KC Blog: Grading and power stretching

GRADING

I really didn’t want to grade. I felt so embarrassed to go in front of the whole school and do my basics and my TomBay form. Grading was supposed to be on Monday, but for some reason they switched it to Tuesday. During morning class the people who were going to grade practiced their forms while the rest of the class did acrobatics. I didn’t mind because I am so bad at acrobatics.

The lazy kid wanted to grade but he doesn’t even know how to do the kicks correctly or the 5 step correctly. Sheifu would not let him grade.

Right before grading started Sara, the translator, told me the grading order. All of wing chun would go first, then mantis, then shaolin. I would got right after Xavier who is in my class. I was soooooo nervous. My heart was beating and I did NOT want to grade. I knew I would look so silly. When it was my turn I walked in front of the sheifus and the school. I tried so hard not to smile because grading is a serious thing. Half way through my shaolin basics I got really tired. We have to do like 6 different kicks, the 5 step, and floor sweeps. I tried not to breath so hard, I felt like the sheifus could hear me breathing and I started to become really aware of my breath. After I finished my basics I had to go back out to do my TomBay. I messed up one step right at the end, but when I finished and bowed to the sheifus, Rong Sheifu smiled at me.

I’m really glad graded. The masters take pride in their students and I could tell my sheifu was proud of me. He told me I did really well.

Second class was power stretching. MY FAVORITE! Since it was my last one I asked sheifu to help me do most of my stretches. He was pretty hard on me today, he pushed me waaaaay past my limit. But I love it. It makes me feel like he cares and thinks I can do better. Our power stretching is different than Wing Chung. We dedicate a whole class period to just stretching. Wing Chung has power stretching and power training the same day. 

I will really miss my sheifu. We leave tomorrow…. So sad. I can’t believe it.

Xoxo,

Kc

                                         We have to hold the splits for 6 minutes

November 2011

Kc blog: I got to Spar!

Last Week In Kunyu Shan

This past week I have just been training. Scott wanted me to spar so I practiced at night with Anton and a few guys. I really want to learn the shaolin whip so I have been working hard on finishing my Tombay fist form.

Sparring was intense. I was so nervous; I have never fought before in my whole life! I don’t know how to punch someone! The night before sparring I went down to the training hall with Scott, Brittany and Amitai. I got in the ring with Scott and lightly sparred so I get the hang of it. I thought it was going to be light sparring but Scott punched me in the nose once and in the face twice. It was a little discouraging, so after our spar I went up and got a pep talk from Sam. I felt better after the talk. The day of the fight I was kinda scared what if I disappoint my sheifu? My fight was last, I fought Diane. She is Chinese American, a little taller than me and in a different shaolin group.

We got in the ring and I don’t really know what happened after that. In the video I hear people yelling things at us, but while I was in the ring I didn’t hear anything. I got a couple good shots in but she kept push kicking me. Every time I’d hit her in the face I’d feel bad and ask if she as ok. In the second round   I made her mouth bleed and I felt sooooo bad. My sheifu was impressed with me. I wasn’t very good because it was my first fight, but I wasn’t horrible either.

On Monday I started learning the Whip. Oh man this weapon is dangerous! I hurt myself so many times. I whipped myself in the back, hit my sheifu in the head, hit my arms… but I eventually got the hang of it. It took me two days to get the “flower”. I didn’t finish the form, but sheifu said I should keep practicing the flower and when I go back I will finish the form.

Friday was our last Shabbat in Kunyushan before we leave. Brittany went to dinner with her mantis group so Sam, Scott, Amitai and I went down the street for dinner. It was fun and we had good food. Saturday and Sunday Scott Brittany Amitai and I went to Yantai. We had our last round of shopping and Scott finished his tattoo Sunday. Brittany leaves the same day as Scott and me. It hasn’t sunk in that we are leaving yet… so weird.

