Well, I haven't posted in a while, so here is an update:
My body hurts. My legs are wrecked from tumbling. My arms and chest are sore from lifting weights. My neck is sore from endless exercises involving kip-ups. My abs are sore from the two hundred sit-ups we did this morning. All that aside, my Shifu said that my newest form was almost good. If I can get it all the way to good by tomorrow, next week he will teach me Shaolin Staff. Special bonus: First staff gotten from the academy, free. If i can learn the staff quickly, maybe I can move on to Eagle Claw and Sword. I am going to try to make up a drunken form and maybe me and Kevin (USA) and Bret (ENG) will make up a three person drunken fight. In Sanda, the Chinese kickboxing group, we have started to prepare for the upcoming match with Korea. Unfortunately I will not be there for it, I will already be back in the states with my fiancee and family. Every month we all get together and perform our forms and have sparring matches in the big training hall. When I post this, hopefully, there will be some pictures that I have taken with my new digital camera on the site so you can all get an idea of the place I am staying.
I wrote that last bit a while ago, so here is what has happened since then:
My legs were so torn up from wearing 4.4 lb. weights for three full days of training that I had to take to days off. I learned the Shaolin staff form in four days and will perform it and the "small flood fist form" at the next test in ten days. I was able to rest during my to days and log all the video I have taken so far; seven hours, and write a little bit. Because of the rest I had the energy to make these new posts. All my best to all of you.
I am back today and doing just fine, all healed and I actually set a new pace for myself running today. Check me out.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Academy Politics
The academy works as follows:
Headmaster Che Wen Long, one of the richest men in Jilin, a millionaire even by American standards, shows up to pick up money and sometimes to accompany friends, possibly investors, and treat them to banquets and Shaolin performances. He is the final word on all matters not settled by his underlings. Next in line is the Vice Headmaster Che Wen Bin. He takes care of the running of the school, as is tradition in China number two is the one who does the work. He walks around during the day, following and observing different groups as they train. He sometimes calls for tests for the hole academy every few weeks. We all go run the stairs one at a time and get timed, we do the 4-5 miles village run for time, the whole academy runs down the T, along the beach, and then up the stairs for approximate times. Approximate is the best they can do with one digital watch and forty or fifty students being tested. Next are the Shifus who deal with their own students issues. Ultimately the responsibility for the students falls to the Shifus. If a Wushu group student gets drunk, it is the Wushu Zhang Shifu's problem. If a Baji student gets caught turning on the power after lights out, it is Lin Shifu's problem to deal with. If a student leaves a group, the shifu is penalized. If a student leaves the academy early the shifu is blamed and it causes trouble. Then come the translators. If a student has an issue, the translators are the first line of defense for the academy. Some of the translators are better than others at seeming to be on the side of the students but, in actuality, they are completely controlled by the Ches. If they go too far out on a limb for the students they may find themselves fired that day. In the past two years, two of the best, most experienced, shifus have been fired and for dubious reasons. Since I have been here, the gatekeeper and the Chinese kid's shifu have been fired.
No one's job is safe. During the recent Chinese Labor day holiday the shifus asked during a line-up if we would mind them having one or more days off. To go home, my shifu and Shaolin Zhang shifu needed four days off plus the weekend so they could make the long train trip to Henan province. We all said they could have as many days off as they wanted since we were devoted to them. They said they would take four days or none since the two would prefer to either go home to see their families or work to keep making money. After the first training session we were informed that the vice headmaster had agreed with their plan but doubted that the headmaster would. We all signed a petition to give them the days off, the translators as well. By lunch we heard that it had been rejected. Sanda decided that if they wouldn't give him the time off we would do our best ourselves. We lined up in front of the Shifu with a translator and explained that we were all going to be sick for the rest of the week and that he should feel free to take a trip home since he would have no students to teach. Unfortunately this tactic was not successful. while our shifu appreciated our attempt, he said the headmaster would not believe that we were really sick and would not allow the shifu to leave the academy. We were all rather outraged but training did proceed. For one or two sessions we would train somewhat seriously and for the rest of the beautiful summer days we ate ice cream played basketball and strolled through the woods.
Headmaster Che Wen Long, one of the richest men in Jilin, a millionaire even by American standards, shows up to pick up money and sometimes to accompany friends, possibly investors, and treat them to banquets and Shaolin performances. He is the final word on all matters not settled by his underlings. Next in line is the Vice Headmaster Che Wen Bin. He takes care of the running of the school, as is tradition in China number two is the one who does the work. He walks around during the day, following and observing different groups as they train. He sometimes calls for tests for the hole academy every few weeks. We all go run the stairs one at a time and get timed, we do the 4-5 miles village run for time, the whole academy runs down the T, along the beach, and then up the stairs for approximate times. Approximate is the best they can do with one digital watch and forty or fifty students being tested. Next are the Shifus who deal with their own students issues. Ultimately the responsibility for the students falls to the Shifus. If a Wushu group student gets drunk, it is the Wushu Zhang Shifu's problem. If a Baji student gets caught turning on the power after lights out, it is Lin Shifu's problem to deal with. If a student leaves a group, the shifu is penalized. If a student leaves the academy early the shifu is blamed and it causes trouble. Then come the translators. If a student has an issue, the translators are the first line of defense for the academy. Some of the translators are better than others at seeming to be on the side of the students but, in actuality, they are completely controlled by the Ches. If they go too far out on a limb for the students they may find themselves fired that day. In the past two years, two of the best, most experienced, shifus have been fired and for dubious reasons. Since I have been here, the gatekeeper and the Chinese kid's shifu have been fired.
