Learning Kung Fu in the Mountains of Central China
“Welcome to Boot Camp!”
“You are basically paying them to imprison and torture you.”
“The first morning you wake up after training, every inch of your body will be sore. The second day, it will be worse. On the third day, you will be in so much pain you want to die. On the fourth, you will wonder how it got worse.”
I heard all of these quotes from fellow students at the Song Shan Shaolin Temple Xiao Long Kung Fu Training Center, and after four days I can attest to their accuracy. 
We are in the mountains near the Original Shaolin Temple. We are learning Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Chinese language. But it is definitely not close to anything I expected. There are no monks, no temples or anything remotely close to the myth of Chinese Kung Fu training. Rather, I am one of forty foreigners studying with four-thousand Chinese youths at a military-style boarding school.
We wake up at 5:40am everyday and head out for an hour of early morning training before breakfast. Then we train for a few hours before lunch. We have about three hours to sleep and rest before waking up for more afternoon training. Eat dinner and then even more training. Usually get back to the room around 21:00 and pass out shortly afterwards. Wake up the next day, and repeat for the next month.
I am sore… all of my muscles ache… but I’m still feeling good about training. At first I was extremely skeptical and quite a bit reluctant to spend the next month here, but the more Kung Fu I witness and the greater muscle fatigue I endure, the more I want get back in shape and be trained. My only lament is a minor injury I’ve been plagued with from the first day of training. An hour and a half run we did on Thursday morning left two popped blisters on my right foot… one of which is now infected and preventing me from participating in the majority of instruction.
All of the other students I’ve met here have been really cool. The Sifu’s (teachers) are extremely skilled and motivating. The living conditions aren’t anywhere close to western standards, but they’re actually pretty good considering the things I’ve seen so far in China. The cafeteria food actually tastes good, although a bit repetitious. Everybody else has to suffer with only cold water, but my roommate purchased a camping shower bag so we can take warm, however trickling showers.
It seems worse for the Chinese students, and I feel a bit of remorse for them. Although they leave the school as exceptionally skilled kung-fu fighters, they do lose their childhood. Life is definitely very different for them. It is not uncommon to see children that must be younger than ten smoke cigarettes. I don’t know how they do it and still cope with the intense training.
Some of them are completely astounding! Every day I see new feats of skill that impress me more than the last. Damn! At their age I really wish I also had a six pack and could do back flips and jump kicks while swinging swords around dramatically.
I think I can cope with the sore muscles and military-style schedule, but it upsets me that a month of training will never come close to the decade of training these kids get. I will never be a Kung Fu master… but I will be able to pull off a couple impressive moves and leave in much better shape than when I arrived.
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Tags: Asia, China, Chinese Kung Fu, School, Shaolin
Adam Shane
Sounds honttoni cool! Good to know you are doing well and being in good condition except the annoying blisters again, which you’d got earlier in Tokyo.
Always wishing you for the best….
you are awesome for sticking through it.
my wife thinks you are awesome, ha!