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November 12

11/11/06 - Pearl of the Orient

*Note*

Another two in one update. Check out the 11/10/06 update below first. This will also be the last trip update. I was not able to spend as much time writing as I initially wanted to. It took more time than I had anticipated making the daily updates as it is. But still, I hope you enjoyed it.

Afternoon Workout

Today is a short update. We took the ferry from Shenzhen to Hong Kong. In the afternoon, we visted Ng Wah Sum at the Hong Kong Ving Tsun Athletic Association.

Side story: Ving Tsun is a variant spelling of Wing Chun. It was originally conceived because it's abbreviation, "VT", sounds better than the abbreviation for Wing Chun, which is "WC". The reason VT sounds better than WC is because WC also happens to be the abbreviation for "water closet," which another way to say toilet. In fact, many restrooms in Hong Kong are identified by the abbreviation WC.

Anyways, we met Ng Wah Sum and has students at the VTAA. Master Ng was also a student to Leung Sheung, and is senior to Ken. We worked out a little bit, mostly amongst ourselves, and then headed out to dinner not too long after.

Group pic at the VTAA

Wing Chun Dinner

We had dinner planned nearby and invited some Hong Kong Wing Chun people. One very special guest was master Master Tsui Sheung Tin, a contemporary of Leung Sheung, who studied together with him under Yip Man. Unfortunately, we hardly had any interaction with him. There were a lot of seniors at dinner, and given the number of students, it would have been inconveniant to do what we did at Shenzhen. Perhaps another time.

Pre-dinner Wing Chun talk

Ng Wah Sum demonstrates the the double punch and Ken hams it up

Stare down between Ken and Ng Wah Sum. Ken blinked.

Post dinner group pic

11/10/06 - Another Face of Leung Sheung Wing Chun

A Morning Stroll in the Park

This morning we visted Master Au (the same gentleman we had dinner with yesterday) in Zhongshan park, a popular place for kung fu practice in Foshan. Thankfully there was little fanfare, as compared to Master Chen's school in Wenxian. Not much else here. We basically just dropped by to say hello.

The entrance to Zhongshan Park

Just inside the park

Master Au off balances his student by diverting his force

Gary and Dany do a short presentation of Wing Chun poon sau practice

Group pic of course

Afterwards, we visited the local Jingwu building, which was within the park. As some of you may know, the Jingwu association was created by master Huo Yuanjia in the early ? Century to better promote and propagate Chinese martial arts. Master Hou was portrayed by Jet Li in the movie "Fearless" and Bruce Lee played Master Hou's student in the movie "The Chinese Connection.". Needless to say, Master Huo still remains a very prominant figure in the Chinese martial arts community. While there, Yin was able to roll a little bit with a student of Lun Gai, one of the people we invited for dinner the previous night.

Picture of Master Huo Yuanjia at the Jingwu Association

Yin working out with a student of Lun Gai

Wing Chun, by Danny Liu

This afternoon we got to meet Danny Liu, which Ken says is the highlight of the trip. Danny was a student of Master Leung Sheung together with Ken back in the day. Ken speaks very highly of his skill which, coming from him, means quite a lot. We are all very excited to be able to meet a peer of Ken.

So after we checked into the hotel, we met out back at an area by the pool where they set up the puzzle mats for us. Danny gave us a run through of his interpretation of Wing Chun. During this, additional students of Leung Sheung showed up, much to the surprise and pleasure of Ken. They were C.K. Cheung, Alan Leung, and Tim Wong. So all of a sudden, we had together a group of five of Leung Sheung's students in one place, which probably had not happened since Leung Sheung passed away in 1978. The planets were aligned, as Gary, one of the students put it. But more on this later.

Danny showing an application with his student, Billy

So while Ken was catching up with the new arrivals, most of which he had not seen in years, the rest of us proceeded to practice on our own. Danny and Ken soon came around and began correcting us, which was of course precisely what we counted on. Mostly the students were from Ken's line, but two of Danny's students were there as well. We worked out with everyone, including Danny, and had a great time. Certainly my favorite day of the trip.

