72 hours in Thailand’s Shaolin Kung Fu training school.

i'm currently writing a book trilogy called belladonna martial arts play a role in the story which is why i've been pursuing real life training to help me write more realistic fight scenes one of those experiences took place recently when i packed my bags to train at the nam young kung fu retreat in the small town of pai thailand i'm running late so we gotta get going we gotta get going oh my gosh it is already seven and my minivan leaves at 7 30. so i gotta i gotta get there okay uh bye [Music] i have just arrived in pi and it is absolutely gorgeous it's insane after getting lunch at this really cute cafe i took a taxi to the nam young kung fu retreat and let me tell you this place is even more gorgeous than downtown pai [Music] i got settled into my room did a little writing and went to sleep early in preparation for my first day of training my first session of chi kung began at 6 00 am the next morning before training at nam yang i'd never even heard of chi kung before apparently the exercises were developed thousands of years ago as part of traditional chinese medicine the goal of cheek kwoom is to optimize energy within the body and it's commonly practiced either on its own or in conjunction with martial arts training there was a lot to take in at once and i found it quite challenging to memorize everything i had to drill the moves over and over again in the hope that i wouldn't forget everything the next day in addition to chi kung the mornings also consisted of walking meditation followed by a tea break and finally we moved on to partner training and free practice time yeah [Music] and relax everybody invite us [Music] we're gonna start running circles jogging [Applause] by dinner i knew i would definitely be sore the next day i just completed the first day of training here at namyang it's much more in the mind i would say the bose staffs were really fun i was not expecting to enjoy that so much i really got into it i only had like two hours of free time but i did do some writing today so this has been overall really nice to just train and write i'm looking forward to tomorrow hopefully hopefully i won't be too sore on day two i was feeling a bit more familiar with chikung and i could definitely see how doing these exercises consistently over time could increase concentration i found it very peaceful as well the chi kung and shaolin kung fu training at nam yang was rooted in discipline consistency and focus master ian explained how martial arts is less about learning how to fight and more about personal development which was really interesting i'm ian i'm the kung fu master here at the kung fu retreat now been doing kung fu for 42 years my reason for getting into kung fu was very different from my reasons of staying in kung fu when i was a teenager in london we used to fight a lot you could have six fights on a saturday afternoon when i started it was all about being a better fighter as i got into my mid-20s i had the realisation that i had to get off the path that i was on sooner or later you you end up in prison kung fu became the the kind of way out the whole gateway to a new life really it's the funny thing about kung fu the more you do it the less you need to fight with it kung fu has always been more about uh mastering yourself and about fighting [Music] the main challenge so far has just been like the soreness in my legs yesterday i woke up and my quads were just like burning i could hardly walk it got better uh we had a bit of a break midday because yesterday was a half day i thought i would be doing fine totally normal today but i didn't my legs were even more sore so it just keeps getting worse i stubbed my toe yesterday because i was running late to class and i was literally running late to class and i stubbed my toe on the door and my toenail my pinky toenail kind of like almost came off so i had to like tape it down with a band-aid but every time my toe touches something it's just like excruciating pain but it's like not a serious injury at all so there's no reason why i can't train i just have to deal with it it just makes everything just a tad bit more difficult overall this has been a very great experience so far and i've learned a lot it's been intense and it's pushed me but i'm also having a good time and it's in the most beautiful location ever so it's like equal parts challenge equal parts peaceful at the same time despite the soreness i was starting to feel some progress with my training it was becoming easier to focus and the highlight of day three was definitely the morning tea break master ian discussed something that's piqued my interest for quite a while now the concept of conflict avoidance when you're young you've got the urge to go out and test your boundaries and and prove yourself in the end you you learn that it's better not to keep getting into fights so then you think well why why do you need to learn a fight in the first place because in order to avoid having a fight you got to be strong enough to stand up for yourself everybody projects a different energy we all sense that we all sense that we all pick it up you sense whether somebody's powerful or whether they're weak you sense wherever they're confident or whether they're not confident when people are choosing who to pick on they'll almost always choose somebody who is lacking in confidence who doesn't look like they're they're going to stand up for themself you know every time you're doing this you're pulling your chest up dropping your shoulders down yeah raising your head up yeah learning to keep the eyes steady level eye contact that's confident body language it gets you away from this this is the this is what's going to get picked on one of the biggest takeaways from training at namiong was learning how many different motivations there are for engaging in martial arts some people do it for the fitness while others do it for mental health or for competitive sports but whatever the reason is for getting involved in martial arts i believe everyone gains something from it that they weren't necessarily looking for as for me i've been pursuing martial arts to improve the fight scenes in belladonna but nam-young made me consider something i've never thought of before how does learning how to fight affect the characters mentally how does it improve their confidence levels and their thoughts on conflict avoidance by training you not only change your skill set but your mind set to and that's something i can't wait to explore in the story [Music] you