Long Blog about life in general at a kung fu acadamy

Its finally the weekend here. The 28th of May. On friday i felt really sick. All week i felt a little under the weather but i thought that was because of my allergies. Turned out to be a cold. I havent had a sick day off since i been back (went back to the USA for a month because my parents were worried about the Japan nuclear thing) and i did not want to start taking time off to be sick so i went to class on friday even though i felt a little ill. I made it through morning training but i was not looking forward to the Mountain run. Last week it began to rain during the run. Did we stop because the path was slippery and people could fall off the side of the mountain. Nah...the Shifus told us to keep going. Well this mountain run was the opposite Not one single cloud in the sky. I felt like i was raining sweat because it was so hot. After about 14 mountain runs, i headed back with the other guys. It was a birthday dinner that night but i stayed in and had a nice rest since i been feeling ill. This whole weekend was a nice lazy one. Full of chores, watching How i met your mother, and more movies. i feel a lot better and hope to be feeling 100% on monday. On monday during conditioning, we have to break a brick for the first time. we are all excited about that.







The weather has been extremely weird lately. LAst week every day was extremely windy. This week has been random with days of rain and days of sunshine. Next week, it is said to be 34oC all week. AKA...HELLA HOT! I got here in fall. The trees were brown, the fields were dead, and not a lot of green. I was here in the winter, the trees were white, the fields were coved in snow, and all you can see was white and chinese people. Now during spring, i look around and i see trees of green, red roses too, actually they are pink but i like that song. The Mountains are full of different shades of green. All might sound so beautiful, which it is, but there is one down part to all this beauty...BUGS! The giant spiders, giant mosqitos, and giant scorpions are back. Great example of yin and yang right?












topic 2 friends

A lot of people have been leaving the academy lately. And more leave next month. I can't imagine how it feels to say goodbye. On thursday night the 27th i was feeling pretty ill. Ash comes in with a bag of my favorite dumplings down the road and gives them to me. On saturday afternoon, Sam comes back from muping with a couple burgers he baught for me. I have Four months left with the guys here and many of them leave during the summer. Looks like i will be saving up my pennies to visit other countries Mom and DAd!

Now i mention a lot about the guys i hang out with a lot. I get many questions about the girls here. So since i have been in bed all day i have some time to write my blogs. The women here are very tough. Some of the guys here can't even beat some of there girls here. Many women that i met here come from the States and england. Some come here because they are touring Asia and head to Thailand next, so they want to learn how to defend themselves first...true story. Some come here to get back in shape and start life over again, like many of the other guys here. Others just tag along with there husband or boyfriend for a few months. And some come here to be the next 'Kill Bill' actress. (uma therman reference because she trains in a kung fu temple. Stupid?)

Right now, there are about 39 people in the academy. More are coming in the summer. Some of the rooms here have 3 or 4 guys to one room. Luckily in my room there is only me and Sam. Most of the couples moved to the hotel. I have no idea what will happen when more and more people join in the next couple months. But i will be sure to share that information with you when i find out.










Monday the 30th finally came around. I was excited for today for a couple of reasons.

Reason 1-So after 8 months of doing Qi Gong/ Conditioning my hand, today will be the first time i try to break a brick. I was a little nervous. Ash went first, broke his brick easily. Sam went and broke his brick on his head. Mathieu broke his after a couple tries. Some of the other guys couldnt even break their bricks. I went and i held the brick wrong the first time so shifu helped me adjust the brick. Second try, broke it with my palm. The first try i tried to break it with a chop. There is a specific way to do the chop. You do not want your hand in a straight verticle position. If you chop it straight down you will hit the bone and will damage your hand...or hurt really really bad. I found that out the hard way. I chopped the brick and hit my pinkie knucle in my hand and also the bone in the middle of my pinkie. The correct way to chop it is with your hand slightly at an angle. This way allows the muscle in your hand to hit first and not your bone. I hurt my hand pretty bad the first time so Shifu said i can use my whole palm to break it. I built up my qi, and broke it in one hit. I felt very happy and proud i broke a brick! i hope to do more in the future. i want to try two bricks stacked on top next time.

