TCMA: Memories; Temple Kung-Fu

At 14 years of age, sleeping in the basement of my childhood home, and watching late night television, I saw a white-haired man beat up ninjas on a bridge.

The next morning I woke with such promise.  I had quit everything to date; soccer and piano made no impact on my life anymore.  I wanted to learn Traditional Chinese Martial Arts.

Learning Chinese Kung-Fu was the beginning of my studies as I delved deeply into Taoist and Buddhist works, spending my free weekends in Calgary Chinatown drinking bubble tea and browsing the shops, returning home with items such as the three wise men and butterfly swords.  Thirteen years later I began the journey into Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Chinese Medicine school was easy for me not only because I had been exposed to the metaphors, but because I had learned through martial arts that advanced techniques were only the basics refined to a high degree.

Refining the basics meant to repeat them ad nauseam and live my life through them - from opening a heavy door with good body structure, to covering my neck and lower back so that Wind may not enter; what I call 'going deep'.

Kung-Fu school also taught me the meaning of the term: skill attained through hard work over a long period of time.  This is how I see everything in life - through my Kung-Fu lens.