The master's teaching

October 21, 2011. Written in Dengfeng, China

While I was practicing blocking high kicks with my Sanda class, all of a sudden the master appeared in front of us and started to teach. Different from the Sanda coach (who is basically just enjoying his high position and makes use of it by hitting the students), I felt a strong eagerness in teaching and a serious devotion to martial arts. Most of the students here are sent by their parents, and actually don't enjoy being here (I remember Michael telling me that some even try to sneak out), which made me feel sorry for the master teaching with so much devotion. Of course the students know that they will get hit if they don't practice seriously so they do pretend, but there is no enthusiasm in their movements (of course, with a few exceptions). That being said, the master just kept teaching while smiling, until everyone (including me) was so tired that they couldn't go on.

After training, on my way back from dinner at the canteen, I bumped into the master. He gave me a can of Red Bull and asked me if my muscle pain was not too bad.

That day, Michael and Hanwei had gone downtown and skipped training (Michael to buy a ticket to go to Beijing, Hanwei without a reason) and I was alone in the room. I put on the PS2 and played some games until they came back.

The next day, Michael would leave for Beijing (coming back on Saturday) so he decided to rest and stay in bed while I left for morning training. Again, Hanwei also stayed in bed, but without a good reason.

During daytime, the master came to look after our Sanda class again, and started teaching blocking techniques again. And just like the day before, after training and dinner I would bump into him, and this time he gave me some mandarins. Back in the room, I found Hanwei playing games again. He ate half of my mandarins. Michael had left for Beijing, so now it was just the 2 of us. Together, we played some games and had a lot of fun. Until we heard the master scream "Hanwei!!" from outside, that was. Hanwei went outside, and I was left alone in the room. I expected a shocked Hanwei to come back, but after about 10 minutes he came back with a smile on his face and said something like "Sorry! Let's continue our game!"