wu life 217

WU LIFE 217


SO GLAD I DIDN'T COMPETE

such a joke! so the last few portions of the competition were reserved for fighting, but not just any type of fighting.. the competitors were only allowed to use movements from the tai yi set.

the top 40 competitors, myself included, were invited back to fight. from there, the top 18 would be flown to beijing to have the ultimate showdown. the fighting was done with no gloves or head gear, just a little protection for the ribs and shins. in all, it had the capacity to be really, really cool - too bad it was boo boo.

although people were only allowed to use traditional movements, most of the competitors got up and just brawled anyway.. it was so ridiculous - no different from stand up ultimate fighting. to make matters worse.. there were about two or three really big guys, and all they did was just push people around like sumo wrestlers.. absolutely no skill whatsoever. it was really bad. i'm glad i had the foresight to drop out.


THE FAST FAST

as i mentioned last week, i took the time out to do a master cleanse. sadly, what i thought would be enough ingredients for 10-14 day program, only lasted a week, so i capped off the last little bit with apples and just eased back into food. even though i didn't do the whole run, i still enjoyed every bit of the cleanse. the juice was more than enough to keep me energized and i was able to continue on with my days as if i was still eating. aside from a few dizzy spells after getting up too fast, everything went great and i highly recommend this system to anyone considering a serious cleanse.


JUST CALL ME BOB

B. O. B. - baller on a budget

i came to the realization the other day.. 'is there really not enough food, or am i just too hungry?' meaning to say, 'am i really broke, or do i just want to do too much?'

i am very blessed to be in a position where i can make a reasonable amount of money in less than two months back in california, and have enough to carry me through ten months in china.. the downside, is that i have to live on a tight budget while i'm here. with that in mind.. i opted to not go to the meditation retreat,.. beyond that, will i not be going to shanghai, nor will i be going to beijing to visit master chiang and his wife. instead, i will pass up these wonderful experiences so that i can focus on training and writing articles for more income.

however, if any of you would feel so generous as to contribute to the wu life of david wei (wei zi rong), disciple of taoist master yuan xiu gang and 16th generation lineage holder of the zheng san feng sect,.. the stars will surely shine brightly upon you.. not that they wouldn't otherwise. :)


TRAINING TIME

since i'll be passing up my opportunities to travel, i've decided to occupy my mind with more intense training. on top of the normal regiment of stretching, standing, qigong, tai chi, and now tai yi.. i have also returned to full time hard qigong practice (pai da ying qigong) and the wudang 36 kicks system (wudang san shi liu tui fa).

speaking of training.. it is just about that time. thank you for sharing my wu life adventure with me. until next week.


ALOHA

wu life 216

WU LIFE 216


THE COMPETITION

last sunday marked the first ever (at least in china) traditional, internal martial art competition for a single form - tai yi wu shin quan. this form is unique to wudang mountain, and it beautifully displays yin softness blended it yang explosiveness. over 100 contestants were present.. most of which were either monks, apprentice monks, students from the mountain schools, or members of the official wudang demonstration team. aside from the incredibly skilled, there were also a handful of scrubs to serve as comic relief. our school, the wudang shan traditional internal kung fu academy, was the only school to have foreigners compete.

there were three levels of competition,.. passing one level allows one to progress to the next. the first two levels were held on sunday,.. then from there, the top 40 contestants were invited back the following thursday to compete again on television. from there, the top 18 go to beijing for the ultimate competition showdown extravaganza. big party.

the first level was tai yi form demonstration. for this portion i was terrified! i managed to play it cool thinking it would be easy until it was time for me to actually step out onto the carpet. once in the hot seat, my mind went completely blank, my breath fleeted me, my heart beat tripled, and my body went on autopilot. not only was this my first competition, but here i am in front of wudang's finest.. not to mention my master, my master's master, and all their martial family. i managed to get through a third of the motions without slipping up and then i finally regained my composure. from there, i caught up with my breath, and rocked the set in champion fashion without any mistakes.

the next level of the competition was for a traditional weapon. for the first level, participants had to demonstrate tai yi only,.. but for the weapons portion, contestants could demonstrate any traditional weapon they chose. for myself, i learned the spear just for the occasion - but i've only been practicing it for three weeks so i only know 1/3 of the set.. and beyond that, my ankle injury kept me from training it as much as i would have liked to. needless to say, my form is crap, especially against wudang's finest martial artists.. but this time i was not nervous at all and i managed to pull off a descent demonstration.

by the end of it all, i managed to place 31st, making the cut to advance to the next level of competition - fighting. however, much to the dismay of nearly everyone i know, i decided to forfeit. i caught the worst from every single one of my martial brothers.. 'you're scared,' 'don't be a wimp,' 'you're so big, you could win so easy!' even shifu gave me a hard time about it - but in the end he understood. i'm here in wudang to cultivate spirit - not fists.

the messed up part is that CCTV5 (china television) was counting on some lao wai (foreigners) to compete to help boost the ratings,.. and once i decided to quit, the two other foreigners from our school that qualified decided to quit also - CCTV was not very happy about that. as a result, i was further barraged with questions and insults on my manhood. they even had the grandmaster come talk to me to try and convince me to compete.. but, i respectfully ke tuo'd (traditional bow - kneeling and touching the head to the floor), and explained my position. luckily, the grandmaster understood me and took my side.. CCTV is not very happy - no lao wai for them.