Many of us got pretty familiar with Danny's chops

Alan! Don't look down!

Ken showing Billy a couple of things too

Who wants a hug?

Impressions

So here's what many of you are waiting for. How was Danny's Wing Chun? How does it coimpare to Ken's? The short answer is that there are stark differences on initial appearences, but, as we would find out later after dinner, their "cores" are very much the same.

So let me speak of what I perceive as the differences first. Danny, in a general sense, is a bit more liberal about the use of techniques from other systems, such as Judo. As such, he would incorporate more sweeps and throws than Ken usually does. He is also more liberal about using triangluar steps to take angles, whereas Ken has a preference about going straight in and letting the hands deal with whatever comes. Finally, Danny would often divert incoming energy to the side and then taking your position, whereas Ken often likes to divert your energy straight down and then hitting. You can't say which method is better or worse. What Danny does works as well for Danny as well as what Ken does works for Ken.

Now as for the similarities, there can be little doubt that their Wing Chun come from the same source. On my initial impression, Ken and Danny's Wing Chun seemed quite different. But later, after having felt Danny's hands, and especially after seeing Danny work with C.K., everything was familiar. Many of the hands Danny used, we've seen Ken used, and under similar circumstances. Moreover the mistakes that Ken doesn't make, Danny also doesn't make, if that makes any sense. How do I know which mistakes? Well, the common mistakes that myself and other fellow students make, such as collapsed elbow, lack of intent, hesitation, etc., I did not see in Danny. Yes, there are a few differences, as noted above, but there are many more similarities than differences. But more importantly, the core, the engine, is essentially the same.

Dinner With the Old Guard

We had dinner together at the hotel after the workout (after we got a chance to go back to our rooms and freshen up of course). But dinner wasn't the best part. The best part is afterwards, where we rounded up Ken, Danny, Alan, Tim, and C.K. and were given the opportunity to ask them questions. Kathy Jo and I had prepared a list of questions beforehand designed to give us more insight as to what kind of person Leung Sheung was. I won't get into them here because there's too much material. But Willard had recorded the session and that material will be used as the basis of an article some time in the future.

We peppered the old gang with interview questions

Master Alan Leung shows us the secret butterknife set

Late evening group pic

After that we got a real treat. Alan and Tim had to leave, but C.K., Danny, and Ken stayed to talk about techniques and comparing notes. We do that often between ourselves (the students), but is was really a special privelage to see this type of interaction between are teachers. Interestingly enough, the way they interact and the topics they go over is pretty much similar to our own, only at a higher level and with more insight. It's been a while since I've been so absorbed watching hands interact.

Danny and C.K. going over an application

This day made up for the Shaolin debacle. In fact, I would gladly trade all the time between meeting Master Feng and coming into Shenzhen for another day of this.

November 09

11/9/06 - On the Path to Wing Chun

Ancestral Temple

After all that Taiji and touristing, it was nice to finally see a little bit of Wing Chun again. From here on out we will be focusing more and more on that. Today is just the start. After arriving in Foshan and checking into the hotel, we went to the Ancestral Temple, which houses the Yip Man and Wong Fei Hung museum. Many people of have heard of Wong Fei Hung or have watched Jet Li portray him in the "Once Upon a Time in China" movies. Yip Man, on the other hand, is not as well known outside of kung fu circles. He was the man who brought Wing Chun from China (from Foshan) to Hong Kong, and from there it became one of the most popular styles of kung fu practiced today, second only to Taiji. Bruce Lee's original training was in Wing Chun in fact. Took some snaps of the Yip Man museum and a lion dance performance in the courtyard.

Jo Miu entrance

Yip Man museum entrance

Bust of Yip Man

Yip Man's dummy

Yip Man student display. On the right is Leung Sheung, Yip Man's first student in Hong Kong and also Ken's teacher.

