Reading Fishing for the Moon by Lulu Hansen has given me little mental exercises that I can work on either daily or weekly. One parable, or 公案, is Parable of the Strawberry. Supposedly written by Bodhidharma, this translation of the sutra goes like this: "A man was wandering in the wilderness when a tiger appeared and began to chase him. Panicked, he fled to the edge of the cliff with the beast on his heels. Spotting a thorny vine rooted on the rock, he swung himself down over the chasm. Above, the tiger howled and pawed at the rock; below, were the gaping jaws of a second tiger. Suddenly, a white mouse and a black mouse appeared and began to gnaw at the vine but the man did not notice. He had found a plump, red strawberry growing on the face of the cliff. With one hand he plucked the fruit and popped it into his dry mouth. How sweet it was!" To me, this seems to be talking about making the most out of a bad situation, he's trapped with no where to go but finds a strawberry in the midst of it all. The strawberry seems to be the little enjoyment or the positive that can always be found no matter how bad things get. That would be my assumed meaning if the mice didn't show up. The mice seem to make the situation worse as soon the vine will break and the man a victim to the tigers. The man doesn't notice the mice and instead is focusing on the strawberry. The meaning then shifts to negligence, how the man's decisions and focus has gotten him into this bad decision. The tiger was one problem that he avoided with the vine which itself is a problem as it not only leads to the second tiger but the vine hangs him from a cliff. Soon the mice appear creating the final problem. Because of this, maybe the meaning is that our actions have consequences or that we shouldn't let our problems pile up. I'm not sure but I'll see what others have to say about it. Have a good day, Johnny

If you've seen my video called "One Person's Journey", you might've noticed that at the end of the video I was limping out of Maling Academy. During that time, I knew my leg had something wrong with it but I thought I just needed some well deserved rest. While I was in Shanghai living with my girlfriend, I did exactly that. Rested for a month. Of course, I grew restless and decided to test my leg out by joining a gym. It surprised me that I was able to lift weights, little did I know that my leg wasn't 100% healed. Next thing you know, I'm in America again settling down, finding a job, and working out at home. The time at the academy slowly faded into the past until I joined a local MMA gym. After my first class my leg immediately began to hurt just like it did at the academy. I knew something was wrong so I went to see a doctor. After examination, they determined it was an inguinal hernia. I needed surgery. This led me to stop working my job and I had to stop training. My mood turned a little sour as this simple injury stopped so much. My progress of the splits. I had just found a good MMA gym to join. My at home workout routines; and, my Kung Fu practice. It wasn't the first time I had a bad injury either. In High School I messed up my knee in Cross Country. Young me didn't rest like I should've and I ended up hurting the same knee two more times, once more in Cross Country and again in Judo. Now, this "bad knee" haunts me to this day. Getting the hernia (on the same side as the bad knee) made me fear of having another crippling injury. Gritting my teeth, I found other things to do with my time... like write this blog post. You see, I've already had the surgery and I'm on week 2 of recovery. All this time without work and without my training has given me time to do one thing: think. Reflecting on my actions, plans, and goals has been a tiring exercise but a worthwhile one. It made me realize how disconnected my mind and body have been as of late, driven by impulse and wants. Too focused on the end goal, without enjoying the now. Those are the mini revelations that I've had while bed ridden or limping around. Why does all of this matter to you? Two lessons should stick out to you. Be careful when training; if injured, take as much time as you need to heal. Make some time to think not only about your goals and where you are going, but about yourself and if your actions are matching your thoughts. We have to cool the fire within us as humans naturally want what we don't have or can't do. Once I was able to accept the fact that I couldn't and shouldn't train, I was able to use my time more constructively by studying, reading, praying, working on my hobby, and playing (which I hadn't done in a while). Thinking might seem like an easy task but thinking in a way that benefits you is hard. My mind had gotten so focused on returning to China for training that I neglected other things that were important. I had to realize that it will take a long time and not rush my thoughts. By slowing down my mind, I was able to see gaps in my plan. Things I hadn't considered about because I was so focused on the, "go go go". Now, I have a better, more realistic plan of heading back to China (and other places) for training. Maybe you too are caught up with something that has taken all of your attention. Work? Hobby? Friends? If not, taking time to just think will allow you to get away from "the world" to calm yourself a bit. 