Giulia Pruschwitz from Germany sharing her experience training at the Yuntai Mountain School in China.
Training at Yuntai shan International Culture and Martial Arts School
When I decided to travel to the booming and mystical country of China to learn Shaolin Kung Fu, I had no experience at all concerning martial arts. The reasons for my attraction to Kung Fu were especially the Chinese weapons and the acrobatic aspect- how awesome would it be to do aerials and all kinds of fancy flips!
My original plan was to stay at YunTai Shan international school for one or two month, but I finally ended up staying for 5.
Especially the first couple of weeks, my body really had to get used to the Shaolin training; 8 of exercise per day are not easy to master with pain in every part of your body.
The first hour of training in the morning, starting at 6am, has definitely always been the most intense one. Afterwards we either went running, power- stretched each other, practiced kicks, worked on acrobatics or our Kung- Fu forms. On Saturdays we even got to learn some Tai Chi.
Very soon my body and mind adapted to the lifestyle of the school and the reason for this consists of three main aspects: the team, our shifu (=master) and my personal development.
I was really surprised by how kind and supportive everyone always is; by how much a team that is always behind you can boost the results of your training. Training hard and “suffering” together really created lifelong bonds between us all. Also in the evenings and on free days we would usually meet and play games or watch movies.
Our trainer, Shifu Yuan, was amazingly talented in pushing people and motivate us to always go beyond our limits and even further. He’s constantly being a teacher, not only during the training, making you familiar with Chinese culture and traditions.
Finally it was the fact that I recognized so much fuel for my personal growth here that made me want to extent my stay at the school. My body changed, Kung Fu made my confidence grow and I was even able to do an aerial at the end!
In my five month stay I learned two fist forms and furthermore forms with the gun (stick), the shan zi (fan) and the jian (straight sword).
I am really grateful for my amazing experience and all the people I met.
Giulia Pruschwitz, Germany
