Exam Day

Ni hao! It is outstanding how when you don't think the days on this trip could get any better, they do. Today was an absolutely phenominal day. We woke up early again, 5 am this time, and walked over to the Shaolin Temple. Our hotel is in a great location because it is a 5 minute walk to the temple. We made the walk today with great excitement because we knew that waiting for us at the Shaolin Temple was a real warrior monk who would be leading today's kung fu lessons. We were soon at the temple's courtyard and were greeted by our master monk. He was 24 years old and has been a monk for 10 years. It is very surprising that while the monks and kung fu masters are so physically fit and strong, they are not very muscular or buff. Anyways, the monk first had us warm up and strech. The first exercise was a Tai Chi kung fu routine similar to what we did with the Tai Chi master. We had to channel our energy and use it to strech the far limbs of our body. Tai Chi is a very relaxing martial art and makes you feel really good after you do it. The next two exercises we increadibly dificult. The first was the horse posture and the second was the long stance. For the first one you had to squat with your feet about two and a half foot lengths away and your knees bent at a 90 degree angle. We were told to hold it for two minutes but I could barely hold it for thirty seconds. The kung fu masters deffinately have extreme leg stregnth because the monk explained that he usually does that stance for 30 minutes a day. The second position was a little easier, we had to extend one leg and keep the other bent at 90 degrees. The monk had us hold this for 2 minutes on each side as well. It was a lot easier then the previous one, but maintaining the proper position was still a dificult task. After doing those two positions for a prolonged amount of time the monk had us do them rapidly and switch. On his count we would do the long stance to the left and then the horse followed by the long stance to the right then the horse again and so on. He made us do 20 of these in a row and stressed the presition as we did each switch. That drill marked the end of our stretches and it was time to begin todays first lesson. Our group's first lesson was in kicks. The monk demonstrated three kicks for us durring lesson one. He had us all line up in the courtyard of the temple in two single file lines next to eachother for our practice. He demonstrated the first one, a normal forward kick with your arms straight out, your fingers pointing upward, and your thumb tucked in. After the demonstration, the monk had each of us do the kick two people at a time from one side of the court yard to the other and then back. The next kick was with our hand in the same position and kicking our foot in a circle from out to in while keeping our upper body still. We also did this kick two at a time from one side to the other and back with our right leg first and then our left and so on. This was a lot more dificult then the first one because it was a big challange to keep you upper body still and get your leg high enough up. The third, and final, kick was very similar to the one before but rather then going outside to in, we went inside to out. Again, this was dificult but the monk did all three with ease so we need to at least attempt them as well.

Our first lesson of the day ended and our next stop for the morning was the Pagoda Forest. This collection of pagodas was only two minute walk from the temple courtyard. Now if you don't know what a pagoda is, because I did not until today, it is sort of like a grave. It looks like a tall and thin building with a few terraces. Each pagoda had either 3, 5, or 7 levels depending on the importance of the person burried there. A pagoda would be used to bury the monks and would contain their creamated remains. If the monk was very important then they would get their own pagoda with no openings and a certain number of levels depending on their contributions as a monk. If it is not determined that they deserve their own then their remains would be put in a public pagoda which is 7 levels and has opened windows to insert the remains in. The pagodas are all made of stone and are hand carved with things that the monk enjoyed in life. One of the pagodas that we saw was the newest one, built in 2005, it is made of a single stone that was then carved into a beautiful urn. The carvings on it included a laptop, airplane and other interesting symbols that were a sign of the times. In all there used to be 500 pagodas at this pagoda forest, however, many of the pagodas have been destroyed and today there are only about 250 pagodas in this "forest".

When we finished viewing the beautiful pagodas we had time for a quick break and then breakfast. A little while later it was time for lesson two with the master monks. Since the temple had opened for tourist by this time, we met the monks in a valley on the mountain a small walk away from the temple. We were greated by four masters this time, two monks and two monks-in-training. This lesson was our final practice before we would be tested on the routine that we learned at the Small Dragon Kung Fu School. The masters had us line up in our formation and run through the routine numerous times. While we thought that we knew it, the monk did the routine much faster and with a few different and more powerful moves. The monks did not simply move from one position into the next, they made all of the moves one routine and had very smooth and distinct transitions. It was a slightly dificult transition from our teacher at the kung fu school who was there to help improve us to the monks who were there more to test us. Nonetheless, we took the challange and met it head on. To think that only two days ago most of our group did not know a single thing about kung fu and today we would be tested by the best kung fu masters in the world. We watched the masters and practiced our routine with them until it was perfected and we were prepared for our test later in the day. When they felt that we knew the routine well they released us and our group was on our way to lunch and then had another small break.

After our break we all walked back to the Shaolin Temple for our offical Kung Fu test. The two monks that we were with earlier in the day were there along with one of the monks-in-training. We had one quick time to review the routine and then it was testing time. We were tested two people at a time with the monk-in-training guiding us and the two warrior monks observing us. It was a very nerve racking test, almost as bad as the SAT's, and the stage fright really threw a lot of us of. Even so, the monks let a few little errors go with everyone and all 12 students and 4 teachers received certificated for our Kung Fu training. It was a truly amazing experience that we were some of the very few people in the world to ever train in Kung Fu with the Shaolin Warrior Monks.

