Shao lin Wu shu

Kung Fu is a general term that refers to Chinese Martial Arts and the multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in the different regions of China. Roughly speaking there are two main types of Kung Fu: One that focuses on manipulating the “Internal” qi or energy, and one that focuses on improving ‘External’ abilities and fitness. The most popular Internal style (at least for the ones living in Hong Kong) is Tai Chi and the most famous External style is Shaolin; there are, however, many variations and disciplines, some more geared to combat and others more stylistic or competitive.

The school here offers both classes, Internal and External, and is up to the student to choose which route to follow. I, of course, chose the External class for a number of reasons (i) I want to improve my cardiovascular fitness (ii) I’m too impatient for the static poses of the internal class (iii) Shaolin is way cooler and I’ll have a better chance of an extra role in a B rated movie!

We have a very structured training/ living routine during weekdays (weekends are free to relax or travel to nearby towns). During my first week of training I was constantly in pain!; all my muscles were sore from day one (not 24/48 hours after as it usually happens). This week the pain is not as bad, but still far from feeling normal… So the days go like this:

5:00am – Alarm goes off
Temperature:  4°C
Roll out of bed
Layers of clothing: 2 pants + 4 long sleeve tops + hat, gloves, scarf

5:20am – Warm up and Stretching
Gather outside the rooms, dark and freezing cold

5:30am – Circuit training
Sometimes indoors sometimes outdoors
Changes everyday, usually focusing on a muscle group: legs, shoulders, abs…
All layers of clothing still on

6:00am – Shaolin Class
Indoors
Remove hat, gloves and scarf
30 minutes of deep stretching; teacher seems to be very interested on stretching the hamstrings
30 minutes of basic stances (which include a lot of squatting), punches and kicks

7:00am – Break
Back to the room
I’m now taking this time to have my ‘western’ breakfast (oatmeal and banana)

7:30am – Breakfast
Temperature:  3°C
Layers of clothing: 2 pants + 1 short sleeve and 3 long sleeve tops + hat, gloves, scarf + Colombian traditional poncho called ruana (my Colombian friends can picture me looking like a celador: a Colombian night guard)
10 min walk down to the eating area
I’m now skipping the rice porridge and just having the boiled eggs

8:00am – Break
Back to the room
Make the bed, tidy up; get ready for next session

8:50am – Warm up and Stretching
Temperature:  1°C (yes it goes down as the sun comes up)
Remove the ruana
Gather outside the rooms, foggy and freezing cold

9:00am – Run
The altitude (1800mt) and the cold make it very difficult to breath – I’m hoping, since I grew up in Bogota, which is a lot higher (2600mt), I’ll quickly recover my lung capacity
Run routes and distances change everyday (average 20min), mostly we run in the forest or around the temple, and always includes some sort of hill

9:30am – Shaolin Class
Outdoors, at the temple courtyard
Temperature:  5°C
Sun starts to shine so we try to do the exercises away from the shadow
Remove outer sweater, hat, gloves and scarf
20 minutes of deep stretching
40 minutes of basic stances, punches and kicks
10 minutes break
20 minutes of Shaolin quan  (sequences simulating combat)

11:00am – Break
Back to the room
Try, mostly unsuccessfully, to connect to the VPN and read emails
Get ready to walk down to the eating area at 11:40am; we have to be early to get the tables with a bit of sun

12:00 – Lunch
Temperature: 11°C
Still wearing 2 pants, 1 short sleeve and 2 long sleeve tops

12:30pm – Break
Temperature: 13°C
Remove one layer of pants and one long sleeve top
This is a longish break; sometimes I go down to town (15min walk) to buy groceries; sometimes do my laundry; again try to connect to the internet; or sometimes I just hang out in the sun chatting to the other students or playing cards.

2:20pm – Warm up and Stretching
Temperature:  16°C
Layers of clothing: down to one and one

2:30pm – Run
Same as the morning runs but slightly longer (average 35min)

3:00pm – Shaolin Class
Outdoors, at the temple courtyard
Temperature:  18°C
20 minutes of deep stretching (sometimes we also do some weight training)
30 minutes of basic stances, punches and kicks
10 minutes break
30 minutes of Shaolin quan

4:30pm – Break
Back to the room
Shower! (yes, only until this time…)
Get ready to walk down to dinner at 5:40pm, again to get a spot on the sunny tables

6:00pm – Dinner
Temperature:  14°C
Dress normally:  Jeans, t-shirt and sweater

7:00pm – Rest
Back to the room
Study Mandarin for an hour
In bed by 8:00pm, sleeping by 9:00pm!

I’ve adapted pretty quickly to the place and the routine (which I think is one of my greatest qualities: adaptability); the only thing I’m still struggling with is the morning cold, but spring is coming soon so weather should get a lot better.

Thanks everyone for your encouraging comments and messages; my apologies if I’m not responding but as you know both gmail and facebook are blocked in China and is quite difficult to get the VPN to work… Next week is Chinese new year, so it will be interesting to see how the locals celebrate!