THE MASTER'S CHALLENGE

since i decided not to fight in the competition, yuan shifu challenged me to a fight in class. nothing serious, but intense none the less. the whole time he kept kicking my legs with lighting speed, and with each connection he would say 'POINT,' 'POINT,' 'POINT' (the competition would have been tallied by points, not knock out). whenever i tried to get in close to cut off the range of his kicks, he'd just smack me in the throat or punch me in the solar plexus.. each time saying 'POINT,' 'POINT,' 'POINT.' after twenty minutes of ridicule, much to the entertainment of my classmates, i managed to get a few good hits in.. a few body shots, a couple kicks, and one solid fa jing blast. now the trash talking turned into questioning.. 'whhhhhhyyyyy you don't fight?' 'whhhhhhhyyyyy you scared?' finally, after over a half hour of beat down, yuan shifu's cell phone rang and we stopped... both of us drenched with sweat, and breathing heavy. shifu gave me a smile and said.. 'you're good.. it's too bad you don't fight.'


THE MASTER CLEANSE

now that the competition is all over, i can finally get back to my routine. stretching, qigong, tai chi, and regular fasting. it feels like forever since my last fast.. i even skipped my weekly fruit days in light of all the training i had to endure.. but as soon as the competition was over i started a heavy cleanse.

i decided to do the good old master cleanse.. water, lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper - THANKS MOM FOR SENDING ME THE INGREDIENTS!!! i took one day of apples to ease into the fast, and now i'm on day two of the juice. so far so good,.. i'm looking to do at least seven days of the juice with a few extra days to ease in and out.. so about ten days total. the lemon juice is really good, the maple syrup is super tasty, and the cayenne gives the mix a welcomed kick. in all, i think this cleanse is very enjoyable.. i'll be sure to let you all know how it goes/went next week.


FIN

that's all for this week folks. next week we'll be going to the 1000 year old temple for a meditation retreat, and the week after that i'll be going to shanghai to get some leisure time in. then.. shortly after that, i'm heading to beijing to see my old master Y.C. Chiang (shaolin, chinese culture) and his wife, Hui Liu (dayan qigong, painting), at their art exhibit at the national museum. big things in store - stay tuned.


ALOHA

wu life 215

WU LIFE 215


FAMILIAR FACE

the biggest news of the week came with an old friend from wen wu.. my old kung fu brother, derek lee, stopped by to visit! we met in shaolin class a few years back in the east bay, and now he lives in hong kong as an engineer for the public transit system. now that he's here in china, he was able to come and visit wudang for easter weekend.. we had a blast.

outside of intensive training, massive meals, and fantastic foot massages, we also shared some of the most interesting conversations. derek, a man committed to the continued evolution of human consciousness.. a selfless servant to the divine, shared some of the most insightful ideas i have ever come across. it has been said, "it doesn't take a day to recognize sunshine," and i feel this to be true with what derek has shared.. the truth this man passed on to me was immediately evident, and beyond that, practical and applicable.

i will gladly share once i grow more competent in this work.. but for now, know that i am quite empowered.. refreshed if you will, to serve and work towards advancing the potential of human consciousness.


DOWN FOR THE COUNT

training for this competition has been intense,.. so intense.. that i managed to injure my ankle without even noticing! though i'm not quite sure how it happened, i'm assuming it's just an old injury from football resurfacing. in acupressure school, i learned that it's possible to relive old injuries as stagnant chi begins to move again after being blocked off for so long.. and even though one can experience pain, it is only an indication that healing is finally beginning to take place. i sure hope this is the case.

my ankle was so bad, that i could hardly walk on it. i had to take three days off from practice to allow my foot to recuperate. i didn't have to go through it alone though.. all my brothers here were extremely helpful. derek got me medicine, ali got me an ace bandage for support, urgen gave me a jin shin session, and everyone showed concern. ahhh, the martial family.


