Have you noticed how sometimes small things seem to hold you back? I’ve been stuck in between things for a week or so, but since I mentioned Scotland to my eldest son last Sunday, the plans are shaping up quite nicely; I’ve also cleared some resistance, fear and anguish with Mrs. InChina; we are again in motion & here is what it looks like:

• Shodan grading (not mine, Mr. Ye’s, our sempai) in Shanghai. I’ll ride shotgun with Mr Ye since he asked me to; we’ll be leaving by bus on May 6th morning; his black belt is on the 8th. We’ll be training together on the 6th afternoon and on the 7th. The test on Saturday, hopefully, I’ll have photos and a story to tell.
• On the 7th evening, I am invited to train with another dojo in Shanghai. This one was introduced by Shihan Patrick Teo from Singapore; in view of the very warm welcome I received in Singapore, I have high expectations, and am looking forward to this experience.
• From May 14th to May 18th, Mrs. InChina and I will retreat to the heart of the SiChuan province and visit two China National Parks, enjoy hot springs, etc… These hot springs signal seismic activity. It is not surprising! we will be very near the epicenter of last year’s earthquake that rocked China. I owed this to Mrs. InChina: where else can you find such an understanding wife that will let her husband go practice around the world?
• June 2nd will see me flying to the USA where I will spend the first 5 days taking drawing classes in NY. I wish to find a dojo to train to in Manhattan at these dates too… Invitations or suggestions are welcomed.
• I will join “Dent” at his private dojo on June 8th and will train there for two months. Guests from Singapore, Asia, South Africa and various parts of the USA will also visit at this period.
• For some reasons, the original plan to stay at Dent’s and have my sons join us there in August did not turn out; We’ll likely spend part of August in Scotland instead… I just received confirmation from Shihan Iain Rodger that we’ll be able to mix training with visiting the highlands and other parts of Scotland.
• I’ll be back in China end of August, only to fly to Tanzania on a prospective business/investment trip sometimes mid September with Jim Sinclair at jsmineset – as a side note, I highly recommend it to anyone concerned about the direction the economy may turn.  From Tanzania, it would then be logical to make the next destination of Karate Journey Southern Africa for 3 months.
• This would take us to Xmas and maybe another stop over in Scotland for PowerOf0ne 3rd Dan and 30 man kumite test? I don’t know how that will be possible, but I’d like that.

Xmas in the family in France, ski in the Alps in January; Mrs. InChina’s wish to visit New Zealand may take Karate Journey there, then of course Australia and we’ll already be in June or July next year… All right, let’s wait until I am in the USA with Dent to put a plan together for the follow up of Karate Journey.

In the meantime, happy training to all, one day at a time…

Osu!

Osu, here is where I am at:

Heading to Shanghai tomorrow with Alex and Sempai Yu to train in Shihan’s dojo over the week end. We’ll go by bus; I let Alex organize where we’ll stay, etc… I’ve been a control freak in my professional travels for 20 years; I tell you, relinquishing just a little bit of that makes it feel like an adventure already. I am looking forward for some good training and good times; I’ll have pictures and stories to tell.

Alex’s question was: “what to do during the day?” – Indeed, we’ll be training at night… It doesn’t really matter to me for a day or two, but now I am wondering what I will do during the days once my karate journey is on the road? No worries, I am not freaking out, just wondering with quiet and serene anticipation.

I’ll go to Shanghai again on May 5th, together with our assistant instructor Xiao Ye. Mr Ye is taking t=his Shodan test and asked me to ride shotgun with him. I feel honored that he asked me and I am relishing the opportunity to witness first hand a shodan test. I’ll be training with Xiao Ye as much as possible between now and then. That’s more pictures and stories coming too…

I’ll be arriving at Dent’s dojo in New Jersey the second week of June. The question now is what to do during the first week; my options are:

• stopping in Paris and train with my son and a K4L colleague that will be there, or
• stopping in New York and attend the drawing class I’ve been wanting to go to for the last 4 years, or
• dropping by my parent’s for a few days… my mum doesn’t understand what this karate journey is all about. Not that I have any chance of successfully explaining it to her, but at least, I feel I must try.

My heart leans towards drawing in New York; no decision yet, but if someone has a sofa to rent in Manhattan, that would be nice… please drop me a line via my contact page. I could also do with a couple dojos to visit; if I go the drawing way, I’ll only be busy during the day & a bit of training and meeting new friends in the evening would be great (contact page).

My 3 sons confirmed their intention to join me at Dent’s in August for 3 weeks — they are getting organized with their dates, plane tickets, etc… That’s great! I am looking forward to it.

Mrs. InChina’s mood about my karate journey is on/off; she is getting used to the idea of me being away for long periods of time. Of course, she is not looking forward to it but she is being very supportive… There are still too many unknowns and “ifs” to really make a plan, but in case the travels take me to Southern Africa by Q4 and Australia by Q1 2011, she’s already said would like to join me there for a while.

As far as training is concerned, everything is going well except my left shoulder joint that is, again, giving warning signs of flaming! I am being careful and will try to drop by the hospital on Monday to get some advice.