We're just breakin' all the rules

Tall lion

Lion hop

Very tall lion

Dinner With Lun Gai

In the evening we had dinner with Master Lun Gai, one of Master Yip Man's original students in Foshan. Unfortunately, I sat in a different room than him so I don't have much to report. Here are some pictures.

Sitting left of center is Lun Gai, and to his right, Ou Rong Ju, a Yang Style Taiji teacher who's a good friend of both Lun Gai and Ken

Greg getting pushed around by an 80 something year old man half his size

Kathy Jo gets some after dinner exercise too

November 08

11/8/06 - Taiji Revisted

*Note*

Two updates in one today. If you haven't already done so, scroll down and check out the 11/7/06 update first.

So This Is What Being a Celebrity Is Like

Today we had a short itinerary. The first stop was Taiji master Chen Qongzhou's school. As the tour bus was approaching Master Chen's school, we saw that both sides of the streets were lined with students clapping for us. And as we passed them by, many of them waved at us. Then, when stepped out of the bus and into the school courtyard, there were two large groups of students, more than. Hundred total, performing Chen Style Taiji for us. Truth be told, I felt a little uncomfortable about it. I generally do not like to attract any attention and here we were treated as if we were international celebritites. But then we reminded ourselves that this honor was more for Ken than for us and I felt a little better about it.

Master Chen's school entrance. Lots of fanfare. Notice the guy banging on the gong.

Demonstration in the courtyard

The rest of the courtyard

Next we were led to an auditorium where Master Chen prepared a demonstration for us. A table was set up for Ken, Master Chen, and a few of Ken's students. We selected mostly "Westerners" to fill the seats because it look more impressive. They were making a big deal about the "Americans" coming to visit (even the local news was there), and some people look more American than others. :). The rest of us sat at the back of the auditorium. I didn't mind though. As I said, I don't like to attract attention.

Synchronized punching

Synchronized bashing

Broadsword routine

Kathy Jo offers a heartfelt thank you to the students and Master Chen for the performance

After the performance we took some pics. Master Chen and Ken had a short interview with the local news. That was pretty much it. It was certainly an honor that they did all of this for us. I enjoyed it much more than the Shaolin temple. At least here I felted honored whereas at Shaolin I kept feeling that they were out for my wallet. I would have liked to get into some training, perhaps a small workshop or even training with some of the senior students, but after the exhibit they put for us, we could hardly ask for anything more.

Obligatory group photo

Local reporter interviews Master Chen

There were puppies in the courtyard!

Puppies!

Chen Village

The next stop was Chen Villiage, the origin of Chen Style Taiji. Almost all mordern famillies of Taiji (Yang, Wu, Sun, Wu/Hao, etc.) stem from Chen style, it could be argued that Chen village is the origin of all Taiji. That being said, we really didn't see much there. No old men practicing Taiji in the streets or anything like that. Didn't get to see anyone practice at all in fact, which was a litt dissappointing. We visited a Taiji psuedo-museum, but that was about it. I suppose it was naïve of me to expect that life would be much different in the place of origin of Taiji than any other small village in China, but oh well. Live and learn. At least we met Master Feng in Beijing.

Statue of Chen Wangting at the Taiji Museum. Chen Wangting is recognized as the founder of Chen Style Taiji

Me standing next to a stone Taiji thingy. I have no idea what it says.

Street in the Chen Village. This a a newer area.

School in the newer area

Street in the older area Chen Village

Back to Zhengzhou

Not much else today. A two hour bus ride back to Zhengzhou, a nice hot shower, and probably spending much of the rest of the evening touching up the photos. Tomorrow we will have to get up at 4:30AM in the morning and get to the airport to catch the flight to Foshan. Stay tuned.

11/7/06 - The Legend Contiues

Welcome to Disneyla... I mean... The Shaolin Temple!

So the rumors were true. Actually "tourist trap" does not do it justice. Calling it Disneyland is an insult to Disneyland, and I don't especially like Disneyland. I knew something was off even at the entrance. Everything was too new. The gateway, the shops, the plaza, etc. The temple has a history going back more than a thousand years. You don't expect things to look like they've just been built last week. I was debating whether to even bother take pictures of the entrance, since I knew none of it has anything to do with the legacy, but then I figured I should at least show you what I'm bitching about.

