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  • Shaolin Kung Fu Training in China


    Shaolin Kung Fu Training in China

    Morning

    At the morning training from 05:45 o'clock to 07:30 o'clock mainly condition and high-speed strength are trained. First the musculature is warmed up by running. It is already an overwhelming picture if 15,000 pupils run in military formations through Shaolin. With a lot of middle sprints the high-speed strength is trained. While the foreigners run as fast as they can (and I can ensure you that we ran (like hell) on 100 m under 12 s!), but the coach runs with a long stick at your side smiling and spurs you on running much more faster and hitting your back too, if ones moves are too slowy (according to his opinion). A popular goal are the stairs to the Bodhidharma Cave consisting of 1000 stairs!!

    The Shaolin monks run this distance each morning and their condition is gigantic. But only few stages are necessary to get the pupils sweating. Short sprints over 10 m stairs, limping on the left, right and both legs absolutely hard. Downwards every pupil must make press-ups, so the arms are trained too. After 1 3/4 h the training is over. The musculature is tired, arms and legs very heavy.


    Breakfast

    Now it is breakfast time and a lot of restaurants invite you for eating breakfast. This consists usually of Dou Fu Noir (Soybean), Ba Bao Jou (8 precious objects soup) and Yao Tiao (deep-fry paste). Also noodles and rice are eaten at breakfast. It is likely that the Chinese sip their soup and noodles and you have to do the same.


    After breakfast: training

    After short recovery the next training begins at 09:00 o'clock with a loose jogging, warming up and the high-speed strength training. But now primarily the stretching is being trained.

    In contrast to German training the stretch is being trained not until pain arises, but far beyond pain. A popular exercise is the doing the split. The pupil is lying on his back and 2 other students hold his arms and legs and the coaches pushes with his whole body, in order to press the student doing the split (I could hardly move the next several days). According to this, there are a lot of such exercises. Another exercise consists of a student sitting down, pressing his sole in front of him together. A lot of people have some problems therefore another person stands on his knees and presses those down to the ground by his body weight. Everyone of us had to makeo the crab. This is very painful for untrained persons but in Shaolin the coach lifts you up and shakes your body... every pupil will have to cry out louldy and some days later you will have enormous back pain (but it seems to work). Arms, legs and all other muscles (which you did not know before) are stretched. Afterwards the basic elements of the Shaolin Kung Fu are taught: Leg movements, blocking, striking, stands. This part differs not too much from our well-known training, however the repetition rate is much higher. Because the students repeat the same techniques again and again and again and so highest perfection is obtained. Training ends at 11:30 o'clock.


    Lunch

    In one of the numerous restaurants or in the school it is possible to eat. There are numerous dishes but no menu. Thus you go into the kitchen, show something you like and the cook prepares a tasty, warm meal. Rice and noodles are the most important (and most inexpensive) food. Meat is expensive and you can one only dream of a steak. Rather the meat is cut into small pieces and mixed to the vegetables. Preferably tomatoes, potatoes and different vegetables are used. By the way there is no chance to order coffee or chocolate.

    After noon we have some time to recover the maltreated body. On one of the numerous stone banks we can watch a lot of Chinese, but there is no time for relaxing. You are mostly surrounded by a cluster of Chinese and they want to talk to you or take some pcitures. If you want to rest this is not the place. In the school, on the road, even in the mountains there are Chinese looking for contact with foreigners.


    Afternoon training

    At 2:00 pm in the afternoon training begins again. This training is the most interesting one because new forms and weapons will be taught now. But also this training begins with a warming up training, with stretching and with basic techniques. These basic techniques are absolute necessary. The first form (every student has to learn this) in Shaolin is the Wu Bu Quan. This form consists of five different basic stands and is relatively simple to learn. With each form new stands, techniques and also acrobatic elements are inserted. The advanced Shaolin student learns the somersault forwards and backwards, the flic flac, the jumped cartwheel and a lot of other jumped techniques. The jump strength of the Chinese is gigantic and somersault appears for the audience as very simple (but I tell you, it isn't acutally!).

    Due to their bodies foreigners have bigger problems learning these techniques.

    Usually weapon training starts with long stick (gun) and followed by sword (dao). The mobile weapons are more difficult to learn and therefore they are taught to the older students. Mobile weapons are the 9-section whip (jiu jie bian), the three-section-stick (san jie gun), the two-section-stick (liang jie gun) and the whip (bian). Those weapons combined with fantastic acrobatic elements constitute the fascination of the Shaolin Kung Fu. Training ends at 6:00 pm.


