Late into the night the Summer Seminar drew to a close. Reluctantly those contented kung fu brothers and sister dispersed for the night. Unable to linger any longer, they bid a short farewell to the place that had become their home for the last five days, to begin their journey to the ‘other life’ that awaited them. As the echoes of the last footsteps slowly died away, silence descended on the kwoon, punctuated only by the continual ticking of the clock on the wall. However, if you paused and listened ever so carefully you could almost still hear the distinctive sounds; shuffling of feet, regulated breathing and persistent beating of fists continued to pervade the atmosphere, refusing to leave with the participants...
This seminar was more than just an event practising martial art techniques; in many ways it was a small intense journey in another lifetime. For five days, the world looked and felt somehow different. Through the training you found a special connection with those around you: without words you saw the people next to you clearly as if looking through new eyes, your bond with the art became stronger and temporal worries simply floated away. Most obvious, however, was the attitude - the commercial, consumer viewpoint morphed into that of human perseverance. Sweat, smiles and modesty become the new ‘currency’ and pure, martial principles the new leadership...
Sifu