Slowing down a bit

Since the weather changed and became cooler, the mornings have been delightful. Leaving my apartment to go to work, there’s a freshness in the air that makes me breathe deeply and smile. In the late afternoon and early evening, the sunlight is really warm and mellow. For once the air seems clear, and the mountains to the north and west of Beijing seem close and clear. I think one reason I’ve got sick this week – and yes, I’m still ill – is that subconsciously I’ve accepted that I can slow down: that I’ve got a place, I’ve got security, and I can be future-focused rather than ohmygodI’vegotthree assignmentsdue-focused.

It’s astonishing how quickly the MBA has receded from my awareness. I really have to keep reminding myself that it’s not over yet. Today I went to the local Kodak studio for more passport photos, so that I can pop up to Tsinghua sometime over the next few days to register.

Right now, I’m typing this in Lush, facing 五道口 station. They’re playing good, laid-back music, and there’s a nice mix of arty foreigners and Chinese students chilling out; it won’t really start warming up for an hour or so yet, though I won;t be here then. Before I came out, I meditated for an hour; I haven’t done that for a while – too long, in fact. One of the things about meditation is that the more you do it, the better your memory comes. The same is true of Taiji, which I have been doing a lot of lately and I feel that I’m reclaiming some of my idealism. I think a few of my MBA classmates would say that I’m an idealist, but that’s only in comparison – and to be fair, it has to be said that the idealism quotient in an MBA classroom is pretty low! I used to be much more of an activist, though, particularly about the environment. Hugh Macleod has a sketch that sums up what happened to me a few years ago:

Now, though, I’ve kind of got over a few hurdles in my life, and I’m starting to get worried about it again. Here are a few things I’ve bookmarked lately:

• China Wakes Up Thirsty and Worried
• The Grim Meathook Future
• Electrical Inefficiency A Dark Spot for China
• Siberian Permafrost Melting
• China hunts for clean energy
• The factory of the world is choking

Depressed yet? What to do about it, though, that’s the question. China, like Singapore, won’t tolerate foreigners meddling in its internal affairs. I guess I can join Greenpeace online, or something, but it feels somehow inadequate.

Ouch – the music’s just gone up to painful levels, and even though it’s good reggae, it’s time to post and leave…

The importance of being martial

As this blog’s header should tell you straight away, I rate martial arts as being one of the most important things in my life, and I put my study wushu as highly as my MBA studies. Maybe even more, because the MBA knowledge will get stale even if I remember it – and I find I’m forgetting lot of it as soon as the exams are over. The martial arts work, though, I’m likely to keep on practising, and benefitting from, for life.

I mentioned before that one reason I love being back in Beijing is that this is the heart of Chinese martial arts. Sure, you can talk about the Shaolin temple and Wudang shan being the homes of the external and internal styles respectively, and they are. But, the best practitioners came to Beijing and a lot of the schools they founded, or the post- Cultural Revolution remnants of them, are still here.

I’m not training at one of these, I hasten to to add. I’m at a very new school, catering for Westerners and teaching in English. Like most of the other students, I found it through an advertisement in one of the expat magazines. That doesn’t make it any less ‘authentic’ though; the head of the school is a martial arts instructor with the Beijing police. I was passing through London for a few days some years back, and I picked up a copy of one of the British martial arts magazines – I forget which one – because the cover was about just that: the combat training of the Chinese police.I remember that it pointed out how widespread martial arts training was in China, meaning that the gangsters can be very tough characters even if they haven’t got guns, so the police have to train hard. My instructor is one of the guys who trains them, meaning he takes it very seriously!

Like most traditional schools, I don’t get trained too much by him personally; mostly I work with the senior student. He’s an Englishman, who’s been here for nine years, speaks excellent Chinese, and trains hard – every day. He really has the traditional relationship with the master, and has pretty much become part of the family. I expected there to be more of a community amongst the students than there is, though. There’s very little cameraderie, or conversation with people who weren’t already friends. I’m surprised at this; most martial arts schools I’ve trained with before have been really social, and I’m not sure what the reason is. One of the little projects I had at the back of my mind when I came to Beijing was to do some kind of study of the foreign martial arts students in Beijing; I guess I’ll have to stay here longer and get in deeper (and, note to self, improve my Chinese) before that’s going to happen!

