Life at Yun Tai as a foreign student…
My first experience training in Shaolin Kung Fu under Shi Yan Lin and Yuan Shifu was in my late twenties. In England, I had trained in kickboxing and boxing, but I had no experience in Kung Fu and couldn’t speak any Chinese. The first two weeks were really tough! Over time, however, my fitness, endurance, strength, flexibility and Kung Fu skills started to improve. With encouragement from the other international students and my teacher, I no longer felt like the ‘new person’ and was able to help others, just as they had helped me when I first arrived. The Chinese language lessons at the school really helped me improve my communication skills and enabled me to talk to locals in the nearby town and city. I even featured in a Chinese TV documentary about foreigners who came to China to train in Shaolin Kung Fu!
After a serious car accident in my thirties that injured my spine, I never dreamt I would be able to return to China to train in Kung Fu. Yet, six years later, I came back to China to spend three months at Yun Tai. My Shifu helped me adapt my training to accommodate my injuries, which was a great help and kept me motivated and constantly learning. My flexibility improved greatly, as did my confidence and belief in myself and my ability to continue training at a good level. After a few weeks at the school, my Shifu told me about a major competition coming up and asked if I would like to enter. I decided to give it a go and began training intensively for the competition over the following month. The opening ceremony at the Shaolin Temple and the five days of competition, with participants from around the world, were an amazing experience. I was very proud to win a silver medal in my category. The support and team spirit among the international and Chinese teams at Yun Tai were phenomenal.
I am currently at Yun Tai for the fourth time. It is great to train with some of the returning students again, as well as meet new students who are here for the first time. You soon settle back into the weekly routine at the school, continuing to improve your Kung Fu skills and learn about Chinese culture.
I will definitely be back for a fifth time next year to train at the school again and take part in the competition. I look forward to catching up with old friends here and meeting new ones.
My advice to new students would be to work on your basic fitness before coming. Practise and improve your running, and focus on developing your flexibility in advance, as this will help you. Come with an open mind, as Chinese culture is very different from Western culture, so you will need to learn to adapt to life at a Chinese school.
Wendy from England
Germany · 3 months