    End of training

    After a arduous day it is worth to wash oneself for the first time.

    Most schools do not have their own showers and so once a week they visit an external wash and shower room. It sounds awful but after a short time it doesn't matter. The dinner is the same like lunch. At 9:30 pm most of the students fall tired into bed because next morning the siren will sound again at 05:30 am.

    If you are interested in shaolin kung fu/tai chi/sanda training in china (or learning chinese language in china), please take a look at our websites http://www.shaolin-wushu.de or http://ww.trip-to-china.com .

    China Kung Fu
    www.shaolin-wushu.de - Shaolin Kung Fu Training in China, more than 1000 pictures and videos, traveller reports, Forum and more
    www.trip-to-china.com - Learning Chinese language in china, Shaolin Kung Fu/Tai Chi/Sanda Training in China

    <img>http://www.shaolin-wushu.de/video/qigong_speer.jpg</img>

    <img>http://www.shaolin-wushu.de/video/qigong_luftballon.jpg</img>

  • #2
    Obviously written by a Chinese. Good use of vocab, but a poor sense of grammar.

    I like the quote at the end, "Most schools do not have their own showers and so once a week they visit an external wash and shower room. It sounds awful but after a short time it doesn't matter.".

    Oh, but how it does matter. I just don't get how the Chinese don't see a problem with their lack of hygiene, especially when the majority rocks some pretty bad dandruff ! I guess the dandruff isn't a problem if you keep your head shaved but ya still stink !
    "Winners turn to losers, losers are forgotten..." - A Tribe Called Quest

    Comment


    • #3
      I think he's German, I know his website.

      He's cool, but maybe get's on people's nerves advertising here...

      Off topic, Baiwanxi, are u fluent in CN, how long have u studied it and what do u recommand me or any1 else to do in order to learn a good conversational Chinese (method, website, book, technique)?

      U think it's possible to speak correctly even as a late starter, or is it too late? How long does it take to start speaking ok?
      The East? The West?

      Men and Women, that's all...

      Comment


      • #4
        Yes, he spams the forums here every once in a while. I have to delete some of his threads. Hate to throw him in HELL, as I'm tempted to do with Forum User Librarian, as this guy seems decent.
        Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

        "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

        (more comments in my User Profile)
        russbo.com


        Comment


        • #5
          Huh ! Some of the thing he said are exactly the way my students speak:

          "According to this, there are a lot of such exercises." the According to this............

          "After noon we have some time to recover the maltreated body. On one of the numerous stone banks we can watch a lot of Chinese, but there is no time for relaxing"
          First, he starts with "afternoon" not "in the afternoon", this is very Chinese. Then he doesn't seem to make a connection between having "time to recover the maltreated body" and "but there is no time for relaxing"...

          Again, very common of a Chinese who doesn't speak English too fluently. But I guess these mistakes could be common for anyone learning the language.......

          In reference to my Chinese speaking abilities Flow, no, I'm not fluent. Wish I was ! I've been learning the language for about 4 years now and I still consider myself a beginner !
          Can you learn it late in life ? Hell yeah ! I didn't start untill I was 23. It took me about 2 and a half years of classes untill I could start to hold down any conversation at all, but that totally dependes on the person. If you put yourself in a situation to use what you have learned (talking to a Chinese person at your local Chinese restaurant) then you will improve much faster.
          There are some great resources in the internet for learning Chinese but I took classes at a local community college. It's an easy language to begin to learn. The basic grammar is really simple and you can use it pretty easy. However, sentance patterns do get tricky after a while. I think it would be difficult, at least for myself, to learn from a book alone. I advise you to try and find a class offering Chinese somewhere around where you live. If you don't have that option then go ahead and buy a book, any book that has the proper pinyin ie; "qiao" not "cheeow" or "cu" not "tsu". After that take it with you to a Chinese restaurant when you have a problem or a question and I'm sure they would get a great kick out of helping you ! From my experience, the Chinese LOVE seeing foreigners trying to learn their language.