So what am I studying? The school teaches the three internal martial arts (Taijiquan, Xing-Yi,and Ba Gua Zhang), plus Shaolin Quan and San Da. All of them include various bare-hand forms, plus weapons, plus applications. I’m focussing on Ba Gua Zhang, which is based on circular motion and is both a kickass martial art and a serious meditative practise. Obviously, some level of expertise is needed for that statement to be true, and I’m not there yet! I’ve learned one full sequence of unarmed moves, and now I’m working on a second, plus the basic set of moves for the Ba Gua Jian, which is a double-handed sword about 4 feet long. We start each lesson with a workout and intensive stretching exercises, followed by the 8 Brocade Silk Qi Qong set. It’s a lot to fit in to two hours, and I wish the lessons lasted 3 hours, as with my school in Singapore. Ah well.

Classes are twice a week, and in between I try to practice in the mornings. This is outside my apartment block, and I’m still trying to get over the embarrassment! I’m always watched by many of the block’s contingent of retirees, who probably all get up at about 5am, and have finished their own exercises an hour before I begin mine! I know for sure that there are a lot of good martial arts people in the block; there’s one family in particular where the mother teaches the kids Northern Long Fist – bare hand, sword and spear. In addition, there are at least some younger people who are studying for martial arts degrees at the Physical Education University nearby. So all in all, it takes some courage to get up out there, and practice.

In addition to the Ba Gua, I also practice the Taiji Fist (24 moves, a variant of the standard Beijing 24 Yang Tai ji), and Taiji sabre (88 moves). Lately,I’ve also started trying to revise the Chen Man Chinq 37-move form, which I practised for many years before I went to Singapore, but which I’ve now forgotten a lot of.

It’s a lot to work on, but each one contributes its own benefits. If I’m persistent, though, I’ll eventually master them all. Persistence isn’t easy; I’ve not practised for a while due to, on various days, fatigue, illness or bad weather. But I’ll keep on trying!

Sweat

The humidity in Beijing today has been terrible; it’s been impossible to move without sweating. It’s worse than Singapore, without doubt. On top of that, it’s caused really bad smog, so visibility is low, and the air quality is terrible ;-(

Whether that’s the reason or not, the attendance at Ba Gua class tonight was really low. This means I got a lot of personal tuition from our master, rather than the senior student – and that’s good because he makes me work hard. Combine that with the humidity, and it’s been one heck of a workout!

By chance, I found this article on the Singaporean economy today. Its main point, that in modern Singapore the rich-poor divide is growing bigger and bigger. The figures it gives for what people earn, and the hours they work, fits with what people were telling me in conversation. It’s no wonder that people want to leave, or – if they stay – don’t want children. The consequences of this in the medium term can’t be good.

Pangzi

I’ve started putting on weight since I came to Beijing – haven’t been doing enough bagua practice in the mornings. Last year, in the four months that I was here, I lost a lot of kilos. I’ve decided to stop going to to restaurants for lunch (paid for by the company), and to just eat light food from the supermarket deli – much less oil and salt! However, it’s also been awkward, because up to now everyone from the office has gone to lunch together, soy trying to eat healthier, I’m isolating myself a little from the group (and, as the only non-Chinese in the office, it’s not as if I wasn’t already isolates to some extent). Ah well, think I need to look after my health; the bonding will come over time. Anyway, since I live on the 13th floor of my apartment block, I’ve started to use the stairs, which will do me some good, at least.

Get rid of the rust

Last night’s Ba Gua lesson was great, which is one reason why I’m so tired. The senior student, who normally teaches me was away, so my group was run by the chief instructor. He works us much harder, and though it’s physically more gruelling, it’s easier to get into ‘the flow’. One of the other students commented that my sword form is much better than my empty palm performance, whereas it’s normally the other way round. I don’t know, I just find it easier to work with swords – it’s the same with Tai Ji, where I’m better with the sabre than with the fist. Speaking of swords, mine are picking up a fine layer of rust. This didn’t happen in Singapore, even though it’s much more humid there. I’ve tried buying oil in the shops nearby, but nobody seems to have anything I recognise, like WD40, and I don’t have the vocabulary to explain what I want.