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Hong Kong 2001

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Sifu John Holden and myself had arranged to visit Hong Kong in March 2000, but unfortunately I was involved in a near fatal car accident about ten days before we were due to leave. Once I had recovered we rearranged the trip for the following year. March 2001 soon came around and we were both on our way to Hong Kong.

Our first interesting incident was at Birmingham airport. Sifu is a life long Newcastle fan, and like any keen football fan was wearing his teams shirt. Unfortunately this can give some people a thugish impression. Sure enough as we passed through the checkout, Sifu was pulled to one side to be searched by security. The flight out to Hong Kong was approximately 12 hours long and we tried to sleep most of this time because we were travelling through the night. The small Chinese man who sat next to Sifu also decided to relax during this long journey by removing his socks and shoes, and then singing to himself in Chinese.

          We were very lucky that two friends of Sifu ( Gary and Lynne ) had moved out to Hong Kong about six months previously, and they had kindly offered to look after us and put us up during our stay. After settling in and having a nice meal, we started to explore Hong Kong. Hong Kong is split up into different areas such as Hong Kong island, plus other surrounding islands, Kowloon, the New Territories etc. We started in Kowloon on the famous Nathan road. I had arranged to train at the Chin Woo branch in Nathan road by telephone back in England. After finding their training premises I met Benny Yu who was going to be my teacher there, and arranged the details of my training schedule. We then continued to browse the excellent shops buying gifts and souvenirs.

          On the Saturday we traveled to Stanley on Hong Kong island. Stanley has an excellent market containing a vast array of Chinese goods as well as the usual items found on all markets. We spent all day looking around it buying many more gifts and souvenirs. At tea time we found ourselves at one of Stanley’s English pubs were we drank a lot of lager to keep cool before having our evening meal.  

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View Of The Jumbo Floating Restaurant - Hong Kong Harbour

          Sunday, Gary and Lynne had arranged a boat trip on a traditional Chinese junk around Hong Kong harbor and some of the surrounding islands. We sailed passed the Jumbo restaurant which is the biggest floating restaurant in the world. In the afternoon we came to Lantau island for Sifu and me to visit Po Min monastery. 

Gary and Lynne continued on the junk with their other friends and family. We looked around the monastery, and also had a meal there. We then walked across the grounds to Tin Tan Buddha. Tin Tan Buddha is reported to be the biggest Buddha in the world and seemed an excellent place to take several photos. The pictures were amazing, with the impressive background. (Shame about the Newcastle shirt though I joked to Sifu later.)

The next morning Sifu decided to go back to the market at Stanley, while I was training at Chin Woo. Before training I went to a local tailors we had found to be measured up for a Chinese style Mandarin suit. I then headed along Nathan road to the Chin Woo school. I can not speak Chinese, and Benny’s English was very broken which made all conversation between us an interesting, sometimes amusing, sometimes frustrating affair. I had decided to learn a traditional Lohan form called Tong Kuen. Benny then performed approximately the first twenty moves at normal competition type speed, then looked at me suggesting that I repeat it. After a little discussion he then performed a few moves at a time and I then copied.

          After this training session Benny asked me if I was hungry, to which I replied that I was. Benny then took me to a local restaurant where we had a very good meal, a few drinks, and a long chat. After leaving Benny I returned to the tailors for my first fitting. These guys don’t hang around, and can make a suit in 2 days, which they often do for airline pilots on stop-overs between flights. After a bit of wheeling and dealing the tailor had talked me into having six hand made shirts as well. The price was very good and I didn’t know when I would get an opportunity like this again. After leaving the tailors I spent the next few hours walking around Kowloon looking at the sights and buying a few more things. I met Sifu back at the apartment and showed him what I had learned so far. Sifu collects Japanese swords and had bought some at Stanley market. He then told me about Tong Shing Chi he had met while at the market. Their conversation had inevitably come to Kung Fu and Tong Shing Chi offered to show Sifu some Beggar style. Sifu had accepted this offer and spent some time practicing with Tong Shing Chi. While Sifu checked his swords I continued to practice the new form until we went for our evening meal.

          We went to a local restaurant with Gary and Lynne. We tried many different dishes between us which proved to be good practice for our chop stick skills, and I can honestly say the food was excellent. We also acquired a taste for the local Tsing Tao bottle lager, which I have since found in nearly all the Chinese restaurants I have been in since. We then returned to our apartment and continued to talk about our experiences so far.

          The following day I returned to the Chin Woo school to continue my studies. After several hours of intensive training I had finally completed the Lohan form. Benny presented to me a Chin Woo pennant, plus other Chin Woo souvenirs. Sifu asked me to perform this new form and then congratulated me on achieving my 4th Degree Black sash; what a surprise, and an honor this was.  

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   Sifu Paul Burkinshaw With Chin Woo Penant

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Benny Yu, Chin Woo Instructor

The next day we caught the bus into Sha Tin to visit the 10,000 Buddha monastery. From the bus station we walked to the entrance of the monastery which is at the foot of the nearest mountain. We then had a colossal climb up hundreds of steps to reach the monastery itself. The climb was made more interesting as the steps were lined with life size gold Buddha’s right to the top. For the sake of some lighthearted holiday pictures two more Buddha’s slipped into the available spaces to have their photos taken. We were not correctly dressed though. When we finally reached the top, we turned round to see the city seated beneath use surrounded by lush green mountains. It was a very splendid view that demanded more photos. The monastery’s main hall was lined floor to ceiling with small brass Buddha’s, which was I imagine how its name came about. After we had visited the several buildings that make up the monastery we then had the much more pleasant task of walking down all those steps.  

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Main Hall Of The Ten Thousand Budha Monastery 
(Note Displayed Budhas From Ceiling To Floor On Back Wall)

          We spent the remainder of our stay visiting local attractions and sights, sampling local food and buying more souvenirs. It was also a good opportunity to get to know Sifu better as a person. We both thoroughly enjoyed Hong Kong and will be back one day.  

Written by Paul Burkinshaw ( Chief instructor of the Sil Lum Kune Chinese Boxing Association