Grading is on Monday and I want to grade because I didn’t grade last time. I could tell my sheifu was a little disappointed when I did grade before, so this time I want to do well so he’s proud. I’m so nervous to grade on front of all the sheifus and the whole school. Grading was changed from Monday to Tuesday. Monday night Brittany and I practiced our forms for grading. She videotaped me so I could watch it and see where I need to improve. I HATE watching myself, I get so embarrassed. After we practiced we went down the street again to have dinner. Same group as Friday, except Brittany joined us this time. Scott and Sam shared their roommate stories… a whole year together… so sad it’s going to end. Sam said that he feels like his time at the Shan should be ending with Scott because they arrived almost at the same time and planned to stay one year.

I’ll tell you about grading later.

Xoxo, Kc

Kc Blog: TRICK OR TREAT!

Trick or Treat!

Today is Halloween. A few people went out this weekend to party, but most people don’t know about Halloween or forgot about it. It’s really hard to keep track of the days here at the Shan. I almost forgot it was Halloween today. When I first arrived I brought Halloween decorations from the States and put them up on my door. Everyone was shocked by my decorations, but I think people mostly liked it. When I first put up the decorations Master Guo came to my room for room inspection and laughed at my decorations.

Tonight around 8:30 I went around the Shan knocking on people’s doors saying “trick-or-treat”. I started with Scott and Brittany; she gave me two Chinese cookies. I then went to Amitai’s room and trick or treated at his door. He didn’t have anything to give me so he told me to play a trick on him. I didn’t know what to do so I made him eat the cookies… they weren’t very good so I guess that was kinda like a trick.  I then went to his neighbor’s room they are from India. It’s so funny to see people scrounging around with a little bit of panic in their face while they are looking for things to give me. I told them I wanted something from India when they offered me a Chinese snicker’s bar. They had cookies from India that I tried which were very good. Before I left they told me I had to give them treats. I went to my room and got Hershey’s kisses, peanut butter cups and a few red licorices. They loved the chocolate. Amitai said we should go door to door and trick or treat. I grabbed more licorice and knocked on some doors. Instead of asking them for candy I said “trick or treat” and when they answered I gave them licorice. Backwards I know, but it was fun. Two people gave me treats, David gave me an apple and Kyle gave me a mini mandarin orange. I think people liked the treats. I didn’t knock on everyone’s door because most people sleep around 8pm.  I knocked on my neighbor’s door and they were both in bed. When I told them I had candy for them Forest shot up in his bed with excitement, it was so funny.

It was a fun Halloween. I didn’t wear a costume, I should have put on a mask or something, but I was in my kung fu pants so I was kinda in a costume.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Xoxo,

Kc

Photos have been added

pictures have been added to past blogs. Enjoy!!


Here are some random photos. 

Muping street market

fruit stands down the street sell these delicious things!

Shaolin Qi Gong spot

Yantai

Jenny-Rong Sheifu- Kc 

Sheifu's birthday dinner

Yantai

KC blog: Travel tips

Here is Kc's travel tip blog!

Colder Weather Makes it Hard to Train

It is so different training when it’s cold out. You can tell the moral drops a little. I don’t even want to train some mornings. It’s cold, windy, makes you want to stay in bed all day. Lucky for me I don’t get up at 5:45 am to go to tai chi, so I can’t really complain.

It’s apple and grape season here in Kunyushan so we get really yummy fruit. For the grapes we go into the vineyard, knock on the door of this shack and the guy comes out and cuts the grapes straight off of the vines. Best grapes I have ever had! The apples are really nice as well. I had these two guys from India taste apples and honey and I think they liked it quite a bit.

I am taking an online class while I am here and so I wake up early to finish my homework or at least start it and at lunch I finish it and turn it in. When I wake up it’s about 4pm back home and at lunch it’s about 9pm so I am able to get my homework in on time.

Training has been good, I finished my TomBay form (I don’t know if that’s how it’s spelled, but that’s how it sounds).

There is a new kid in my class that is sooooo lazy! Sheifu beats him every day. The other day Sheifu was so mad at the kid he hit him with the stick and the stick broke! I think the kid deserves it. He’s so lazy, thinks everything is a joke, and can just tell he doesn’t want to be here. He came with his dad, and his dad even tells people, if he’s bad just hit him and put him in his place. The kid is a punk BUT…. I can say, he is getting a little bit better…. Just a tiny bit.