I have also been procrastinating on clearing up my space & letting go of all these things I won’t be able to do or follow during my journey… Sometimes the obstacles to “escape the bucket of crabs” are self created.

Osu!

PS: Sue at My Journey To Black Belt, that was stranded in Cyprus is being repatriated tonight to the UK – I trust you wanted to know the good news. If you remember, I mentioned Sue’s “adventure” on ‘Self Protection Against Distant Volcanoes”.

(Plenty of pictures in this long post)

The similarity between the French with their wine and LongJing people with green tea is striking: you have the tea road, a floral and metaphoric vocabulary involving all 5 senses to describe the subtleties of the taste, the spitting, a sense of completeness that irradiates from the wine/tea masters, and the pillaging of tourist savings justified by a firm belief in the uniqueness of their beverage. One advantage of green tea over French wine resides in that connoisseurs can drive home safely.

LongJing Green Tea Just Harvested.

Fresh LongJing Green Tea Leaves

Hand Drying of LongJing Green Tea

LongJing Green Tea Typical Tasting Shop.
In the picture above, the character in the green square on the wall is “Cha” & means tea.

I am in the company of “2,000 ducks” – or so it seems – my wife and her 3 friends she has not seen in ages are happily catching up on old and new stories; their rapid and uninterrupted conversation sounds like the deafening cackling of 2,000 ducks. (No sexism or old fashion misogyny from me here, the metaphor was theirs…)

We are engaging on the mountain track; everything is well designed, there are stairs in the steeper places and the scenery of the nested old village, forest and tea bushes in terraces is magnificent.

LongJing Tea Terraces Viewed From The Village

As we climb, we discover more terraces.

…and even more.

Mrs. “InChina” (yes, I am FredInChina, after all…), halfway to the top.

The cackling has subsided a little; I went ahead of the small group and made good progress. As I near the top of the hill, a turn in the path reveals a magnificent view of HangZhou West Lake – haze, air pollution and “not the best light day for pictures” don’t really give it justice, but trust me, it is magnificent…

HangZhou and the West Lake on the horizon

I take advantage of a large stone to sit & rest a little while enjoying the panorama; my mind wanders and I reflect upon the changes that happened in China in the last 20 years… I said then that this generation of Chinese was so darn lucky to bear witness of the largest and quickest changes any nation ever gone through in the history of mankind; yet, they hardly know it!

The “cackling” that had faded resurfaces to my perception as my followers are catching back; their sound rises like a slow tide as my eyes try to pierce the veil of smog on the horizon (look closely into the picture to see the faint silhouettes of the city high rises beyond the ridge of the nearby hill) and discern what looks like and army of giants on a powerful and inexorable march like an unstoppable tide that will soon engulf this last oasis of peace and serenity…

An Army Of Giants Surges (can you see them approaching in the smog beyond the ridge?)

And then what? Is that progress? Maybe this generation is not that lucky after all?

I don’t know, my thoughts were interrupted by the 2,000 ducks tide in need of immediate attention… On our way to the top…

A rare picture of HangZhou and the West Lake from the very top of LongJing Hills

A good surprise on the “other side”: These lichens on the stones are known to be very sensitive to air pollution; they disappear quickly when air quality degrades; finding some lichens is usually a sign that the air is clean.

Lichens are markers for air pollution – these were found on top of LongJing hills.

Another good surprise, the LongJing mountains were declared “World Heritage”…

The skeptic (or maybe I became a cynic along the way?) in me cannot help but wonder: when have good intentions, preservation and prudence ever win the day against immediate greed? Let’s try to prevent darker thoughts from spoiling an otherwise beautiful day…

But as I was spinning the positive, “the giants” made their move to the East, here they are on the other side of the river…

I enter the old monastery with far too many thoughts in my head!

How should I consider Buddhist monks that are paid by the government on a 9 to 5 job? Do they even believe in what they are doing? I am told that some do…

A Beacon Of Light And Hope?

Or the future will be something else?

As I am thinking that “extinction is forever”, on my way out, 1,000 years of tree dominate me…

1,000 Years Tree

That guy has seen it coming and going… will it be there in another 1,000 years? Will there be another “FredInChina” to see it on his karate journey and tell about it at that moment?

We progress in the bamboo forest.

only to find out the Giants are already there, occupying the surrounding plains…

And every valley!

We are surrounded, cornered! It is an island! There is no place to go! – no escape, no “away”… The futility and ephemera of life strikes me on the bus ride back to the hotel and I draw tragic parallels with a journey of no destination, outside its next step. We are just passing by, soon to fade in the past – vain – a cackling tide of 2,000 ducks resonated through these woods; no echo to re-mind you wanderer who passes by…

Are the French wiser than the Chinese? I can’t say, but I know French wine dulls the senses and clouds the thinking that green tea sharpens… It sometimes makes sense to alter clarity on the way home!

osu!

