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S T U D Y T O U R 2 0 0 5
This time we accumulated about 3000 pics from the trip. Not surprising, especially with one person bringing along a digital wallet to download the pics from the memory cards... again, in the interest of my sanity, here's a small selection of our pics!
S H A O L I N T R A I N I N G 2 0 0 5
At the Wushuguan
Of course, there was a demo
Caught mid leap!
First some warmup... check out the training space... then...
Some training!
More training
Still training!
Let's do some training, learning the set
Done yet? Of course not!
Let's make no bones about it... Training was ramped up this time 'round!
Word to the wise: get not between a hungry kung fu-ist after training and their food
This year we took the side path up to Damo's statue
More of a rugged path (we went down the stairs on the way back)
These two just literally ran up the mountain side...
... I'm a bit more wiped than they are after the hike ...
... but never to tired for some show biz!
Our instructor, who's address is: 2m west of the Shaolin Temple, Henan, China
Myself and our awesome monk instructor
And our group shot, after the exchange of plaques
A very few students from the Tai Goo school, the largest at 13 000 students
Hey, it's where we trained last trip!
More Tai Goo students
Welcome back to the Shaolin Temple
Some statuary inside one of the buildings
The temple is being expanded, with much construction to be seen from above
The new buildings are very nifty without their paint yet, raw, and somehow having more presence
Again, the same in its rawness
Oops, I broke it... sometimes my Iron Palm gets away from me
The infamous training hall, with floor depressions from years of practice
Thomas' grandmother bought a rather large stick of incense for our school/group...
Hey, that wasn't in the picture the last time I took it...
A young monk at the Shaolin Temple
Paying respects to Damo at his cave
T R A V E L A C R O S S C H I N A
Ummm... is that our plane with a flat tire?
It wouldn't be a China trip without trains, woo!
We actually saw little of this type of landscape this time, the heavily terraced/terraformed/planted everywhere
MMm, enjoying the train ride
Our Mount Wudang host school for our training
We're training at the veritable Purple Cloud Palace!
It gets dark quickly in the mountains... can we even see our instructor?
Our Wudang group picture
These were probably the most sought after mountains for us, we all took tonnes of pictures of them
...Like this...
...I think this one wins
Oh, they also make for a great backdrop
Purple Cloud Palace, we have returned
The picturesque face of Purple Cloud Palace
A nicely dressed lion
I always loved how nature and temple intermixed
Ubiquitous and infamous cliff-hugging buildings along Mount Wudang
History, there is history here
From a long time ago, we stand
The most dangerous incence burner in all of China...
Painted letters on Mount Wudang
A new plaque at the 'hotel' at which we stayed the prior visit...
See the lighter colour of the railing? That's new... the path to the hotel entrance was thataway
We visited the Luoyang Grottos again
A ceremony/service in progress at the White Horse Temple
It felt privileged to be able to witness it
A young monk at White Horse Temple
More White Horse Temple Beauty
I am very proud of this picture, very evoking
General Guan, the 'patron saint' of martial artists
We paid our respects as practitioners, instructors and learners
It's not like I wouldn't pose again with it...
And then Sifu demonstrated his skill at a push hands like drill
A wicked shot of mine of a street in Beijing (non-touristy)
If you could see clearly, where that lamp is reflecting above the 38 are succulant delicious roast ducks over wood fire
This was interesting: playgrounds for the elderly, with excercise equipment (that are used frequently)
This was one great lunch, I ate a TONNE. Then we went back to doing bagua in the afternoon. (I won't mention all those bottles...)
Wait, I am in Beijing, right?
Ummmm... aiya
So this is is the fruition of all those billboards for condos we saw during the last trip
The new developments in the outer ring roads of Beijing
Some modern designs
... as you can see
Funky design, no?
Us kung fu people -- you'll never know where we'll strike!
Now what are the chances?? Meeting someone we'd met earlier (2nd from the left) randomly a week later in Beijing
I LOVE THIS SIGN
It wouldn't be a trip without the... ______
MMmmmm... foooooodstuuuuuffffssss
Sometimes, you don't want to make me angry! Grrrr!
Of course, I bought weapons
And back home we are!
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