We arrived in batches.  Sifu Youze picked Carmen, Eddie and myself up at the Zhengzhou airport, about two hours driving time from the school.  After a brief dinner along the way, we arrived at the school in the dark.  Its not until the morning we see how nice the new campus is.

The dorm facility was re-modeled recently. It now has marble walls and the rooms are clean and equipped with new showers. There is a kitchen upstairs where we had our meals every day.  Across from the dorm is a large gym with mirrors where we can practice daily.  Most of our classes were held outdoors in the courtyard near the ancestral temple.  When it was cloudy out, we would take our classes in the gym.  At the other end of the courtyard is a museum housing documents and artifacts on Grandmaster and his collections.  Our group picture that Sifu Tony gave to Grandmaster for his 80th birthday earlier this year is hung inside the museum gallery.

Our daily schedule consisted of three classes per day with Sifu Youhua, the headmaster of the school. Classes were 1.5 to 2 hours in duration, starting at 9am, 3pm and 8:30pm. The morning and afternoon classes are training/review sessions on forms, push-hands and weapons.  The evening classes were focussed on Taiji concepts mostly in Q&A format. Three meals were served daily: 7am, 12 noon and 6pm. In between our meals and classes, we can practice in the gym and run errands.

We usually wake up 5:30am, before breakfast, to practice either in the courtyard or gym. Grandmaster came daily to the school.  We often run into him around 6am.  He was always happy to see us practice and showed us chin na and neutralization moves.  At times, he’d review our forms and suggested corrections.

Before setting the training curriculum, Sifu Youhua reviewed our Lao Jia Yilu form.  We started with two days of Lao Jia Yilu form review.  After that, we had push-hand classes in the morning and weapons review in the afternoon. We got a chance to learn the Taiji ball and even the 26 simplified Chen Taiji competition form.

Besides the busy training curriculum, our hosts set up interesting visits outside the school.  Sifu Youhua arranged for short outings to the local uniform factory and shoe store where we stocked up on Taiji uniforms and shoes. Sifu Youze took us all out to hot pot dinner one night. Sifu Youze also arranged for a day’s visit to the Chen Village and Shaolin Temple. There were so many things to see and do at these sites.  I’ll have to hold off on details. Don’t want to spoil your adventure next time you’re there.

This trip has been great fun for me.  I can finally experience what its like to live and practice Taiji full-time and on location.  Its just like what Sifu Tony was talking about, and more. We had practiced hard, each day, every day for over a week.  Each day that I tried new moves, I can feel myself learning more.  I don’t have to work as hard.  The warm-up time is less. With more practice and perseverance, the muscles are listening better.

Years ago, the Grandmaster risked his life to perfect his art of Taiji. We’re lucky to see him in person and learn from him. We all got to experience Grandmaster’s Chin Na.  Its his way of transmitting the knowledge. My wrist was hurting for days. Its no longer bitter, its all sweet!

I’ll always remember the motto hanging in the gym:
             功夫凭苦练 奥妙賴深思
(Kung fu comes from perseverance in practice,
 Unlocking the true art relies on deep pondering)

Can’t wait for my next trip.  Lots of work to do before then..