Looks like a brand new gateway to me

Strolling Past Kung Fu

So we walked pass a bunch students practicing kung fu. These students come from all over China and live and practice at the school. Many of them are from poor families, and martial arts may be the only way out for them. I suppose it's similar to how inner city kids in the states from poor homes see sports as a way out, only there is no million dollar contract waititng for any of these kung fu students. Just a place to eat, sleep, and live, which may be more than they had at home.

Sword practice

Spear practice

Catching some air

One Part Cheap Vegas Show, Nine Parts Crap

The next stop was pretty much a travesty. We were led to an auditorium where some Shaolin monks put on a show. Only they seemed to put more effort in getting audience members to take pictures of the monks for money than in the production value of the show itself. It was nothing anyone with even a passing interest in martial arts hasn't seen a jillion times before put to dramatic (cheesy) music and colored lights. Not worth wasting any more space. On the upside, we were able to snap some fun pics.

The legendary Shaolin monks... only 10 bucks a photo!

Strike a pose. You there, in the back! Not enough melodrama! The audience demands more melodrama!

I have learned the secrets of Shaolin...

A little Wing Chun chisao (sticky hands) practice

Shaolin Temple Proper

The next stop on our trip we reach the main temple. Much of the temple was restricted to access, and what was open to the public, honestly, was no different from any other temple I've ever visited in China. Of course most of the temples I've visted in China were tourist traps too. I wonder if the original temple designers all those years ago conspired to design tourist trap areas to all look the same.

Shaolin Temple doorway

One of the temples inside the site

Heng!

Ha!

Nine of the 18 arhats of Shaolin

The other nine

These indentations on the floor were made by monks training back in the day. They would repeatedly stomp their foot and punch, stomp their foot and punch. Over time, they wore indentations into the stone floor.

We did go to one area that was new and interesting though. There is burial ground with pagodas as memorials built to commemorate Shaolin monks of importance. Unfortunately, since I don't read Chinese, I don't have the story behind them. Got some pics though.

Hanging out with the pagodas

On the way back, I snapped this pic of the Damo (Bodhidharma) statue and the famous cave where he meditated for 9 years. Damo travelled from India to China to teach Buddhism and introduced martial arts practice to the Shaolin Temple in Henan.

Wrapping Up

We took the bus to Wenxian to stay for the night. The hotel is about half an hour from Chenjiagou (Chen Village), which will be our destination tomorrow. Nothing left but to cross my fingers and hope for a more interesting day tomorrow.

Leaving the temple and heading back. I don't think I'll be coming back here again.

So What Crawled Up His Butt?

Some of you may be wondering what the big deal is. Why am I so bitter about it? To understand that, you have to understand that to many martial artists, the Shaolin Temple is a sort of a mecca. There is saying that all martial arts under heaven originate from Shaolin. This is probably not true, but there is little doubt that the legacy of Shaolin has a deep influence across all Chinese kung fu. And many styles can indeed trace their roots back to the temple. It is important to martial artists such as myself to be able to touch that legacy. To gain a little more understanding of what Shaolin was really about. How the monks of old lived. How they trained. How through the course of development, Shaolin kung fu became a beacon of strength and skill to all. I found none of that. Imagine going on a pilgrimage to Jeruselem and when you get there, all you find is an industry in place to reap the maximum amount of money from tourists as possible. Light shows, souviners, taking pictures with "apostles" for money, and newly built buildings designed to look like buildings in the era of Christ, complete with gift shops and wine jar shaped trash cans with flip up lids. Now try and tell me that wouldn't bug you just a little bit.

November 06

11/6/06 - Heading Out to Warmer Weather

Bitter, Bitter Cold

The weather here's been acting crazy. The first night we arrive it was hovering around 20 degrees Celcius. Ken even complained about it being warm in his hotel room. Well the past 2 days it's been less than 10 degrees Celcius. Some of us weren't prepared for it, myself included.