          That's what I would do, 'er, uh, did.... And then be like me, or onesr1ng and get yourself over to China ! I have come miles in my ability to speak the language over here. Sometimes I have to pretend that I can't speak 'cause everytime someone hears me speak they bust into 1000 questions, "How long have you been here ? How long have you studied Chinese ? Where do you work ? How much do they pay you ? Do you have a wife ?" And if you answer those sucessfully, forget about it,,, now your really trapped ! Hahahaha

          I don't know. As frustrated as I get with things here, the people do have something about them. Something almost cute. Everything still seems so new to people here.

          Anyway, hope that helped a bit... Your never too old to start learning something new. But seriously, some foreigners can't seem to get this language down right. The proper pronunciation of some of the words seems to be really dificult for some. You should hear the two Canadians at my school try and speak. They say the name of our town, Shouguang, and the Chinese don't even understand them ! That's bad. And they've lived here for three years !
          Last edited by baiwanxi; 05-23-2007, 05:47 AM.
          "Winners turn to losers, losers are forgotten..." - A Tribe Called Quest

          Comment


          • #6
            Well as a linguist I should do slightly better than them but I'm still French...

            I think my best bet is to find a teacher, or a course...The worst thing is that my gf speak Chinese very well, but can't teach it properly. It's true, it's not enough to be able to speak and L when it comes to teaching it.

            I might follow your tracks guys, I'm a TEFL certified non-native speaker of English! LOL

            But I'd rather teach my L1 i think.

            About teaching in CN, I'm sorry to stang amongst the inquisitive clan lol but for information, how much do you actually earn? Do you have a proper job or you just do conversational Eng? Are you a CQT (Certified Qualified Teacher)? And lastly how did you get the job, though an agency or by looking on your own?

            It's great to have somone who's on the spot, excuse me if I take my chance for asking so may qyestions but hey this is called opportunism LOL.

            Cheers
            The East? The West?

            Men and Women, that's all...

            Comment


            • #7
              Not a problem. I'm happy to answer any questions, plus, you never know if someone else out there might be thinking about teaching in China and you're asking the same question the he/she has.

              I am earning 4000 yuan a month, about 500 usd or 750 euros, right ? It doesn't sound like much but it allows me to live like a king here ! When food at a nice restaurant will cost you 10 to 30 yuan, depending on your appetite and beer costs 4 yuan for a 22 ounce bottle (sorry, I'm American, i don't know the litters, Oh, 630 ml, found a bottle !) life is good. Also, you should get a decent to large (2 or 3 bedroom) apartment for free and you shouldn't have to pay for anything in it, furniture, elec., water, or gas. I found the job through my Chinese teacher in America who has a cousin who works here. But finding a job is a piece of cake, just go online and search for 'em. www.eslteachersboard.com is a good one. Many of the jobs listed online pay well but make you work a heafty load sometimes requiring extra, out of class, projects. I am not certified but I did have experience in the US teaching ESL. I will be certified before returning, but it's more for me than the school. I will teach at a University next semester and they hired me because of my past experience and my ability to speak clearly. Of course I was able to see them in person. When applying for the position online, the certification and bachelors degree hold the weight. Also, being that I didn't find the position online, I will not be paid the typical 6000 yuan p/month that most schools offer. I will only be paid 4000 or so, this is more the standard, but my work load will be 12-16 classes a week as opposed to the 20-25 required by most online ad's.
              OH, and yes, I do just teach conversational English, but what that actually entails is teaching a ton of vocab that they have missed and you find necessary to conduct your lessons, having them write so they can remember the vocab you have taught and as a gateway to having them speak, playing games, and all sorts of other random suprises that don't fall into the catagory of conversation... It's much more of a regular English class than I planned on teaching. To think you can just walk into the class and talk for 40 minutes is a joke.

              Well, I guess that's good for now. Just fire away if you have any more questions.

              Oh, and if you have a girlfriend who speaks Chinese why not learn from her ??? I mean, if you pick up some of the basic words she should be able to help you say them correctly and in the right order, right ?! That's way more of an opportunity than most have. Certainly more than I ever had. True, nothing beats a proper teacher, but you got the next best thing !!!!
              "Winners turn to losers, losers are forgotten..." - A Tribe Called Quest

              Comment


              • #8
                I think it sounds like a great opportunity to discover China from the inside.

                I suppose they got you a One year Alien Resident Certificate or something? Can you renew it or is it just one year and then go home?

                I think the pay is alright if you do that on the short term...But to make savings for the future when back to the US or EU looks like quite a challenge with this kind of money...It also depends on what you wanna do back in your homeland.

