I spent 6 month in total at the Tianmeng Kung Fu Academy (planed to stay 4 months, extended 2 months more). My adventure in this school was really amazing, and this for many reason.
First, the lessons, the training at the academy is hard. If you want to improve, you need to train hard and push yourself every day. If you do this, you will improve very fast and learn many things you can’t learn anywhere else. During my stay, I’ve been training: Basic kung fu, Shaolin, Meihua, Tai Chi, Qi gong, different weapons, Wing Chun and Hard Qi Gong. I’ve also been training a lot my power and flexibility. Those different kinds of exercises are really nice to improve all your body and your mind.
More, the masters are really amazing. During my 6 month I have been learning from 6 different masters, each master has his own specialty and a lot of experience to share. They are all very patient and great teachers, I never been learning so much anywhere else. Out of the lesson they are also very nice and sometimes really fun! Also many times, the training is specific for the different students; this is really good when you want to learn specific things. (What an amazing moment training outside, looking around all the students training his own and different weapon for example)
The accommodations at the academy are quite basics but it’s definitely enough for a kung fu school. The private room is really important to get a private space where you can have a rest and be with yourself. Also the food is nice, get ready to practice your chopsticks and get Chinese traditional food every day, it can be a bit strange at the beginning but it’s really good! If you need something at the academy, you can ask anytime to Dawei the manager or a translator, they are always ready to help you for anything (visa problem, shopping, questions…) it’s really helpful when you are in such a different country and when you can’t speak Chinese.
During my stay, I met many many students from the entire world, and I can just say that I met some really awesome people! The atmosphere at the academy is amazing, it’s a kind of second family, it’s important because most of the students (like me) are alone in this adventure. In this school, you can train hard every day, get a lot of pain, and sooo tired, but also have a lot of fun and get some amazing friends.
As I said previously, this school is like a home, during my stay in Asia, I decided to travel in China and Thailand so I left my sports clothes and different accommodations at the academy to get a light bag. I didn’t know when I was coming back and didn’t tell anything when this day arrived. I just arrived, get my things back and train on the afternoon like the other students. It was really like coming back home.
There is so many things to tell about this adventure, I arrived in China to discover a new way of life, a new culture and more about me. This is what happened, I learned so many things I couldn’t imagine before and change my vision on many things (difficulties, pain, adventure, respect, Qi…). I really had amazing times there, and I hope that I will come back one day to train and see all the people I met there.
I did some videos during my stay there to give some news to my family and friends on YouTube : Les aventures de Titi en Chine. It is in French but it can help to show you life at the academy and in China (I wrote this feedback on September , 20,2015).
Kung Fu, or rather Gong Fu (Mainland China), I learned, meaning “with effort”, or something close to “work” (gong) and “time” (Fu). It applies to a skill or anything, that is carefully and mindfully acquired and exercised over time to the best of one’s abilities. It requires patience, introspection, discipline,...
★★★★★ 5/5
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