China 7 months: Plans

Finish my travels in either Japan, Australia, or Canada by which time it will be 2009-10 then work for 3-5 years in London, and in that time save 30k-50k, become a CHEK II, PICP II, Bio-signature modulation practitioner, NLP Master, Hypnotherapist, HLC III and Neuro-Muscular Therapist, to have established myself as a writer and established myself on the national/international lecturing circuit. After that time I think Yuki and I will consider living outside of England. Maybe France, Italy, Thailand, Japan or Australia. Then over the next 20 or so years own several properties around the world, have written several books, produced several DVDs, own my own clinic, produced my own courses, have completed my Acupuncture, Osteopath, Naturopath courses, have had a kid or two, then between the ages of 60 and 70 when I reached my strength peak, my posture is at it's best and my muscle to fat ratio is at it's best I will start my Physics and Criminal Psychology degrees.

I've met so many people who really do not look forward to maturing but I cannot wait. The sheer amount of knowledge I will know, the people I will meet and the person I will become, excites me.

Much happiness to you all.

Michael

China 7 months: Steak, Training and Tea

It just doesn't get better.

Jakies is a restaurant in Yantai that specifically caters for the foreign appetite and makes a very nice steak. For the students it's a real treat to visit a here and use the toilet, honestly. If you've been to China you know what it means to be in a nice, clean toilet by yourself.

I had myself a steak and it was good. It cost a lot but was worth it. Afterward I felt perfectly content and realized that steak has to be plentiful on my spiritual path. Also had chocolate milkshake and it was good. Possibly the best I have ever had. I think I will have another steak and shake night before I leave.

Thursday was a good day. We conditioned are limbs against the tree in the morning and in the afternoon worked on the application of techniques. Later I trained myself and had a great session. The school bought some new weights. This new aquisition coincided with my body finally gaining some strength back. When I first arrived my body recovered slowly from weight training and I felt tired and weak but I feel if it is back to almost normal. Here is what I did for those who are interested:

Usual warm up of bodyweight movements.

Focus was on speed and perfect technique

4x4 cleans into full squat 55kg

4x5 power presses 20kg

3x6-8 sumo deadlifts 105kg

3x6-8 Wide pronated pull ups 10kg

10x uphill sprints

Body weight eccentric circuit to elicit some GH and IGF

Wide squat x2 25/10/X/0

Wide pronated pull ups x3-4 10/0/X/10

Press ups x3 15/10/X/0

The circuit was done twice.

A great session.

Later that day Megan and I met after dinner and sat in a local garden that has chairs and a table and chatted for about an hour and a half with a cup of green tea. No one goes to this garden so its very quiet and peaceful and the night sky with the mountains and a full moon made a very beautiful backdrop. A fantastic day.

Namaste and Chi

Michael

China 7 months: Lies, Leaving and new room mates

The influx of newbies has increased the summer camp feel, especially as they all seem to be 18 year olds without a clue. The girls get dressed up and put on make up only to walk round the school grounds. It really isn't the sort of place for that. The guys are pissed off because they don't want any distractions, which young girls prancing about are, and the girls who came here to genuinely train just think their stupid. Some of the newbie guys are a little dunce to.

Not really Shaolin Martial Arts material. Go home!

Ori and Hannah have had enough of this place and have left to another academy in Muping. The new school specializes in Mantis and also teaches traditional Shaolin, as oppose to the Wushu type that is taught at Kunyu Shan. Wushu is more theatrical than traditional. I reckon by the end of the month another 5 students would have left. The summer camp feel at this place is a bit too much for some people and also the lies and deceit which goes on here. Nothing seems to be straight forward, there is always an ulterior motive to the goings on at this academy when it involves communication of anything to the students. Though from what I have learned and have been told this is Chinese culture not just the academy. The less anyone else knows the better. It really is strange, even if the truth would be better to say, the Chinese lie out of instinct and habit.

I now have two new roommates; Vincent and Frankie. Vincent is a cool American kid with some social interaction issues and Frankie, a Dutch, dangerous dude with some impressive martial arts skills.

Dutch, dangerous and deranged; Frankie

Students are also leaving quite fast. Five left just this week. It is always quite emotional scenes when students leave. Students build up quite strong links. It's almost like a family. Three of the five that left have been here for nine months and the other were very friendly and well thought of guys. Three of them were in Mantis. So now it is just I, Seb, Simon and Frankie. I suspect I will see my Mantis brothers Dan, Dave and Rob again, especially as I have invited them to Japan if I get there. If you guys ever read this I just want to say it was a pleasure meeting you all and I wish you luck in what ever you do.

On Tuesdays we do a "power training" session. I have been taking it for the last 4 sessions and it is so much better than what it was before, in my own opinion. The previous sessions consisted of benching and sit ups, so something had to change. The new session is basically a really good warm up, mostly consisting of body weight movements then on to a race event. The race starts with a side crawl of about 40metres, then fireman carrying some one on your team for 20m then swapping shoulders for another 20m, then a single arm are farmers walk with about 20kg (heaviest dumbell) for 40m then a 40m sprint. Sounds easy but it is quite challenging. The weather has been getting increasing hotter and more humid here. Last Tuesday was particularly bad and as a result after one round of the race pretty much everyone including myself felt feint and dizzy. We all layed on the floor of the Mantis training room like wounded soldiers. I have now changed it to a more strength based session. I even asked if we could push the schools mini van as part of the workout but Master laughed and said it would be to easy.

Mantis boys after a training session

I have been feeling physically very good lately and as a result have some new goals: to rip our boxing bag with one backhand, hit a tree so hard that chunks of it start falling off and to do a one arm pull up. Also I have set myself the challenge of frog jumping the mountain stairs all the way to the top and then crawling on my hands all the way down. Sounds easy but there are students here who genuinely find it hard to walk up the stairs. The 35+degree heat coupled with the humidity and altitude should make it interesting. I need to find someone willing to do it with me.

The walks I have after dinner are fantastic and one thing I am going to truly miss from here. I usually end up at a river by the waterfall. The pictures below are of what I would like my eventual living place to look like. It is more beautiful and calming than the pictures convey. Lifu, the dog in the picture sometimes joins me.

We had another grading but I had not learned the new form we are being taught so was not graded that day. It was a little boring as all the newbies were doing their Shaolin basics. But there were some good ones. I am now thinking of adding Canada to my list of possible travel destinations, so as to study Systema. It's a Russian combat system that seems interesting. Canada because I've been told that one of the main teachers resides there.



The insects are getting bigger and badder. The mosquitoes are attacking everyone whilst they sleep. I wake up with bites all over me and Dan had about 50 bites on his hand. His hands were swollen for days. I've put a net over my bed and that seems to help. You can hear the insects during the day. There are 2 distinct sounds. One sounds like a screaming electrical cable with Bi-Polar and the other sounds like a billion crickets. During the night the frogs or toads sound like a million ducks are outside our window, it's quite strange. And now there is a swarm of Dragon Flies flying around the academy. China is not the place to be if don't like insects, lies and heat.



Wishing you an insect free day


Michael