No one's job is safe. During the recent Chinese Labor day holiday the shifus asked during a line-up if we would mind them having one or more days off. To go home, my shifu and Shaolin Zhang shifu needed four days off plus the weekend so they could make the long train trip to Henan province. We all said they could have as many days off as they wanted since we were devoted to them. They said they would take four days or none since the two would prefer to either go home to see their families or work to keep making money. After the first training session we were informed that the vice headmaster had agreed with their plan but doubted that the headmaster would. We all signed a petition to give them the days off, the translators as well. By lunch we heard that it had been rejected. Sanda decided that if they wouldn't give him the time off we would do our best ourselves. We lined up in front of the Shifu with a translator and explained that we were all going to be sick for the rest of the week and that he should feel free to take a trip home since he would have no students to teach. Unfortunately this tactic was not successful. while our shifu appreciated our attempt, he said the headmaster would not believe that we were really sick and would not allow the shifu to leave the academy. We were all rather outraged but training did proceed. For one or two sessions we would train somewhat seriously and for the rest of the beautiful summer days we ate ice cream played basketball and strolled through the woods.
Toilets
Forgive the crass topic. It is one that is essential, in more ways than one, on a China blog.
The toilets at the academy are, thankfully, western style toilets. Chinese plumbing still cannot tolerate toilet paper, however. Aside from that minor inconvenience, the facilities are quite satisfactory; once one gets used to the smell. I have made it a rule not to smell anything in China on purpose. The various scents and odors wafting on the wind or assaulting your nose like The Blitz are unavoidable. Let me explain: Often in the evenings, during training outside the lower training hall, a cloud of smoke from the trash pile being incinerated behind the academy will settle over the courtyard. More often than not, this cloud is colored by the distinct smell of burning plastic. Luckily smoke and the smell of burning trash are fairly easily tolerated, especially by someone who smoked for as long as I did. The most difficult to negotiate are the public restrooms. Walls and floors covered in urine, used toilet paper filling waste baskets or in small piles on the floor, cigarette butts and burns marring the walls of the pit toilets, and the general sense that the place has never been truly cleaned is rather overwhelming. There are some public restrooms that don't fit into this category but they are in establishments that can segregate their clientele. Even in nice places, the Black and Gold for instance, the smell of the bathrooms is immediately offensive to the western nostrils.
Once one gets used to the smell, using the bathroom in China presents other problems; those of flexibility and endurance. Pit toilets are, in fact, a hole in the floor. Sometimes, as in outdoor toilets, the pit simply runs outside the building, preferably onto a hill, but not necessarily. Nicer toilets do have full plumbing, if not the capacity for paper. One then places one's feet on either side of the hole and guesses at one's aim. Many newer toilets have places indicated for the feet, complete with little ridges for grip, to help with aim. Toilet paper is the responsibility of the user of the restroom so one must always carry a small roll in one's bags. Once in position you face the endurance trial of holding yourself, flat footed, in a full squat throughout the whole course of the deed. If this weren't enough, when it comes time to wipe, balance is called into play as you try to keep your clothes and bags from falling to the dirty floor as you clean yourself up. Once done, however, one feels a certain satisfaction at having successfully negotiated this imperative transaction.
The toilets at the academy are, thankfully, western style toilets. Chinese plumbing still cannot tolerate toilet paper, however. Aside from that minor inconvenience, the facilities are quite satisfactory; once one gets used to the smell. I have made it a rule not to smell anything in China on purpose. The various scents and odors wafting on the wind or assaulting your nose like The Blitz are unavoidable. Let me explain: Often in the evenings, during training outside the lower training hall, a cloud of smoke from the trash pile being incinerated behind the academy will settle over the courtyard. More often than not, this cloud is colored by the distinct smell of burning plastic. Luckily smoke and the smell of burning trash are fairly easily tolerated, especially by someone who smoked for as long as I did. The most difficult to negotiate are the public restrooms. Walls and floors covered in urine, used toilet paper filling waste baskets or in small piles on the floor, cigarette butts and burns marring the walls of the pit toilets, and the general sense that the place has never been truly cleaned is rather overwhelming. There are some public restrooms that don't fit into this category but they are in establishments that can segregate their clientele. Even in nice places, the Black and Gold for instance, the smell of the bathrooms is immediately offensive to the western nostrils.
Once one gets used to the smell, using the bathroom in China presents other problems; those of flexibility and endurance. Pit toilets are, in fact, a hole in the floor. Sometimes, as in outdoor toilets, the pit simply runs outside the building, preferably onto a hill, but not necessarily. Nicer toilets do have full plumbing, if not the capacity for paper. One then places one's feet on either side of the hole and guesses at one's aim. Many newer toilets have places indicated for the feet, complete with little ridges for grip, to help with aim. Toilet paper is the responsibility of the user of the restroom so one must always carry a small roll in one's bags. Once in position you face the endurance trial of holding yourself, flat footed, in a full squat throughout the whole course of the deed. If this weren't enough, when it comes time to wipe, balance is called into play as you try to keep your clothes and bags from falling to the dirty floor as you clean yourself up. Once done, however, one feels a certain satisfaction at having successfully negotiated this imperative transaction.
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