After we finished our exam we had time to rest until our farwell party. In our hotel room we turned on the television and, even though we couldn't understand a word that was said, I noticed something interesting. On Chinese TV rather then having 30 second commercials, like we are used to in America, they have 10 second comercials. I guess that the Chinese are just smarter in this respect because they can make triple the money on tv commercial sales. This observation pointed out that their are differences in our cultures and life styles even in the smallest details like commercials. Anyways, today was not about finding the differences between American and Asian culture, it was about embracing the culmination of the two throughout our two week journey in China.

Our rest was over and the group loaded on the bus to begin our farewell party. The first thing, of course, was our feast. We would never go to a feast alone in China, though. On our way to the restaurant we made two stops to pick up the warrior monks and the kung fu students that we had been learning with durring the past couple of days. There are not many people who can say that rode on a bus with a monk but now I can. The bus was not the coolest part; when we arrived at the reasturant our groups split up so that we would all have an interpeter and either monks or kung fu students eating with us. I was lucky enough to sit at the table with two warrior monks, Andy and Tommy. Andy spoke pretty good English so it was easy to sustain a conversation and I learned so much from him. The monks explained all of the rules they must follow such as they cannot lie, kill, have a girl friend and more. It was also interesting that when they explained their reasons for being a monk. Andy explained that he attended a kung fu school and became a warrior monk because it was the best training for kung fu and he wants to be in movies like Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee. Tommy, on the other hand, became a warrior monk for the spiritual side of it and he doesn't want to leave the temple; he eventually wants to become the head monk. The drastic contrast between the two was very interesting to observe. Other interesting things that they shared at the meal were that they practice kung fu about 6 hours a day and only pray 45 minutes a day. Their days also consist of time for learning and some leasure time. For fun the warrior monks like to play soccer and basketball and some have computers. Andy said that he uses his computer to help learn English. An awesome thing about him is that he has a facebook account. As soon as I heard that I got on my blackberry and sent him a friend request. I'm so excited to have a monk as a friend on facebook! The meal was absolutely outstanding and I couldn't believe that was only the begining of our party.

The monks, students, and all of us got back in the bus for our next stop which was the Shaolin Temple. When we arrived at the temple the warrior monks directed us to a room which is the monk's kung fu practice room. When we walked in we were greated by 60 monks-in-training and 20 kung fu students who were all cheering for our arrival. It was such a great feeling when they welcomed us so warmly. The two groups were seated on the floor in a very strict formation with perfect rows. This was just one last sign of the dicipline of the Chinese children. As we sat down we were welcomed to a night of cultural blending. The discovery deligation was asked to come up first to present our long awaited song, Shaolin Shaolin. We all sang it to the crowd and it was deffinately the best we have done so far. The other kids were cheering and screaming which made us feel so good. It feels amazing that we now have a little bit of Chinese musical culture to bring home. The next group to go was the warrior monks and, since we sang a song in all Chinese, they sang one in all English. It was very interesting that we had no clue what the song was but it was sung very nicely and such a cool gesture to exchange the experiences and we cheered for them so loud. The last group to go was the Small Dragon Kung Fu School students. They marched onto stage in unicen and reacted to the leader's commands in military style. These students truly are brought up in a different way then most American students because they basically go to Chinese boot camp all their life. When they were given the command, they faced forward stood tall and began singing their school song. We did not understand any of it but it was a very nice way to explore their culture further after learning with them. When this first part was over, we started a small talent show. Every group had a few students sing songs, do a martial arts routine, or dance. It was cool to listen to the songs that were played. One of the warrior monks began to sing a song in Chinese and the two other groups all knew the song perfectly and sang along. We also have songs like that in America but this was a moment to realize the grand scope of music and how much it effects every cultures identity. The final thing at the party was a martial arts exhibition. The warrior monks went first and their presentation was mind boggeling. They had different routines using swords and flips, punches and kicks and more amazing stunts. Two of the preformers were only six years old and were phenominal. They were doing back flips on their head using no hands. Some of the other moves included contortioning; one of the warrior monks put his feet behind his head and with his fists through his legs he lifted his body. I was in pain just watching his body do these things. Another preformer had two swords and was twirling them in ways that looked absolutely increadible. For the last routine, all of the warrior monks each acted as one of the animals of the zodiac with their kung fu postures. This was also how the preformance from the day before at the kung fu school ended. It must be a common routine for a kung fu show because of their focus on culture and the zodiac. When that preformance ended our group was filled with fear because it was our turn to end the party with our kung fu routine. We stood on the mats with our four masters from the kung fu school guiding us. I was shoked to because of how good it felt like we were doing. I think that everyone tackled every move and succeeded with the whole routine. When we ended the audience exploded in applause and I was filled with happiness to know that I was able to successfully learn a Chinese song and a kung fu routine and preformed it for some of the most skilled kung fu masters in the world.

This trip has really expanded my views on Asian culture and history and has taught me things I could have never know. Tomorrow is a day of travel back to Beijing and then we all have a big duck dinner together. After that it is time to get a plane and make our way home. It is really sad that such an amazing adventure is coming to an end but, as the old saying goes, "don't be sad it's over, be happy it happened".