In the Land of Jedi

Blog 9

Chinese word of the day: Qiangda-means-Powerful

British word of the day: Chum-means-Friend

                Imagine being sore in every single muscle plus places you never thought you could make sore and times that by a million. That’s how I feel. I went to breakfast with a starving stomach. I was never a big eater during breakfast but now I am. Last night, while I was at dinner I noticed a guy wearing a shirt with Hebrew writing. I asked him if he is Jewish and he said “ya”.  I didn’t catch his name but he is from Orange County and served in the Israeli army for two years. 


After breakfast I went for the morning run. Again I told myself, “Just walk a little, and don’t wear yourself out.” For some reason I didn’t listen to that voice in my head. I started jogging and next thing I noticed I was almost back to the academy.

                When I went to class we did morning stretches and my legs were so tight. Luckily my friend Rodney was there to help me stretch. Before every class we pair up and one guy will help lift the other’s leg to stretch. It hurts but it helps tremendously. However, good ol’ Rodney doesn’t know what ‘stop’ means because when I say ‘ok stop’ he pushes my leg HIGHER! But it’s ok... I stretch him next and when I am stretching him,  I pretend I’m deaf.

I noticed I haven’t really created a picture of the guys I talk about so I’ll start with Rodney. Rodney is 36, 6 foot tall, and Australian. Long legs but not lot of muscle. He is probably one of the guys here I can say is my friend. We run together, practice together, and sometimes eat our meals at the same table. Unfortunately, he leaves in a couple weeks. He came to China to teach at a school in Yantai but his boss left the school for a couple months.  Since Rodney didn’t know what to do for those two months, he found out about this school and signed up. 

This morning, when we were finished with the class basic drills and warm ups, we went to the punching bags. We had to do each move on the bags. I had good power behind each blow but when Shifu Gou helped me with my fourth move I hit that bag with a lot more force. I was amazed. I felt Qiangda…POWERFUL.  
After the bags, we moved to these wooden posts stuck in the sand box and we each hit the posts to condition our hands, feet, and even our…..shins.  Andrew helped me by showing me what to do to the posts. Most of the people in the class don’t hit the posts  correctly because it hurts, but I don’t mind. This time I don’t think I fractured anything.

Andrew is 23, about a couple inches taller than me, and from Jackson, Ca. He is not built but not skinny. When he punches he has so much force it's crazy! My goal is to be that good. He has been here for about 11 months but leaves next month. A lot of the people are leaving as soon as winter hits. Andrew came here before he goes off to college and get stuck in books. I told him that’s the same thing I am here for. He is really nice and tends to make a lot of jokes, but when he does his moves he looks fierce!

After that  I went to my room to rest before lunch. We didn’t have a second class because we kind of joined the morning class with the second class on the bags and posts. At lunch I sat at a table with a guy named Chris. Our table started talking about building muscles and about protein.  Chris knew a lot because he is a rugby coach back home. When one of the guys said they were finished eating he looked at his bowl and said, “Not finished, eat!” And the guy did. Now, I was also full but I too had food left in my bowl. I continued to eat my food slowly till Chris left then I stopped eating. I was so full I felt like I was going to puke. But I didn’t want Chris to see my bowl.
 Chris is 26, 6 foot 4, and from Denmark. People call him ‘Chris the Viking’. After lunch, I discovered why he is called that. Chris carries around a long staff because that’s his weapon of choice. His other weapons of choice are the big hammer staffs with spikes on the end. Matches him perfectly. He is a real nice guy though. But pretty scary. I told him I will call him “Lil John” because he carries the long staff and reminds me of Robin Hood's Lil john. But Chris said he’s from Denmark not England. He had a point there.

I took a little nap after lunch. When I woke up it was time for the afternoon run. I was so stiff from the bags and post I walked half way then ran the rest of the way. While I was walking, two of the other Shifus from the Shaolin class went for the run. While they ran they were talking, laughing, hoping side to side, jumping in the air doing 360s, and didn’t stop!  Once I saw what they could do so easily, I knew these Shifus are Jedis ( you know from Star Wars). They are like super heroes! Tomorrow is grading and the Shifus are performing as well. I can’t wait!

After the run our class didn’t do Baji like usual but we did San Da the Shaolin kick boxing. It consisted of a lot of kicking and punching. It was ok but I didn’t feel the power like I do in Wing Chun or Baji.

When class was over I went to shower up and head to dinner. Tonight was dumpling night. It was amazing. Best dumplings ever! 
On the way back to my room a few people were huddled next door. I asked Rodney ‘what’s going on’. He pointed to the floor and I saw a dead scorpion! I am on the 3^rd floor and I have no idea how a scorpion got in the room next to mine! Sam saw it and ran into the room. When I went into my room , Sam told me if he saw any scorpions I would have to be the person to kill it. I laughed. It wasn’t the big scorpions just the small ones that had a loooooot of poison (I think). When I finish this blog I will check my bed just in case.

Tomorrow is the end of week one! WOOHOOOO!

Goodnight!

-Scott