WISH ME WELL

even though i was out of practice, the competition is still going down,.. and as far as i know, it is going to be THIS SUNDAY!!! this will be my first competition ever, and i feel quite confident. i'm not confident that i'll win or place well, but i am confident in my ability to do my best and have fun - and that's what really matters to me. this will also give me a good opportunity to be in the hot seat.. i always get so self conscious when i have to demonstrate for people, and there's no better way to get over a fear than to face it. plus.. being one of the few 'lao wai' (foreigners) to be competing, i'm sure all eyes will be waiting for the slightest slip up so they can laugh at the big, silly lao wai trying to do kung fu.

after the form portion of the competition, the top 18 people to demonstrate are then supposed to go to beijing to compete further.. but this time it's not to demonstrate, it's to fight. i made it perfectly clear that my goal in wudang is to grow and heal, not to fight, and yuan shifu understands. so if i do make it to the top 18, i will forfeit the competition. sorry dad, i won't be 'kicking ass and taking names' this round.

the cool thing is that the local tailor gave me a nice taoist robe to demonstrate in for FREE! it's a super nice, ultra long, traditional taoist robe made custom for my ultra big body. so even if i don't do well, i'll at least look nice.. [smile] i will be sure to get lots of pictures and possibly even some video footage for everyone to enjoy.


THAT'S ALL FOLKS

that concludes this week's wu life.. the pictures i promised last week are finally up for you to enjoy plus a few more.. you can see them here.. http://picasaweb.google.com/chinagiant

all my aloha,
-zi rong

wu life 214

WU LIFE 214


THE BIG MOVE

well.. we are officially in the new school. moving locations was a big three day ordeal, and we still have yet to settle in. the initial move was a big hassle.. yuan shifu rented big trucks to move all of our stuff, and he made every trip count.. packing all our belongings ultra high like in the beverley hillbillies. it was crazy. then, once we got to the new school, it was still under construction! floors were still being put in, pipes were still being fitted, and electrical wiring was still exposed.. it was mayhem. for three days, we had faulty electricity, no running water, and no bathroom... ahhh china.

my room was a complete mess. the floor was covered with gravel and soot and it took three whole hours just to clean it all up. to make matters worse.. i had no bed, no closet, and no desk. luckily, yuan shifu hooked it up with a nice semi-full size bed so i didn't have to sleep on my massage table - surprisingly, this is the first bed i have ever completely fit in since i've been in china, it feels great! the other cool thing is that i am the only student with a two room suite.. one room to sleep in, and the other room for an office to write and do massage in.. i got it made.

we've been here now for about five days and things are starting to come together.. i got a desk now, my internet is up and running, i had a metal rack made for my clothes, and the community showers seem to be somewhat functional now. the other cool thing is that we have squatters as opposed to the standard western style seated toilets - which i like. i will try to have pictures posted for everyone by the end of the week.


FRESH FACES

spring is finally in full gear here and along with the sunshine and flowers, we have a bunch of new faces. we have approximately 25 foreign students now and they come from every corner of the world,.. most are from germany, while the others come from belgium, austria, france, england, new zealand, canada, holland, romania, italy, israel, india, mexico, and of course america. we also have a whole bunch of new chinese students as well putting us at around 60+ all together. the youngest student here is about 9 and the oldest is just over 60,.. we also have about 8 females here now too. yuan shifu says that this is the most students he has ever had, and new prospects are showing interest every day. our school is growing very fast.


COMPETITION TRAINING

although none of us know when this competition is coming we have all upped our training in preperation. my body is sore all over, especially my knees, ankles, shoulders, and wrists.. this training is intense - it seems like every month it just gets more and more demanding here.. i love it. each day i spend about two hours working my tai yi form, and another two hours on my spear.. not to mention all my basics and solo sessions that i do on the side. it's great.

one day yuan shifu gathered all of the students that are going to compete and said we were going to have 'special' training. at first i was scared - i'm all too familiar with shifu's 'special' training,.. but instead of the military drilling i was expecting, we were taken to train at a different location with the grandmaster, zhong yun long! to think, just a few weeks ago i was graced with an introduction, and now i get to actually train under him! i was so impressed with just the way he walked, and now i get to see him move! he is definitely a traditional master. all his movements are crisp and precise, yet soft and supple.. his presence is so gentle but at the same time very authoritative.. he is by far one of the most skilled martial masters i have ever met.

once i was over the initial awe, i got to focus on the training,.. the details he showed us are so intricate and the martial applications are so devastating,.. one instance he demonstrated a technique on me, a wrist grab and shoulder throw.. with just the lightest grip his claws felt as if they could crush my forearm, and with the slightest turn of the hip, i was lifted off my feet and placed gently back into place effortlessly,.. after the elegant display of mastery, he looked at me with a childish grin and said, 'ming bai ma?' (understand now?).


FIN

sadly, with all this transitioning, my time has been short so i am unable to share all of the stories of my week, but i'll be back next week to keep you guys up to date with the juicy goods. till then, i wish you all well.


ALOHA