But enough of our miseries. In the morning after breakfast, we took a rickshaw tour through an old Beijing neighborhood. Two people per rickshaw, those peddlers had to really earn their keep today. We visited a kindergarden, a market, and the home of Mrs. Zhu, which is part of the tour. Not much to say about the tour itself, so just check out the pictures.

We will be reaching Zhengzhou by around 6PM tonight. Tomorrow we'll be heading out to the Shaolin Temple, which should be interesting. I read that it's a tourist trap now, but we'll see.

Willard and I are getting ready to ride the rickshaw

View from the seat

Andreas and Gene are behind us, and Steve and Sandy (not seen) are behind them

Caught a pomeranian on the way to the market

The market

That's one hairy pork knuckle. Better shave it good.

Kindegarden in the wutong

Peace out

Peeka...

Boo!

Arriving at ZhengZhou

Good news! The hotel we're staying at in Zhengzhou is a fancy-schmancy 5-star hotel. As such there is internet access. This is my first time in a real 5-star. Everything is nice and fancy, and the staff is super attentive. So this is what it's like to be rich.

We arrived at Zhengzhou in the evening and stayed at the 5-star Crown Plaza. It's the fanciest hotel I've ever stayed in.

Fancy lobby

Fancy room

November 05

11/5/06 - Taiji Master

Grand Polarity Fist

Today we had the privelage and honor to meet Feng ZhiQiang, a world reknowned Taiji master. Given his popularity, and the fact that he is retired from teaching, it would normally not be possible to meet with him, much less have him demonstrate for us. Fortunately we have yuanfen (fate) on our side in that Ken and Master Feng have known each other since the mid-eighties and are very fond of each other.

The outside of the studio. It says Hun Yuan Taiji

The inside of the studio

Some pics on the wall

The day started with Master Feng leading his students in the practice of his Xingyi Hunyuan Taiji form. Hunyuan Taiji is an art that Master Feng himself developed, based on his background in Xingyi Chuan (Form-Intent Fist) and Chen Style Taiji. I don't know enough about Hunyuan Taiji to really be able to talk about it, but from an outsider's perspective, it seems similar to Chen style with less emphasis on fajin (expression of power) and more emphasis on roundness. The expression of power is still there, although more subtle. While Chen style makes a point to emphasize power expression, Hunyuan Taiji's expression is much more unassuming. If you know what to look for, you will see a great deal of substance there. If you don't, it's much less impressive than Chen style fajin. Interestingly enough, we strive for unassuming expression of power in our Wing Chun as well. We are less showy in our power, even compared to other Wing Chun schools. But no one I know of that's touched hands with us would accuse us of not having substance.

Master Feng leading his students to start the form

Very settled. Very calm. Dropped shoulders, sunken elbows, rounded knees, and his energy is centered on his dantian.

fa/faat/express...

...jin/ging/power

Now It's Our Turn

After Master Feng and his students' demonstration. It was our turn to return the favor. Being that our first set makes watching paint dry look exciting, and our third set is difficult to do well, we demonstrated our second set, Chum Kiu (Sinking/Seeking Bridge).

One of our hardest positions to do well...

Ken leading us in wrapping up with punches

Ken and Master Fung chatting afterwards

What's Next?

After the demonstrations, Master Feng's daughter conducted a ceremony where Master Feng accepted a new disciple. Given that Master Feng has retired, he would not normally accept any new disciples. But the gentleman who was accepted is a Japanese doctor who has studied with Master Feng for over 20 years, and has proven himself to be strong in character and in his dedication to the art. It was an honor for us to bear witness to the ceremony. Out of respect, we did not take pictures of the ceremony, but we did snap a few afterwards.

The new disciple (brown coat) gives his thanks in being accepted into the family. His translator stands to his right. One the left sits Master Feng and his wife. At the center stands Master Feng's daughter.

Which camera do we look at?

