Kung-Fu Classes

I have always been interested in the East Culture, I like reading Confucius, Lao-C’, a poet Li-Po, I was interested and I still am interested in Chinese symbols and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Thus, when I found out that the Confucius Institute is holding Kung-Fu classes at the university this October, I did not hesitate for a long time and I applied for that.

According to the application, I should have been training under a well-recognized Kung-Fu master in a group of about fifteen people. That is not exactly what had happened. I was alone at the first lesson. Except the well-recognized  Kung-Fu master, Bruce Clark. To be honest, I was not really convinced that this short corpulent man in jeans and an old T-shirt could be any good in any martial art at the first sight. I was wrong. Just a few minutes and I discovered how wrong I was. This about sixty years old man was in better physical condition than me and he was doing admirable exercises with unprecedented ease. Sifu Bruce Clark is actually the best disciple of master Pedro Cepero Lee, who is a disciple of Lee Chi Wai, who was a disciple of Yuan Ling, a disciple of Tang Fung, who was one of the best disciples of legendary Wong Fei Hung, a member of Ten Tigers of Guangdong - the group of ten best Chinese fighters in the 19th century. And yet, Bruce Clark was my personal Kung-Fu teacher.

Kung-Fu, he told me, means “Great Effort”, it is about discipline and endurance, you can be Kung-Fu master in painting, it has nothing to do with fighting, it is about effort, discipline and serenity, about union of the body and the soul. The best fighters were working twenty or more years to perfectly control their body without any fighting. But once they had to fight, they just could do it, because they could do anything with their body. Anything they could think of. People usually know what they should do, it is an instinct, the problem is nearly no-one can really do it. Then he told me that life is not easy and never will be. But he also said that the life is much easier if you are strong, both physically and mentally. And also about that is Kung-Fu.

Master Bruce taught me some basic but important exercises. The Horse stance, Crane stance and Dragon stance, Qi Gong - a set of exercises that are performed for a long period of time and help with working with our energy and breath, and also some other useful things. I try to keep doing those every day. I feel very well because of that, I have to say. I try to get a little bit better every day. For example, I can stay in the Horse stance for more than five minutes now. The course ended and so I continue exercising by myself, I have lot of to improve. It also helps me in studying, I can focus better on Math now. Every time my thoughts are confused and disconnected, I simply do one or two Kung-Fu exercises and peace and unanimity are back. I would like to be a Kung-Fu master in Mathematics once. Who knows if it is possible. Maybe I will find out…Anyway, definitely I have what to improve.

Master Bruce once, when he was studying Kung-Fu in the Chinatown, New York, was doing the Horse stance in front of the mirror. It is his favourite exercise. After fifty-six minutes he disappeared. He did not see himself in the mirror. He just was not there. And he did not feel anything. He told me everyone always says that he was working too hard and was too exhausted, and so he disappeared. But master Bruce does not think so, he had totally different feeling, he was not exhausted at all. I personally do not know what to think about this, however, I know I would like to experience it once.

 

Lekce Kung-Fu

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