伤筋动骨，休息一百天 Shāng jīn dòng gǔ, xiūxí yībǎi tiān "If injured, rest one hundred days" I hope this helps you on your own journey to becoming healthier, stronger, and more confident. -Johnny

A crazy year has gone by but the New Year reminded me of a post I made on my old blog. I wanted to see how the Kung Fu School changed me. Looking back has been fun as not much really changed. The Beginning When I went to the school I was 72kg (158 pounds). I lived a moderately active life so I thought I had muscle and strength just like any young guy does. At my sister's place (which was my home at that time, thanks sis!) I did workouts, stretching, yoga and worked at a factory. My knowledge on health, nutrition, science, and the actual mechanics of exercise was little. The important thing was I kept moving which built a good habit for when I arrived at the Kung Fu School. Kung Fu Challenge Life at the Kung Fu School was tough and it made me realize how out of shape I was. Sure, I could do push ups and sit ups but the routine that we did at the school challenged my body in new ways every single week. I lost a lot of weight, which I originally mistook for muscle. The lowest point that I reached was 65kg (143 pounds), that wasn't healthy but it showed I was pushing my body to the extreme. It was during this time that I was introduced to the idea of proper nutrition and focus on technique/body mechanics of exercise by two guys at the school. JD and Josh. It was our many workout sessions and various injuries that helped me learn more about how the body worked. Isolation My last days at the Kung Fu School were spent mostly alone as I was the last student. During this time, I studied more, refined my diet, and improved my training. This time was mentally draining (which I talk about here) but I came out of it self driven, even more so than before. In the time that I wasn't training I would be relaxing or studying different things about exercise trying to understand more. When I lived in Shanghai for two months with my girlfriend, I continued training but not to the extreme that I was at the school. My body had suffered many injuries at the Kung Fu School (groin, hip, shoulder) so I used the colder winter as a time to recover. My diet was way better and my body started to put on weight again. Heading Home After Christmas, I headed back home a little lost as to what to do with myself. My now active body and mind wanted to go go go as if I was at the Kung Fu School still. Due to quarantine and the restrictions in my area I couldn't. After discussion with friends, girlfriend and parents I decided to go for my dream... to start my Kung Fu School online. This would allow me to continue with my physical journey but also use my experience to help others discover their own journey. I can say now that I have more self confidence than before. Even though my body is only 74kg (163 pounds) I feel better and look better. It's this feeling that I would like to spread to others. So Happy New Year! If you'd like to discover your own journey keep an eye out for my future Kung Fu courses OR follow me on Instagram for Kung Fu Knowledge and workout ideas~

Two months since I've left Maling Shaolin Kung Fu School (from here on referred to as 'Maling'). I've had time to write and reflect on my nine months there. It's time for an official review of the school. Maling Shaolin Kung Fu School Website: www.shaolin-kungfu.com/ Price Per Month: $790 Price Per Year: $5350 (NOTE: Things could change at the school from the time this review was written) I stayed at Maling for a total of 10 months. I paid for a full year at a discounted "2020 School Anniversary" price. Staff The Headmaster of the school was a man we referred to as "Master Bao". During my time at Maling I didn't really get to know Master Bao until the last two months of my stay (where I was the last student). Instead, most of the visa extensions/trip planning was done by a woman named Lisa Guo. She would help all of the students with any issues involving visa, travel planning, buying things, and more. Classes were taught by a variety of masters. Master Peng mostly taught our Basics Class, Wing Chun, and Power Stretching Class while Master Yan mostly taught our Sanda Class, Xinyi Quan, and Power