Master Feng giving Ken a massage. Ken says he feels like a new man :)

Impressions

Master Feng has an "ease" about him that's very characteristic of high level martial arts masters that I've observed. The way he carries himself, I can't imagine there is anything that can bother him. Master Feng is nice to a fault, extremely polite, and completely absent of ego. Even if you don't consider his mastery of kung fu, his mastery of character is plain to see.

We were lucky enough to observe Master Feng doing push hands with his students for a brief while. He even demonstrated on Gene and Willard, although we did not get any pictures of that unfortunately. From what Willard and Gene rold me, when you apply force to Master Feng, he is there the first moment, and then you feel him disappear the next, leading Gene to fall on his ass and Willard to stumble across the room. One of the ways he does this, from my observation, is to "split" the force of the opposition. A crude analogy would be to imagine a bad skater on an ice skating rink. Gravity pulls the skater down, and if the skater gets in a bad position, one foot slips forward and the other slips back, "splitting" his ability to hold himself up against gravity. We do this in our Wing Chun as well, using what is known as "fun sao" (splitting hands). Only Master Feng applies this principle with his body as well as his hands. As such, Master Feng has a lot of freedom in how to divert your energy. He doesn't have use his hands to split your energy.

There were other things that Master Feng did that I found impressive but am not able to explain. One example where his student was pressing on him, top loaded. Master Feng performed a dropping motion with his hand, and got the student to sit on his ass. In my experience with Wing Chun, when we drop someone that is top loaded, they tend to fall foward, because they were already leaning forward to begin with. But Master Feng was able to collapse his student's structure and get him to fall back on his butt. If there was anything I saw today that I wanted to learn, it was that. Perhaps if yuanfen allows...

Wrapping Up the Day

Part of the group took a tour to the Forbidden City in the afternoon. I did not attend, since I've been there a couple of times before. Others went shopping, or went to a massage parlor, or simply went back to the hotel to take a nap. Ken invited Master Feng to have dinner with us in the evening. After that we had a short round of Wing Chun in the hotel parking lot before we got kicked out. See pics below.

One word of notice. We are checking out of Beijing tomorrow to go to ZhengZhou. I do not know when I'll have internet access again, so I'm not sure when is the next time I can make an update. I'll still take pictures and write the journal on my laptop, so I'll still have a daily account of the happenings, so you'll see those when I am able to connect.

Dinner chat

A toast to celebrate this happy occasion

Master Feng's chopsticks skills are nothing to sniff at either

Garage workout

Application of Wing Chun splitting hands. Wayne started with a forward push, and he is now wide open after the split.

Ken applies the force push on Wayne

November 04

11/4/06 - Playing Tourist

Today is tourist day, so not much to reflect on. We visted the Great Wall and one of the Ming tombs. Sorta had my brain on autopilot most of the day. Will probably have more to say after meeting Feng ZhiQiang tomorrow, a world reknowned Taiji master. Enjoy the pics.

Taiji practice in the morning near the hotel..

Waiting for the tour bus...

We stopped by a tourist trap on the way up to the Great Wall. This particular trap specializes in the sales of jade related jewelry, ornaments, furniture, etc. Here is a pic of a jade carver working on a jade buddah.

Andreas is not a big shopper so he chats with a guard outside of the jade shop

Finally arrived at the Great Wall

A little lighting does the trick...

Here, I'm making a conscious effort to smile, and failing miserably

Ming tomb entrance

Here's what the tomb looks like.

On the way out, we caught a full moon during the day time

November 03

11/3/06 – The Adventure Begins

A Forward

Hello folks, this will be the first of a series of daily entries, covering my trip through China with Ken, my martial arts instructor, and a group of other students. It’s what kids these days refer to as a “blog.” Not usually having much to say (or technical term, “chit chatting”), the act of blogging never really struck me as something I could do. But life has been consumed with work lately, and I figured that talking about the trip and whatever insights I gain would be a good way to clear my head of the work related cobwebs. Oh, and pictures. I’ll be taking pictures, such as these.

