Well folks, we are off to China on Sunday for just over two weeks Kungfu training with two Chinese masters in Fuzhou in South East China. It is the dream of everyone who practises martial arts.
It will be two weeks of early starts, culture shocks and some pretty challenging experiences I reckon as five of us from the Lewes and Burgess Hill club go into serious training mode – Dave, Pete, Bryan and me plus our unshockable instructor, Neil. And, by training, I don’t mean just doing a few weights before going down to some old Chinese pub where they sell chilled Guinness.
We soon received animal nicknames in the spirit of the Crane, the Tiger and the Dog…I was Wolfie, the wolf, Dave, the crocodile, Pete, the badger and Bryan, inevitably, the Golden Pig. Don’t ask why – it was a lad thing – oh, and Neil was the Shark.
The two masters that we will meet will teach us patterns in their particular disciplines within the White Crane Kungfu style, which has its origins in this part of Southern China – Fujian Province.
The first specialises in Shaking Crane, which uses a series of sophisticated techniques of body shaking that allows you to summon up all your energy through your body to your fingertips to devastating effect. If you remember the end of Kill Bill Two you will know what I mean.
The second master is, appropriately enough, a Dog Style specialist. This is seriously scary stuff – with a lot of emphasis on ground fighting and rolling around. So the Wolf will feel pretty shaken up by all that jumping a round. Will he survive it? Will the Masters chuck him out? Or will he come back transformed?
Watch this space to find out.