent standing in line up in a crowd watching a ceremony. The rest of it was fun as we were able to walk around the temple, and then eat with the Abbot in the main mess hall.



The trip to watch the record breaking feat was pretty fun. We first arrived at a staircase going up to a large pagoda, took some pictures and hung out. After a little while, hundreds of students from our school come walking through with giant decorative school flags and behind them was the schools performance team. The next hour was spent setting up everyone in positions and getting the performance team ready for their show. By the time everything was setup a huge crowd of locals had formed around. The performance team was amazing and we had 4 of our foreign students do some forms during the show. After the show was completed we then watched the man break the record (which was not exciting at all, haha). When he finished it a rush of cameras came in to talk to him (I'm not even sure if he actually broke it...). We stayed around for a bit, ate some food, and then went back to the school.



Overall, this year's trip was great too. Though it didn't have the same sized effect on me (due to it being my second time) the training was actually more effective and I still have had a lot of fun. I've met more international people and have become even closer with some of the Shifus. Shanghai is coming up and will be something completely different. I have never been, but I've heard only good things about it. I've also been speaking with the local Parkour scene there and will for sure be training with them during my stay. I can't wait. Zai jian DengFeng.




More pictures will come in time as I still have some to take and don't have the time right now to upload a bunch of the ones I have. I will also probably update further as I remember more.