Stance Training- can you tell who the new kid is??

This weekend I went to Yantai with Scott, Sam, Brittany and Dan. We went to the aquarium, shopped around a bit and had dinner at the duck place. I am going to be learning the bull whip so I had to buy my weapon on Saturday. Sinday scott Brittany and I went to muping. Scott had his last lesson and Brittany and I shopped around again. We had lunch with jenny and Lieu Bing at Hot Pot. It’s similar to fondue. I tried jellied duck blood…. I don’t know what it tasted like because I just tried to chew really fast and swallow. I chased it down with pear juice, I can say though, that it was not my most favorite thing I’ve had in china thus far. 

Hot Pot lunch 

Before I go to bed I will give you a few travel tips.

China travel tips by Kc:

1)      Remember where the “good” bathrooms are when you go out. In Muping there are no bathrooms unless you want to use the scary one in JAJAYU (grocery store) or unless you go to a restaurant. In Yantai we usually go to McDonalds, KFC, or another restaurant to use the bathroom. And by good bathroom I mean a bathroom that doesn’t smell too bad and one that doesn’t have too much “water” around the toilets.

2)      Don’t wear belts when you go out into town. When you do use the bathroom you want to make sure you are in there as short amount of time as possible so do not wear a belt. Belts take too long to take off and put back on. I don’t know about you but I can’t hold my breath that long.

3)      Make sure you have toilet paper in your pocket. Most bathrooms do not have toilet paper so you have to bring your own. If you do not have TP you are SOL. Also, it’s a good idea to keep it in your pocket so you don’t have to rummage through your bag in the stall. The stalls are small and yucky, it would be horrible if you dropped something on the floor or fell into the toilet thing while squatting and looking for TP in your bag.

4)      Wear closed toed shoes. The streets are dirty, but this tip is yet again for the bathrooms. (can you tell I hate the bathrooms here?) There is some kind of watery stuff around every toilet in China. I don’t know if it’s because you have to squat over these toilets or some other reason, but I doubt the liquid is 100% toilet water… some people just can’t aim.

That’s all for now. I’ll give you more tips next time.

Xoxo,

Kc

this is a "nice" toilet. they usually are just set right into the ground

Aquarium in Yantai

New Post!

Hey guys, 

Sorry it has been awhile since i posted. I am now back in the US, so i can update my blog and add pictures! 

Oct 15th

A few weeks ago I had a discussion with Master Guo about becoming his disciple. After he took some time to think about it he told me he would accept me as his disciple and that there would be a ceremony. He told me once I become a disciple I would he held more responsible for my actions, be trained more strictly, and a couple other stuff but only disciples get to know. Liu Bin, Little Fat, and another young boy, and I are Master Guo's disciples.

A week before my disciple ceremony Master Guo began training me a bit more strictly. During Qigong he would make me hold my stance lower and arms higher, when we did stance training he would hit me if I was too high or jump on my leg if it wasn’t straight, and power stretching was the worse...he sat on me during side splits for at least two minutes!  If this was training before I became a disciple...I can’t wait till I become one and be trained even harder.

To get ready for the ceremony, some preparations were made thanks to Master Guo and his wife. Liu Bin told me how I am supposed to give tea, gifts, and what to say. The next thing I know the ceremony is in a day! All last week I have been running around for this ceremony I didn’t even realize how fast time flew by.