See also:

Going From NingBo To YiWu Then HangZhou And Back

The Old Mountain Road To YiWu

Going to HangZhou

I capped Friday night’s karate class with kata & a tabata medicine ball slams. “The slam is a typical medicine ball exercise, that improves the reactive strength of your back and abdominal muscles. it is done with a non bouncing Med Ball”. Upon waking up Saturday, my back is telling me it was a mistake to go all out on a new exercise: I have difficulties moving & it will only get worse… No big deal, it may get better so I’ll still pack my gear for the afternoon karate training in the HangZhou branch dojo.

Here are the promised pictures of the yellow bean flowers covering the fields on most of the way (see the map); the weather was cast and air pollution conspired to veil the pics a bit, but it gives an idea of how colorful the countryside is at this time of the year.

Upon arrival after a 2 1/2 hours uneventful drive on the highway, my back and abdomen were feeling even worse… I went to lunch with my wife’s classmates and decided to skip karate training and go along with them on a mountain hike in LongJing, the world Capital of green tea.

Osu!

I remember that road across the mountains from 20 years ago: I had stuffed myself with sour grapes the day before and my bowels were screaming… 6, maybe 8 hours to go, that is if a truck does not have the malignant idea to break an axle in a pothole and create an impossible traffic congestion. I’ll never make it! Already my sphincters are cramping.

Thousands upon thousands of worker ants are hauling stones & displacing dirt. The sight is amazing. Over tens, maybe hundreds of kilometers, the rice plain is cut open and the mountains ripped apart to make space for the highway. This comes at a price: the old road, already battered is beyond repair; the tarmac is gone, the potholes are pools of uncertain depth and the traffic, increased with the trucks, three wheelers and wheelbarrows of the construction site is indescribable. It will have to do, until the expressway opens.

Good news: the driver agreed to skip lunch to make good on the way. We won’t have to stop & I won’t have to face a mountain of shame, humiliation and embarrassment  in a public toilet (yes, these are “very public” in China). Bad news: a truck lost its load of pipes; the things are scattered in a neat pile in the middle of the road; the traffic only goes one car at a time, alternatively from each side; no crane in sight.

2 hours to go!

I managed to catch some sleep, I don’t know how much, while our driver made progress… The colic is back with a vengeance; I feel pains in parts of my tummy I didn’t know existed! That pain has a color: it is yellow and green… pretty much the same color as the force 9 disaster if I let go… I chuckle at the though that in that case, it will have an odor too… but it is not funny.

I am white, or green, or whatever; drenched in cold sweat. We are in the suburbs of Ningbo, the road is better, we may have 30 minutes to go… I still won’t make it, no way I can make it! It is unbearable! Why am I here? What brought me there? I don’t know… the only thing that matters is to hold on!

We have arrived someone says; passport, cash – USD please, (China is in an “accumulation of the green stuff” mode at that time), Public Security Bureau card to fill in, my key… why is the elevator so slow? My mind has separated from my body – I don’t feel the pain any longer – It is drifting ahead, opening the way, clearing the obstacles, so, at last, I can make it in an “explosion of relief”…

YiWu NingBo Expressway

On Thursday evening, we came back directly to Ningbo from YiWu; we did not go to HangZhou. It took us the best of two and an half hours on a magnificent highway… Of course, I had not stuffed myself with sour grapes, I’ve learned that lesson long ago.

It has become A LOT easier to do business in China in the last 20 years!

We went to Hangzhou on Saturday and are still there; we will be returning tomorrow. Following Friday’s intense session at the dojo, I decided not to train Saturday afternoon in HangZhou; instead we went to LongJing, the China capital of green tea. I climbed the surrounding mountains in the company of 2,000 ducks! I’ll post that story tomorrow.

A journey with no map could not do! I love maps and could not resist showing you where I am at the moment. Please locate Shanghai in the NNE of the map to get a better idea of the bigger picture — I am sure there are plenty of ways to better display maps on a blog than a screen shot of Google, I will just have to figure it out…

Tomorrow I am going to drive from NingBo (where I live) to YiWu (WSW) – that’s about 200Km or 130 miles – to source and meet with manufacturers; if it sounds like work, it is not such a burden, we will be looking for suppliers of martial arts and karate equipment, so I’ll be staying with what I like; these are the preliminary steps to validate a business idea that took form while preparing my karate journey & should not take more than a day; I will let you know how things went.

From YiWu, we will commute to Hangzhou (N), as shown on the map, for the week end – Hangzhou is home to a branch of my NingBo dojo, so I’ll get a chance to train there Saturday afternoon (yes, an opportunity to meet with new friends; I’ll let you know how it went) while my wife meets her classmates for a reunion. If we do not go directly to HangZhou, we’ll drive back to NingBo tomorrow night and head to Hangzhou on Saturday morning… We’ll see.

I’ll take pictures on the way, it is the soy flowers season and the fields will be a gorgeous bright yellow; HangZhou is also one of my favorite cities in China and is beautiful; I’ll post them for you guys — right now, I have to run, I have dojo class tonight.

Osu!

Kelvin Quah in Singapore sent me the following design proposals to add the Karate Journey logo on the two new Gi I ordered from him. Love at first sight; fantastic, I instantly confirmed my approval and my order to Kelvin.

Karate Journey Gi

Karate Journey logo