Wu Dang Shan

So we went to Wu Dang Shan for four nights, considered by most as the birthplace of martial arts and Tai Chi.  We stayed at the Wu Dang Kung Fu Academy.  The place is pretty interesting and very old.  At the place we were staying, they trained body guards to protect the leaders of China and the head master is considered one of the world's ten best and is famous.  The world championships are in Wu Dang in two weeks with 60 some countries competing. The school has several court yards, a castle-like wall, a moat with a structure in the middle, several weapon shelves, and a cool dog with 8 2-week-old puppies.  There were only about 12 students there.  One guy named Mateo from Italy came several months ago and is going to stay for at least three years.  The training is very strict and regimented like the military.  The students get up at 5 every day and go running.  Then they have breakfast at 730.  At 830 they train until lunch at 1230.  Then they have a nap and start again at 230 until 530 for dinner and a break and then train after that until about 9 and it's lights out at 1030.  They do this six days a week, and if they screw up they get punished with a smack on the forehead, and Mateo said the masters break bamboo sticks on the kids' backs sometimes.  One kid stole 200 Yuan last month and apparently got the worst beating for over an hour that he'd seen. But the monks are good people and the kids are lucky, it's just a different culture and a different way of life. Going to train there and study Daoist Philosophy is considered higher education and the kids are held to a higher standard.  The Daoist Philosophy is to give up all vices and rid yourself of worldly desire, and to do that is pretty amazing.

Some of the moves the masters and students can do is amazing.  Front and back flips (off tables) are a norm, and the monks move with the fluidity and grace of any top athlete. They are extremely flexible and precise in their movements.  One of the guys can jump over Mateo who is about 6 feet tall.  One of the monks can lightly push a person and they will go stumbling back.  They can master the energy levels in their bodies and then push that out with one movement. We studied the basics of Tai Chi and meditation for two days. We would walk extremely slow going about 20 feet in 5 minutes, or stand with our arms in front of us with knees and elbows bent for 10 minutes, and do a lot of stretching and basic movements.  One technique is to plant your feet on the ground and keep the rest of your body loose like a noodle.  That way your body moves like a tree in the wind when pushed so that the energy just brushes past you and your feet stay rooted in the ground.

I got my neck massaged by our teacher, a daoist monk.  He did some crazy techniques like putting a lot of weight on pressure points, moving his hands real fast like he was making a fire on my neck to make it hot, pulling up on it to realign it as I breathed in and out, and using his strong fingers ( he can cross his legs and raise his whole body on six fingers) to massage certain points. After words it felt pretty well, but it's still not healed. He said to find someone at a hospital who could do something similar.

The last day we hiked to the top of Wu Dang's main peak.  There is about 70 some peaks there and they are considered one of 7 sacred mountains in China. There were thousands of people on the mountain because it's a holiday, which was kind of a let-down but it was amazing.  To get to the top is a hell-of-a-hike. Literally, I kept saying that as we went up.  We probably climbed 10,000 steps....At some points there is staircases that go up for about 100 yards or more without a break, several hundred steps, and they go straight up, no gradual inclines here. I joked that I could open a t-shirt shop at the top with one shirt that said **** Stairs! and be a Chinese millionaire by the end of the year.
But the top is worth it.

At the top are daoist temples and kung fu academys that are like 7,000 years old. We saw the Purple Temple of Heaven which was amazing.  At the very top you can see the peaks for miles all around you. about 6000 feet plus, at some times in the year you are in the clouds. There is a statue of Buddha which everyone bows and prays to.  Lots of people buy a heart shaped lock and attach it to the cement wall with a prayer or wish.  There's a garden, lots of different buildings for training, altars, and housing.  This mountain has been the site for many Kung Fu movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and the latest Karate Kid.

At the bottom we went to a small forest on the river where monkeys reside.  There were lots of monkeys all around, and the come right up next to you and get all the apples, bread, peanuts, and plums you can muster.  The babies are really funny, as they practice jumping from tree to tree.  They are extremely acrobatic, kind of like the daoist monks.

It was a good trip...