Reason 2-Raven was caught with a girl over the weekend and Master Guo told him he will disipline him today. Everyone in the academy knew he got caught. He was caught once before last year, also for having a girl in his room. His punishment was Master Guo bringing him infront of the school, beat him with the staff so many times on the back of his legs that the staff broke in half...master did not stop. He continuesly beat him with the remands of the staff. So everyone was pretty curious what his punishment will be. During morning class, master did not even look at raven. I have never seen Master look so mad before. In the afternoon Raven went to Shifu and asked him if he was going to get displined. MAster told him he will talk to the Head Master about his punishment. The next day, Raven was called into the Head Master's office and was told he was kicked out of the academy. Raven was so upset all day. Master Guo called Me, Mathieu, and Sam into his office before lunch. He explained to us what happened to Raven. He even told us how he had so much hope for him and how upset he is to have to kick him out. The reason why master told us this was because Raven trained with us. Master told us that now since he is being kicked out, Raven might not want to train with us after class anymore and he will not force him to since he is leaving in 10 days. Then he told us that he hopes we can train hard and not let this ruin our training. After that we went and talked to Raven. Raven told us he is going to write shifu a letter begging not to be kicked out. He read the letter to Shifu that night.

Today, Wednesday the 1st, Raven told us he talked to Shifu. He said he read the letter and told shifu how he broke up with his girlfriend and how this is his home. He appologized for the constant grief he brought shifu and begged to stay. Raven told us after his letter, Shifu got a little teary eyed and upset. Shifu told him how he had many hopes for Raven and he didnt not want him to leave but it was not his disciion. it was the Head Master's disciion. So he told Raven to write a letter to the Head Master. Well he did and told him at lunch. Turns out it worked. Raven is no longer being kicked out. But he is on thin ice. i hope he doesnt fool around and get in trouble again. He is a good fighter and a good friend to me as well.

That wraps up the 'Kunyushan Drama' for now.

-SCott



---------------------


On the 9th of June will be my 9th month here. I can't believe time went by so fast. I remember thinking when a new person comes here its like they are a new born puppy that cant walk or cant bark. A many new comers cant do the forms and can't fight. But as the months progress and the training pays off, the forms and fighting gets easier. Speaking of fighting. I sparred on friday the 3rd. All week i have been training with Jake to get ready because i knew master would make me fight. So When friday came around, Master already chose someone to fight me. When i walked into the training hall, Taylor, a friend from canada who does brazilian jitisu came over and told me that the masters paired us to fight. I said sure. Master Guo saw us talking and i looked at Shifu and he was smiling and shaking his head as if he was telling me Yes fight him fight him, i nodded back at Shifu and started to gear up. after a few fights it was my turn to get in the ring. The rounds last a little over 3 minutes. After 2 minutes, Taylors Master stopped the fight. I guess all my training paid off. Master Guo was proud told me i did really well and said that i wont fight Taylor for the second round and for me to choose another fighter. MOst of the other fights were already finished except for a few. So i started to take off my gear after i asked a few other fighters who did not want to fight. After a bit another guy came around and asked if i wanted to do a second round with him since he only did one round. I said sure and geared up again. This round went the whoe three minutes but i knocked him down twice and he didnt take me down once. My fight record is 8wins-2loss. I have about 10 more fights to add to my belt so i hope i keep up my good record.


On Saturday the 4th of June, about 9 of us guys went to the Beach in yantai for a little Beach Party. Its been extremely hot all week so we have been waiting for the weekend to enjoy the sun and water by the beach. When we all got to the beach, it was cold, windy, and even raining a little. We still sat out in a beach bar for about an hour and a half thinking what we should do next. It was Kyle's last weekend in China so it was a going away party for him as well. After the beach we headed to the bath house to sit in a nice bath, warm up again, then head out to dinner. We had dinner, went to an irish pub, played some pool, then went dancing at the clubs. It was good night and one last Hoorah for Kyle. He is a close friend so its goodbye to another brother. i told him when i visit sam and a few other guys in england i will visit him as well.

A lot of people leave this week. But there are also 8 more people to join the academy. The summer begins.

-Scott