Hong Kong TV Station Visits our Academy

—— A Hong Kong kungfu fan comes to Wudang to learn kungfu

In mid-March 2010, after three successive days of rain, warm sunlight shone into the training ground of the China Wudang Kungfu Academy. On the morning of the 16th, a kungfu fan from Hong Kong, attracted to Master Chen Shixing's school, began four days of school life. The accompanying Hong Kong TV station would record his school life through a new perspective to explain Wudang kungfu and health-preserving methods to the public of Hong Kong, allowing them to understand Wudang and Wudang culture better.

On the morning of the 16th before the class, Master Chen introduced himself to the Hong Kong trainee. After studying kungfu, Master Chen taught Wudang taiji in many parks in Wuhan and Shanghai, with the dream of popularising Wudang kungfu and spreading Wudang culture, hoping Wudang taiji could become part of public life. He then returned to Wudang and opened his own kungfu school. The Hong Kong trainee was greatly impressed by Master Chen's story. When the wushu class began, the Hong Kong trainee was eager to start and joined the training. After a warm up of stretching and kicking, Master Chen patiently explained the main points of these movements and demonstrated them. Later, all the trainees threw themselves into training. During the training, Master Chen corrected and guided their movements. As the old saying goes: "Emulate those better than oneself; choose and follow what is good." Trainees also learned from each other and understood the principles of the movements. During a short break, the Hong Kong trainee kept on inviting Master Chen to fight with him. We saw Master Chen moving quickly, and in just one movement the Hong Kong trainee fell to the ground. Because their body types are very different, everyone said it is truly 'moving a thousand cattle with four tales'. In the afternoon, Master Chen taught the health-preserving class. After some time practising standing, everyone sat down to begin meditation.

On the morning of the 17th before daybreak, the trainees got together early in the training ground in preparation for the morning run. As the old saying goes: "The best time of the year is spring; the best time of the day is morning." Listening to the song of birds and breathing the fresh air, everyone felt full of energy and lined up to run along the mountain road. The running seemed very easy. As the road slopes grew, the difficulty and intensity also increased, but everyone's physical strength and stamina withstood the rigorous test. In the afternoon, when the Hong Kong trainee heard that Master Chen showed Wudang Xuanmen Sword in October 2008 at the World Traditional Wushu Festival and won the Wudang sword gold medal, he hoped that Master Chen could present his superb swordsmanship. Unable to refuse, Master Chen showed them Qixing Jian (Seven Star Sword). There was great applause and the Hong Kong TV station recorded the wonderful performance. In the evening, Master Chen led trainees in the practice of iron palm. Before training, they had to put their hands into a special liquid medicine for five minutes. The trainees used their palms to beat an iron sandbag. They repeated the movement again and again, and tossed the bag and caught it quickly. In order to further practise finger strength, practitioners needed to maintain a hollow palm, just using the fingers to do push-ups. After practising, the trainees put their hands into the liquid medicine again and let them dry in the air. Master Chen said different schools have different iron palm training methods and liquid medicines. The liquid medicine was researched and produced by a Wudang Daoist doctor in order to practise iron palm. It is good for activating blood circulation to dissipate blood stasis and is a big advantage to enable practitioners to master iron palm quickly. Afterwards the trainees had heavy arms and their hands were weak and numb. They understood the meaning of the old saying, "Rome wasn't built in a day."

On the afternoon of the 19th, Master Chen demonstrated 'dragonfly splashes the water', which is kind of qinggong. His superb skills took people's breath away and stimulated the curiosity of trainees. The trainee consulted Master Chen about the requirements of learning Wudang qinggong. Master Chen said: "Practitioners must have two characteristics. One is to be hard-working. Normal people could not bear the long training time, the severity of the training, and the suffering of the training. The other is to have the necessary spirit to practise kungfu." His speech was enlightening. After a short break, facing the enthusiastic trainees, Master Chen displayed his unique technique – four steps to kick a bottle first time. In a very short time, after just three steps on a three-metre wall, Master Chen turned around to kick the bottle. People eyes were opened at this excellent performance.

During the four days of training, the Hong Kong trainee benefited a great deal from Master Chen. Before his departure, he thanked Master Chen again and again to show his respect. The staff of the Hong Kong TV station also expressed tremendous admiration for Master Chen.

2010-03-21