                I can't rely on her to teach me Chinese, it just doesn't work, we are too close to be serious about it lol. She could help me if I have an occasional question on pronounciation but I need someone who has a proper structure and methodology etc...So I could go past the Ni Hao ma and Ni Jiao Shenme...LOL can't show off much with these two!HAHAHA.

                Thanks for your answers

                I'm definitly going to do it one day, I think it's awesome.
                The East? The West?

                Men and Women, that's all...

                Comment


                • #9
                  don't go through an agent, they just end up taking about 500-1000rmb of your monthly salary, for esentially introducing you to a school and helping with paper work. you can do it on your own -- which is what i did -- either by going there and walking into schools or by finding a school online that is looking for teachers. you don't need to be certified to get a job, but, if you're not a native speaker, certification is helpful.

                  i was paid 5,500rmb per month. in taiwan it's 55,000tb. 33tb to one dollar.. so it's much easier to save there.

                  as for chinese, it's been five years. i'm an advanced student, but i put myself through school in taiwan for two and a half years. and now, since graduating, i've also obtained a masters in chinese studies ( -- in a language based program, for translators, chinese teachers, business people, etc.)

                  like bai said, it depends on the person. you shouldn't think, however, that in a few months you will get a handle on the language simply because you are in china( i thought this way at first), for it's difficult to really progress while teaching english all day!! i guess that was part of my motivation at the time for moving to taiwan. what do you want from it? what are your motives?

                  ultimately, i suggest reading texts, the same texts, everyday, untill you basically memorize them and are able to use the contents of said materials in any situation, at will. if you don;t have a teacher, listen to tapes and mock the native speakers voice. when you can say it "almost" exactly the way the native speaker says it, then move on to another text, but go back and review constantly. start with short dialogues. i have about 200 1 to 2 page essays that i read through, and add to, just to keep up fluency. when they become so easy that you can just glance at the page and recite it on your own, you can probbaly throw it away and replace it with another. this practice is very important to understanding chinese intonation, connotation, increasing vocabulary, not to mention your pronounciation and ability to think in chinese. the contents will depend on your motives, but i believe this type of method works well when studying chinese regardless of your level. u need only find things that interest you or are related to your goals.

                  here;s a site with a great collection of links: http://www.uni.edu/becker/chinese2.html
                  ZhongwenMovies.com

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Great Website, full of resources.

                    You know Onesp1ng you were the 1 who actually gave me the idea of taking a TEFL course -at a time I didn't really know what to do...Without actually knowing it, you have influenced my future to a certaine extent.

                    And now I'm majoring in TEFL and Translation, as well as the equivalent but for French...

                    Strange isn't it? I found my vocation on Russbo, isn't it a great forum??!!

                    Yea I knew that they mainly hired Native speakers...Which is quite stupid, this is not a qualification, it doesn't necessarily make a good teacher (Baiwanxi even says that it is not only about making a bit of conversation in English).

                    As I have been a second language learner myself I actually am well aware of the difficulties one may experiment during the language acquisition process. Having gone through that, I can help students to overcome their difficulties better. Furthermore, most of us Non-Natives have majored in Teaching which is quite a plus on a theoretical and practical basis (I already teach in Secondary schools on a regular basis -and if you survive these British schools you're ready for war!!).

                    Yet, appart form China and Thailand, they always require the Teacher to be a Native (Taiwan-Korea)...So ****ing unfair for us...That's why I didn't wanna limit myself to the teaching of English only and also have to major in French, as a "safety net".

                    Regarding learning Chinese, I think I'm gonna take a proper course in a local College. When you're pretty busy it's difficult to really get better at something on the long run, you easily get bored, tired...And doing lots of sports doesn't help either.

                    I still wonder how did you both get Visas and Work permits and how long can you stay -and under what conditions?
                    The East? The West?

                    Men and Women, that's all...

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Yeah, I've got a residence permit. Started as a "z" visa for working in China and the school will take care of it for you, change it into a residence permit. It can be easily renewed each year that you stay in China to teach as long as you are working at a school that is permited by the Govt. to have foreign teachers.

                      As far as the non-native thing goes. I can't really sympathize.

