Hi,
we trained one year Shaolin Kung Fu in the second largest Kung Fu school of China in Shaolin and would like to give our
experiences, impressions and many tips to you.
As a child we watched all Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies and after many years of martial arts training in German, we
thought of starting training at the origin of all kinds of martial arts - Shaolin. After various chinese contacts (with a
translator - no one speaks German and it is hardly to find a chinese who speaks English) we started our journey to Beijing
and with an inland flight to Zhengzhou, the capital of the Henan province.
The head master picked us up at the airport, unfortunately he couldn't speak one word English. He only had a large
handpainted sign of the translator: "Please follow this person, he will bring you to the school". After 2 1/2 h we are
arrived at shaolin. Thousands of students train in numerous schools (Meanwhile all schools in shaolin were destroyed and
moved to the nearby city Dengfeng).
At the next morning we bought training equipment like shoes and clothes with the coach and after breakfast we started our
training. The first day was OK - however the next 4 weeks were only pain.
05:30 - 07:00: Running, condition training in the mountains, i.e. climbing up stairs, hoping up stairs with left or right
leg, moving down stairs with pushups, 1 1/2 h training.
Afterwards we strengthened our body with breakfast consisting of rice, noodles or deep-fried dough.
09:00 - 11:30: Morning training: Warming up with running, sprints in order to improve your speed, extreme stretching,
splits and more, basic techniques such as Kicks, punches, stands.
12:00: Lunch consisting of rice, noodles (what else?) and vegetables, the legs are tired due to extreme stretching, the
muscles are stone-hard. Unfortunately the room is on 4th floor but due to muscles pain each step is a hard fight. The
toilets are in the ground floor so we had to use the stairs frequently. NOw it is time to relax.
14:30 - 18:00: Afternoon training: Warming up exercises and sprints. The emphasis in the afternoon training are
acrobatic exercises (e.g. summer sault) and learning new forms. At the beginning we learnt Wu Bu Quan and Xiao Hong Quan,
some simple fist forms. After that the movements become more complex and you will learn various acrobatics. At advanced
level weapons are taught such as stick and sword, in addition three-stick, 9-section whip, spear, Shaolin meteor hammer
and more.
18:30: Dinner as previously mentioned consisting of rice and noodles.
The first 4 weeks are very very extreme, your body doesn't know this kind of heavy training for 8 - 10 hours a day.
Muscles are everywhere hardened and each step means pain. There is one day off a week, so your body will be recovered.
Temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius and the unusual food stresses the body too. Like all foreigners we got extreme
diarrhea after the first week (5 days long). Immodium and other medicin didn't heal, only Chinese medicine got an
improvement. After 4 weeks pain decreases to a "normal measure". Every day you will have pain but it is OK. After 4 weeks
you will learn new forms, acrobatics and more so we recommend to stay at least 4 weeks. We never repented to live one year
in shaolin training every day. We got many chinese friends. If we will get the opportunity we would like to to do this
adventure again, even if the living conditions are extremely simple and primitive.
We wrote down our experiences, training conditions, the training, tips, many pictures and videos on our homepage, so
please take a look at http://www.shaolin-wushu.de .
Greeting
Shaolin Monk
http://www.shaolin-wushu.de/shop/logo.jpg
You should take a look at these real cool videos at [url]http://www.shaolin-wushu.de/downloads.htm
We expecially like these 3 videos:
1. Shaolin Qi gong exercise: Breaking wood between your legs NOT COPYING!!!
2. Shaolin Qi gong - Breaking steel with your head
3. Handstand on only 2 fingers
we trained one year Shaolin Kung Fu in the second largest Kung Fu school of China in Shaolin and would like to give our
experiences, impressions and many tips to you.
As a child we watched all Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies and after many years of martial arts training in German, we
thought of starting training at the origin of all kinds of martial arts - Shaolin. After various chinese contacts (with a
translator - no one speaks German and it is hardly to find a chinese who speaks English) we started our journey to Beijing
and with an inland flight to Zhengzhou, the capital of the Henan province.
The head master picked us up at the airport, unfortunately he couldn't speak one word English. He only had a large
handpainted sign of the translator: "Please follow this person, he will bring you to the school". After 2 1/2 h we are
arrived at shaolin. Thousands of students train in numerous schools (Meanwhile all schools in shaolin were destroyed and
moved to the nearby city Dengfeng).
At the next morning we bought training equipment like shoes and clothes with the coach and after breakfast we started our
training. The first day was OK - however the next 4 weeks were only pain.
05:30 - 07:00: Running, condition training in the mountains, i.e. climbing up stairs, hoping up stairs with left or right
leg, moving down stairs with pushups, 1 1/2 h training.
Afterwards we strengthened our body with breakfast consisting of rice, noodles or deep-fried dough.
09:00 - 11:30: Morning training: Warming up with running, sprints in order to improve your speed, extreme stretching,
splits and more, basic techniques such as Kicks, punches, stands.
12:00: Lunch consisting of rice, noodles (what else?) and vegetables, the legs are tired due to extreme stretching, the
muscles are stone-hard. Unfortunately the room is on 4th floor but due to muscles pain each step is a hard fight. The
toilets are in the ground floor so we had to use the stairs frequently. NOw it is time to relax.
14:30 - 18:00: Afternoon training: Warming up exercises and sprints. The emphasis in the afternoon training are
acrobatic exercises (e.g. summer sault) and learning new forms. At the beginning we learnt Wu Bu Quan and Xiao Hong Quan,
some simple fist forms. After that the movements become more complex and you will learn various acrobatics. At advanced
level weapons are taught such as stick and sword, in addition three-stick, 9-section whip, spear, Shaolin meteor hammer
and more.
18:30: Dinner as previously mentioned consisting of rice and noodles.
The first 4 weeks are very very extreme, your body doesn't know this kind of heavy training for 8 - 10 hours a day.
Muscles are everywhere hardened and each step means pain. There is one day off a week, so your body will be recovered.
Temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius and the unusual food stresses the body too. Like all foreigners we got extreme
diarrhea after the first week (5 days long). Immodium and other medicin didn't heal, only Chinese medicine got an
improvement. After 4 weeks pain decreases to a "normal measure". Every day you will have pain but it is OK. After 4 weeks
you will learn new forms, acrobatics and more so we recommend to stay at least 4 weeks. We never repented to live one year
in shaolin training every day. We got many chinese friends. If we will get the opportunity we would like to to do this
adventure again, even if the living conditions are extremely simple and primitive.
We wrote down our experiences, training conditions, the training, tips, many pictures and videos on our homepage, so
please take a look at http://www.shaolin-wushu.de .
Greeting
Shaolin Monk
http://www.shaolin-wushu.de/shop/logo.jpg
You should take a look at these real cool videos at [url]http://www.shaolin-wushu.de/downloads.htm
We expecially like these 3 videos:
1. Shaolin Qi gong exercise: Breaking wood between your legs NOT COPYING!!!
2. Shaolin Qi gong - Breaking steel with your head
3. Handstand on only 2 fingers
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