As some people know, I have begun learning Tai Chi Chuan. Tai Chi Chuan differs from general tai chi because I think this is the stuff shaolin monks are meant to practice; it involves both slow and fast kung fu. I was meant to learn the meaning of 'white' last Sunday, however a trip to Kaohsiung (another entry which I have yet to write) got in the way.
I never planed to practice Tai Chi Chuan, but I have just somehow fallen into it. It all began because Sarah and I walked into a store of a guy who had loads of swords. Anyway, he spoke no English, and even though I told him I spoke a little Chinese, he carried on talking for around 20min about things I will never know. I told him that I would come back one day with someone who spoke Chinese. Well, I never returned and soon forgot about it. However, Matt heard about this place and so got on the case. Next thing I know, me and three other teachers are now out in the street twice a week doing tai chi with a bunch of other Taiwanese guys.
Our teacher 'Ruong' is a spindly looking guy who no one would ever guess was in fact a deadly ex-army kung fu dude. He is great fun; when we have breaks, he likes to show us some of his kung fu moves which just amazes me. However, he keeps ruining the image that I have of him (that being a lethal kung fu man) by making me laugh about his personal quirks. He was showing us a photo album of pictures of his home (which we later visited) and of himself in the army. Then he pulls out about 10 photos of his fat white cat, saying 'isn't he cute, he was so much cuter when he was a kitten'. He then went on to further ruin my image of him by showing us his collection of Taiwanese comics! I think he is a bit of a geek, but a deadly sword wielding kung fu geek.
In our tai chi class, there are four other teachers including me; Sarah, Matt and Alison. However, Alison has now left Taiwan so we are down to three. However, Matt (the most crucial guy as he speaks Chinese) is leaving next month. When he goes, it is going to be down to my little bit of Chinese and the other Taiwanese guys' little bit English to make sense of what is going on. Then, in August, Sarah is going, so I'll be the only English guy there. So who knows how I will cope with that. Hopefully it will improve my Chinese as it will force me to speak it for a few hours each week.
These are photos of a visit to our Tai Chi instructor's family home in Tainan county.
That's my instructor (with arms faster than the speed of light)
His home was used as a place where people studying medicine could rest.
His garden was full of bonsai trees and hanging pots
An old grave stone
(right) A museum not far from his home; the machine in the foreground was used to grind rice.
1 comment:
I'm in your blog *do do do* I'm in your bloggy-blog. My name has 2 l's btw :D
Miss you guys. laters
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