Having the opportunity to come to China to study kung fu with real authentic Shaolin Monk was quite literally a dream come true. It was first considered to be a once in a lifetime experience, however having stayed here for 3 months has only made me hungry for more. I will be returning as much as time and money will allow.

To start with, after deciding to come to China and picking this school to stay at, I had many questions about all kinds of things. If I sent an email, Joy would reply as soon as she could and was very helpful and understanding.

After getting to the school and having a tour I was amazed, I felt like I was in my own miniture martial arts world. In my opinion, I was at my Shaolin Temple. The training grounds are great and the showers and wash rooms are good enough.

We had 3 freshly cooked meals a day which was always welcome after a hard day training. The food was great with a wide selection of vegetables with a small amount of meat and plenty of bread, I have a lot of respect for the cooks having to cook for so many people all day and also having to clean up after everyone.

At the weekend there is a bus to be caught into Qufu city where you can buy all kinds of supplies for the week from the supermarket. Also there are many shops and Confucious related buildings to look around. The people in and around Qufu were all very friendly and understanding of westerners.

I have met many people and made lots of friends from all over the world. I only hope I can keep in contact with them. Now for the kung fu the best word to describe it would be “WOW !” the amount of training and the way it is structured into the week is perfect. The masters are all very skilled but also very importantly, very patient with all of students and there varying levels of fitness and ability.

My master(Zhang Shifu) was amazing, countless times he impressed me beyond beliefe with demonstrations. If you are struggling to learn something he would always find a way to make you understand. His knowledge about kung fu and exercise is outstanding to say the least. Not only is he very serious and professional, but I also feel like I have made a friend with him and get along great with him. I still find it very hard to believe that someone younger then me(22) can have so much experience in something. I only have good things to say about my Shifu, he truly is amazing and I feel that anyone who is lucky enough to be taught by him will feel the same.

I found that the Taiji classes in the morning were the perfect way to start the days. They were very relaxing whilst still having a great morning to Shaolin kung fu. If I could say anything to anyone coming to study here if would be asked questions to your Shifu, they can answer almost all of your questions in great detail and you learn so much more. 

Thank you to everyone at the school for making my stay so great, Joy, the cooks and especially to my Shifu.