Training Class. Tai Chi, Baji Quan, and Qi Gong classes were taught by Master Ning. Having the wide variety of teachers and classes was nice as it allowed students to "attach" themselves to the teacher that suited them best. The only problem that I faced during my time there was that there wasn't an interpreter for classes. Lisa Guo spoke good English and Master Peng and Ning spoke some English as well. During my time at Maling I became the 'unofficial' translator for the school which improved my Chinese but it wasn't what I was planning. School Grounds This is where Maling suffers. The school is large and is supposed to hold thirty students at a time. While I was there, the school had 20 students at the most but usually we had 10-15 students. With this amount of students (plus staff) the building constantly faced power outages. This was one of many problems with the school. The other problems were mold in some of the students' rooms, broken bathrooms/showers, poor training equipment, the walls were falling apart, poor heating, electrical outlets not working, and an unfinished training building. Most of our training was done outside or in the original training room built on the main building. The "new" (not finished) training building was rarely used due to the fact it wasn't finished being built yet and it was very dusty which caused breathing problems for some students. Training/Classes (NOTE: The Corona Virus did effect our school heavily, I've taken that into account for this review) In the beginning, classes were great. There was Morning Tai Chi which would then be followed by breakfast. Next would go two hours of training either Basics/Forms or Jumps/Sanda. Lunch would arrive which was 2-3 hours long depending on the season. Followed by another 1-2 hours of training. There were optional evening classes (Wing Chun and Baji Quan) which could extend your training time by another 1-2 hours. After all of that was a period of rest then dinner. Thursdays were special in that we would do Power Training in the afternoon. Fridays we would do a 10 km Run and then clean the school. Some times the schedule would change slightly due to a master being out or because something was happening (performance, meeting etc). During my 9 months my body got used to the training. I showed improvements in flexibility, agility, coordination, and learned a lot of cool Kung Fu. Almost everyone at the school lost weight. Some more than others. I was one of those that lost a lot of weight (not meaning to), going from 72 kg to 65 kg. Overall, I enjoyed the classes provided. The only thing that I dislike was the lack of cultural classes which were offered to me at my time of paying. There were no Mandarin classes, no Wushu Theory classes, no Massage, and no Daoism/Buddhism classes. Since my time at Maling, they have since updated the site to reflect these changes but I still feel a bit disgruntled. Diet/Daily Life The diet at Maling is... bland to say the least. You get used to the rotation of rice and various salty veggies that you're given. It fills you but nutritionally it isn't enough. You'll want to bring money for your own side snacks and weekend excursions. What is good about this diet is it makes you appreciate the food outside the school way more. As said before, many students lost weight but many of us also faced stomach issues and diarrhea. A lot of diarrhea. Outside the school there are places to go and see. It all depends on how far you want to go. Walking distance, there is the village of Cao Liu Cun (曹留村) where you're able to buy snacks and basic sanitation goods like toothpaste, soap, and towels. Further away (you'll need to take a Tuktuk or taxi) is the town of Wang Zhuang (王庄村) which has some supermarkets, restaurants, and stores. This was our go-to spot for getting weekend food and drinks. Cheap but delicious. Further away (taxi ride 30-60 mins) is Xinyi which is a small city. Has a lot of stuff like KTV, Cafes, Malls, Big Supermarkets, Computer Stores, Restaurants, and more. It was trips to these places that helped us keep our sanity and energized for the next week of training. Letting loose on holidays was always fun but it's up to the students to find out ways to relax and kill time. Word of advice, Winter at Maling isn't fun. Conclusion Maling Shaolin Kung Fu School is a good place to start your Kung Fu training. It is one of the cheaper Kung Fu Schools in China but remember that you pay for what you get. The food provided isn't the best and the building has many problems. If you're looking for a more long term training into Kung Fu then I would look some where else. If you have a short term plan or just testing your interest in Kung Fu then I believe Maling will suit you well. Just make sure there will be other students there when you arrive.