Vagabonding begins!

I walked out of the bus station in ZhengZhou into a whirlwind of Asian madness.

I was eveloped by a chaos of colorful signs, people, traffic, bicycles, and pollution. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere, and 10,000 horns blasting filled the air. I am vagabonding in Asia again, and I love it!

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Every place that I go seems to get a theme song stuck in my head.

The song for my kung fu experience in Deng Feng strangely ended as being “Country roads” by John Denver. My whole team ,which comes from a multitude of different countries, knows at least the chorus and we have sang it on various occasions like while running to lift our spirits. My German friend Jonathan knows the enire song. I am from the region the song is talking about and I don’t even know the words!

As expected, my exit from the Shaolin kung fu school (Shaolin Temple Xiao Long Wu Yuan) which has been my home for the last 32 days was bittersweet. For what seems like an eternity, I have laid in my bed at night and thought of this day. It is hard to believe that the day has come.

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Another member of my group gets treated for a sore neck I watched as another long needle slid easily into my knee. OK, Im lying. I had my head turned and eyes closed like a big ... [Continue reading this entry]

The old saying goes "sticks and stones will break my bones...." I dont know about the stones part yet, but I am learning that the stick will make quite a mark on me. Literally. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Myself and a couple of buddies at the temple The days continue to speed by and I am enjoying training more than ever. (no, it isnt a typo!) Sure, I still roll my eyes and ... [Continue reading this entry]

An angry sifu keeps a close eye on his flock This place has the eerie ability to make time feel like it is both crawling and flying by. It seems just ... [Continue reading this entry]

Today is the one year anniversary of my grandmother's death last year. She lived nearby and we were quite close. Unfortunately she passed away while I was in the Netherlands, so I did not get to tell her any sort ... [Continue reading this entry]

Deng Feng is the name of the little town where my gong fu school, the Shaolin Temple Xiao Long Wu Yuan, is located. Xiao Long means "little dragon" and there are about 4000 little ... [Continue reading this entry]

Every muscle in my body was quivering in protest. The veins in my neck looked as if they would burst and send a blue flood onto everyone around me. The filthy concrete just below my ... [Continue reading this entry]

Despite being sick like everyone else around here, I am pleased with my progress in the Kung Fu world. Even with injuries, I have never been late or missed a single minute ... [Continue reading this entry]