                      Our school hired a French lady this past term. She has two masters dergrees and is working on her doctorate. She is fluent in four languages but she has a HORRIBLE accent ! I don't mean to be mean, but French and Indian people have the worst accents when speaking English. In all honesty it's really unfair to the kids to have her as a teacher. She may be able to teach good but the accent is just too much ! Sometimes we (the native English speakers) even have a hard time understanding her, so imagine the Chinese kids. It's really unfair for them.The school next to ours has hired a guy from Ireland, and in all honesty he's not much better. Once again, sometimes I have a hard time understanding him, imagine his students. It's bad enough that these kids have to learn two different forms of English and be able to distinguish between the two, British and American, but put a heavy accent from another country on top of that and......

                      Well I think you can see what I'm getting at.
                      "Winners turn to losers, losers are forgotten..." - A Tribe Called Quest

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Yea I admit Frenchies have great difficulties with the pronunciation of any other language than their, due to the nature of their own language.

                        This teacher must be pure French in the way she speaks and even I can't stand them. They don't even really try hard.

                        I've lived in England for 5 years non-stop, I've had the occasion to interact in English quite a few times. Actually, I haven't spoken French more than once a year or less... When I speak the locals don't even guess I'm from France -which is a compliment!!!I'm not saying my accent is accurate enough, I'm still working on it, but I'm nearly there.

                        The problem with these geeks is that they might have 100 diplomas, read the whole of Shakespeare, but never taught in a real class. Or maybe they did, but in their homeland where, indeed, most English teachers are locals. My English teacher at school had a horrible French accent. I started learning English when I first stepped in the UK.

                        I know Chilians, Polish, Jamaicans who are great English teachers. They speak the most standard BBC English, which is fine for their pupils. That also is because we have been trained for 3 years on TEFL instead of going through the usual 1 month course.

                        Some are more skilled than others, and it all has to do with experience as well. I'm sorry for your poor students though, this French teacher should rather teach...French in Beijin or somtn...If even you can't understand what she says there definitly is a...problem let's say!
                        The East? The West?

                        Men and Women, that's all...

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Yep ! You hit the nail on the head !
                          From the sound of it, you wouldn't have that problem. If you want to find a job over here, it sound ballsy, but maybe you should just do what onespr1ng said, just come here and go knock on the school's door. Most every school here is looking for an oral English teacher. If you come here to find the job you have the advantage of the interviewer being able to hear your pronunciation. That's a big plus. That's just what I did for this upcomming term and just what got me the job. I just walked right into the school and wondered around until I found the foreign affairs office (it will always be in the administration building), knocked on the door and said I was looking for a job. You need to have the necessary info with you or be able to bring it up on the computer so they can print it out (copies of your passport, resume, degree, certification, recomendation letter if you have one), but after that you just talk. Most likely, if they need the teachers and you speak clearly, you'll get the job ! No shit !

                          It's scarry but it works. Worked for me. One of the schools foreign affairs directors even told me that it's the best way for someone like you or me to get a job. They prefer it as well, because it's easy for 'em. No scouting around, and they know what they got as you stand in front of them.

                          Like I said. If you end up with more questions as you get down to actually doing it, just ask !
                          "Winners turn to losers, losers are forgotten..." - A Tribe Called Quest

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                          • #14
                            Without actually knowing it, you have influenced my future to a certaine extent.
                            i'm touched, i think....

                            ummm, flow, you obviously have a great command of the language. i don't think it'll be too much of an obstacle for you....in terms of acquiring work. and, as you know, it's often better to be taught by a non native speaker. i have many friends, from different places where english is not the "mother" language, who teach extremely well. a guy that i know from germany, in fact, taught me a lot about teaching //english//. a russian couple that i once worked with taught me quite a bit too. a non native speaker has greater potential, in my opinion, to teach the language in a more understandable and logical manner. this applies to chinese as well.

                            the visa will be worked out for you by the school. in the event that you go there on a tourist visa, they'll change it for you or have you take a trip to hongkong. you can stay as long as you want, or, as long as you're wanted.

                            if you go to taiwan and start school there, you can work a full time job on the side (illegally). everyone does it. it's not only a great way to learn the language (having two hours of one-on-one classes per day in a chinese speaking environment), you can make money and aren't forced to depend on any one school.... of course, if you chose to go this route, you'd need to keep up your tuition payments in order to maintain your student visa. then again, you could contract with a school and take classes on the side (which is also apparently illegal).

                            anyhow, glad i could help mate..
                            ZhongwenMovies.com

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                            • #15
                              放几个方块字上来俺瞅瞅,那才叫牛

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