This photo is actually from a previous trip to Shanghai. So sue me. The building is called Dong Fang Ming Zhu, or “Perl of the East”. It looks a little strange, but at least it doesn’t look inappropriate, unlike some buildings à

This one’s from Hong Kong. I have a name for it, but I don’t know what it’s called officially.

A forward word of warning. I anticipate that I will occasionally delve into a fair amount of technical detail on martial arts, work related insight, or whatever. This will probably have the effect of leaving some of you scratching your heads from time to time. But hey, this is about me, not about you. Write your own blog, smart ass. Or just skip over and enjoy the pictures.

Again from a previous trip. This is inside a cave lit with colored lights in Guilin.

Magazine-esque picture on Guilin’s Lijiang river.

Escape from Shanghai
or
Let’s See You Squeeze Yourself Into That Chinese Airplane Seat, Tubby

The adventure begins on my flight from Shanghai to Beijing. I’m arriving before the larger group because I stopped over at my company’s Shanghai office before heading out to Beijing, the first stop on the trip. (Company motto: TeleNav, working overtime to make reasonably sure that you don’t drive into a ditch.) This leaves me with a bit of time to think about my expectations of the trip. I’m happy to be on the trip, but my gut tells me it’s probably more so because I’m taking a break from work than from the actual trip itself. Word to the wise (from the dumb), if you ever find yourself in a situation where relief from work is its own vacation, slow the **** down and figure out what you’re doing wrong. I hope to be able to do precisely that during this break.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean “to hell with work” and all that. Considering the amount of time you spend at work, it had better be an important and meaningful part of your life. Life is too short to waste your time doing something that doesn’t hold any meaning for you. But there may come a point where you lose sight of that meaning, and all you’re doing day to day is desperately treading water. But the meaning is still there, you just have to find it again. Or maybe you have to look for new meaning. Slow down, take a breath, and find it again. Once you find it, see it clearly in your mind, just work towards it, and stop sweating the small stuff. Great. That was easy. Now I just have to follow my own advice.

Back to expectations (I’ll tangent off fairly regularly). Well, other than meet high level kung fu people, being able to take some pics of interesting places (Great Wall, Shaolin Temple, etc.), not much really. I thought I’d be more excited about it than I am. Perhaps my gradual transformation into stone is nearly complete. Or perhaps I’ve been to China so many times over the past few years that the allure is nearly gone. But we’ll be going to some places I’ve never been to before so perhaps that will rekindle the kind-in-a-candy store feeling.

Right Here Waiting
or
I Can’t Believe the Airport Starbucks Doesn’t Take Visa…Bastards

So arrived a couple of hours before the main group. Not much to do or report. Here are some pics.

Waiting at the overcrowded airport.

Ken (my instructor) finally arrived…

…followed by Kathy Jo and Yin…

…and Willard and Wayne to balance the Beijing facial hair deficit.

Wrapping Up
or
I Wonder if Carlos is Eating for Two?

This being the first day for most people, there was a lot of jet lag going around. We took the tour bus to the hotel, checked in, and met for a light dinner.

Dinner at the hotel. Table 1

Table 2

So that’s about it for the day. Not much insight gained yet. I did get to work out with a Baguazhang guy who dropped by to visit Ken while he was in town. The guy, Phillip, is crazy enough to practice in the park from 5AM to 9AM EVERY MORNING. IN BEIJING. OUT IN THE OPEN. ALL SEASONS. He’s only been practicing for a couple of years, but that kind of dedication deserves respect. If I had the discipline to practice Wing Chun the way Phillip practiced Bagua, I’d be able to…well, brag about having the discipline to practice 5 to 9 every morning. Oh, and my skill level would probably be a smidgen better than it is now. Anyway, not much to speak of from the workout. Phillip’s still practicing the basics (jibengong) so it’s not like we had a common platform to compare notes. Then Ken whacked him around a little bit and he responded with the standard bug-eyes (while smiling). But next time I’m in Beijing, I’ll have a new place to check out…provided I can wake up that early in the morning.