About 22 people where at my ceremony. All the Masters from school went, a few friends from my class went, Master Guo's wife brought his baby son, about 5 government officials went, and friends of Master Guo and the Head master. Before the ceremony started I was pretty nervous. I was nervous because I did not want to mess up sometime in the ceremony and embarrass Master Guo in front of everyone! Liu Bin saw that I was nervous so he told me to relax and not to worry. I sat with Liu Bin and little Fat while we waited for the ceremony to start. Jenny the translator from school went to translate what they say in Chinese into English for me to understand. When the ceremony started, the Head master said a few words welcoming everyone and then Master Guo told me the history of his martial art background. After that it was my turn to present him his gifts and tea, as well as my Shimu (Master Guo's wife). Then Master Guo gave me a pair of WingChun swords as a gift for me to stay dedicated to my training. Then I said thank you to the guests and a special thanks to the head master. I said, "Thank you for opening up a great school for me to have the opportunity to train in China and have the chance to meet Master Guo. I wish you a prosperous business in the future and a healthy life." Then I gave him his gift. After the ceremony we had a huge dinner. We had crab, duck, a bunch of "meat" dishes I had no idea what they were but it was good. Kc and I sat with Master Guo, the head master and the government officials. The other masters and my classmates were at the other table. At my table the Government officials kept toasting celebrating Master Guo, then again to the head master, and even sometimes for me to have such a "Super" Master. The government officials were drinking some heavy alcohol but Master Guo, his wife, head master, me and Kc were the only ones toasting with tea. So towards the end the toasts didn’t even make sense but they were nice guys and funny so Kc and I just smiled and nod.

Once we all finished eating I said a toast saying that this is an honor to be able to become a disciple of Master Guo and that I will never forget this celebration. Then I thanked them all again for coming, shook the government officials hands and then went to say thank you to the other masters. I thanked them all for coming and hope they enjoyed the gifts I gave them for the celebration. They all seemed happy and then Master Xiang said that I am a good student who trains hard. Master Qu also said he knows I will be a good disciple for Master Guo. Master Shao said I am a perfect student in his eyes and then said Cheers and we all toasted again. Then I said, "See you all Monday!" They laughed and the students left with Jenny. Master Guo walked us out and told me and Liu Bin next weekend we go visit master guo at his house in yantai because that is now my house as well. I am a part of his family now.

I gave everyone gifts except Liu Bin. So on Saturday him and I went to Yantai to play some computer games and have pizza. (SIDE NOTE: He speaks little English so most of our conversations are in Chinese/English. I will translate it all in English so you can understand.) After we played some games we went to a cafeteria to find lunch. Liu Bin asked what I wanted and I did not care I’ll eat whatever he wants. That was not an answer I guess because we went around the whole place with him asking if I liked this or that. Once I found what I wanted he then went to find something he liked. He told me to save a table for us while he went to get his food. When he came back with his food he brought me a coke. He asked if I wanted anything else and I told him I am fine thank you. He then got up and ordered more food. We began eating and then a couple more plates off came out. Every 3 minutes he asked if I liked the food. If I wanted more food. If I wanted more to drink. I laughed and told him it’s ok. I am fine. Relax. He didn’t. He kept checking up on me until us both finished our food. After lunch we went to a phone store because he was looking at a new phone to buy. I asked him what he wanted and he said he wanted a phone with an Mp3 player. I told him lets go to the Apple store and I will buy him an IPOD. He kept saying, "No no no it’s too expensive." I laughed and said "it’s ok. You teach me so much, without you I would have no idea what to do during the ceremony. You are my brother now." Then he pulled me out of the store and said he did not want an IPod. I said ok do you want a regular Mp3 or a new phone. He argued he did not want either. So I said ok we go to the Mall before we go back home. He asked me, "why?" I said, "Don’t worry." When we got there I took him to the Mp3 store, he did not see any he liked so I said lets go look at the phones you wanted. We found him a really nice touch screen Nokia phone with Mp3. It’s 1000 Yuan. He told me to expensive. I asked, "Do you like it?" He said, "Yes, but..." I grabbed the box from him and paid for it. We left the store and he looked a little unhappy. I asked him if he is ok. He looked at me and said, "You...good person." I laughed and said, "You are a good brother. You help me with so much at school, you got my bus tickets, paid for our computer game time, checked up on me every minute during lunch to see if I had enough to eat, and you are my brother now, so I give you a good gift." He smiled and thanked me. We got a taxi and went home.

-Scott

my Kung Fu brothers

Kc and Rong Sheifu