I decided to come to Qufu Shaolin Kung Fu School after I graduated High school in order get a good foundation for strength and body control. I had no experience of martial arts and all I did before coming here was running. I didn´t necessarily come for the kung fu forms, more to just get the discipline in training. Since my first week I became to love it all.

I absolutely love the hard training, just staying active all day. The feeling of pushing yourself through pain and realizing that you can do so much more if you just set your mind to it. To train in a group where you have friends helping you.

What I will bring with me from my six months from Kung Fu school in China is so much good memories, knowledge and strength. I never thought that I would create such strong friendships while being here. The thing I’ve realized is that all of us students have this one thing in common. Some kind of reason why you are here or would like to come. The desire to test yourself, to learn, to push yourself or just change lifestyle drastically. You will have days, especially mornings where you don’t want to get out of bed. But what makes it easier is that you know you are not alone. Your training group will help you, support and push you.

The downpart of my stay was the winter( I stayed from middle of ocktober- 2015 to april 2016.) Ofc it turned out to be the coldest winter China have had in several years. The winter and by that I mean the cold came around end of November and continued to middle of February. The school did what they could, gave us warmer blankets and turned up the heaters in our rooms. But the training and stretching is much harder. This made us train harder though in order to get proper warm. One upside to the winter time is that there is not that many students. Therefore you will have much more alone time with your master during lessons. One thing I didn´t expect is how close you grow to your master. There is the teacher and student relationship involving the strict training and discipline but at the same time there is a lot of laughter.

The accommodation is providing all you need. Its simple compared to my ways back home but that’s the charm about this place. You realize that you don’t need that much. Ive tried my best to live as minimalistic as possible and it’s an experience in itself..  There is also always two staff members cleaning the school from 7 in the morning to evening so it’s very clean and hygienic.

The school is placed in a little village. There is a few restaurants that serves good food in my opinion and there is also nice and cheap street food outside the restaurant area. If you don’t want to go in to town on the weekends you can stay, climb the mountains which I highly recommend. Hire some electric bikes and scout the area etc. My recommendations before coming here is to stretch and do a lot of leg exercise. And most importantly, make up your mind. You can have a strong body, good physical strength and still do a lot. But once you open up your mind, strip away all the limitations you thought  you had, you will experience so much more. Also, to learn proper Kung Fu you must have manners. Respect the elderly and look after the younger. Good morals and be ready to help others, be selfless.